Joe McArdle column: The joys of being half-Scouse with Burnley roots

WITH my dad being from Liverpool and my mum being from Burnley, whenever I wasn’t in one of those places there has always been a certain expectation of me to be at least some level of ‘tough’.

I’d carry the stereotypes around with me wherever I went. If I was talking to non-Scousers and they learnt I was ‘half-Scouse’, then I’d receive comments such as ‘I best keep an eye on my wheels then’.

On the other side, if I was around Scousers and they knew of my Burnley roots then I’d be accused of wanting to marry my own cousin. With my main interests as a young lad being literature and acting, I certainly didn’t strike fear into anyone’s heart.

Obviously, anybody who has been to Liverpool or Burnley know that these stereotypes are only upheld by the snobbish and the stupid. The beauty of such places is that there is an eclectic mix of people and cultures and what makes them such interesting places, like a lot of the North, is that everybody is a right character.

Despite my roots, and my mates can vouch for this, I’m definitely no tough nut. Whenever I’ve been asked if I’ve ever been in a fight, I always give the same, and honest, answer. “No but I have been beaten up, does that count?”.

John McArdle

Joe's dad is John McArdle, known for Brookside and Emmerdale

If ever in a confrontation, I’d say something like, “Oi, I’ll call my Uncle Rory if you’re not careful” as though my actually tough, Scouse uncle would get in his car and drive miles just to beat up a spotty teenager that bust my nose over a Pokémon card.

The thing is, stereotypes given to certain regions are only reinforced by those who don’t live there, and often people that have never even been there.

To be honest, I did the same when I was moving to Edinburgh for university. I thought I’d be hanging out with ginger, kilt-wearing, rotund blokes eating battered Mars bars but I soon realised it was actually full of southern English folk.

Again, the stereotypes followed me. I’d be in a club and see a posh friend of mine get into a fight with some local, before turning to me, ushering me forward and saying in an Etonian whine “yah, you better watch it bro, my friend here is from Burnley.”

Joe's mum is Burnley-born actress Kathy Jamieson

Before trying to remind him that being from a state school in the north doesn’t mean I’m a fighter of any kind. I had to remind him I was doing an English Literature and not hand-to-hand combat degree.

The only response I’d get being, “careful lads, he might have a quill on him”.