Durham & surrounding environs - what's it like to live/ride?

Durham itself is very nice - but then it's a university city so it's fairly expensive to buy property. You'll probably be looking at somewhere along the A1/A167 like Chilton, Ferryhill, Newton Aycliffe etc.

I don't do road riding but I have a few friends who do, they usually head out towards Stanhope, Crawleyside. Basically the North Pennines.

Ive been here for 6 ish years now, still never fails to amaze me when I travel back south / other parts of the UK how little building work/change happens up here. So in some ways thats good - no massive crush for housing (apart from maybe north side of Newcastle) but then also means that it all feels a little run down sometimes, and houses in the most popular areas are not anything like cheap. You should be realistic though, the current gov' has been running the country into the ground for a decade. Everywhere has lost facilities and investment. No where I have been, not even London TBH, is notably better than it was a decade ago, and most places seem worse.

It depends what you want from where you live I guess, between the two (Durham and Darlo) there are some really nice spots, and if you both love cycling then I would recommend Wolsingham (and the rest of weardale) as a beautiful, expensive, somewhat inconvenient, but also adorable place to be. Its 80/20 up here, 80% bad, 20% good, but the good is very good, and the cycling is excellent. Hamsterley happens to be over the hill from Wolsingham (Its a big hill, but a good ride) and theres plenty of other stuff around. Tweed valley is a nice 2h drive too.

Road riding? Not my bag but my Neighbour competes a lot, as do several people on our trading estate, so I would say its strong. There's a reason the tour de britain or whatever its called goes through our village each year! You've go north pennines and northumberland to play in. An almost limitless amount of quiet hilly roads. Hell Cumbria is only 30 miles or so, and the lakes aren't much further. Good riding on the road is everywhere round here.

Seem to recall huge housing pressures in and around Durham due to a shortage of student accommodation - I'm not sure how far out you'd have to do to avoid that.

Thanks, this is good stuff. @benpinnick, great to hear there is a competitive road scene (I thought there would be, but good to have it confirmed). One of the things I do like about Sheffield is the number of race series it's possible to get to. I will take a look at Wolsingham

Durham City is very expensive. There are some really lovely properties.

However, some of surrounding villages are incredibly cheap and pretty horrible.

The same for the Darlington area, if a house seems very cheap, it's for a reason.

Expensive areas can be within walking distance to absolute shit holes.

However, some of surrounding villages are incredibly cheap and pretty horrible.

Very much what I would like to avoid. Lots of similar places which frankly I have had my fill of neighbouring round here.

There was this thread a while ago…
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/where-to-live-in-near-durham/#post-12381054

I’m Durham born and bred, and love it, albeit completely biased I admit, like most places city centre has declined in some respects, but still a lovely area.
Loads of good road riding, Hamsterley, Guisborough, Dales and Lakes all accessible for MTB.

Nice one, thanks augustus. I did try have a search but only found a couple of threads from 2015 about holidaying in the area :-/ ...

Sheffield to Durham feels like something you should research VERY carefully before committing. Obviously you're familiar with Darlo, and in my view they are pretty similar, except one has a pocket of posh Medieval plonked in the middle, which can be deceptive.

There are plenty of places to avoid like the plague in the surrounding area. How far is your partner prepared to drive to work?

I used to work briefly in Bishop/Darlo/Durham and ended up going out as far as Upper Teesdale, which was pretty idyllic, but not especially practical, although I guess the winters are getting milder. Bottom end of Weardale (Frosterley/Stanhope) are decent, especially if you want to ride from the door, because you'll pretty much always be heading into the Durham Dales. But not as far out as Stanley/Crook/Consett, which have their issues.

Also consider what you would do if one of you lost their jobs, as the north east isn't especially known for its bustling job market, particularly in quite specialist roles.

One of the things I do like about Sheffield is the number of race series it’s possible to get to. I will take a look at Wolsingham

You have to bear in mind population density (especially on the western side where the hills are) is much lower than, well anywhere else in England. You could go 40 miles west from my house towards the lakes and see very little until you hit the M6 on the other side, so be realistic about the number of race series, but my neighbour Simon would Im sure be happy to point you in the right direction. He rides with a local club and races every weekend in high season. He mixes it up with some CX etc. in the winter of course.

Its very much like the peaks without the tourists/people/anything except for hills for as far as you can see... If you stay near the pennines that is. Venture further east, you're on your own 😉

Im trying to work out whee you're at Benpinnick - I'm up above Blanchland. You nearby?

Iveston (Just outside of Consett) - Were on the crest of a hill, if you're up high I might be able to see your house 🙂

I’m actually just about to put my parents house up for sale in Sherburn Village, a former pit village just outside of Durham if you’re interested in a ‘fixer-upper’ it does need extensive renovation however.
In the previous Durham thread I mentioned Shadforth, If I was moving back I’d be looking there, Shincliffe (can be pricy) or Lanchester.

I’m actually just about to put my parents house up for sale in Sherburn Village, a former pit village just outside of Durham if you’re interested in a ‘fixer-upper’ it does need extensive renovation however.

Haha, thanks, but she's not even submitted the job application yet! And I'll need to finish fixing-up my current fixer-upper before (if) we do move. I keep saying next time I move house I want to live in a Bovis home 😉 .

I know what you mean, tbh, I couldn’t be arsed to take it on!! 😉

The gravel and road west of Durham is probably some off the best in the England.

I lived outside Durham for a year then 6 years in Darlington

Durham is odd. It’s just too small to accommodate everything a university turn needs. When we were there that meant students living in ex pit villages. Must be as hard as any where in the country to know where the nice bits are. I’d consider renting before committing cash

living in ex pit villages

Some of those places are among the roughest places to live.

A mate of mine has worked as a joiner for the local council and then for the housing associations, some of the stories he can tell are quite shocking.

Moved here a few years ago (village between Darlo and Durham) to work in Darlo after living in SE, London, Herts, and NYorks. Choose the village/town wisely in this area and it can be a great place to live. As said above Wolsingham/Lower Weardale is lovely and fine for Darlo/Durham if you can find the right house available. I wouldn't venture further up the dale unless you like feeling a bit more remote, which maybe you're fine with?

Budget/house requirements?

Durham traffic is crap. If you want to be able to get into Durham and Darlo, best pick somewhere on the east coast main line. Northallerton ideally!

really taken a turn for the worse over the past five years or so. It seems to have declined more so than various other places in England

I visit the UK intermittently.... This is pretty much my synopsis of all the places I have visited, whether that be middle class, well to do Essex, London, Southampton or Suffolk.

No idea what lies behind this phenomena....

I live newcastle, work for Durham uni as occ health nurse. Agree with all above - some stunning places right next to shitholes so will need look carefully - i used live Chopwell village fab biking on doorstep but best described as inner city vibe in the country by my inlaws 😁.
Other thing consider is type of role - if non-teaching quite a lot of hybrid working roles so may be able work remotely reasonable portion if time so could be factor as will be able tolerate longer commute if less days on-site.

Durham traffic is crap.

Second that. For the size of city it’s astonishingly miserable at rush hour. I used to commute from Newcastle down to the uni daily. Honestly the best way in was to go past the A690 to Bowburn and drive up from the South. Heading back home I’d end up using back roads through Sacriston, Grange Villa & Whickham just to avoid the A1. That was 20 years ago when roads were quieter.

Commuting with a bike on the ECML is now pretty much impossible.

I’ve lived in Sheffield and Brighton, and currently live in a village a couple of miles to the west of Durham. Compared to the SE, the traffic isn’t that bad. I work at the uni and have some colleagues who travel from Swaledale, some from Newcastle, some from York, and some from Leeds, alongside the majority who live locally - the railway opens up some options. We find most of the villages to be ok (we live in one), there are just some areas I’d avoid (e.g. parts of Brandon). Cycling is ok - the rail paths will take you far (like 30ish miles into the Pennines). There aren’t many bridleways near to Durham, but Langstrothdale, Hexhamshire common, the Yorkshire Moors and Hamsterley are all less than an hour away by car (and I’ve cycled to Hamsterley and back a few times).

County Durham is a great place to live like everywhere some bits are not grea.

Road riding is superb mtb probably better than most places with some great places that you would not really think woud be great, beamish area for example

You have yorkshire dales, north york moors, pennines, northumberland and the lakes with in an hour how manybplaces have that

At Ben, i am also mates with the very same Simon...

Actually no its horrible nothing good all dark rainy backward busy, london is the place to be

Update: partner never applied for the job at Durham in the end, she got a job at Edinburgh instead. So we're off to Scotland!