North-South divide is ‘factor of the previous’ as southerners go wild for chips and gravy

Rift as old as time finally over as Southerners now like chips and gravy and Northerners like Stonehenge as the two parts of England get closer together

The age-old rift between the North and South is now a thing of the past, research shows. Three quarters of Brits say the former divide is irrelevant and a massive 96% love taking trips to the opposite end of the country.

Cornish pasties, Brighton beach, Wimbledon, Stonehenge and Glastonbury festival are among the things northerners lap up from the South.

And southerners go wild for the North’s chips and gravy, Yorkshire Tea and Corrie, the study by Lumo and Hull Trains found.

They also love their friendly folk, sense of humour and good beer.

The rail firm’s Richard Salkeld said: “It’s clear that the idea of a North-South divide is no more, with Brits travelling between the two more than ever.”

A Reddit thread discussing the pros and cons about both regions praises the North for its scenery, road quality and calmness while the South is hailed for its food scenes and efficiency.

One neutral Midlander wrote: “The South has the best weather in summer, lots of nice beaches and a lot of the coastline has cliffs and pretty little harbours.

“The North has the best hilly areas for walking and cycling, is less populated and has friendlier people in general.”

Another said the divide was most obvious “in the chippy”, adding: “As a southerner, a northern chippy was weird both in good and bad ways. But I don’t want gravy on my fish ever again.”

History boff Kevin Schürer, of Cambridge University, said: “The most commonly held view is that the underlying differences were brought about by the industrial revolution, during which the divided nation took different economic paths.

“However, one recent suggestion is that the root of the divide might be linked to William the Conqueror’s so-called Harrying of the North, in which the new king launched a vicious campaign of looting and pillage in an attempt to subdue the north in the winter of 1069-70.

“This, so the theory goes, created an economic imbalance between north and south from which the former never quite recovered.”

A wealth divide still exists between the two areas. Average annual salaries in London are nearly £20,000 higher than in places with the lowest pay such as Burnley, Huddersfield and Middlesbrough.

That means that by August the average worker in the capital has earned what the average worker in Burnley will take until December to earn, the Centre for Cities report found.