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“How to Make it Up North if you’re a Southerner” The Times 1 July 2026

The Article written by 2 journalists from Yorkshire made me laugh.  They were giving tips for Southerners who might have to relocate northwards for job opportunities if Andy Burnham relocates part of national government to Manchester. In their guide to geography:  “Birmingham and Cambridge are also ‘in the north’.  As one leaves town for the M1 there’s an arrowed sign at Brent Cross that says somewhat vaguely “The North.”  It may as well read ‘abandon all hope’. On social rule breaking: “Ignore a stranger who starts chatting to you in a queue?  Expect a call from the police” There’s no such thing as lunch: “A northerner might say ‘I had me dinner at lunchtime.’ ….All complete gibberish to anyone from Chelsea” Very funny article.  What is lunch, by the way, it will always be dinner in our house, bab!

Martine Guy ● 5h9 Comments

I used to go up to Stockport when I was young, my mums brother lived there and her other 2 bothers Chester. I still speak to my cousins in Chester on the Sealand Rd. Must have been when the war finished they must moved up there, one of them was also a boxer. My mum stayed down here, so I was with my dads family. My mums dad died in 1926 and is buried in Sheen cemetery. My mum would be 118.

Barbara Stevens ●

The article mentions shivering southerners and although this is lighthearted, London really is warmer than the rest of the country, it’s one of the reasons I love living here.  I hate snow and being cold and London winters are mild, imo. (Jonathan, I think the English side of my family is from Lancashire originally.  We had a holiday in the Ribble Valley and Lancaster a few years back, I hadn’t realised how stunning the scenery was until then).

Martine Guy ●

This is really going back but my father, born and brought up in Hammersmith, "emigrated" to Liverpool in the 1930s to find work.  After the war he stayed up north and married my mother from Bolton.  After that he was accepted as more or less local but I remember my grandmother using the most obscure Lancashire dialect words to bamboozle him (and the rest of us!).  He never took to black pudding though.

Jonathan Callaway ● 16m

Jonathan, that made me laugh.  When I was growing up in my affluent part of the West Mids., new children would turn up to join our school and they came from all over, including London and The Medway. I wondered why, as it’s usually northerners going south, until I read something recently that shocked me.  1960’s Birmingham economy was booming and doing better than London.  Harold Wilson and his government decided it wasn’t allowable for Birmingham’s economy to be better than London, so they put a stop to all new office building in B’ham.  I am going to watch what Burnham does with interest.

Martine Guy ● 40m

I remember when I was growing up in ‘t north (Cheshire, just south of Manchester) we got new neighbours from, shock, horror, the “South”.  They stood out immediately because they had … suntans!  Not from two weeks on the Costa Brava but from extended exposure to … sunshine!After being initially rather suspicious of them, we and our neighbours found out that they were actually quite normal humans. These were the first people from the south I ever met, until I went to university.

Jonathan Callaway ● 55m

“Northerners may struggle to understand who these nervous new arrivals are.  Why are they shivering?  How come they formed a defensive perimeter with luggage on arriving at Manchester Piccadilly station?”       Very funny!

Martine Guy ● 1h

I call everyone ‘darlin’  - male and female, I don’t discriminate.😸  Hardly ever say ‘love’ but my Mum always did.  I thought ‘duck’ was used oop North?😀

Sue Hammond ● 3h

Thanks Sue for reminding me of that other important meal of the day: tea. Yes, it was dinner at midday and school dinners served up by dinner ladies.  When I got home, mum had tea ready for me. The writers also mention the language barrier and say northerners call you “love”, whilst Londoners say “darlin”.  Not sure I agree with that one, as both words are in use everywhere.  

Martine Guy ● 4h

Very helpful guide and I hope it’s been photocopied and distributed to all the Labour MPs.  Never had ‘lunch’ when growing up it was always school dinners.  Dinner was always ‘tea’ in our house.

Sue Hammond ● 5h