North of Watford?

I am writing this piece after Ian Collin's comments on his very excellent Late Show on talkSPORT. The comment, or question raised was, where does the dislike, loathing, bitterness and even in some cases hatred of anything associated with London come from?

I've pondered this over the last few days, and recalled all my encounters up and down the country over the last twenty five plus years, and any relevant comments made over that time, to come up with a reason why. The conclusions I have drawn are as follows.

With any search for the reason's why, we always try to focus on just one reason why. I think there are several reason's. The first of which is in my opinion is the telly.
Over the years London has been portrayed through such television programmes sitcoms and soaps as, Eastenders, Minder, Only fools and Horses, The Sweeney, The Bill. All of which seem to stereotype all Londoners as dodgy scheming wide boys, racist xenophobic Police or miserable moaning stuck in a time warp Cockneys that work either on a fruit and veg stall, pull pints in a boozer or have a back street garage that fix's dodgy motors!
All of the above may be there in very small doses, but the Londoners I have come across are as diverse and enigmatic as any major town or city in Europe. On the whole it is a vibrant city, and will cater for every desire. But it's no different from any city in the UK. All the good and bad that are at each end of the panoramic scale, that can be found in London, can be found in every city in the UK.

Another is the BBC. Those who can remember Nationwide, will easily recognise the format. Local news and then switch to the main news. The first few news articles were always current affairs, usually to do with the Government, which is generally of national importance. But later on a local issue would then be broadcast to the nation. Now over the years it didn't matter whether I was at home, or in any other pub, truckstop or anywhere in the UK where there was a small gathering at a telly when the news was on. I can recall numerous outbursts of sentiment along the lines of, if that were in London it would be main news!
As Ian pointed out, London is our capital and our financial nerve centre. But the way the BBC, and other media outlets have portrayed it in the news, innocently or not, many people north of Watford have led me to believe, that they think that they are inferior to London where news articles are concerned.

Again, the BBC, Match of the day, very rarely did you see a game not concerning a London club. Ok it was kind of hard not to because London has always had over the years, a number of teams in the top flight of  football. There were an equal number of clubs from the midlands for a lengthy period, and it was rare not to see  one or two featured. But the perception viewed by many, was that BBC favoured London clubs.

Another is the amount of migrant workers that work in London. I'm not on about the one's from overseas, I'm on about construction workers mostly, but there are many other's that in their careers have to work and stay in London for various lengths of time and frequencies. Now, working away from home isn't the same as going on holiday. But hotel and B&B prices in London reflect the fact it is a global tourist hotspot. They can be a bit pricey compared with other parts of the UK. On the whole anybody who is anybody, will usually will find shops, pubs and eateries within their price range where they live. But if you are only staying for a few days and are putting in twelve hour shifts, you don't have the energy or will to search around. And tend to take what's convenient no matter the cost.
The above gives out the perception that London is expensive, when it's generally no worse than anywhere else, with the exception of house prices and rent. But, wages in London do compensate for this. And that slightly higher hourly rate, or salary, is what attracts so many to live there, along with the greater prospect of finding some/any work if times were to get tough. Those higher wage packets also lend to the mis-conception that all Londoners are loaded. And that can and does inspire financial jealousy!

Traveling to and around London can also be considered at best, challenging. As a truck driver, bending an articulated behemoth around streets that were designed for horses and carts ain't easy, but hey, that's what I get paid for! Every part of the UK has different unwritten rules of road etiquette. For example, in Devon and Cornwall it's all about taking your time and don't be in too much of a hurry. And you have to adapt your driving to suit the natives. London in my opinion, tends to be 'get on with it'. Other drivers will quite often ignore minor indiscretions, so long as you hurry up doing so. They will forgive the, quick change of plan I'm now going in that lane and going to turn left instead of right, because they did it less than an hour ago to someone else, just don't muck around doing it. Hesitant driving is seriously not liked. To the un-initiated this can make it seem like they've turned onto a film shoot of Whacky Races, but as most cities in Europe drive in a similar chaotic style, it puts the fear of dread into many.
With it being the capital, like most major cities, has a lot of traffic travelling to it, and one can expect to be in a jam or two quite frequently. Most people, except other city dwellers can and do a thirty-ish mile commute to work in just over half an hour. That just isn't going to happen when the average speed at peak hours is just five miles per hour. Some, on their first trip make allowances for this, but because they are simply ignorant, have no comprehension of the scale and sheer volumes that navigate in and around there and the allowances usually fall way short, so missed appointments and rendezvous are common amongst the un-intiated.  Anyone who has driven to and around London can quite easily be forgiven for being put off going again.

Public transport in London, is on the whole quite good. It works, to a degree. Considering the amount of people that use it and it's complexity by it's very nature. And it's that complexity that will make any first timer feel like they're being sent into a maze made out of rose walls and with a blindfold on! People that are used to the idyllic country stations, where friendly staff who they can put a name to the smiling face, because they went to school with them, or they were a neighbour that was invited to their nieces wedding. These ever so gracious servants that were there to help out with the confusing choice of just two platforms, aren't there to greet you when you land in London. The ones whose job it is to assist on your arrival can quite often be seen surrounded by some Oriental visitor's, desperately waving their arms in a semaphore style giving signals to the direction in which the party of hear no,see no, speak no's need to go. If that was your daily routine for at least forty weeks you could be forgiven for seeming a tad surly.
London is a noisy place for the public transport using traveller. It moves, when it can, at what can seem like a frantic pace, and like driving, Londoner's just want you to 'get on with it'. And hesitation is seriously not liked.

All of the above, isn't how I see London, but how others see it given the conversations I have had with many, from all over the UK, over the years. This is to highlight the perception that visitors may get when they first and infrequently visit our Capital. All these visitors, upon their return to their local pub's, coffee morning's and canteen's will regale their negative experiences to their family, friends and colleagues, when asked, how was your stay/trip to London? They will omit albeit unintentionally, any positives.
All these points, seperately, do not add up to much, but put them all together and tell the stories over and over, exaggerate point or two and you can easily how the ill-informed are the ill-informed.

For me, I've had some very enjoyable times in London. I've got some really good memories from working and visiting.
I'm not a fan of athletics, but I fully understand that the Olympics is a massive global event. It going to be watched by billions and attract millions. London is an ideal host. It has the infrastructure, the accommodation, the tourist attractions and most of all the experience, to cope with the huge amount of visitors such a world wide phenomenon can expect.


The only place to hold the Olympics in the UK, is in my opinion, what is a great city, London!