Saturday 10 March 2007

re: wife in the north

I have been reading this blog 'Wife in the North' (now subject to a £££ book deal & mentioned in the Sunday Times) for a couple of weeks now & I think I can safely say I will NOT be buying the book. There is a limit to the amount of 'north bashing' I can take & I am NOT a northerner by birth. I have only lived in the 'north' for 31 1/2 years so I am clearly an 'off-cumden' but really......!!!! If its so bad then s** off! It is good geography though.... cause & effect of migration, types of migration, perception of places -especially a southerners view of the north, infact I found the blog via a comment on a geography teachers forum. My upper sixth group will shortly directed to browse the blog. That will be interesting! There are a few 'died in the wool' yorkshire folk in the group plus some migrants from the south! Talking of yorkshire folk.... that will be Mr J (the elder & the younger)... haven't directed them to it yet!!!!

8 comments:

Dipsy Doodle said...

Thank you for sharing the link to this other blog - you've certainly made me curious now to have a bit of a read through it, and then NOT buying the book either ;)

Dipsy D.
http://www.millharrow.com

rilly super said...

you must have been very lucky to find a bit of the north that isn't grim, grim, grim Mrs J. I hope Wife in the north's book doesn't get on the exam syllabus! I'm off now to read the latest about her aga, tootle pip

Mrs J said...

I did! Its easy, there is alot of it! But I don't fill my days writing fiction!

wife in the north said...

If your sixthformers want to ask me anything, they would be very welcome to e-mail me.(I'm sorry to hear you didn't get anything out of it when you dropped by.)
best wishes
wifey

Mrs J said...

The blog is clearly well written and from a geographers point of view illustrates much about migration, especially the role of perception in making a migratory move & the impact of long distance communting especially on families. It appears to illustrate the recentish trends to urban-rural migration & suburbaniation BUT it also suggests that the north is devoid of the trappings of the 21st century when infact many of the difficulties that are encountered would be common to anyone making a long distance move with an absent partner and small children.I assume that the experiences of Rilly Super are largely fictional! Thank you for the invitation for my sixth formers to contact you.

rilly super said...

fictional my dear? I know what you mean though Mrs J, it's so grim up north that people automatically think it's all made up, but how little know...sigh

rilly super said...

fictional my dear? I know what you mean though Mrs J, it's so grim up north that people automatically think it's all made up, but how little know...sigh

Artis-Anne said...

Boy do I know what you mean . We have the very same problem here in Wales but I hasten to add not by everyone that comes to live here. Yes its remote , no we don't have Harvey Nicks or a Selfridges and the nearest M&S is nearly 40 miles away but didn't they know that when they came to get 'away from the rat race '??? I say it takes a few years to weed these folks out before they cut and run back to their urban necessities and leave us to enjoy what we love about the countryside. The thing that really, really angers me is that they can afford to buy houses here which young locals can never hope to get at the inflated prices & some of these 'part time' owners kill off small communties, leaving them as 'ghost' villages during the winter .
Sorry I could go on as it is a subject that truly angers me. I did go and have quick read on the blog but its so full of waffle I couldn't be bothered to carry on ,she is not in the 'real' world is she ? God help her if moved to the real wilderness .