Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
It’s grim up north. Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
|
Jul 26, 2022 23:12:55 GMT
|
I had read the beginnings of this thread but lost interest, because I couldn't follow Your discussions of certain english regions and cities without consulting maps permanently. Then I forgot to revisit until today. And now that I overflew it, I will take the time soon one evening to read it properly again. Thanks for taking the time to write this down, when You already seem to be having 28hours days with moving Your garage, contructing/restoring the transit and what else You are doing. The north/south divide in England is a huge thing, and is only getting bigger in recent years. It’s certainly a lot simpler than the cultural dividing lines in Germany (I assume you’re German from the way you phrase things?) Germany is more devolved than the uk, England especially is massively London-centric, to the detriment of most of the rest of the country. Where you’re from in England massively effects who you are, Probably more so than any other country, and certainly any other country this small. more importantly it influences how people from other areas see you. If you’re from the north you’re born with quite a disadvantage over your average southerner in most aspects of life. You’ll generally earn less and get given less opportunities in life. People are generally less educated, and healthcare and life expectancy are worse. Houses and some other things are cheaper up here though. It’s what makes northerners culturally different to those from other parts of the country, and I live in one of the better bits of the north! Painting with broad brush strokes (before anyone jumps down my throat) Basically the north is stereotypically —poor (which leads on to everyone being tight) -pretty and quite sparsely populated on the whole (except the cities, they’re grim and overcrowded) -full of friendly but straight talking people. -generally a bit right wing and backwards. -about 10 years behind the south. The south is stereotypically overpopulated everywhere, even the bits southerners think are countryside, everyone is rich but also arrogant, rude, self-interested and prone to not speaking what they really think for various reasons, but also more left wing and liberal. . Now obviously we know that that’s not all true, especially when you start trying to square political leanings with geography it starts to fall apart, but that’s the overriding image that prevails in our culture, and a lot of our comedy, drama and music reiterates that. Having lived both sides for extended periods, I definitely think you have to conduct yourself differently down south to get ahead in life than you would up north. There’s also the midlands but both the northerners and southerners kinda just ignore that that area exists, Proably for the best tbh 😂 And I’ll be spending more time finishing this off now as other things come together, I need to finish telling this story before I can move on to my chapter. |
| |
|
|
|
|
braaap
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,741
|
|
|
|
Thank You for taking the time for this explanation, really appreciate this knowing about (many of) Your ongoing projects! Yes, I'm german, but not one of the proud-to-be-german-type, I wasn't asked where I want to be born, I think I was just lucky to be born here than in ... let's say bangladesh as an extreme example. We have similarly splitted regions over here and the time before the reunion still plays a big part. Former east germany still is seen as second-class germany when it comes to payment, comparable to men vs. women. I'm not so sure who earns better, west-women or east-men.  I would rather live up-north than in the economically better situated south, people in the north are just nicer. But I don't want to go into detail here. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir !!
What's wrong with the Midlands, (that napalm couldn't cure ??)
Seriously, I thought your explanation of our "geographical divide" to be excellent, as a Midlander who's lived down south for over 30 years,
Nigel
|
| |
BMW E39 525i Sport
BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other things I have noticed are the kids are better behaved up north but also Wealth is a generational thing, old farts like me who bought our houses down south 35 years ago are Ok and benefit from the generally slightly higher pay and of course on paper at least we are far wealthier (doesn't really help your standard of living if it's all tied up in a house), this is offset by things costing much more particularly if you pay people to do things.
The youngsters I am working with (mostly graduate engineers) are moving up north if they can though, up there they can get a first home (flat or small terraced house) for less than £100k, down here that's at least £300k translate that difference into a monthly mortgage and it's roughly £1000 a month so a even with perhaps a £500 a month paycut they are still much better off.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 28, 2022 12:12:18 GMT
|
|
There is a big exodus of NHS staff to the north now - 80k pay in London but £3,000 a month rent and no-where to park a car.
In the north they get around 75% of the wage but a tiny travel time and approx 30% of the London outgoings.
So overall, far more money in their pockets, far bigger homes, far shorter commute times, far more family time.
|
| |
|
|
merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 480
Club RR Member Number: 9
|
It’s grim up north. merryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
|
Jul 28, 2022 12:17:45 GMT
|
The south is stereotypically overpopulated everywhere, even the bits southerners think are countryside, everyone is rich but also arrogant, rude, self-interested and prone to not speaking what they really think for various reasons, but also more left wing and liberal. . As a southerner (if I stand up I can see Calais from this window) I fully endorse this message. I thoroughly consider myself to be better than anyone north of the Thames, or west of Guildford. Don't get me started on the French. If I could reach them from here I'd give them what for. Sometimes I stand up on the white cliffs and shake my fist aggressively. There’s also the midlands but both the northerners and southerners kinda just ignore that that area exists, Proably for the best tbh 😂 I thought the Midlands was made up by mothers trying to control their unruly kids. Along the lines of "Behave or I'll send you to the midlands!". Certainly worked on me as a child. |
| |
|
|
Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
It’s grim up north. Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
|
Jul 28, 2022 12:47:37 GMT
|
There’s also the midlands but both the northerners and southerners kinda just ignore that that area exists, Proably for the best tbh 😂 I thought the Midlands was made up by mothers trying to control their unruly kids. Along the lines of "Behave or I'll send you to the midlands!". Certainly worked on me as a child. I mean, being sent to Coventry sounded pretty serious to me as a kid, and that was before I’d even been there 😂 Although these days being sent to corby would be more apt…. (Or Kettering, or northants, or Milton Keynes or peebo) I can forgive the existence of the midlands for one reason though- Black Sabbath. (The first 5 albums anyways). |
| |
Last Edit: Jul 28, 2022 12:49:24 GMT by Dez
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 28, 2022 16:48:01 GMT
|
|
Rather unkind comments about towns that are local to me Dez.
My wife is from the North East and we visit fairly regularly to see friends and also just enjoy the area. I could make similar comments about areas up there. One of wifey's friends is stuck in the hell hole that is Horden. The current custom is to randomly burn cars on the green near her house, usually one a week but sometimes two. The owners never see a conviction for these as no one will speak out for fear of the result (usually your house mysteriously burning down).
The point is all areas have good and bad. Corby is far better than it was years ago (I don't live there but have some good mates there who are top guys) but I'll agree that Kettering is looking very run down these days.
|
| |
Proton Jumbuck-deceased :-(
2005 Kia Sorento the parts hauling heap
V8 Humber Hawk
1948 Standard12 pickup SOLD
1953 Pop build (wifey's BIVA build).
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 28, 2022 17:04:30 GMT
|
|
Sorry, got cut off and had to wind up the post short.
|
| |
Proton Jumbuck-deceased :-(
2005 Kia Sorento the parts hauling heap
V8 Humber Hawk
1948 Standard12 pickup SOLD
1953 Pop build (wifey's BIVA build).
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 28, 2022 19:56:16 GMT
|
I thought the Midlands was made up by mothers trying to control their unruly kids. Along the lines of "Behave or I'll send you to the midlands!". Certainly worked on me as a child. I mean, being sent to Coventry sounded pretty serious to me as a kid, and that was before I’d even been there 😂 Although these days being sent to corby would be more apt…. (Or Kettering, or northants, or Milton Keynes or peebo) I can forgive the existence of the midlands for one reason though- Black Sabbath. (The first 5 albums anyways). Heavan & Hell is a fantastic album waaay past No 5 |
| |
Last Edit: Jul 28, 2022 19:56:52 GMT by rattlecan
|
|
|
|
Kron
Part of things
Posts: 260 
|
|
Jul 28, 2022 20:01:00 GMT
|
I thought the Midlands was made up by mothers trying to control their unruly kids. Along the lines of "Behave or I'll send you to the midlands!". Certainly worked on me as a child. I mean, being sent to Coventry sounded pretty serious to me as a kid, and that was before I’d even been there 😂 Although these days being sent to corby would be more apt…. (Or Kettering, or northants, or Milton Keynes or peebo) I can forgive the existence of the midlands for one reason though- Black Sabbath. (The first 5 albums anyways). Harsh, Corby bred and born. It has its quirks and has had its hard times, especially when the steelworks went into decline, but not a more genuine folk will you find than Corby folk, if you can find any these days 🙃 |
| |
Last Edit: Jul 28, 2022 20:51:40 GMT by Kron
|
|
|
|
|
Jul 28, 2022 20:30:15 GMT
|
I mean, being sent to Coventry sounded pretty serious to me as a kid, and that was before I’d even been there 😂 Although these days being sent to corby would be more apt…. (Or Kettering, or northants, or Milton Keynes or peebo) I can forgive the existence of the midlands for one reason though- Black Sabbath. (The first 5 albums anyways). Harsh, Corby bred and born. It has its quirks and has had its hard times, espcially when the steelworks went into decline, but not a more genuine folk will you find than Corby folk, if you can find any these days 🙃 Scottish then 🤣 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I mean, being sent to Coventry sounded pretty serious to me as a kid, and that was before I’d even been there 😂 Although these days being sent to corby would be more apt…. (Or Kettering, or northants, or Milton Keynes or peebo) I can forgive the existence of the midlands for one reason though- Black Sabbath. (The first 5 albums anyways). Harsh, Corby bred and born. It has its quirks and has had its hard times, especially when the steelworks went into decline, but not a more genuine folk will you find than Corby folk, if you can find any these days 🙃 I think a lot of Midland/Northern towns went through this stage. My hometown of Chesterfield was hit what seemed a continuous wave of the pit closures, steel works closing and large engineering plants closing. People move into different lines of work and the town gradually recovers. When I think of growing up in my village of Brimington it was full of hard men and probably harder women but things seem a lot softer now. There's even someone with a Mercedes on my mums street! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Harsh, Corby bred and born. It has its quirks and has had its hard times, especially when the steelworks went into decline, but not a more genuine folk will you find than Corby folk, if you can find any these days 🙃 I think a lot of Midland/Northern towns went through this stage. My hometown of Chesterfield was hit what seemed a continuous wave of the pit closures, steel works closing and large engineering plants closing. People move into different lines of work and the town gradually recovers. When I think of growing up in my village of Brimington it was full of hard men and probably harder women but things seem a lot softer now. There's even someone with a Mercedes on my mums street! My son bought his first home in Brim (on a small estate, near a primary school) seemed a lovely little place. He’s gone a bit up market though now. Lives in Cutthorpe. |
| |
Last Edit: Jul 29, 2022 6:24:38 GMT by rattlecan
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There’s also the midlands but both the northerners and southerners kinda just ignore that that area exists, Proably for the best tbh 😂 Hahaha, yes it's the buffer zone that neither side want lol |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I think a lot of Midland/Northern towns went through this stage. My hometown of Chesterfield was hit what seemed a continuous wave of the pit closures, steel works closing and large engineering plants closing. People move into different lines of work and the town gradually recovers. When I think of growing up in my village of Brimington it was full of hard men and probably harder women but things seem a lot softer now. There's even someone with a Mercedes on my mums street! My son bought his first home in Brim (on a small estate, near a primary school) seemed a lovely little place. He’s gone a bit up market though now. Lives in Cutthorpe. My wife's Dad always used to tell her not to go drinking up Brim as it was too rough. My parents still live there on the same street I was born on. We moved just down the street when I was 4 and they've stayed there for 48 years! Cutthorpe is lovely and not far from my place at Linacre Woods. |
| |
|
|
Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
It’s grim up north. Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
|
|
|
|
For everyone/anyone getting slightly uppity at *their* town getting ribbed for being a bit sh1te- you seem to have missed the whole tone of the thread, nowhere is exempt from such derision 😉
Importantly though, I think that’s another aspect of Britishness that’s hard to avoid. Because it’s a small island, the sh1t bits aren’t very far from the perceived ‘posh’ bits.
London is a microcosm of this, turn down the wrong street in certain parts and you go from multi-million pound mansions to getting shanked for your shoes.
The midlands is that on a larger scale, all the money gets spent on Cambridge and Ely cos that’s where the outsiders go, the rest is left to rot cos no one intentionally goes poking round a council estate In Peterborough for a day out (well I know some people who might but they’re rather weird).
We, and the powers that be, would like to think Britain isn’t like it was in the 80s, it’s all far more civilised now. Truth is those same people who lived then are often still alive and living in the same way, they’ve just been pushed deeper/further away in an attempt to try to hide them, making it all the more stark when you stumble into their world. I had a very surreal experience of this in a particularly rough part of Birmingham a few years back, it’s was like id stumbled down a wormhole and I was now in a gritty 1980s pit village after the closures.
|
| |
Last Edit: Jul 29, 2022 8:13:01 GMT by Dez
|
|
mylittletony
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,419
Club RR Member Number: 84
|
It’s grim up north. mylittletony
@mylittletony
Club Retro Rides Member 84
|
|
|
... in a particularly rough part of Birmingham a few years back, it’s was like id stumbled down a wormhole and I was now in a gritty 1980s pit village after the closures. Smethwick?? I'm there today for work. Fires in oil drums, stacks of dumped tyres and burnt out cars etc etc. Like some sort of post-apocalypse film set... |
| |
|
|
Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
It’s grim up north. Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
|
|
|
... in a particularly rough part of Birmingham a few years back, it’s was like id stumbled down a wormhole and I was now in a gritty 1980s pit village after the closures. Smethwick?? I'm there today for work. Fires in oil drums, stacks of dumped tyres and burnt out cars etc etc. Like some sort of post-apocalypse film set... I cant remember the name of the suburb but yes, exactly that. A couple of lads removing the engine from a car sat on breeze blocks on the street, with no engine crane just some scaffold poles. Whist another lad razzed up and down the street and round the burning bin on his pony and trap. I mean I’ve been to some *really* dodgy bits of the country chasing cars and parts, but I think it possibly takes the CROWN. If it wasn’t for the impending doom felt as an outsider in such an area, I’d have loved to hang around and drink it in. |
| |
|
|
Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
|
It’s grim up north. Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
|
|
|
I mean, being sent to Coventry sounded pretty serious to me as a kid, and that was before I’d even been there 😂 Although these days being sent to corby would be more apt…. (Or Kettering, or northants, or Milton Keynes or peebo) I can forgive the existence of the midlands for one reason though- Black Sabbath. (The first 5 albums anyways). Heavan & Hell is a fantastic album waaay past No 5 I’m in the ‘Dio era sabbath should not have been called black sabbath’ camp. It’s not bad music, but is very different to the earlier work- too different to carry the name in my eyes. I’d have had more respect for them if they’d renamed (like they later did for the reunion stuff) but iommi had the rights and he was damn well gunna keep trading off that name! |
| |
|
|
|
|
