The North: from Bede to Lowry

From the glories of early medieval Northumbria to the urban powerhouses of the industrial revolution, northern England has long had an identity of its own. In his book Northerners, Brian Groom traces the story of the North from the Ice Age to the present day. He tells Ellie Cawthorne about some of the key moments in the history of the region – and how the North-South divide goes back further than you might think.

Brian Groom is the author of Northerners: A History, from the Ice Age to the Present Day (HarperCollins, 2022)