The North will rise again

I have just finished reading a book called Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie. (Stuart is also the DJ for the radio 6 show called the freakzone and hence is the person who made me buy a Circlus CD). Stuart was born in Wigan, but is living in the South. He tours many places in the North and North West. Part of the book is a bit of a rant about the South, particularly as the South controls the media. I grew up in Cheshire, so I of course agree that there is more to England, than the leafy lanes of the South. I have been listening to a CD of a famous Bob Dylan concert that he played in 1965. Dylan went electric, and you can hear part of the audience slow hand clap him. For many years this was described as a concert at Royal Albert Hall, however it was actually recorded in Manchester. Typical! The book is a celebration of the North of England. The book is very funny and not to be taken too seriously. It would be good to read a more political book on the North, because as Stuart notes there is actually quite a lot of money hidden in the North. Although technically I was born in Southampton, I don't feel that makes me a southerner. I hope we are clear about that.