It's grim up Norf

[OFT]

Anywhere past that ****hole Luton is the north, no ifs or buts. In fact, they can have Luton, the real armpit of the UK.

Too late, I've already given you Stoke

[MaylandHammer]

Always remembered chuckling about a road sign just outside of Abridge (little village in Essex just on the outside of the outskirts of greater London) saying "THE NORTH" as you headed towards Epping !

Then when driving up the A1 towards Durham, nearly 250 miles away, seeing the exact same sign saying "The North" straight on.

Often wondered if it was possible to just input The North in to a sat nav & see where it took you

For me Birmingham defines the north, but my nest mate who lives in Glasgow considers that almost as part of France !

[sussexhammer74]

Perhaps pronounciation might help?
If you pronounce them b-ath, cl-ass & laff, you're northern.
If you pronounce them barth, clarss & larf, you're a southerner.
That would be my dividing line.

A former boss of mine told me about his encounter "up norf". It was an informal business get together at the pub. He was from Sussex and the client was from "up norf" and a few others from the south made up the rest of the group.

My boss asked everyone what they were drinking. Upon asking the norferner, the norferner replied "cork. Just a cork". He said he asked the norferner if he was sure he just wanted a "cork". He got the round in and gave the fella a cork. The norfener laughed and said no I wanted a "cork", a bit like a pepsi.

[Eggs'n'nuts]

Now here's the thing...........

I've personally never seen a definite North/South divide as there's this chunk in the middle called The Midlands.

Now where The Midlands starts and finishes is another debate entirely!

[Burnley Hammer]

A former boss of mine told me about his encounter "up norf". It was an informal business get together at the pub. He was from Sussex and the client was from "up norf" and a few others from the south made up the rest of the group.

My boss asked everyone what they were drinking. Upon asking the norferner, the norferner replied "cork. Just a cork". He said he asked the norferner if he was sure he just wanted a "cork". He got the round in and gave the fella a cork. The norfener laughed and said no I wanted a "cork", a bit like a pepsi.

Yeah... it's a problem. I always ask for pepsi now for that reason.

[Burnley Hammer]

OK... my serious attempt at an answer.



So the top 3 regions (the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire & Humber) are what I would call the proper north

The two side-by-side regions below are the midlands (East and West) - an area disowned by both northerners and southerners alike. Derbyshire is probably the closest to being stereotypically northern from those areas.

Bottom 4 regions are what I would think of as the south although I'd still find it difficult referring to a Cornish person as a southerner. I think when a northerner thinks of a southerner, they tend to have London and the South-East in mind with maybe the southern section of East of England (ie Essex) and the eastern areas of the South West (Dorset and Wiltshire)

[Burnley Hammer]

[vietnammer]

Isn't it where 'lorry' becomes 'wagon'?

[BalaamBoy]

OK... my serious attempt at an answer.

Pretty much agree - in my mind the dividing line is rather broad and runs from the Severn estuary up to the Wash!

[BalaamBoy]

Spare a thought for Bishop's Stortford FC
After their promotion this year, they have been put in the Conference North division!

This is hilarious!!

Having lived there as a kid, you could not find a more definitive example of a southern town than BS. It's what them northerners think all of the south is like - quiet, semi-detached and conservative.

[Hammer.CA]

[The Old Man of Storr]

I remember staying with a friend in Horsforth near Leeds - we'd gone out for a few beers as was customary back in the day and we stopped at the local Chippy for something to eat on the way back to Martin's -

Martin explained to me that the colloquial term for Fish & Chips was ' Once ' ..

By now I was getting the giggles ' If I want 2 portions of fish and chips do I say ' Once Twice ? ' .

' No , you'd ask for two portions of fish and chips ' .

By now I couldn't stop giggling and people were beginning to stare at me .


I don't know how I kept it in but I just wanted to start singing that Lionel Ritchie song .

Thankfully , I didn't .


Funny lot , Northerners , especially those from Yorkshire .

[Roby]

You can’t seriously consider Cornwall in the north? They’re a funny bunch of peninsula dwelling celts, but certainly not northern.

I’m happy to draw the line at north of the M4. That way we can disown Swindon.

Swindon’s the South - they’ve got a more south east accent than the Bristolians.

I lived in Cheltenham for 8 years after moving there from Maidstone - that’s the Midlands.

Been in Bristol since 97 which I’d say is although “West Country” is south.

I’d put the north as anywhere further than Brum.

[Cockneyboy311]

****ing superb

[Burnley Hammer]

I remember staying with a friend in Horsforth near Leeds - we'd gone out for a few beers as was customary back in the day and we stopped at the local Chippy for something to eat on the way back to Martin's -

Martin explained to me that the colloquial term for Fish & Chips was ' Once ' ..

That's a new one for me too.

[Burnley Hammer]

You can tell how northern a person is by their perception of hot and cold when it comes to the weather.

To a true northerner, 15 degrees is a hot summers day. I've been in vest and shorts mode for at least 2 weeks now.

I can tell these Nottingham folk aren't proper northerners as they're still wearing jackets on the school run in the morning.

[Hammer.CA]

Funny lot , Northerners , especially those from Yorkshire .

You can always tell a Yorkshireman but you can’t tell him much.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

beaten by seconds

[Hammer.CA]

Especially for you JBB.

[prophet:marginal]

How can you tell a mouse is Northern? It squeaks as it finds.