After a fairly heated discussion in the pub on Friday night I was left feeling a bit geographically challenged.

I was born and bred in Cheshire, in what I call the North West, just to the north and east of Chester. It was a small rural village (now a bigger commuter hub for Manchester, Liverpool and the A55 corridor) with a fair share of the deprivation that came with farming/forestry communities, not footballer belt. They wouldn’t be able to stand the muck spreading!

A pal of mine is from Stoke and insisted that Cheshire is not in the north and it is on a par with Stoke, therefore the Midlands. Even I know it is further north than Stoke but I am now concerned that I am not a Northerner!

I realise that as I do not come from Lancs or Yorks I am obviously a fake wannabe but please…a midlander?

barnsley………. 😀

Watford…

Bottom of my street is where the South starts

Highland boundary Fault 🙂

It all depends where you come from. I had a party in Edinburgh where I had friends from Manchester who were very annoyed to be introduced as “my friends from down south”

not sure where it starts but you live in the north …tell him you live to the North of North Wales.

south of the Tyne = the south*
north of the Tyne = the North

*south of the Thames = (to all intents and purposes) France 😉

the best answer I heard was “about 10 miles south of where you were born, wherever that may be!”

I now live in Exeter so anywhere else is up country and when I lived in Scotland all England was down south.

There was a map produced a while back which took in the opinions of where people thought they were (south/north) and put it onto a map based of the majority of opinion in each specific town. It was purely north/south though took in all parts of the country, including Wales (majority identified closer with the north) and the Midlands (Nottingham, Birmingham and Derby identified more with north, Leicester with south). I’ll have a dig around to see if I can find it.

The North starts where ever folk lose the ability to pronounce Bath and grass properly

Sheffield/ Manchester. All the way up to Carlisle. Except for Newcastle there just geordies and Liverpool who are paddies that could swim. 😉

Kip, I live in Kelsall and so am probably south of you… Bottom line is you are a northener, simple way to know is you don’t watch or have any interest is midlands tonight news do you?! NO its NORTH WEST TONIGHT! Hurrah case solved!

The South starts where ever folk lose the ability to pronounce Bath and grass properly.

I agree. If it was meant to sound like ‘barth’ it would have the r in the middle.

North of London innit.

No way Lincoln and Choke on Stench are in the north!

Go through this arch and you’re in the North

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although I wouldn’t recommend it.

marcus7 – bless your little heart, that’ll be the village I’m talking about then! I think you’ll find that it is just about north and east of Chester but only just :D. As for the farming/forestry deprivation – did you ever go into the farmer’s arms pre T’House at Top on a friday night (so glad it’s the Farmer’s again makes asking for a bus ticket sooo much easier)?!

You’ll ride Delamere then? I got hassled by some scouse lad with a DH rig a while back when visiting folks. Should’ve seen his face when I asked him if he was local enough to have ridden there!

I grew up in London but my Mum is from “oop North” and a lot of our holidays were spent around the Lake District or Scotland. To me, “North” began where my Grandparents lived which was near Liverpool.

Midlands was sort of Oxford – Birmingham – Stoke corridor as we drove up there.

Midlands – Middlesbro to peterborough ish

North – borders to boro and across to Lancaster area. Manchester isnt north!

South below peterborough to sth coast.

Watford gap services, end of 😉

Cheshire is in the North. If not, I’ll have to change my passport.

Kip, anyone who needs a DH rig in delamere needs help! nice one liner though :wink:, delamere is a regular ride and if you about the area on a monday night your welcome to join us!

Well they didnt put this in Sheffield so Gateshead must be the gateway!

Hang on, when you cross the Thames and end up on the South Bank they ask you for your passport. They don’t in Islington. Nor in Birmingham (I don’t go any further for the fear of getting arrested for good looks).

as Lister says. Go over the Tyne bridge and you are very much in the south

carbon337 If that was in sheffield it would’ve been stainless!

NORTH yorkshire (clue in the name) rest is south, just draw line across the country! 😉

Dalwhinnie.

when your auntie is your sister
your uncle is your brother………….. 😯

North starts before you get to the basque country just so you know 😉

When you don’t get a full pint in the pub, because it’s all froth…That’s the North

Oban…beyond that you get the real north, not the Londoners north.

skipton never ventured more south that sheffield boy it was scary 😐

Draw a line from Hull to Liverpool, above is North England, below is the Midlands. Scotland is superfluous to this conversation 🙄

Scotland shouldn’t be included as it’s a whole different country and for all I care, they probably have their own definition of north and south.

The north is north of Birmingham, the south is south of Birmingham. Birmingham itself is in the midlands.

If Birminham has to be one or the other, it is definately north as the people are warm, friendly and say bath not barth.

If you say ‘t’ instead of ‘the’ then you’re from t’north.
If you say ‘ap’ instead of ‘up’ then you’re from the ‘saaaaaaf aint ya’.
If you just talk normal then you’re from the midlands….done! (apart from brummies..!)

north of taunton is north. i had to revise this from further south a few years ago.

If Birminham has to be one or the other, it is definitely north as the people are warm, friendly

oh yeah. shake you warmly by the throat, then friendly by the ankles, it’s in the north alright.

Answer is clear – North starts at the most southerly point of the Pennines in dark peak, where the millstone grit appears!