[Closed] Contemplating a move Oop North...

Me and the other half moved from Spain. We agreed on Manchester. Been here 9 months now and loves it. Not too epensive, good nightlife, plenty going on. Plenty of mtbing fairly close by. Road cycling is horrible. Decent number of good jobs.

North Manchester BTW.

You'll need to learn how to spell and pronounce 'up'

HTH

Why move close to scotland when you can just move to scotland?

It's shit up north, don't do it 😉

Want a big city?
Sheffield.

You should deffo do it though, I left London many years ago, it's just better in every way.

APF

The wall needs to be built asap.

Wait until the Thames rises, it will be horrific.

+1 Sheffield
Amazing local trails and the west side of town is 15mins away from the peaks

[quote=joshvegas ]Why move close to scotland when you can just move to scotland?

nothing here, go south.

We're looking for reasonably close proximity to Wales, the Lakes and Scotchland

I am presuming given where you have posted you want somewhere which offers decent mtbing and is practical in terms of career etc. Personally I would look at the peaks or south Pennines as these cover most bases. We moved to Oldham 11 years ago and the nicer bits are okay and you are near Manchester for work. There are loads of decent hills and bridle ways nearby. Calderdale, Kirklees, Sheffield, high peak etc are choc full of good trials as well.

If nothing else is of importance ie schools, house prices, culture, public transport links etc etc....., based on your simple spec. Probably Kendal(ish). It's at the gate to the Lakes and equidistant on the M6 to North Wales and South Scotland.
Skipton (where I am at the Mo) was considered (the Telegraph?) the best place to live in the UK a year ago or so, I think the criteria was quality schools, quality of air, public transport links, night sky, house prices, closeness to great outdoors etc. It's certainly a nice town with a fair amount of stuff going on, but not that cultural, mainly family events etc
TBH there's loads of 'nice' places in that NW area that will give you access to the lakes and roughly equidistant to Wales and Scotland.

I moved from Northants/Bucks to Heptonstall 18 months (how time flies) ago, and haven't regretted it for a second. Couple of hours from all of those locations you want with amazing riding on your doorstep as a bonus. If you're passing through the Area, give me a shout and we can go for a beer in Hebden if you fancy.

What Simon said, leave us alone 😉

I've liked Calderdale a lot since moving up. Trails from my doorstep in every direction, and still discovering new ones after a couple of years. Gisburn, Lake District and Wales all in fairly easy reach. Manchester and Leeds both nearby.

There's no riding up here at all. It's all grey and we are outnumbered by wippets 4 to 1.

I live north of Manchester I can walk out of my back door straight onto a trail. It's hellish

Righto chaps and chapesses, that's given me some homework to do. Nice one, thanks! Nickc, will let you know if indeed we're passing through Hebden. I forgot to add that proximity to proper pubs was terribly important, but I guess that's a given!

You really want your kids to grow up with that accent ?

Not Northumberland it's rubbish.

Move to Derbyshire - you know it makes sense

Our Wednesday night group realised recently how spoilt we were. We spend all week debating which ride to do, then often change at last minute, then change again mid ride. Rarely cover the same route back to back. Rides usually feature some good tech stuff and end at a good pub. More often than not from the door.

I built a new bike and put a list of must-do and favourite trails to hit and it must have been months worth!

We're under 3 hours from the Lakes, Wales and 4 to Glentress. Nearish to Llandegla, Gisburn, Sherwood Pines.

We're spoilt in Sheffield.

Bolehills, Parkwood, Greno, Wharncliffe, Endcliffe Park, Rivelin Valley, Rother Valley and then Lady Cannings, hopefully RADMires soon, then the almost endless Peak District.

Also good parks, pubs, music, industrial history, great outdoor scene and links to the M1. West side nice and leafy, not far from Manchester airport.

Downsides?
Shopping maybe limited, city centre lost out to Meadowhall but that's not a factor to me.
No main roads head West, but the drive is scenic!
Can't comment on night life any more!
Some narrow terrace roads so can still feel crowded.
It's not as 'obvious' as other places in terms of a city to visit (compared to say York, Leeds, Manchester) but lots to explore. As somewhere to live to access the lifestyle it's great.

I made it home 25 years ago and no desire to leave yet.

I miss London even 10years on. Still wish I'd never left (not my choice). Manchester is OK but ideally I'd live in the sticks and commute in. It's just rampant suburbia. People dress up certain areas but at the end of the day its suburbia with a row of shops and pubs. Not a centre of activity. IMO Prestwich is the place for reasonable priced property to buy/increase in value still. Chorlton is way overpriced. Crackers. In terms of clean streets you need to live in the sticks, people in cities litter. I was in the Manchester Evening News paper about this.

Like Duncan said, it's horrible here and we are still relying on steam powered electricity and washtubs.

But seriously, I live between Manchester and Preston and can be on trails within 5 mins, lakes, peak etc all about an hours drive.

Going away from cycling also within an hour I can either be in the middle of big cities like Manchester, Liverpool, Preston Lancaster etc or on the beach or out in the middle of nowhere on my own on the moors.

loads of property available as its a bit of a commuter belt.

If I was moving, I wouldn't be so excited by being "close to" the trails. You're either riding from the door or not. I do occasionally driving to other trails for variety but having the choice of a few great rides out the door makes a huge difference to me.

I think the reality is that loads of locations will satisfy the riding side of things - I live in the Manchester side of the Peak and it's a nice balance of easy access to urban culture, riding from the doorstep, reasonably fast access to London if needed, Manchester airport and general lifestyle pleasantness...

... but you could equally live in the South Lakes, Calderdale, Sheffield etc. Or up towards the Dales - Harrogate is pleasant in a southern market town transplanted up north sort of way, where it has the bonus of being drier as well.

But whatever you do, I would definitely move. 🙂

OP as you say your main "problem" is that your pay is the same in Surrey or Sussex as it is in Yorkshire for example.

I would factor in travel to/from airports and Channel Tunnel for holidays. Not meaning to be funny but think about weather, I'm good with all sorts and love going out in the wind and rain but that doesn't suit everyone. You might want to consider the South West, Dorset and Devon too ?

You may consider renting your house out at first. Making a mive up North is one thing, trying to reverse that if you don't like it is another. Good luck.

Sheffield- good call. With your employer OP and it's up and coming/nice with great pubs. Pook on here lives there but otherwise it's OK 8)

Plus your close to Peak and much more road and off road.

The weather? B/holiday looks a bit wet in London tomorrow..

You'll struggle to find flowy trails up north you'll find in the Surrey hills.

Lived up north most of my life (till going way South)
In the end I couldn't get on with the stuff North East of Manchester, too many people crap traffic etc. That and for some reason the weather felt more miserable. Lakes was and is still my favourite I'd move back there if I could. Incredible trails in actual mountains in all directions, great people a lot quieter during the week than other places. On a good day I could do NW lakes to Warrington in about 2hrs, on a good day I could do Whitworth to Warrington in 90 mins (35 miles ish?) most days.
Being able to day trip peebles etc was great a short drive and your on a direct train line to Manchester (and the airport) , Glasgow and London, n Wales is an easy drive.

What thecaptain said. I'm in glamorous Rochdale; I can ride to the end of my road, turn right and a mile later I'm on open moorland.

If I couldn't ride from the door, I wouldn't get out much at all.

I live near Thirsk. Nth yorkshire moors from my door, Dalby 30mins, Reeth (dales) 45mins, lakes 2 hours.

Find somewhere you can ride from home and an extra 30mins drive to other places once in a while isn't too bad.

You'll struggle to find flowy trails up north you'll find in the Surrey hills.

Molgrips is that you?

Do you want a town or city? Do you need to be close to a hospital for work or are you in primary care?

Personally I moved up from near London a few years ago and have settled a bit north of Manchester (family in area and in case I need to work there). Don't regret coming up here in the slightest.

If I was in your position I'd look at Kendal, Penrith, Lancaster - maybe Carlisle or even Dumfries.

Great riding over in Calderdale too as others have said, but not so handy for Lakes and Scotland - which you have prioritised in the OP.

Honestly it is grim here..... I live Ribble valley/ trough of bowland, so great road riding if that is your thing and some descent trails, 8 miles to gisburn forest trails I like a lot better than most trail centres but people will disagree, 45 mins to Manchester by car on a good day,1 hr ish on dire t train .
Dales 30 to 40 minutes away, lakes aka ambleside 1 hr 30 ish maybe less on a good day, north Wales same, Scotland 2 to 3 hrs depending where, calderdale 40 to one hour.

Hebden is expensive but okay, tis odd in a pleasant way we have plenty of friends who live there.....
Sheffield is good, daughter one went to uni there personally I prefer Manchester
Harrogate okay but plenty on the a59/a65 skipton Leeds corridor, ilkley is lovely tbu pricey,

Tis grim here...avoid

Can this sort of thing be stopped by Brexit!

I'm sort of OK with Eastern Europeans, but southerners moving north - that's a step too far!

I would factor in travel to/from airports and Channel Tunnel for holidays

you've a point with the tunnel, but Airports..?

Tweed Valley?

Not sure which branch of the NHS you are in but search for NHS Borders.

I would factor in travel to/from airports and Channel Tunnel for holidays

That's only relevant depending where and how often you travel to the continent. You travel to work and leisure pretty much daily, holidays tend to be a little less often.

You travel to work and leisure pretty much daily, holidays tend to be a little less often.

I said factor in, not "make it your sole criteria" - make an effort please

I have many friends with kids for whom a holiday means an extra 2 rooms for 1 night at the airport hotel and a long late night drive home after or more hotel rooms.

Seems odd to move somewhere that's close to Wales, when you could move TO Wales. I can ride to Cwmcarn, sod driving three hours!

In other words (and this is what I would be doing if I did a job that was needed all over the country) pick a place with good riding from the door, regardless of latitude. Lots of the North does NOT have good riding from the door, it's not a given. Of course lots does, but that's true elsewhere too.

Jamby, you can be at checkin for a load of decent international airports reasonably quickly. In other news we have stuff north of watford

It's not even worth factoring in if you barely travel, if you travel every few weeks maybe. No matter what your friends do.

I live in rural Northumberland and can reach 2 airports very easily with no overnight stay, I've driven to Manchester and Liverpool too with ease to and from a holiday.

My wild guess Molgrips is that is why he asking where to move in the North with good riding and that he doesn't want to live in Wales.

I didn't mean Wales specifically, I was paraphrasing the earlier poster re Scotland.

Lordy you lot, I've got tons of staring at the map to do now! Brilliant!

To clarify: I drive a big yellow taxi for the NHS, mostly scooping the vomit-covered Public off the pavements on weekend nights, and getting spat at by demented 102 year olds the rest of the time it seems (or maybe I've just had a bad week?). Thusly, where there's humanity, there's work.

Secondly, no kids to worry about. I'm gone 40 and still waiting to grow up myself. I just can't get over how much sprog-raising costs compared to nice biking adventures in nice places.

Thirdly - and brace yourselves - I'm so southern I was born in Africa. But Ms Cheekysprocket is Midlands born and bred, so I figure it all balances out sort of. And being a wage-slave to the NHS (God bless her and all who sail in her), has got to count for something, ja?!

Sheffield's rubbish. Don't move here

To clarify: I drive a big yellow taxi for the NHS, mostly scooping the vomit-covered Public off the pavements on weekend nights, and getting spat at by demented 102 year olds the rest of the time it seems (or maybe I've just had a bad week?). Thusly, where there's humanity, there's work.

Yorkshire it is then as they pay band 6 for Paramedics or come to Northumberland where like elsewhere it's short of Paramedics.

I had the choice of anywhere due to being self-employed with foreign clients and chose here - Bollington

If you ignore the rain (which I can't obviously - you've got to have something to moan about) it fits just about everything else.

Commutable to Manchester.
Large town close by - Macclesfield.
Trails from the door, 1.5hr to Llandegla. 50mins to Delamere. 20mins to main Peak District centres of Castleton and Hope. Josh Bryclend up the road. 2hr to the Lakes.
Great schools.
30min to Manchester Airport.
Great local community.

For cheaper, I'd consider New Mills, Whaley Bridge or Chapel-en-le-frith.
For dearer, I'd consider Poynton, Disley
If you're a premier league footballer, then Prestbury.

Only downside is that due to boundaries, we're pretty much stuck with a tory MP 🙂

Yorkshire (not Leeds) for the win.

Having grown up in North Manchester I am biased but you can get to the Lakes, North Wales and the Dales in good time - easy day trips; not to mention the local stuff (I include trips to the dark side that is West Yorkshire 😉 ) . Downside getting to the Peak though is a pain in the ****ing arse and I'd rather go north. I'm near enough to the city but can ride out of my door to Cragg and Lee Quarrys.

Sheffield is a great city and the doorstep riding is faultless

Hey Drac, that's why Yorkshire is particularly high on the list. Yorkshire Ambulance Service also just gave a colleague of mine an £8K golden hello for moving up to Leeds. Mind you, he's on permanent relief and had his flat broken into within a week of moving. Ulp.

North Yorks Moors?

Plenty of humanity about, calling Middlesborough civilisation is a stretch, but plenty of nice places to live thereabouts like Great Ayton, Guisborough, Saltburn, Whitby. Fantastic riding all arround the local area, everything from techy steep singletrack in Guisborough woods to 100 mile moorland epics. North wales and Scotland are accessible for a weekend and the Lakes are doable in a daytrip.

Many are paying subsury to attract people, some areas will put you on relief but area where they are really short and have problems attracting people may offer you a position. More remote stations helps if you move near by.

Geographical locations are available in:

North of Northumberland on the Scottish Borders in the picturesque market town of Berwick Upon Tweed.
Central Division in the cultural city of Durham and surrounding areas.
South Division in the vibrant city of Middlesborough, and coastal areas of Hartlepool and Redcar and many more.
Are you looking for a new adventure? Why not consider the North East as your new home, we are offering:

A relocation package of up to £8,000 (subject to terms and conditions)

I wouldn't go any further north than Devon.

South Division in the vibrant city of Middlesborough, and coastal areas of Hartlepool and Redcar and many more.
Are you looking for a new adventure?

Haven't been for a long time but that about sums Redcar up.

I wouldn't go any further north than Devon

Quantocks maybe, but yeah, this ^^^^^

I grew up in Manchester and have recently moved down south...very far down south to New Zealand.

I live in the Wharfe Valley just north of Leeds. For us it's pretty much ideal. I work in Harrogate - 25min and MrsJ north Leed 35min. Riding wise there's some limited but fun stuff on out doorstep - Otley Chevin, Baildon Moor, Ilkley Moor. 30-40min takes us to the Dales proper, similar to Calderdale, 90min to the Lakes. Can even manage Llandegla in a reasonable day trip at the weekend. And despite being in a pleasant town on the edge of the countryside I can be in central Leeds in 20min by train.
Not sure where a paramedic would be based but as a fellow NHS worker it's pretty convenient for many of the Yorkshire hospitals.

There's 62 station locations across Yorkshire so covers a wide patch.

Hmmmmm, think it's going to be a busy ten days on the road scoping this whole lot out... 😯

Maybe have a look around Halifax / Hudderfield way, if Yorkshire is a priority.

Always thought they were in a good spot between the riding in Calderdale and the Peaks.

I can recommend South West Sheffield (Totley area). Just sold our house to someone making the same move as you're thinking of. We settled here over 20 years ago after living in various areas of England. Originally moved up to the Peak District, but got sick of tourists, planning restrictions, parking problems and winter commute into Sheffield. Totley is just over the National Park boundary and there's great riding from the doorstep - and there's quite a mtb biking 'community/scene' in Sheffield if you're into that sort of s***;)
If you want to get involved with hands on trail maintenance, there's a popular group (Ride Sheffield) that do stuff. The weather here isn't quite as wet as places that are properly in the Pennines... or Tweed Valley.

Good luck!

+ 1 for Bollington - Macclesfield area. I live just over the hill in the overpriced shiny bit... but spend a lot of time around Macclesfield - on school run and general taxi service ...

Also has very regular fast train to London - about an hour 50 mins I think.

Good access to pretty much everywhere from East Cheshire. Its not really up north - its kinda like the north Midlands.

Macc Forest, Wales, Cannock, Peaks, Lakes, Delamere - it's got it going on.

You'll have a great time as a Paramedic on Teesside.

The MTB and Road riding is shit though don't bother.

Personally I'd look at Wales, South West of England and the Scottish borders / central belt.

Manchester IMO is just horrid, Leeds is a bit better but not much. Then the satellite towns are some of the most depressing places I've ever visited. If houses are cheap in an area, then there is usually a good reason why!

North Yorks Moors?

Or try the Southern end of the Moors. I live 20 minutes by bike from Dalby, York and leeds 30-60 minutes away if you need the shopping/city. YAS will be happy to have you.

Manchester IMO is just horrid, Leeds is a bit better but not much. Then the satellite towns are some of the most depressing places I've ever visited.

. . Then the satellite towns are some of the most depressing places I've ever visited

Well there are some interesting places, and to be honest I have lived or worked in quite a few....the north has some serious pockets of deprivation, 3 wards in Blackpool are in the top 10 most deprived areas in the country, add in some of the old mill towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire and it can seem bleak or Grimm....but then down south has some of the most depressing places I can think of....city of Westminster, bgnof Regis, Yarmouth, yeovil, Islington, shoreditch,.

The northern towns have and will suffer from a multitude of issues including the effects of ' austerity', globalisation and a lack of sustained investments outside Manchester.

Rural communities are getting hammered as well, lack of services and transport But there are lots of fabulous places up north, and when we move into a independent north and Scotland things will be much better

and a lack of sustained investments outside Manchester.

Manchester is practically the Isle of Wight.

Right I gave this a bit of thought over the weekend. I reckon the absolute priority has to be to go to a place where you can get good rides from your doorstep. Outside of the SE, E Anglia, maybe E Mids, most places will be within 90min drive of somewhere decent to ride. these places give you the great all dayers you do on your day off/weekend.

However if you work and have a family most of your riding is likely to be in windows of 1 to 4 hours or so. You don't want to be in the car for a chunk of this time. you simply want to hop on the bike and pedal off. So the quantity and quality of these doorstep trails are critical. They will dominate your mid week riding and probably your winter riding as well.

I'd seriously think about this, and then ask this forum for ideas from particular locations. Moving just a few miles down the road can have a major impact on how accessible some routes are.

I reckon I have 3 very distinct routes I can take from my house for shortish rides. 2 of these have several and substantial variation options, giving me at least 7 or 8 possible routes. This keeps me going over the winter and mid week as I never have to do a route more than once a fortnight.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service also just gave a colleague of mine an £8K golden hello for moving up to Leeds.

Though they do give you 3 pairs of trousers and the band 6 Drac mentioned (some point when then sort out the flipping paperwork!).

1 - We're looking for reasonably close proximity to Wales, the Lakes and Scotchland
2 - ... good map-and-sandwiches-all-dayer trails from the front door... preferably
3 - Trail centres within a few hours' drive would be a bonus.

Breaking down your requirements - 1 and 3 sound pretty similar and 1, 2 and 3 just mean you need to live somewhere hilly (with reasonable access)

You probably need more requirements to be able to narrow down over 100 square miles of options

Public transport, proximity to shops or amenities, house types/prices, commuting time to certain areas, type of area, hamlet/village/town/city

Or you could just look for a house you REALLY like

I live north of Bolton. place called Horwich its not the greatest in the world but I like it, its got a few goodish restaurants.

I can ride straight out of my back door onto the west pennies its superb!

Id consider north preston as well

Horwich?!?!?!!?!!!

Yep horwich been here 10 or so years. Grew up in formby.

It's not a bad place to live. I'm the rivington end so there

Though they do give you 3 pairs of trousers and the band 6 Drac mentioned

3 pairs of trousers? I've heard tales of such luxuries but I thought it was all a myth.

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Without wanting to dampen the north of england love-in, this winter it rained pretty much non-stop for about 100 days (not joking). Anyway, when it doesn't rain, here in Calderdale there is about 100km of trails and you barely need to leave the valley. And if you make somewhere near Manc your base, you get to come out on the infamous Monday Night Pub Rides.