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Many people are under the impression that most normal English speak English, alas this is untrue. To judge from my experience in the North of England you might a translator.

I got to travel to the UK a couple of years ago for work to Hull (Kingston Upon Hull) in the East Riding of Yorkshire where the corporate HQ of the company I work for is located.

I flew into Manchester and then took two trains (and a bus for the last leg of the journey as part of the rail line was under repair) to Hull. On the first train the rail stop and other announcements were pre-recorded and in “English” or at least the “Queen’s English” so I could easily understand every word, but when I changed trains in Doncaster the announcements were made by the train conductor who had a heavy Yorkshire accent and I couldn’t make out a single word she said, at one point being afraid of missing my stop, I had to ask the very nice lady sitting next to me to “translate” for me which she did but because of my accent that to her ears was obviously American of some sort, then asking me if I was from Texas. LOL!

But I do have to say that much of the countryside I saw on the rail journey, especially through the Peak District of Southern Yorkshire was absolutely beautiful and at one point I looked out the train window to see the ruins of a 12th century Norman castle. And while I only managed one afternoon of sightseeing in Hull, which BTW is a beautiful city and full of many great museums, and everyone I met were very nice, really extremely nice; the hotel and wait staff, the cab drivers, the shop keeps, the museum staff, even the barista at the Starbucks and the young Yorkshire couple I met and talked to while (whilst) at the Hull Maritime Museum; all were very helpful and friendly to this Yank on her first trip “across the pond”, even if I wasn’t always able to understand them. Then again as I had to keep repeating myself to them, they were having the same problem understanding me - must have been my “Baltimore”, not my “Texas” accent. : ),

At my company meeting many of my HR/PR peers from my sister companies were from Leeds or York and Lincoln and Hull but the UK pension plan administrators were from Edinburgh Scotland and I and even the Yorkshire folks sometimes had a hard time understand them. One of the guys from Edinburgh even made a joke about their Scottish accent.

I decided to hire a car instead of taking the trains back to Manchester as I was concerned about rail delays and missing my flight back home. And the driver and I conversed the entire way although at times we both had trouble with each other’s accents. But it turned out he was a big fan of American Football, a Cowboys fan, for which I forgave him as being a Brit, not knowing any better ; ), and of American style deep dish pizza and Texas style BBQ and of America in general, and was quite the “conservative”, i.e. a Tory. We talked about all sorts of things including TV and movies and video games and also about politics and gun rights in the UK vs. the US and on game hunting which he told me was something he did, something still popular in the Northern UK.

And he also told me that shotguns were still legal in the UK with a license (although he wished other types of guns were as accessible there as in the US) but that he had a shotgun and even though his daughter was only 3 years old now, he planned on one day greeting her first boyfriend at the door branding his shot gun as a warning to him ; ) He also said he wanted to one day travel to the US on vacation and that he wanted to go to Orlando, FL – to Disney (of course) and then to Washington DC and then to Texas – wanted to visit the Alamo. He was sort of a “Yorkshire Red Neck” and a super nice guy.

I would love to go back to the UK again on a vacation rather than on a business trip. I would definitely go back to Hull and its surrounding areas and explore the ancient castles, the Roman and Viking era settlements and archeological sites and the countryside, and then go north into Scotland and of course visiting a few pubs along the way : )

I spent a month in Newcastle on Tyne when I worked for ICI. The people I worked with were nice and I needed a translator with many but it wasn't to bad since I have an ear for accents.

The thing that surprised me was Friday night. I grew up in Mass, which is a hard drinking State but what I saw in Newcastle left us exposed as tyros.

at one point I looked out the train window to see the ruins of a 12th century Norman castle."

Was it Peveril Castle in Castleton?

The train from Manchester to Hull runs through Edale, a place I adore and about 40 mins from where I live ;-)