The age-old debate of where the North-South divide in England lies has been reignited by a TikTok user from Preston, who’s drawn up a map that many believe is spot on. Alex, who regularly posts videos showing his American girlfriend Tay the British way of life, was asked to explain the divide to her.
Starting with Lancashire, which he labelled as “obviously northern” for reasons including having “decent bants” and being “sound as f**k”, he then circled all places more northern than Lancashire. This included Northumberland, Carlisle, County Durham, Tyne and Wear Cumbria, East Riding of Yorkshire, York, West Yorkshire and York.
He also highlighted Greater Manchester, stating “all Mancs are northern”, along with Liverpool, adding: “All Scousers are, well Scousers are Scousers, but they’re also northern.” Chester was deemed “just about” northern, but he noted: “If you’re from Cheshire you’re posh as f**k.”
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When he came to Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Lincolnshire, he added question marks as he was unsure if they were northern. Alex decided to draw the north-south divide line just above these places, reports the Mirror.
“I don’t go to these gaffes,” he added. According to Alex, Birmingham, Leicestershire, West Midlands, East Midlands and Northampton are the Midlands – and therefore not northern.
He also circled Norfolk, saying “It’s not northern that,” Alex stated that once people start sounding ‘posh’, like in Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Buckinghamshire, “that’s south to me”. He drew the south divide line directly under Northamptonshire and Worcestershire.
Alex said the only places he’d been to in the south were London, Devon, and Cornwall, which are “basically France”. He claimed to have only heard of places like Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire because of cricket, describing them as “posh” with “more money and better jobs”.
Many were impressed by Alex’s map, with one person saying: “Most accurate north/south divide one has ever seen. Anyone who says differently is probably southern.”
Another added: “Finally someone recognises midlands isn’t either! But I do believe we have more in common with north.”
One individual remarked: “Basically bang on, but I’d argue specifically Norfolk and Cambridgeshire are south, the line should veer northwards to exclude from Midlands.”
Another person chimed in: “As a Preston lass myself, I completely agree. Someone from Newcastle called me a southerner the other day??” A third simply stated: “He’s completely right.”
However, not everyone was pleased with the statement. One disgruntled commenter said: “Oi! Warwickshire is Midlands for sure,” while another argued: “As someone from Norfolk we certainly aren’t in the midlands. We’re East Anglia.”
A final voice added: “From an actual southerner (London), anywhere north of Watford is the north.”