The North-South Divide
I read in the paper about a North-South divide in house prices. The divide is not new, but over time it takes different forms. I grew up in a North-South divide household in a London suburb. My father was a displaced, domino-playing Yorkshireman. My mother was a committed southerner, and hated it when we traveled too far north. She associated the North with grime and poverty. I loved the trips to Bradford when I visited my grandparents because it was a completely different world, one where I struggled to understand what people were saying; a world which provided a sharp contrast, visually, with my modern, suburban surroundings. PARADISE LOST Down at the bottom of the Northern Line Is a thirties estate where the weather is fine. Dad gets the tube at seven thirty And Mum stays at home so that nothing gets dirty. Mock Tudor houses have lawns and wooden fences The streets are lined with blossom trees, the parks have bins and benches. The gutter sparrows c...