Narrowest point between London and Manchester

[Tumshie]

On 09/04/2019 at 20:50, magpie patrick said:

and there are still signs to the North in Inverness!

I'm not sure there are signs to tell you you've reached the North but when you start sharing the road with wild goat's you're probably nearly there. On the road home this evening all stoped for a heard of feral goats. Oh yeah, and the quick detour to avoid the heather burning. 

 

 

[Mike Todd]

On 09/04/2019 at 20:50, magpie patrick said:

If we're going to argue about where "The North " starts there is a sign in Helston, Cornwall advertising "The North" and there are still signs to the North in Inverness!

See  post #68

[Mike Todd]

From Daily Telegraph via Wikipedia, so it must be true!

 

Watford Gap, in Daventry, Northamptonshire, has long been hailed as the cut-off point between the two parts of the country, with southerners sometimes criticised for not venturing north of it.

The new sign confirms the M1 service station's position as the dividing point, with one arrow pointing north and another pointing south.

It was erected as part of the celebrations of the M1's 50th anniversary - and also that of the service station - which take place today.

RoadChef, which operates the services, said the sign was intended to be a tourist attraction next to which people could pose for photos.

The company is lobbying the Oxford English Dictionary to get ''Watford Gap'' included in it as a recognised term expressing the division between north and south.

[WotEver]

On 09/04/2019 at 17:59, Lysander said:

Nono. Barnsley is still safely in the North but anything south of it is open to question. Perhaps everything between Watford (Herts) and Barnsley is The Midlands?

Nope, no such thing as The Midlands to a Southerner.

 

When my 7 years older sister moved to Birmingham in her 20’s I asked her what it was like living ‘up north’. She explained that it wasn’t ‘north’. I asked what it was then. She said “Well, if you have the south and you have the north, what’s in-between?”  I just looked at her blankly. “It’s in the middle...” she prompted. Another blank look from me. “It’s The Midlands” she explained. I replied “Never heard of it!”  

1 minute ago, Mike Todd said:

From Daily Telegraph via Wikipedia, so it must be true...

Then either it’s changed over the last 40 years or they’re wrong. 

10 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

See  post #68

Yes, that’s where that quote came from...

[jake_crew]

Even on the nominally "wide" Grand Union there are (ex) bridge holes that are well under 14 feet wide, so beware.

[MoominPapa]

12 hours ago, Tumshie said:

 

Someone's left a paddle up again.

 

MP.

 

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

Someone's left a paddle up again.

 

MP.

 

This one certainly has the paddles 'down' and regularly cruises the Clyde and surrounding waters.

The last Sea Going Paddle Steamer in the world - we have cruised past her a few times

 

 

http://www.waverleyexcursions.co.uk/plan-your-trip/scotland/

[magpie patrick]

4 hours ago, WotEver said:

Nope, no such thing as The Midlands to a Southerner.

 

The opening line of "Pies and Prejudice" by Stuart Maconie states "The BBC has no South of England Correspondent" - so perhaps there is no such things as the south!?!?

 

 

[WotEver]

41 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

The opening line of "Pies and Prejudice" by Stuart Maconie states "The BBC has no South of England Correspondent" - so perhaps there is no such things as the south!?!?

That’s quite possible - anything could have happened since I left

[roland elsdon]

The uk is uninhabitable south of towcester. We need a new wall at that point to keep the south England persons from discovering the charm of the north.

course living in osstralia I know this, but I’m not prepared to return permenantly  until It’s sorted out.

The government are merely fiddling about looking for work at present, maybe it could be suggested.

[john6767]

So this thread has gone of on one a bit!!   Was there ever an answer as to the narrowest point?

[magpie patrick]

12 hours ago, john6767 said:

So this thread has gone of on one a bit!!   Was there ever an answer as to the narrowest point?

Somewhere between 6 foot 10 and 7 foot 2 - in a location somewhere between Norton Juntion and Manchester by one of a number of options...

[Mike Todd]

20 hours ago, john6767 said:

So this thread has gone of on one a bit!!   Was there ever an answer as to the narrowest point?

I think the answer is that if you have to ask the question then the answer is no, you cannot pass (to adapt a once well known phrase)