Author Topic: North vs. South different attitude to hikers or just bad luck?  (Read 7092 times)

Sam85

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I have actually noticed that I got a couple more hellos from those with all new kit whilst I had the new jacket on, maybe there's a secret gang that none of us know about. Or it was just a coincidence and I'm talking rubbish, probably more likely.


To be fair, the wife and friends do tell me I'm a 60 year old man in a 30 year old's body, that's fine by me, means I get to retire soon right?

pleb

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I live in the Middlesbrough area where you can walk the streets and people wont say a word to you or acknowledge you in anyway. Yet the moment you set out on the hills everyone seems to have taken a happy pill and will pass you with a beaming smile and a friendly greeting. Funny what a bit of fresh air can do to you  :)
To be fair that's probably just Middlesborough for you! (my cousin used to live there).
Whinging Moaning Old Fart

walking the dog

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 Whilst walking along the banks of the River Ribble the other day around Hurst Green, we (me and mans best) had to come of the river to follow the footpath which went through a large farm, there were three farmers there having a cup of tea on the route , a"good morning" was said to them, not one of them replied , so it seems farmers are not friendly in the North West, or is it in general with farmers? :-\
Escape the frantic pace

mike knipe

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I haven't done all that much walking in the South but the bits I have done - South Downs Way and Norfolk Coast path in particular, plus a few other bits I found that the people were friendly enough. Most people said "hello" and a few chatted and so on. Norfolk seemed marginally friendlier than the S. Downs, but there was no marked difference.
There are parts of Co Durham where its sometimes hard to make progress in the face of everybody and his dog wanting a chat and I've left petrol stations in Northumberland having got a brief history of the lass behind the counter's brother's wedding or whatever....  and offered tea, apple pie, lifts and other kinds of help in Scotland plus long chats on the hill - specially on the East coast.
I suspect that any differences probably reflect more on the number of people wandering about in any particular area - so, you're more likely to get a blank in the Peak District than on the Manor Hills in the Borders, where you're more likely not to meet anybody at all on a walk.
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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phil1960

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People are people no matter where you are, some nice, some not so nice, but what the heck, if they are rude or can't be bothered to say hello it's their loss  ::)
Touching from a distance, further all the time.

cakehead

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Whilst walking along the banks of the River Ribble the other day around Hurst Green, we (me and mans best) had to come of the river to follow the footpath which went through a large farm, there were three farmers there having a cup of tea on the route , a"good morning" was said to them, not one of them replied , so it seems farmers are not friendly in the North West, or is it in general with farmers? :-\


Never know what to expect with farmers some are really friendly others are ready to load the shotgun  :)
Better to have lived 1 day as a Tiger than a thousand years as a sheep!

Rhino

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People are people no matter where you are, some nice, some not so nice, but what the heck, if they are rude or can't be bothered to say hello it's their loss  ::)


Totally agree Phil  O0
Wainwrights Completed 12/12/15

quixoticgeek

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If I'm hiking in the north people have always treated me very well but more than once in the South I've been looked at as a potential 'criminal' or vagrant! For example, on the High Weald Trail in Kent in 2013 I wandered into a small village supermarket with my rucksack and sunhat on. I took my hat off, picked up a basket and then started to wander up and down the aisles looking for food and drink. The shop manager stood at the end of each aisle and watched every movement I made.

I also had a 'funny' moment on the Cotswold Way the same year, I sat down on a public bench, it was sunny and hot. A man came out of the house opposite, gesticulating and telling me loudly to move on! I didn't of course. I just invited him to call the Police and then offered him my business card. Works every time! He lost his nerve and went back indoors.

As I walked from Dover Priory station last year to the ferryport, one driver stuck his fingers up at me and then shook his fist. I wonder who he thought I was?

Whereas in the Lakes last year I was hitchhiking in rain at the A66 junction at Troutbeck to go to Ullswater. Most cars were flashing past in plumes of spray to Keswick and beyond. Two cars did turn in my direction but they drove past. The 3rd car driver stopped and picked me up. It was a local GP on his day off going to meet his lady friend.


Just to check, you're not Stephen Gough aka The Naked Rambler are you? Because that might explain the reaction :p


(sorry couldn't resist).


I live in Kent and hike a lot. As yet I've not had any major issues with people reacting to me in anything other than a friendly manner. I've had the occasional pub landlord who's been rather grumpy when I've stuck my head round the door and asked if they are serving food, (contrasted with a very friendly landlord at the weekend who lit the fire and was asking us how far we'd walked etc...)


A couple of weeks back I was in east Sussex near Wadhurst and the people I was walking with had gone to get the car and I was waiting by the side of a country lane waiting for them to come pick me up (stupid injury :( ). After the 5th car had pulled over to check I was OK, I relocated to the other side of the tree I was leaning against so I wasn't so obvious...


There are rude people north and south, but I'm inclined to say that what you experienced is not the norm down here. At least I hope that is the case.


As for what happened in Dover? There is a reason I started my NDW walk there and walked away from it, rather than ending my walk there...


J
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BuzyG

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Less of this North South stuff.  Friendly lot down here in the deep SW.  Even the farmers. O0   People have less time for chatting in the SE, from my experience.  Never noticed them being any less friendly though.

Mountaingirl

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To me it's more like countryside walkers vs city dwellers (or when one has that hat on).
Some years ago, I walked Hadrian Wall path. While I was on the path, everybody was very friendly ;) . It changed when I approached Newcastle from the West. Those people were casual strollers from nearby town. When I greeted them, they returned with black looks  ??? . It was the same for drivers. Hadrian Bus drivers were extremely friendly and helpful, but when I took one in Newcastle, the driver didn't bother to answer my question :-X   
I won't say hello to the people on high street when I am shopping, but I do while I am walking in countryside. It's pretty global. I say Hello to anybody in any countries while walking and other walkers return the same. 
Having said that, non-walkers attitude is different. I remember Scottish people in the village were friendly ::)

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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It may be that certain areas of the Uk are less likely to start a conversation with a total stranger.
Recently ive had to venture to the most deplorable place called London, on three separate occasions.
One feels uneasy trying to start a conversation with the majority of people living and working there, their lives are so hurried and on a different level to us country folk.

Yesterday i visited Bryn Celli Ddu burial chamber on Anglesea, and as two cars were parked in the car park, knew other visitors were there also.

Two women walked past me, i said hello, and they responded.

Just before turning a corner to reach the burial chamber, i saw another man approaching.

I said hello, as one does to be pleasant and polite, and we instantly hit it off.

He lived in Sussex and was visiting relatives on the island.

We spent nearly half an hour talking, discussing things such as a planned visit to the Orkneys, our favourite past time.
He was a very keen cyclist, having cycled in many parts of the world, but due to a heart attack last year, he had to slow down a bit.

All this, just because i was pleasant and said hello.

would i have done the same in London ? maybe, but i am not sure if i would have had the same response.

fernman

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There's an unwritten rule against talking to people in London, didn't you know?

stubill

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There's an unwritten rule against talking to people in London, didn't you know?


The rule is try to find one who speaks English. This is from someone who's worked in the City for many, many years.


I live in south Herts and the difference is blindingly obvious, much more friendly and up for a chat or a quick hello.

altirando

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Down there it is assumed that anyone not occupying a car is some sort of vagabond, perhaps, horror, a refugee from Europe.  Remember that the people on the famous Kinder mass trespass were mostly Mancunians.  But to be fair, cycling is a more realistic sport for southern England.  So people walking are assumed to be unable to afford anything else.

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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I am in the process of selling a house left to me in a relatives will, just outside Balham.
My recent visit on March 16th took less than two hours.
I caught the 8.40 train from Llandudno Junction, arrived in Euston just after 11.40, a speedy tube journey to the estate agents, handed over the necessary paperwork,signed two documents, and was back on the 13.05 train home to North Wales.

That was long enough to spend in the place they call London.

The staff in the Estate agents were pleasant enough, but nobody on the Tube looked like they were having a good time, and the thought of any pleasantries never crossed my mind.

Most people would hold onto such a valuable asset such as a London property, but not me, the sooner its sold, i can invest the money and live more than comfortably in Dyffryn.

The people in the SE appear cold and removed from the rest of us, almost as if they feel smug and superior to those living in more laid back areas.

 

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