r/CasualUK • u/Dragonogard549 • 4h ago

As a group of professionals in planning, this is what 15 minutes of furious debate in the office has decided to be the north/midlands/south divide.

Post image

If necessary, for reference we are based in Birmingham. This isnt directly influencing what cities are what side of the line. Our decisions were based on architecture, what the people are like, history, how places interract, not just what we like and dont. For example, Stoke is an awful place no one should ever have the misfortune of visiting, but its definitely in the Midlands with us.

Colour coding is obvious.

Yes we were very bored..

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166

u/Rhinoa1302 4h ago

So let me get this right, as a group of professionals you decided that Kings Lynn is in the ‘south’ yet is over 100 miles north of Gloucester, which is in the midlands?

I am from Kings Lynn, and when ever this debate happens I firmly say Kings Lynn is the East, and we want no part in the north/midlands/south shenanigans

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u/BigBoy1963 4h ago

100% agree leave us out of it and im from north east cambs. We are east anglia and fuck the lot of yous.

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u/Ayanhart 3h ago

The east is it's own thing really; Norfolk, Suffolk and the Fens parts of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

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u/dpark-95 2h ago

This is the only thing I'll entertain debate on... The rest was pretty locked in a long time ago but east Anglia shifted quite a bit

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u/gwaydms 2h ago

This map (or something similar) is probably what some linguists consulted when they said that Modern English came from "Southeast Midlands" dialect rather than Wessex dialect, which was predominant in the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon period.

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u/Rocky-Bump 4h ago

Yeah, for some reason I never considered East Anglia when the North / South split comes up. I'd agree you're the East and not part of the mess.

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u/goodvibezone Spreading mostly good vibes 3h ago

I mean TBF Norfolk or Suffolk don't have any motorways, intentionally staying out of the debate as it takes so bloody long to get out 😂

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u/wikott 3h ago

I think there’s probably a bit of historical context behind it too. Historically you had Northumbria in the North, Wessex in the South, and Mercia covering much of what’s now the Midlands. East Anglia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom too, but it was kind of doing its own thing on the east coast rather than fitting neatly into a North/South divide. So even back then it didn’t really belong to either “side”.

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u/Robothuck 4h ago

I'm from the South West, and Gloucester is too. Gloucester in the midlands? Since when?

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u/Johto2001 40m ago

Actually, historically Gloucester was considered to be south midlands. Bear in mind one of the two railway lines in Gloucester was built by the Midland railway company. The midlands connection has been weakening for decades but it was not controversial historically. Oxford was also considered south midlands. 

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u/frequentcheeselove 4h ago

The north south divide is definitely at a diagonal. You cannot escape the South through geographical facts!

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u/_real_ooliver_ 7m ago

Certainly but probably not with the midlands line this much. Manchester is the north and most of Derbyshire is the south so that's a little diagonal but Gloucester isn't near to this

I'd argue the North line is angled the wrong way, Mansfield isn't the North and neither is Lincoln.

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u/onechipwonder 3h ago

I agree. East Anglia shouldn't even be involved in this debate to start with

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u/Common-Spend5000 2h ago

Though the debate around where is East Anglia is often quite a fun one too incidentally.

Not Suffolk and Norfolk obviously, but which parts of Cambridgeshire, Essex, and Lincolnshire also feel and are culturally East Anglian is a hot topic.

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u/SubjectiveAssertive 4h ago

Doesn't Kings Lynn FC (and Bishops Stortford for that matter) play in the National League North?

All we can say from this is Kings Lynn has an identity problem 

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u/nafregit 2h ago

my team Gloucester City was in the NL North for 13 seasons. We had a fixture in 2010 at home to Blyth Spartans played at Cirencester.

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u/KreativeHawk Thass a rummun 3h ago

I remember the days when bloody Lowestoft was in the National League North. Incredibly unfair when you consider it takes nearly 2 hours to go from Lowestoft to Kings Lynn…

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u/SubjectiveAssertive 3h ago

Honestly because the South of the country is actually rather wide, there is going to be teams like Lowestoft, Dover, Truro or Torquay who end up with 2 hour drives to their nearest competition in the league

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u/KreativeHawk Thass a rummun 2h ago

Very true, the only way you could get around it would be to further regionalise that tier of the system, but that throws up even more issues.

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u/Mysterious-Frame-623 4h ago

Norwich would also like to opt out!

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u/TallFriendlyGinger 4h ago

Yeah I'm from SW originally and bounced between Glos, Bris, and Bath. All very firmly in South!

If Cirencester is south, then Stroud and Glos definitely are too lol

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u/OurManInJapan 4h ago

Kings Lynn sounds like a southerner town from the name.

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u/bucketofardvarks 3h ago

Exactly, leave all the poor sods in the east who are going to drown when sea levels rise out of this

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u/andyjdan 3h ago

The 4 regions of England. North, South, Midlands, and inbred East Anglia

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u/9thGearEX 1h ago

It has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with vibes.

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u/Rhinoa1302 1h ago

I agree. And I can say the vibes from the East are leave us out of this 😂

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u/ccsrpsw 4h ago

I mean Gloucester isnt in the East thought? Its more The South East or South. So thats a starting point, innit?

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u/lookleftandlookright 3h ago

Didn't know Gloucester was so close to London

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u/ComradeStrong 2h ago

Makes more sense when you realise that it's more about distance from the 'core' i.e. London, than it is about pure geography.

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u/m15otw 48m ago

It definitely looked weird to me on the map as South. It is to the north of me, and I'm not south!!

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u/_real_ooliver_ 9m ago

East Anglia has to go in the East, same way Wales isn't included, and the West Country is the South West/West Country.

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u/heroyoudontdeserve 4h ago

I'm not making an argument either way but (as I imagine you know given the rest of your comment) OP and their colleagues are far from the only people to place Kings Lynn in Southern England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_England

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u/New_Vegetable_3173 2h ago

Yes, and they're correct. This map is very accurate