WHEN writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie decided to pen a book celebrating "the North" he was worried that he might be limiting himself to readers from this end of the country.

But he need not have been anxious as Pies and Prejudice - In Search of the North has now sold an impressive 50,000 copies, and far exceeded his expectations.

As if that was not enough for the lover of the Lake District - who has a home close to Greystoke, near Ullswater - he has just started a new evening show with Mark Radcliffe on BBC Radio 2 in the prime slot of Monday to Thursday, 8pm to 10pm, which they broadcast from Manchester.

The cultural commentator and radio star, who is known to many people for his writing which spans everything from the NME (New Musical Express) in the 1980s and early 1990s, to his current column in the Radio Times, wanted to explore why it is that "the North" has an identity all of its own, and in a specific way that "the South" has never managed to acquire.

He told The Westmorland Gazette this week: "I never wanted it to be one of those cloying books because there are a lot of things I don't think are that great about the North, but as the book went along it became more of a love letter or celebration.".

For full interview and picture, see the May 25 editohn of The Westmorland Gazette.