r/NorthernEngland

Ok this is really random but I watched an interview with the actress Ella Bright (Off Campus) and someone commented 'how does she sound so eloquent and well spoken when she's only 19?' and multiple people replied 'because she reads' NO it's not because she reads, it's because she was raised in London and has a posh southern accent 😭 I read all the time but I still sound like an uneducated prick just because I'm from Bradford. Basically it's just people assuming people with the RP accent have that because they're educated and they read and anyone with regional accents sound like that because they're stupid

Idk it just does my head in because I see it all the time, this was just one example.

Millions of people visit the Lake District every year, but not all of them abide by the Countryside Code's plea to "leave no trace". It means for enforcement officers and volunteers, summer is often marked by irresponsible parking, inconsiderate camping and even human waste - which doesn't quite have the same ring to it as the Summer of Love.

"Fifty-plus members of the public engaged with, 10 overnight campers spoken to, eight bags of rubbish collected and they had the joy of seeing one man using a bush as his toilet," reads out Judith Derbyshire, a Westmorland and Furness councillor.

It is an extract from a report by patrol officers responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour, who were out in the Coniston area one weekend in July.

"I'm going to lower the standard of the conversation here but the issue is to do with human poo," says Derbyshire, although she might have used slightly more colourful language.

She is responsible for community safety at the Liberal Democrat-led council and says since Covid there has been a surge in visitors who arrive without plans for accommodation, meaning fly-camping is rife.

Fly-camping takes place away from designated camp sites and without landowners' permission.

"Don't feel you can just come up, park up on a lay-by and then go and put a tent up down by the lake shore - you shouldn't be doing that," she says.

It is not just about the litter.

Derbyshire says people are also chopping down branches and trees to light fires, causing damage to the environment.

"There's a tree down at Ullswater, as you're driving down the A592.

"It's a very large oak tree and somebody fairly recently has put a bonfire up the hollow inside it and, sorry, it's a lovely, big, old oak tree and I want it to be there in a long time to come."

At busy times, buses have had to be cancelled because badly parked cars are not leaving enough room for them to pass. Local social media pages often show cars parked in front of farm gates, passing places and even private fields.

Growing up (I'm 38) I knew nearly everyone who lived in my street but I have no idea of the names of the people who live beside me now

Northerners are generally seen as friendlier and more warmer than southerners but I think it's changed from a few years ago