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How dare you Eastenders pretend to be the only proper Cockneys. St Mary Le Bow is in Cheapside, not the East End you'd need to be from Southark or the city to be a proper cockney, like what I am.
Anyway, I don't wish I lived up North, I know that when you Bumpkins come to town you get a bit frightened and think everyone is arrogant and up themselves but that's just paranoia. London is the most friendly and welcoming city on Earth , full of kind, giving people with a diverse cultural background who are more than happy that they live there.
It makes me laugh when I see threads about "what to do in that London" what not to do.. everything you could want in a city is here in our great metropolis.
London, quite frankly, rules.
So davidtaylforth to answer the OP's question I'm assuming you'd say 'Yes'
Don't you wish you lived up north?
Unfortunately for me (and many others who live down here), Im your typical southerner. I fail to have dreams, wishes, an imagination or a sense of humour. I dont know what I enjoy in life but Im told and reminded on a regular basis that its shiney things that cost alot of money and the best way to attain them is by living and working down here.
Well its riding time again YAHOO ! Me and my northern mates are off out to play up ont moors. Beers on offer at the local tonight !! and we might just discuss how GREAT it is living up north. London ? ok for a visit but who would want to live there.
Is there any singletrack down south ? 8)
why do northerners need to reassure themselves all the time? can't they just get on with being amazing, interesting people and living in gods own country without feeling the need to broadcast it to everyone else?
I'm guessing that because we're all posting on an mtb forum, we all go mtbing,(with the exception of Hora) 😉 So to do this you need hills, mountains, woods, singletrack, bridleways, green fields and man made trail centres.
These things are everywhere of course but you can't deny they are mostly in The North.
These things are everywhere of course but you can't deny they are mostly in The North.
really? i thought wales and scotland would have more?
Isn't the North anywhere after Watford?
North Wales is in the err North 🙂
why do northerners need to reassure themselves all the time?
why do [s]northerners[/s] some people need to reassure themselves all the time?
There, fixed that for you.
The answer to the OP's question is NO! I get spontaneous nosebleeds north of Tiverton.
Cheshire is most definitely north - it's north west -
so, in answer to my question: 'London, convince me it's great - what's a chap to do for 4 hours around the waterloo area'
the only 3 answers i've got so far* are:
1) watch some boats**
2) amble round the porn shops (actually a good idea)
3) find me a Londoner, and argue with him/her about how great/crap the north/south is/isn't.
if that's really the best London has to offer, then it seems i shall be keeping my bored-with-london prejudices for a while yet.
(*that aren't; walk around for a bit / use public transport / buy tat)
(**seriously)
(Cheshire really isn't in the North - i'm not even sure Sheffield is)
there's nothing wrong with 'the south' some of it is very nice, but perhaps a little close to London. And there's nothing wrong with London, it's just, er, it's just, that it's exactly as crap or good as everywhere else.
Haringay - that's in London, that makes it great yes?
Tower Hamlets, Peckham?
woods, singletrack
LOADS of that in the South!
South East = crowded but cool
South West = great beaches and crowded but cool
North = barren empty shit
if that's really the best London has to offer, then it seems i shall be keeping my bored-with-london prejudices for a while yet.
The Parks
The Palaces
The Museums
The Galleries
The Wallace Collection
The pubs
The bike shops
The wondrous diversity of cultures
The food
The music
The theatre
The gigs
The coffee shops
The view across the river at sunset
The street markets
The churches (all faiths)
The huge amount of beautiful people
The history
The present
The future
The curry
The beer
The comedy
The willingness to embrace and welcome anyone
The egalitarian nature of housing in the many little villages which make up London
Walking
Cycling
Taking a boat up river
Kew Gardens
The Zoo
And I've barely scratched the surface.
North = barren empty shit
The North? Empty?
Half of it's one great big busy conurbation full of insane drivers, it seems to me.
Ok lose the empty and your there, but its so shit I'm surprised its not empty
CFH. You can never sell it to me.
I remember trying to scrub a bath with so much limescale I got muscles.
Well it could be worse guys...you could live in Milton Keynes a hideous London overspill without the culture and **** all to do but go shopping. I for one wouldn't mind getting out of here for a bit of northern action....if only I could find a job.
South West is like an honorary part of the North* (shit pay
Plenty of money to be earnt in brizzle joe. 😀
I see what you mean in a way, I had never heard of the north/south divide until I left bristol at 18.
Milton Keynes a hideous London overspill without the culture and **** all to do but go shopping
True enough, indeed most satellite towns are awful. Staines, Slough, Croydon, Watford. All the fun is sucked into the city
Bristol's hardly the South West proper tho is it?
(Cheshire really isn't in the North - i'm not even sure Sheffield is)
nope, you're wrong, Cheshire really is in the north, north west to be precise. Hence I'm watching news north west. Where do you suppose it is? Granted it's not as far north as Sunderland but north is most certainly is
Bristol's hardly the South West proper tho is it?
As far as I'm concerned the north starts on the eastbound hard shoulder of the m4.
davidtaylforth - MemberUnfortunately for me (and many others who live down here), Im your typical southerner. I fail to have dreams, wishes, an imagination or a sense of humour. I dont know what I enjoy in life but Im told and reminded on a regular basis that its shiney things that cost alot of money and the best way to attain them is by living and working down here.
You certainly bitch enough to be a Northerner. Why don't you drive up the M1 and live your dream? 😛
molgrips - Member
Bristol's hardly the South West proper tho is it?
Other than the inarguable fact that it is in the South-West, most of the people who live there would culturally identify with the South-West, the Bristolian accent is clearly West Country and the city itself is the largest city in the South-West, you're absolutely right.
Where do you live? I heard some knob on the BBC describing Reading as a West Country city earlier.
What to do for 4 hours in Waterloo.
OK - I'll try
Within a 10 minute walk
The London Eye
The London Aquarium
Borough Market
The Tate Modern
The Old Vic
The New Vic
Cuba Cuban Restaurant superb food the best Mohitos
Culture Grub The best noodles Ive had anywhere
Gabriels Wharf
The IMAX
The Southbank
Hayward Gallery
National Theatre
Konditor and Cook
Covent Garden
Jacks Bar
The Oxo Tower
I reckon there's a few hours there.
I've always thought of Gloucester as being west country too.
The North starts at Barrow in Furness, everywhere south of that is collectively known as "Shandyland" 😛
It's right on the edge of the South-West, its accent is just like most of rural Southern England (Herefordshire anyone?). And it's right on the very edge of what you'd call the South West anyway and closer to Wales and the Midlands than anywhere else.
I said hardly the South West PROPER, meaning that the South West is a place noted for its countryside, moors and coastline, not cities. So someone from Bristol is hardly a Wurzel.
Shandy?
While happy not to be described as a wurzel, bristol is definately south west. Having said that, I'll often refer to it as west country. The accent is more somerset than hereford.
re the premis of the thread though I don't wish I lived up North, having grown up on the cultural desolation of Cumbria I'm a happy southerner now (although to be fair by Southern I mean New Zealand so maybe that colours my opinion somewhat - being all mountainy and singletracky and stuff)
backhander - Member
I've always thought of Gloucester as being west country too.
It is.
The historic counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Gloucestershire plus the City of Bristol.
Not to be confused with the ancient kingdom of Wessex which is larger and incorporates the aforementioned plus Hampshire (and I.of.W), Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
So where's Herefordshire come then?
I said hardly the South West PROPER, meaning that the South West is a place noted for its countryside, moors and coastline, not cities. So someone from Bristol is hardly a Wurzel.Posted 1 minute ago # Report-Post
By that logic Plymouth, Exeter and any other city in a predominatly rural area fail to qualify, but there will always be centres of population even in relatively sparsely inhabited areas.
Bristol definitely feels West Country to me.
Herefordshire is west mids is it not?
molgrips - Member
So where's Herefordshire come then?
The West Midlands.
Got a half day at work tomorrow, can't decide whether to go for a ride in The Dales, on The Moors or go for a spin around Dalby Forest...think I'll have a nice pint and then decide.
Hmmm I'm split between the Quantocks, S Wales, Mendips, Exmoor or even Dartmoor if I fancy a longish drive. 😀
The historic counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Gloucestershire plus the City of Bristol.
And as a westcountry born and bred lad.. I grudgingly agree with this too.. regardless of 'official' classifications or historical documentation.. the accents are similar enough up that way to the ones that feature all the way down to Penzance.. and that's good enough for me and I'll bet me cider on it bey..
Accents from certain estates in Brizzle and Plymuff can be quite hard to distinguish between.. Although some people would argue that the Brizzle contingent just fake their accent for kudos and /or a giggle..
I nearly fell off me haystack too when I heard Westcountry accents in Gloucester the first time I was up there..
Oh and FWIW... Anywhere North of the corner of my house is full of Northerners by my measure..
they are Welsh... Same as BristoliansSo where's Herefordshire come then?
Same here Pogo (apart from the pint). Going to mtb all around our local trails, which will be 4 minutes from my door, into proper hills and look out for all the wildlife.
In a few years time we're selling up and heading further up North.
5mins, 20mins, 60mins think it'll be the moors, out the door on my bike, ooh country side, aaahhh peace and quiet, fresh air and lovely beer mmmmmmmm.....
Most Londoners i know would love to be up North but cant face taking a pay cut from their over inflated salary nor the prospect of owning a place they live in that has stairs on the right side of the front door!
Can i just say that working in saddleworth looking at the moors all day is rubbish, its such a distraction!
Just to check, when people say the south (as in south of England) I'm assuming they mean like Sheffield maybe? And the midlands would be the bit between Sheffield and Leeds (ie Wakefield / Barnsley) - no?
On that basis I don't know what people are saying about there being no singletrack in the south.
The West Midlands is flippin Brummies.. Which Herefordshire most definitely is not. It's the land that the rest of the country forgot about!
Anyway. Wales FTW. Everything the North has but better, and nearer to the airports.