Chicken Joe

[cnosni]

Trojan wrote: wiggy wrote: i'm a fan of k.w..he gives it to you almost tongue in cheek and i think you have to be a northerner to get some of it.i live down sarff now,and what really gets up my nose,is the way all southerners seem to think we are all very poor up north,very thick and all wear flat caps and have whippets,ferrets or pigeons.a lot of this is probably to do with fasion for all things northern,started in the 60s by people like hoggart and waterhouse,but then again i don't get priestlys' snobbish take on us,what i mean is,was he been satirical about the satirists or just been snooty??     In the past I've had several holidays on the River Thames - between Oxford and Teddington - on cabin cruisers. We were always made to feel welcome wherever we went. In 1972/3/4 and then in 1983. But it was a different story in 1993. There seemed to be a resentment that we were using their pubs and facilities for our holidays that hadn't been there before. My wife and I and my children who were teenagers at the time were in one pub in Goring on Thames playing bar billiards and we overheard one snotty miss say "has he brought his whippets?" We weren't behaving badly, or making a lot of noise, (we were quite obviously from Yorkshire of course) but everywhere there seemed to be a resentment. I couldn't weigh it up. Why the change? The penny dropped a few weeks later - the late eighties/early nineties recession had for the first time hit the south and even the well heeled Thames Valley, as hard as its predecessors had hit the north and they didn't like it one little bit. I've never been back. I've never felt resentment like that anywhere before either here, or abroad. People are fond of slagging off the French but I've been made more welcome in bars in France (in provincial towns I mean) than we were in our own country. Working in London everyday,and meeting up with southerners,has enabled me to come to the conclusion that they are a little afraid of us Northerners.They are not quite sure how to deal with us.I believe they are quite scared of the "wild Northerners" and their mechanism for protection is to deride us,it makes them feel a little safer.Melvyn Braggs book "The Adventure of English",and the accompanying series gives a good insight into this fear and resulting defence mechanism.

[fevlad]

Trojan wrote: wiggy wrote: i'm a fan of k.w..he gives it to you almost tongue in cheek and i think you have to be a northerner to get some of it.i live down sarff now,and what really gets up my nose,is the way all southerners seem to think we are all very poor up north,very thick and all wear flat caps and have whippets,ferrets or pigeons.a lot of this is probably to do with fasion for all things northern,started in the 60s by people like hoggart and waterhouse,but then again i don't get priestlys' snobbish take on us,what i mean is,was he been satirical about the satirists or just been snooty??     In the past I've had several holidays on the River Thames - between Oxford and Teddington - on cabin cruisers. We were always made to feel welcome wherever we went. In 1972/3/4 and then in 1983. But it was a different story in 1993. There seemed to be a resentment that we were using their pubs and facilities for our holidays that hadn't been there before. My wife and I and my children who were teenagers at the time were in one pub in Goring on Thames playing bar billiards and we overheard one snotty miss say "has he brought his whippets?" We weren't behaving badly, or making a lot of noise, (we were quite obviously from Yorkshire of course) but everywhere there seemed to be a resentment. I couldn't weigh it up. Why the change? The penny dropped a few weeks later - the late eighties/early nineties recession had for the first time hit the south and even the well heeled Thames Valley, as hard as its predecessors had hit the north and they didn't like it one little bit. I've never been back. I've never felt resentment like that anywhere before either here, or abroad. People are fond of slagging off the French but I've been made more welcome in bars in France (in provincial towns I mean) than we were in our own country. interesting stuff Troj, although your prersonal ex[perience doesn't necessarily point to a general phenomenon.Until recently my daughter lived in Ruislip(Leselie Thomas anyone?). She loved it, the neighbours were nice, with a good smattering of eccentics. The local boozer the Black Horse was welcoming, friendly and sold great beer, people id hello in the street and asked how ytou were doing. Going to the local restaurants, this chinese one in particular was a treat. I used to really look forward to going down there for the weekend.This stuff about friendly northerners and stand offish southerners is a myth.

[Si]

I agree. I lived in London for many years and never once felt any prejudice about being a Northerner. There's always a bit of light-hearted banter about accents and the like, but nothing serious, and you give as much as you get. This was the same in the west (Richmond,) central London (where I worked,) and the east-end (Newham.) It is true that the beer is rubbish, though!Never had any bother in France (including Paris,) either, so long as you have a go at the lingo.

[Trojan]

[quotenick="fevlad"] Trojan wrote: [quotenick="interesting stuff Troj, although your prersonal ex[perience doesn't necessarily point to a general phenomenon.Until recently my daughter lived in Ruislip(Leselie Thomas anyone?). She loved it, the neighbours were nice, with a good smattering of eccentics. The local boozer the Black Horse was welcoming, friendly and sold great beer, people id hello in the street and asked how ytou were doing. Going to the local restaurants, this chinese one in particular was a treat. I used to really look forward to going down there for the weekend.This stuff about friendly northerners and stand offish southerners is a myth. Well I can only speak as I find. In Steetley, Goring, Wallingford, Marlow (in particular) Mapledurham and Henley- all well heeled Thameside places we'd been to previously we met hostility. I've nothing against "southerners" but I think the Thames Valley is probably a special case. They are seriously rich, but I think the cold blast of negative equity had hit them. After all it was effectively the better of parts of the south who kicked the Tories out in 1997, because presumably they'd experienced something they'd never experienced before - uncertainty. My daughter lives near Salisbury and the people round there are ok, but as I said in my post - I've never felt so unwelcome.

[fevlad]

wasn't doubting your word troj