Life in England – North vs South

In every country the world over there are differences between regions. Life in one city is rarely exactly the same as the next, and the same can be said for accents and dialects. One place that truly showcases this like nowhere else on earth, I believe, is England.

There should be a line, with a slightly blurry bit in the middle, between the north of England, and the south, because the way of life between the two is very different indeed.

Obviously, it’s still England, so many things are still the same, but the way people speak, what they eat, watch they watch on TV, right down to the way they interact, is very different.

Accents
There are more accents ‘up north’ than there are down south. Think of the Liverpool accent for instance, this is a total 360 on the London accent, and aside from the Cockney and Brummie accents, many dialects ‘down south’ are quite similar. Up north however, this isn’t the case. You have the Yorkshire accent, the Mancunian twang, the aforementioned Liverpudlian way of speaking, the Geordie accent, and the Derbyshire dialect. There are subtle differences between towns, making travelling around the north very interesting when you’re trying to understand what people are saying!

Food!
Fish and chips up north, with gravy or curry sauce, isn’t the same down south! Similarly, you wouldn’t really catch anyone up north eating jellied eels, like they do in the East End of London! Cornish pasties in Cornwall are totally different to the ones you get in bakeries in Yorkshire. The list goes on!

Way of life
I live up north, so I can comment on this properly, but compared to life down in the busy southern cities, again we’ll use London as an example, people up north are a little, dare I say it, friendlier? Not everyone, obviously, but in London you simply don’t even look at someone in the street, let alone speak to them, however walk down a street in a large northern town, and you’ll probably find someone says ‘hello’ to you at some point.

Football
Football is a huge way of life in Britain, let alone England, but the north versus south divide is quite obvious here! The southern teams of Arsenal, Chelsea etc, versus the northern giants of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool … the clashes between these are legendary, and this is when you will find half of the country glued to the TV.

Head to the city
Many people, regardless of where they were born, tend to flock to London for work, especially in certain areas of trade, such as film, TV, graphics, etc, simply because this is where there are more opportunities. The northern cities offer some opportunities, but for the big careers, the capital is undoubtedly where it’s at.

I find the differences between north and south intriguing and interesting, and for anyone who hasn’t visited England before, it may be a shock. Outsiders tend to think of London and nothing else, thinking the rest of the country is the same, however England is a varied, diverse, and beautiful country, with massive differences between counties – grab your camera and get exploring!