By Milly Middlehurst, Fourth Year, German and Italian
‘Where are you from?’ I can’t count on my hands how many times this has been the first phrase uttered back to me every time I have introduced myself to a new person. Ultimately, the question itself doesn’t seem to hold much power; after all, we all ask it of each other at uni. But you can imagine the tone. A slight tilt of the head, an inquisitive tone. Again, nothing malicious. It does, however, raise a question in my mind. Why are people so shocked at the presence of a northerner?
The problem isn’t unique to Bristol either; probably worse is the experience of students being mocked for northern accents in cities like Newcastle, Leeds and Liverpool. Countless northern students are mocked for having northern accents at universities that are themselves situated in the north. English students in Edinburgh have been known to belittle people for having a Scottish accent… in Scotland.
Naturally, a conclusion can be drawn that the class divide is a factor in why northerners can feel out of place at university. But to what extent does the class divide actually overlap with the north-south divide? The distribution of private schools in the north vs in the south is an example as to why fewer northerners could be at universities. At Bristol, just under 25 per cent of students come from private schools, whereas only 6 per cent of the general population attend private schools, suggesting why the majority of students hail from the south (alongside the fact that Bristol also simply lies in the south of the country). Therefore, I do believe that the mocking of northern students is inherently rooted in classism, but it would be a blanket statement to attribute any and every instance of ridicule to it.
Societies at the university thankfully do a fabulous job of mitigating the feeling of being an outsider. The 93% Club represents all of the students who have come from a state school background, organising plenty of socials and networking events, the premise being that 93 per cent of people went to state schools. It aims to close the gap in opportunities between those who went to state school vs private school and is just a good opportunity to meet likeminded others from a more similar background. Similarly, Northern Society meet weekly for socials: another chance to meet others from the north and a good place to go when feeling homesick in Bristol. Who knew hearing so many other northern accents can be surprisingly comforting? Though the very need for an existence of such a society does highlight the distinction between the north and the south.
Throughout my years in Bristol, I have been incredibly lucky to come across plenty of other northerners, and there is a beauty in hearing somebody’s accent and immediately knowing they must be from a similar place to you. In fact it is exactly how I found one of my closest friends. The mutual embarrassment and familiarity when we both said we were from Manchester for the sake of convenience but immediately had to correct ourselves after when we realised we had caught each other in a white lie. Shoutout to Cheshire…
Speaking of Cheshire, northern identity and what constitutes the north are often up for debate. Is it geographic location, accent, family history, or something else? In the eyes of my Londoner first year flatmate, anything above Cambridge is the north, but to somebody from Newcastle, Cheshire may well still constitute the south. Either way, I staunchly defend my position as a northerner, with a family from Yorkshire and Lancashire and my somewhere-in-between accent being something I cherish. The dichotomy between being told I sound extremely northern in Bristol and the next minute phoning my parents and being told I sound posh after a couple of months away can make me question my sense of identity. Code switching at university is a particularly common phenomenon, and again highlights how we switch to fit in. There are many northerners who I wouldn’t even realise are northern from their accents, which may make them harder to identify, but stripping an identity from someone purely from how they sound just further contributes to the disparity between us all.
Laura Cooper
Ultimately, in Bristol you may stand out as a northerner, but it isn’t all bad. Yes, people may parrot what you say and be shocked that you with a northern accent could possibly live in Wills, but most people find an accent endearing and it is equally great to be able to bond with the scarce other northerners, like finding treasure when you randomly bump into them. For me, I have always relished hearing another northerner out in the wild. The excitement I felt when I realised the man running the pub quiz at my local in first year was, was unmatched. I implore everyone to be proud of their identity, and despite a few hiccups the experience as a northerner in Bristol isn’t really that bad.
Feature Image: Epigram / Milly Middlehurst
Does a northern accent bring you relief?
