Spare a thought for this unfairly maligned northerner (Letters, 13 January). I’m proudly northern, born in Middlesbrough, raised in North Yorkshire, married to a geordie and living in Durham – but constantly being mistaken for a southerner due to my refined accent. And I’ve cursed my children with the same issue, but maybe they’ll forgive me if I’m a published Guardian letter contributor…
Rachel Booth
Durham
• North is always relative. Years ago, when Portsmouth were playing Watford and the Pompey fans thought the Watford team were being rather industrial in their tackling, they started a chant of “You dirty northern bastards”.
Steve Parish
Warrington, Cheshire
