Some years ago I was staying in a hotel in York as Susan. When I was having dinner the waiter called me Madam at least once and sometimes twice in every sentence. I concluded he was taking the p**s. Then I heard him at other tables treating every women exactly the same way. This was the first of many visits to this hotel in York and he and the waitresses were extremely nice to me.
Incidentally in York people address both genders as "Mate".
