The North / South divide is already a pretty contentious subject at the best of times, but a tweet’s gone viral this week that really seems to have got people riled up.
It’s a debate that’s been going on for decades – where does the North and South of England begin?
With no literal line drawn to distinguish between the two, this does mean there’s no official ruling of which cities, towns, and villages are northern, and which are southern – and then there’s the added concept of the Midlands chucked in there too, so it’s no wonder it’s a topic of conversation that causes so much confusion.
Of course, geography would tell you that cities like Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and Carlisle are indisputably northern, while it would be quite tricky to class London, Brighton, and Oxford as anything other than southern – but for other places, it’s not so easy.
Us Mancs pride ourselves on being northern and proud of it, but according to woman responsible for a map that’s gone viral Twitter this week, Manchester is actually part of the Midlands.
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Now you can see why it’s got people talking.
Can we all agree that North is Leeds and above..? 😂 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
Taking to Twitter to share her thoughts on where the North and South begins, Michelle Bayly – who says she is from Northumberland – wrote: “Can we all agree that North is Leeds and above? It’s really annoying seeing the North such and such company, or something artsy North and for it to be in Birmingham etc.
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“There’s also a middle…the midlands. Be the midlands. North of London doesn’t mean North.”
She also shared a map of the UK with two red lines drawn showing what she thinks the North, the Midlands, and the South are to further drive home her point – with major cities like Liverpool, Sheffield, Salford, and Hull joining Birmingham, Northampton, Norwich, and Nottingham in the Midlands.
“Is this a joke? How do you not think Sheffield and Manchester are in the north?,” one angry person wrote on Twitter
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“Lol imagine complaining that Londoners don’t know where the north is and then putting out a map that puts Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield in the midlands – incredible stuff,” another confused person said in response.
A third added: “I think the idea that Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Hull aren’t in the North is slightly mad.”
Woman causes controversy for claiming what ‘the North’ is – and Manchester’s not included / Credit: Wikipedia Commons
Another person added definitively: “Chester, Liverpool, Salford, Manchester, Sheffield, Doncaster, Bradford, Leeds, and Hull are all in the north of England.”
Someone else gave their opinion on the matter: “You can’t cut Yorkshire in half! And Manchester/Liverpool are definitely northern too. Move the ‘north’ line down to go through Sheffield and it’s about right.”
One person seemed to sum up the thoughts of most in response to Michelle’s question of “Can we all agree that…” best though, simply commenting: “No, I’m afraid we can’t.”
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After presumably having lots of angry people in her mentions, Michelle decided to take a different approach on the North / South divide – writing as a follow-up to her initial tweet: “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).”
We don’t know if this makes things better or worse? We’ll let you be the judge of that.
Featured Image – Michelle Bayly (via Twitter)
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Mulligans are making butties with the team behind some of the best sandwiches in Manchester
Danny Jones
We feel like we say this almost every time they set up one of these crossovers, but Bada Bing might have just hit it out of the park with their latest collaboration, as they’re teaming up with beloved Irish bar Mulligans to create what could be the sandwich of the century.
In case you’re wondering where we’ll be when this butty becomes available, we’ll be in the legendary Manchester pub, clutching at least three of these while asking the live band to play The Sopranos theme tune in full Celtic reel fashion.
Yes, two of our very favourite places in the city centre are teaming up not just for a one-off special, the Deansgate boozer – widely considered one of the best Irish bars (if not THE best) in Manchester – is actually going to be supplying the crucial ingredient in their limited-time menu item.
Teasing the collab earlier this week, the Bada Bing boys roped in Mulligans owner, Pádraig Brady, to play his role in the announcement that quickly went viral.
Now, in case you weren’t already salivating at the mere thought of it, wait until you hear what concoction they have come up with.
Simply titled ‘Split the B’ (nice), the Bada Bing x Mulligans special edition sandwich features Mulligans’ Guinness-braised short rib, crispy spuds, greens, pickled cabbage and crispy onions. Oh. My. Word…
With punters’ favourite ‘Mullies’ pouring in more than 13,000 pints of the black stuff every single week, it won’t surprise you to learn that those lines have to be cleaned and maintained almost constantly.
It also goes without saying that wasting even a single drop of that liquid gold is a tragedy, so they had the ingenious of using that surplus stout to create a limited supply of slow-roasted, Guinness-flavoured beef fit to grace any authentic Irish stew.
Slap that meat between bread, and what do you get? Perhaps one of the greatest culinary creations we Manchester foodies have ever seen.
Speaking on the collab, Pádraig said: “At Mulligans, we take pride in every pint of Guinness we pour, so when the chance came up to team up with Bada Bing and create something special for Mancs to enjoy beyond the pub, it just made sense. Quality recognises quality.”
“We’ve always admired Mulligans for how they do things – with no shortcuts”, says Sam Gormally, co-founder of Bada Bing.”
He went on to add: “This collab celebrates everything we both love about Manchester hospitality – craft, quality and a bit of heart. It’s a proper Manc sandwich, made with a proper pint.”
In case it wasn’t already blatantly obvious, we cannot wait to try this thing, and since it’s only being served for a few days, we intend to eat as many as possible.
The ‘Split the B’ Mulligans x Bada Bing Guinness Sandwich will be available exclusively at Bada Bing, 125 Oldham St in the Northern Quarter from Thursday, 6 November – and once they’re gone, they’re GONE.
Paul Scholes shares touching message over response to quitting punditry to look after his son
Danny Jones
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes recently announced that he has stepped away from football punditry and other media duties to look after his son, Aiden, and he has clearly been touched by the response to his deeply honest interview.
The former United star and England international has three children with his wife, Claire Frogratt, recently revealing that the two have sadly separated.
While his only daughter, Alicia – a thriving young netball player with London Pulse – and eldest son Arron (who runs the family’s self-titled Scholes Gym in Oldham) are both fully grown and in good health, Paul recently opened up about the challenges of looking after his youngest child, who has autism.
Aiden Scholes was diagnosed as autistic when he was just two and is largely non-verbal, meaning there are added difficulties not just when it comes to communicating but overall welfare. Opening in a fairly rare instance on a recent episode of The Overlap, the ex-midfielder is now putting all his focus on care.
As a dad to a young boy with autism, I can’t help but have more respect for Paul Scholes after seeing him open up about his own experiences. Not only does it hit home, his priorities are in order. ❤️ https://t.co/kCjfQye3ef
Speaking with his old Man United teammates, including host Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as the rest of the panel, the 50-year-old retired pro and one-time manager turned pundit says that he recently made the conscious decision to put virtually everything else aside to put all of his efforts towards Aiden.
Put simply, he said, “I just decided everything I’m going to do is around Aiden.”
Of course, he went on to explain some of the important “routines” and obstacles in more detail during the sit-down, but even from the brief clip that went viral online, he’s been met with an incredible reaction on social media.
Sharing an update on his Instagram story, he went on to add: “Would just like to thank everyone for all your kind messages since The Overlap interview regarding Aiden – there’s been loads and tried to read as many as possible”, he said.
“The response from families (especially Dads) shows how much speaking about it helps so many… There was one quote from a parent in a similar position that’s just got me…”
The anonymous line he shared read: “My job is to stay alive one day longer than my son/daughter”. Truly tearjerking stuff.
Now 20, the Scholes family are a couple of decades into learning how best to meet Aiden’s additional needs, but Paul has admitted in the past that the climate was different back in the day.
Neville himself said that his long-time friend, teammate, and fellow Class of ’92 graduate has always been a private person and didn’t talk to anyone about anything.
He signed off by urging people to enjoy the little things, like the weekend and having a few drinks – as well as wishing the best of luck to his beloved Salford City FC – but it can’t be overestimated how much his candid words have resonated with people all over the country.
You can see Paul Scholes’ most recent appearance on The Overlap in full down below.
Emily Sergeant -
7th March 2023 
