[PonchoKid]

(Original post by RyanT)
The north is awful. These people don't realise how grey and grim the area is. When I was living in Lancaster it was so grey everyday it really bothered me. If you like the sunshine stay the hell away from the north! :P

It's also about as English as Islamabad. Walking past people wearing burkhas, no thanks(!).

pahahaha, you clearly took far too much notice of the horrible weather, the summer days are amazing, and you should have taken advantage of them and gone willy bobs or to heysham barrows

you have generalised far to massivly here, and i genuinly got bored of your post. iv been brought up in lancaster my entire life, and last year moved to plymouth. and genuinly i prefer lancaster to plymouth.

so much more friendly, and a nicer area to live i think.

[jaxxa]

(Original post by Mufasaa)
It is a region, but it can be divided into north/south (basically every major town/city in the midlands is north other than Northampton (despite the name)).

Geographically, Birmingham is actually more south than north (and Warwick). Regardless, I don't think people in the midlands really think of themselves as northerners or southerners.

[Manitude]

(Original post by RyanT)
The north is awful. These people don't realise how grey and grim the area is. When I was living in Lancaster it was so grey everyday it really bothered me. If you like the sunshine stay the hell away from the north! :P

It's also about as English as Islamabad. Walking past people wearing burkhas, no thanks(!).

Lancaster is one of the prettiest cities in the country. The stonework is anything BUT grey. It's a lovely shade of yellow.

I have never seen anyone in Lancaster wearing a burkha, or even anywhere in britain - don't think I even saw one during my brief time at dubai airport. The burkha has a grille over the eyes - no flesh is visible. The ignorance of some people who want to ban them defies belief sometimes.
Niqabs, however, I've seen two. Possibly slightly more - hard to tell as it's impossible to recognise the wearer.

[Manitude]

(Original post by RyanT)
No, there was a group of ~8 Muslim women who I always saw near the town center in Lancaster dressed head to toe in burkhasniqabs.

I lived there for 3 years inc one year slap bang in the center of town, no point pretending that the north isn't infested with muslims, because it is. There is nothing English about the north of england, it's just new Pakistan. Enjoy.

Holy **** - less than ten people wearing niqabs in a city of fifty thousand. May as well abandon ship now!

[kidoo]

(Original post by Repressor)
Cheaper, less crowded, fewer tourists...

What's not to love?

Higher crime rate, lower life expectancy, fewer public services.

You where saying?

[Jimbo1234]

(Original post by chefdave)
Has the North been abandoned by a succession of politicians more concerned with the money making potential of The Square Mile and the South?

As as southerner I havn't ventured up north too often, but I get the impression that *some areas* suffer from a disproportionate amount of social deprivation, crime, poverty, failed multiculturalism, and welfarism.

Is this viewpoint totally without merit?

You are actually underplaying how bad it is.
The North really is a barren waste land of few jobs, many of which are very poorly paid. Some areas have a vacant job to unemployed person of 1:35 +.
Every student I know who has wanted a good job has had to move South as all the major industries are there, from banking to engineering.
Also the age distribution is far more balanced down South. Up North you will have towns which will be 70% old people, or 70% young & poor, with no areas being a balanced mix of people from all ages.

However many Northerns will deny this and say that the North is just special and different simply because they have never been down South and are in denial about the severity of the problem.

(Original post by Aack)
The further north you go, the more friendlier people generally are.

That's about the only difference.

Unless you are not white;
or you are well spoken;
or you have money;
or employed;
or fashionable;
or you are not fat.

[select the right name]

(Original post by RyanT)
No, there was a group of ~8 Muslim women who I always saw near the town center in Lancaster dressed head to toe in burkhas.

I lived there for 3 years inc one year slap bang in the center of town, no point pretending that the north isn't infested with muslims, because it is. There is nothing English about the north of england, it's just new Pakistan. Enjoy.

Those 8 Muslim women were most likely young girls from the Muslim School on Ashton Road.

What a vile individual you are! Lancaster is well rid of you.

I went to Lancaster uni and stayed after i graduated because it was an ideal place to raise my daughters. It's a beautiful city, on the doorstep of the Lakes, with two of the best schools in the country and I've never regretted staying.

I pity people like you........

[hypercaine.]

As someone who goes to university up north (Durham) lives in the midlands and spends a lot of time in London as well as travelling to various cities across the UK, I can safely say theres not a huge difference between the big cities. The people are generally friendlier up north but only if youre friendly to them, I know some people who were astounded when they visited at how theyre not friendly at all but this is because the visitors werent friendly to the locals!

Of course there are some dodgey places in both, these threads are always quite funny because people who insist there is a difference clearly havent been to enough places to comment on it.

[Converse Rocker]

(Original post by kidoo)
Higher crime rate, lower life expectancy, fewer public services.

You where saying?

Evidence for any of these?

[nmudz_009]

(Original post by RyanT)
The north is awful. These people don't realise how grey and grim the area is. When I was living in Lancaster it was so grey everyday it really bothered me. If you like the sunshine stay the hell away from the north! :P

It's also about as English as Islamabad. Walking past people wearing burkhas, no thanks(!).

Much of England is grey and grim. Islamabad, on the other hand probly has more sunny days in a year than England has in 10 Bhurkas are also less common there than in parts of England how funny is that

There's more Muslims in London than there are in any other city, so I'm a little confused..

[James0507]

The idea that Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle are dirty industrial cities is laughable now. These cities centres have changed beyond recognition in the last 15 years. Some are nicer than others, but they are now generally nice places to be. I actually think Leeds has, and still is developing a very cosmopolitan feel- more so than any urban area outside of London.
We also have the likes of York and Durham, which are stunning. I've never seen a more spotless town in the UK than my hometown of Harrogate.
There's also the Yorkshire Dales, the Pennines, The Lake District... Arguably the most beautiful places in the country. Nowhere has charm like a village in the dales on a summers day...
Plus, it may be a sterotype, but the people are generally friendlier. Looking at some of the sour, lifeless faces on the tube terrifies me, it's so bleak. People now walk around that city like they're the only living soul there... It's not like that here, there's definitely that cultural difference.
So if the North is still grim, give me grim any day.

[Muscovite]

(Original post by RyanT)
The north is awful. These people don't realise how grey and grim the area is. When I was living in Lancaster it was so grey everyday it really bothered me. If you like the sunshine stay the hell away from the north! :P

It's also about as English as Islamabad. Walking past people wearing burkhas, no thanks(!).

Re: Your comment and your sig:
LOL Hitler's dead

[nickster146]

yeah its rough! left Harrogate on the 1st with a group of twenty. only six of us made it to Newcastle by the 25th. we arrived with only 18 limbs and 9 eyeballs between us, not including the ones we were using for crutches...
on a more serious note, yes some places have been wrecked due to economic issues over the last 30 years or so, but areas like Liverpool are really developing nicely at the moment so its not all doom and gloom

[ehc]

It's nice up North...

Generally speaking though, you're gonna get 'orrible types and lovely little things all over the country, and regardless of where I travel, I will always be considered posh because of my accent.

[Trailblazer]

I was born in West Yorkshire and I've lived in Cheshire about 26 miles from Manchester for the past 13 years. The North is not so bad, the weather is a bit grim but Manchester is such an awesome city; a real working, solidly English place.

Parts of Bradford and Leeds are pretty bad, but you get that everywhere. The South probably is more affluent but so is Cheshire, although you never tend to meet many people you would describe as "rahs".

I have no problem with southerners, the accents are hilarious. My accent has been described as "moderately posh" but it sometimes takes after my mum and dips into Yorkshire! Having been down south a fair bit I could easily live in Surrey, Devon, Dorset or Hampshire, all lovely places. No hard feelings southerners :P

Although I'm off to uni in the north, I'd imagine I will move to the South when I come to get a job.

[Manitude]

(Original post by Trailblazer)
I was born in West Yorkshire and I've lived in Cheshire about 26 miles from Manchester for the past 13 years. The North is not so bad, the weather is a bit grim but Manchester is such an awesome city; a real working, solidly English place.

Parts of Bradford and Leeds are pretty bad, but you get that everywhere. The South probably is more affluent but so is Cheshire, although you never tend to meet many people you would describe as "rahs".

I have no problem with southerners, the accents are hilarious. My accent has been described as "moderately posh" but it sometimes takes after my mum and dips into Yorkshire! Having been down south a fair bit I could easily live in Surrey, Devon, Dorset or Hampshire, all lovely places. No hard feelings southerners :P

Although I'm off to uni in the north, I'd imagine I will move to the South when I come to get a job.

Google earth says you might be from Helsby
I'm about ten-fifteen minutes by car from there.

[Golden_Boy786]

(Original post by chefdave)
Has the North been abandoned by a succession of politicians more concerned with the money making potential of The Square Mile and the South?

As as southerner I havn't ventured up north too often, but I get the impression that *some areas* suffer from a disproportionate amount of social deprivation, crime, poverty, failed multiculturalism, and welfarism.

Is this viewpoint totally without merit?

Pile on the negs. lol

[Trailblazer]

(Original post by Manitude)
Google earth says you might be from Helsby
I'm about ten-fifteen minutes by car from there.

About 45 minutes down the M65, Lymm. Good effort though

[Manitude]

(Original post by Trailblazer)
About 45 minutes down the M65, Lymm. Good effort though

Lymm's only 12 miles away from Manchester, just so you know

[TheMeister]

(Original post by Jimbo1234)
You are actually underplaying how bad it is.
The North really is a barren waste land of few jobs, many of which are very poorly paid. Some areas have a vacant job to unemployed person of 1:35 +.
Every student I know who has wanted a good job has had to move South as all the major industries are there, from banking to engineering.
Also the age distribution is far more balanced down South. Up North you will have towns which will be 70% old people, or 70% young & poor, with no areas being a balanced mix of people from all ages.

I do admire that you can espouse such **** without even caring. I mean, really, that takes balls.

As for the South, have they been to Newquay on a night out? or Tower Hamlets? Lambeth? Hackney? Southwark? bits of Portsmouth? large swathes of South Wales? parts of Bristol like St. Pauls? There are **** areas everywhere. Sure, the North has its bad parts - but they're not without their Southern counterparts.