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A30/A303
but a reference point would be that Haltwhistle in Northumberland is geographically the centre of Britain …
It's Dunsop Bridge in the Forest of Bowland.
The North starts when I pass the Ram Jam Inn on the A1.
Is there a map showing the density of pie warmers in work canteens? That’ll show the true north.
M62 as the border is a little too far North. Places like Birkenhead, Warrington, Oldham, Stockport, Barnsley, New Mills are definitely Northern in my book. I'd put the border from the Dee to the Humber, and maybe pull it South a bit to include Sheffield.
For those using the River Mersey as the border between North and South, the Mersey starts where the River Tame meets the Goyt River behind Asda in Stockport town centre. Just saying.
By my reckoning this line should define the border between North and South
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Anything south of Preston is the south.
Anything north of Perth is the north.
Anything in between is the Midlands*.
*I've just made myself a Midlander, oh the shame. Hope I don't get one of those bloody accents!
Drac & ranos ..it really depends what you wish to believe ..the Military Road still has signs proclaiming Haltwhistle to be the centre of Britain ..and I found this online ..please note the date ( 2014) ..it doesn't look like anything has been " abolished "
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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/30883686707/ ]Screenshot_20181111-083826_Google[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/ ]Neil Hodgson[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode_lite ]Flickr2BBcode LITE[/url]
M62 line makes sense to me, or Humber across to the Mersey, same difference.
Moved to Chesterfield years ago after living in the south and now work in Sheffield. Although Sheffielders consider themselves northern by virtue of just about being in Yorkshire, they're really middlanders. They don't seem to like it when you tell them that. Oh and Hendersons relish is just a pale imitation of Worcestershire sauce.
Edit: we're obviously talking about England here, Scotland is a separate country completely.
and I found this online ..please note the date ( 2014) ..it doesn’t look like anything has been ” abolished ”
Yeah click the link and read the story.
If you have to split England/Wales into 2 (ie North South) a Sheffield University study based on social/economic factors
https://thetab.com/uk/sheffield/2017/01/11/finally-someone-sheffield-uni-told-us-north-19761
Updated to include other regions
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It's down South.
scu98rkr has it. I’ve been to Lincoln where everything still seemed normal albeit a bit quiet - South, and Nottingham where people definitely put gravy on there chips - North
Now I'm totally confuggled... 🙂
Drac ..I did read the link ..so which part of Haltwhistle having strong claims to be the centre of Britain did you not understand ..
In case you are having problems digesting what the article actually says..the village mentioned much further south would only lay claim to being the centre of the UK ..if Scotland became an independent country ( therefore not part of the UK)..
Did you read & understand the article ?
Hope this clears it up for you 😁
1. 'The North' is a weird dreamscape devised by 'proud northerners' which begins approximately two miles to the south of wherever they happen to be. Mostly it's in their heads.
2. The above is superceded in any location roughly to the south of Stoke on Trent, which cannot under any circumstances be 'The North', once you get beyond that, it's a moveable feast.
3. Particularly charismatic northerners sit at the centre of a small sphere of 'northernness' which exists regardless of their geographic location and is sustained by them grumbling endlessly about how much better it is 'oop north'. This can happen anywhere in the world, except in 'The North'.
The true North is effectively defined then as the point where 'true northerners's stop grumbling about how much better it would be if they were up north because, in their heads they are already there.
Finally, you can cut through all the above by remembering the central tenet of northernness, 'It's grim oop north'. In other words, if it's grim, it's probably The North.
I do laugh at those who think Oxford is in the South, it’s in the Midlands...
Isn't it just where the working class live?
Did you check your road atlas there?
Probably used a map on the internet as we are no longer in 1982.
If it’s grim oop North then the North is this narrow corridor
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In case you are having problems digesting what the article actually says..the village mentioned much further south would only lay claim to being the centre of the UK ..if Scotland became an independent country ( therefore not part of the UK)..
What on earth are you on about? Meriden claims to be the centre of England, not the UK. Dunsop Bridge claims to be the centre of the GB, and the OS agrees (actually a couple of miles down the road I think).
M62 is not a bad line but deviate south a bit because Sheffield is definitely in the North.
But south of that is not South. It's Midlands.
I'm from the Wirral and t'lass is from Manchester. She always says she's northern and I'm just posh, while I maintain I'm every bit as northern as she.
Is she right?.😄
I put the line above Sheffield as imo Sheffield isn’t (that) grim
I live in the west though lots of people who don't live here think it's the north. I have to travel north east to get to the north.If I travel east north east I can get to the north east. I can travel south to where I was born in the south west but if I go to far south I end up in the north again.
Easier to define the south as that area below a perceived line, after which, there's not really anything interesting? just south of peak district I'd say.
Anything south of the A66 is Southern
@Houns spot on, the so called Grim North is just a buffer zone to keep the southerners out by making them think it's all like that
Apparently Mischief Night is only "celebrated" in the north, so one definition would be that if you get a brick through your window, boot polish on your door handle, dog poo through the letter box, or the street signs are swapped around, on some date around hallowe'en/bonfire night, then you live in the north (of England, presumably).
Errr ranos ..what the hell are you on about? ..I'm on about the village in Shropshire ..
Did I say anything at all about Meriden ?
Please get it right before blindly jumping in ..😂
I flip it the other way around - too easy to think bottom up. No one ever had aspirations to be from the midlands. The midlands might as well be called the beigelands. All the best bits of England in terms of geography are in the north or south (though admittedly the south is a coast specialist and the countryside is not all that). So the north starts as soon as you can reasonably get away with it. I'd put Chesterfield and Stoke-on-Trent as the first English city/towns that can get away with being northern. Same the other direction with maybe Oxford the last city in latitude that can call itself southern. Luton is a hole, the midlands can have it and Gloucester/Cheltenham are collateral damage to ensure Luton is the correct side of the boarder. Norfolk is neither southern or from the midlands but is in fact its own culture/race entirely.
Manchester and Sheffield are definitely northern. It's silly that people in the NE think everyone else is southern.<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> It's a bit like someone who is 7ft tall refusing to accept that a 6ft 9 bloke is also tall.</span>
Southerners on the other hand tend to get nosebleeds after Stansted and complain about the North but rarely go there, if ever.
Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Bucks and Herts are Southern. Possibly with the inclusion of Herefordshire and Shropshire in summer - they then revert to being Northern in winter.
Worcs, Warwickshire and Northans are all Northern, as is everything above.
Beds, Cambs, Lincolnshire and those eastern counties are neither Northern nor Southern but some other weird entity, a bit like Holland.
I live in the west though lots of people who don’t live here think it’s the north. I have to travel north east to get to the north.If I travel east north east I can get to the north east
I used to think this too until Nobeerinthefridge informed me that I don’t actually live in the west, because my west isn’t west enough.
Too close to Harthill Services apparently.
Everything South of Sheffield is still part of France isn't it?..
The North = Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Merseyside.
Scotland is Scotland and has its own North and South, like Yorkshire it's big enough too warrant that.
The Northeast is not the north and is county Durham and Tyne and wear.
The lake district is not the North and is Cumbria.
The above are all North, but the The North
The below are all South but not The South
The midlands are Norfolk, lincs, notts, worcs, Warwickshire, Shropshire and staffs.
Wales is just Wales.
The South West is not The South and is Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
I think Herefordshire is in Wales as it's certainly not the Midlands or the South west.
The South is that easterly bit thats left.
Easy - anywhere where they put gravy on the chips on their shoulder 😉
Is/was there a derilict factory in your town that had or has been for sale for ages, and is a bit of an eyesore?
If it was knocked down to make space for housing years ago, you probably live in the south
If it was repurposed as an art gallery or shared space , you probably live in the Midlands, Wales or Scotland
If it's just remained a shell for as long as people can remember , then you probably live in the north
Oh and Hendersons relish is just a pale imitation of Worcestershire sauce.
Do you have some sort of death wish saying things like that?
We take this sort of thing seriously.
Surrey Hills
Stoke is in the Midlands, just because it's a bit of a hole doesn't make it Northern. By the same token Harrogate is still Northern despite being an enclave of Surrey.
Errr ranos ..what the hell are you on about? ..I’m on about the village in Shropshire ..
Ah, so in a discussion about the centre of GB, you decided to talk about something else.
Did I say anything at all about Meriden ?
You didn't name the place at all. I was putting you right.
Please get it right before blindly jumping in ..😂
Do you open your mouth for reasons other than exchanging feet?
Never understood the confusion on this one. Almost every map of the UK I've ever seen has had a line clearly marked on it to show where the split is. It runs from Gretna to Berwick. HTH.
On the oft-quoted road-sign front, I've seen signs for "The North" when I've been latitudinally-advantaged over Inverness....