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6th March 2023
06:45pm GMT
Manchester and Liverpool are in the Midlands, apparently...
A new map of the north/ south divide has split opinions on social media.
Questions over what qualifies as the 'north' have fuelled debate for decades in Britain, with people carving up the country based on their own interpretations with little in the way of a consensus to be found.
One recent study put the border line in Leicestershire, moving diagonally across the country.
Experts at Liverpool University said the UK’s population centre has moved from Upper Midway in Derbyshire to Snarestone in Leicestershire, due to an increasing number of people moving south east for better employment opportunities.
BBC radio presenter Stuart Maconie even wrote a book in 2007 called 'Pies And Prejudice' that specifically went in search of ‘the north’, concluding that Crewe and above is where it truly starts.
But according to actor Michelle Bayly, that is way too far south.
Tweeting a map showing the north, the south and the midlands clearly marked out, she said:
"It’s really annoying seeing The North such and such company or something artsy North and for it to be in Birmingham etc. There’s also a middle… the midlands. Be the midlands. North of London doesn’t mean North."
Can we all agree that North is Leeds and above..? 😂
— Michelle Bayly (@MichelleBayly) March 4, 2023
It’s really annoying seeing The North such and such company or something artsy North and for it to be in Birmingham etc. There’s also a middle…the midlands. Be the midlands. North of London doesn’t mean North. 😤 pic.twitter.com/9QbNwJ0RfK
The map sparked off a storm of comments, with many people sharing their own definitions.
Author Rob Ford emphatically replied that Liverpool, Manchester and Hull are "not the Midlands".
Liverpool, Manchester and Hull are not “the Midlands” https://t.co/JmL1K9bkyT
— Rob Ford (@robfordmancs) March 5, 2023
While Anand Menon replied in the same vein, questioning how Wakefield in West Yorkshire could possibly be considered a midlands city.
Hang on. That makes Wakefield ‘midlands’….. https://t.co/IlusP6NT02
— Anand Menon (@anandMenon1) March 6, 2023
The consensus here at JOE is that the line should broadly correlate with the Welsh dividing lines, putting Stoke on Trent and Nottingham in the Midlands and the cities above them in the north.
I think it should broadly correspond to Welsh dividing lines between North Wales/ Mid Wales/ South Wales.
— Jack Peat (@jacknpeat) March 6, 2023
I'm from south Leeds so understandably concerned about getting my 'northern' citizenship stripped. pic.twitter.com/7x23a2axnP
Michelle added: "After deep thought and consultation I have decided to scrap my map of North, Middle and South and instead go with the popular opinion that if you have gravy on chips or scraps and mushy peas with fish and chips then you are Northern and if not then not (no matter the geography)"
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