>>29
The north-south divide, huh. (Warning: This might be a little long, given that this is quite a casual, light hearted thread.)
Well, some people say it doesn't exist, but frankly, it does. It's not as pronounced as the usual stereotype would have you believe, but I think (and I expect most British people would agree with me) that there's more truth in it than you find in a lot of stereotypes. The main issue with it is where the divide actually is. In reality, there's an area called the Midlands, which is... in the middle. Literally, as it's in the middle of the country, and also in the sense that it has traits of both the north and the south. I see it as being more similar to the north, but I'm a southerner. A northerner might see it the other way, but there genuinely are more similarities to the north, so it wouldn't be felt as strongly. The more extreme north and south are always viewed as just that, but otherwise, where you view the "boundary" as being really depends on where you come from.
As for the differences between the north and south, what it boils down to is money. I'll have to use some generalisations, but for the most part they hold true.
The north is the poorer, working class part of the country. This is where the divide actually comes from. I don't think I can explain the history behind it like I can the state of things now, but in the most basic, simple sense, it's because there are far more natural resources (coal, etc.) in the north, so that's where the workers are. There's more heavy industry too, and so on. You get the idea. By contrast, the south is richer, and has a lot more middle and upper class people. (In fact, I think the vast majority of upper class families are southern. The English upper class is something you're born into, it's not so much about money or power, and their aren't as many upper class families up north.) More people have white collar jobs, and so forth.
Then there's the differences in culture. To use stereotypes again, the north is where the lager drinking football hooligans come from, the south is where the cultured, well spoken gentlemen come from. In fact, it is true that people drink more in the north, and generally do things that are less "cultured". Not that I have any links to prove this, you'll have to take my word for it, or track it down yourself. It's also true that there's less oppurtunity for culture in the north; there aren't as many things like museums, galleries, and so on there, again because of the divide: industrial, working, newer cities, compared to the bourgeoisie or aristocratic south with its long history of culture. So far what I've written seems to put the north in a more negative light, but the south has its share of negative stereotypes, too. As well as what you might expect (I already used the word bourgeoisie for the sake of convience, but obviously it tends to be used pejoratively), southerners are viewed as bland, boring and humourless compared to northerners.
So, uh, there you go. Although I'm just touching the surface of all this, like I said, I realise that was somewhat long. Hopefully someone found it interesting, the reason I can go on about it is because it's always fascinated me. I can explain other things if anybody likes, go deeper into one aspect of it or whatever. And I expect I use some words in a slightly different sense to how Americans would, so I can clarify if necessary.
Oh, and I hope I didn't touch any nerves with all the class stuff.