Where does the North begin? This debate has been raging on the Wikipedia talk page for Northern England for over a decade. Well, luckily the answer has already been given to us by… the KLF. In 1991, the band – then going under the name “The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu” – recorded a ten minute techno song “It’s Grim Up North”. The majority of the song consists of town names being delivered in a Scottish monotone over a pulsing techno beat, ending with the phrase “are all in the North”.
I’ve taken the song lyrics – using Wikipedia’s interpretation of ambiguous lines (so “Cheadle Hulme” not “Cheadle” and “Hulme”, but “Accrington” and “Stanley” not “Accrington Stanley”) and ignoring the fact that Leigh appears twice – and mapped them all.
So, what is in the North?
(If you’re browsing on a phone, you may need to turn it sideways to see the map. If it still doesn’t work, click here.)
Well, the first thing you’ll notice is that a lot of the North is missing. Barrow-in-Furness is the only Cumbrian town to appear (and until relatively recently, it was actually an exclave of Lancashire anyway). Not a single settlement in the North East appears either – no Newcastle, no Middlesbrough, no Hartlepool, no Berwick. By and large, the KLF’s North is the M62 corridor. Rugby league land. Roses territory. Lancashire and Yorkshire, basically.
To be fair, there’s also quite a lot of Cheshire, even though many beyond the Tees sniff at its claims to Northernness. Cheadle Hulme and Sale were historically Cheshire but have been consumed by Greater Manchester, while Warrington was once Lancashire but is now Cheshire. Lincolnshire gets a look in too, with three towns (all part of former Humberside), as does Derbyshire with two. Here’s the full historic county breakdown:
| Cheshire | 10 |
| Derbyshire | 2 |
| Lancashire | 30 |
| Lincolnshire | 3 |
| Yorkshire | 24 |
As some of you may know though, Lancashire is now just a shadow of what it used to be. Barrow’s gone to Cumbria, Liverpool’s gone to Merseyside, Manchester’s gone to, well, Greater Manchester. In modern ceremonial county terms, it’s:
| Cheshire | 9 |
| Cumbria | 1 |
| Derbyshire | 2 |
| East Riding of Yorks. | 1 |
| Greater Manchester | 13 |
| Lancashire | 12 |
| Lincolnshire | 3 |
| Merseyside | 5 |
| North Yorkshire | 4 |
| South Yorkshire | 4 |
| West Yorkshire | 15 |
Finally, how northern is it? The government divides England into nine regions, of which three – North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber – are usually considered Northern. Here’s the regional breakdown:
| East Midlands | 2 |
| North East | 0 |
| North West | 40 |
| Yorkshire & Humber | 27 |
There are more East Midlands towns than there are North Eastern ones! Disgraceful!
Random stats: The northernmost town is Scarborough, the southernmost is Nantwich, the westernmost is Barrow-in-Furness, and the easternmost is Cleethorpes. The largest city not included is Liverpool, the smallest town that is included (not including desolate Ilkley Moor) is Pendlebury.
Here’s the full dataset, in case you’re interested or want to quickly program your satnav for an impromptu KLF pilgrimage.
| Lat | Long | Name | Historic | Ceremonial | Region |
| 53.578 | -2.429 | Bolton | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.554 | -1.479 | Barnsley | Yorkshire | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.835 | -2.218 | Nelson | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.855 | -2.176 | Colne | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.789 | -2.248 | Burnley | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.8 | -1.752 | Bradford | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.259 | -1.911 | Buxton | Derbyshire | Derbyshire | East Midlands |
| 53.099 | -2.44 | Crewe | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.392 | -2.597 | Warrington | Lancashire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.363 | -2.728 | Widnes | Lancashire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.545 | -2.632 | Wigan | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.8 | -1.55 | Leeds | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.259 | -2.518 | Northwich | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.067 | -2.522 | Nantwich | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.3 | -2.371 | Knutsford | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.744 | -0.333 | Hull | Yorkshire | East Riding | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.424 | -2.322 | Sale | Cheshire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.483 | -2.293 | Salford | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.645 | -3.008 | Southport | Lancashire | Merseyside | North West |
| 53.498 | -2.515 | Leigh | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.483 | -2.892 | Kirkby | Lancashire | Merseyside | North West |
| 53.53 | -2.37 | Kearsley | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.867 | -1.911 | Keighley | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.517 | -2.945 | Maghull | Lancashire | Merseyside | North West |
| 53.991 | -1.539 | Harrogate | Yorkshire | North Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.645 | -1.8 | Huddersfield | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.544 | -2.117 | Oldham | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 54.047 | -2.801 | Lancs | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.56 | -0.068 | Grimsby | Lincolnshire | Lincolnshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.443 | -1.949 | Glossop | Derbyshire | Derbyshire | East Midlands |
| 53.742 | -2.009 | Hebden Bridge | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.707 | -1.794 | Brighouse | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.446 | -2.989 | Bootle | Lancashire | Merseyside | North West |
| 53.7 | -1.37 | Featherstone | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.341 | -2.841 | Speke | Lancashire | Merseyside | North West |
| 53.328 | -2.712 | Runcorn | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.43 | -1.357 | Rotherham | Yorkshire | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.614 | -2.161 | Rochdale | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 54.111 | -3.226 | Barrow | Lancashire | Cumbria | North West |
| 54.064 | -2.879 | Morecambe | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.258 | -2.127 | Macclesfield | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.743 | -2.997 | Lytham St. Annes | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.871 | -2.392 | Clitheroe | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.553 | -0.022 | Cleethorpes | Lincolnshire | Lincolnshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.508 | -2.315 | Pendlebury | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.533 | -2.283 | Prestwich | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.759 | -2.699 | Preston | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.958 | -1.08 | York | Yorkshire | North Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.962 | -2.017 | Skipton | Yorkshire | North Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.581 | -0.65 | Scunthorpe | Lincolnshire | Lincolnshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 54.277 | -0.401 | Scarborough-on-Sea | Yorkshire | North Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.19 | -2.892 | Chester | Cheshire | Cheshire | North West |
| 53.653 | -2.632 | Chorley | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.376 | -2.19 | Cheadle Hulme | Cheshire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.567 | -2.887 | Ormskirk | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.753 | -2.364 | Accrington | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.715 | -1.476 | Stanley | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.68 | -1.58 | Ossett | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.905 | -1.687 | Otley | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.915 | -1.815 | Ilkley Moor | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.384 | -1.467 | Sheffield | Yorkshire | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.479 | -2.245 | Manchester | Lancashire | Greater Manchester | North West |
| 53.716 | -1.356 | Castleford | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.55 | -2.771 | Skem | Lancashire | Lancashire | North West |
| 53.515 | -1.133 | Doncaster | Yorkshire | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.691 | -1.633 | Dewsbury | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.725 | -1.863 | Halifax | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.846 | -1.836 | Bingley | Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire & Humber |
| 53.357 | -2.164 | Bramhall | Cheshire | Greater Manchester | North West |