[Closed] Living in Harrogate? Is London commutable?

York maybe, depending on your level of masochism.
Harrogate not really.

Harrogate is not ideally placed - you'd have to drive or catch another train to reach the mainline.

Would you be travelling down the night before or in the morning to get there in reasonable time? If it's the former, you have more options. If the latter, I'd forget anything north of Peterborough.

Provided you don’t mind being up early, say 6am, and back late, say 7-8pm, then you’ll be fine - I’ve been doing it for years from Huddersfield with 2 days at home. If you are paying for your own tickets try to book ahead to get first class - that way you can usefully get some work done on the journey..

Cotswolds? Cotswold line into London from Oxford/Charlbury/Morton/Evesham in about 1h10-50 (in increasing order of the places listed) or Banbury and Chiltern mainline into London in similar time? Just going off what I know (where I live) but lots of locals commute to London daily

No.

I occasionally do it and it’ll kill you and ruin your family.

If you can, travel down and stay in hotels during the week then home on Thursday and WFH Friday.

HTHs

Harrogate will be on the mainline soon. It already is, but only 1 return service a day. More are coming

There's a direct train now from Harrogate to London - journey time is about 2h 45mins.

There's a direct train from Harrogate to KingsX but it's a long journey...No way I could do it every day.

The other option is to live in a nice village 10-15mins from a mainline train station and drive/commuter train to the mainline station. Lots of options for this in Yorkshire but still a 2h journey to KingsX

My boss does it, Harrogate to Bloomsbury. He's only there one or two days a week though. He has to travel a lot, Northampton, Birmingham, Selkirk (where I am) plus various clients all over the place and Harrogate isn't too badly placed. He stays over in London when he's down there. If he did more than a couple of days there I suspect he would live closer though.

Northallerton would be my pick if you really wanted to take on those sorts of journeys. It's directly on the mainline but I think it's 2hrs 15 or so from KC.

1 direct train each way at present suggests it would be a no go ( imho )
Later this year there will be more but even then it will make a hell of a long day - approx 6 + hours travel every day would kill me.

If you really want to live up in North Yorkshire, then York has much better connections and in a lot of ways would be a better choice, if you can put up with the influx of visitors.
Also look at Thirsk and Northallerton, believe it or not both have better direct connections to London at present than Harrogate

Why are you overlooking Doncaster?

Did a few years of London 2 days a week from Ilkley. It's not a long term option really but doable, I now work in Leeds.

Where else should I be thinking of?

What are your criteria?

You don't like the idea of Surrey but were considering commuting hundreds of miles to live in the most Surrey-like bit of Yorkshire.

Why are you overlooking Doncaster?

🙂

Grantham is worth a look-in, especially if you are a Thatcher fan.

Harrogate isn’t exactly on the east coast main line so even if they do get more direct trains it’s not exactly direct.

I know people who commute in to London from Harrogate and it’s horrible. ie driving to the east coast main line.

Take a pay cut and get a better work/life balance ?

Not much wrong with other places up and down the line, Retford, Newark, Peterborough to get away from London smog, prices and stabbiness. Without knowing what he wants from a home town though, we'll never hit the target. I quite like east Kent, Margate, Ramsgate and Deal, which have a slower train, but handy for hopping the channel if that's your thing. If it was affecting my health though, I'd stop going in to London for any job.

Where else should I be thinking of? The whole Surrey thing is deeply unappealing 🙁

It depends on so many things: your tolerance of long-ish train journeys, the sort of place you want to live - Harrogate has a weird 'home counties spa town' transplanted to North Yorkshire vibe going on, which you'll either like or not.

If it were me, as someone who likes hills and bikes and crags, I'd be looking at the Sheffield side of the Peak maybe. Or perhaps down towards Bristol/Bath, but it depends on your tolerance of long train journeys and whether you're going to overnight it in London or do it as a daily sort of thing.

But presumably if your main drive is simply to avoid London pollution, you could live a lot closer to the smoke than any of those places.

Direct train to/from Kings Cross Mon to Fri to/from Skipton @ 6.56am and return 6.03pm. Rather you than me.

As above, Harrogate is the same with one direct train too and from Kings Cross per day 7.33am and 6.33pm return.

In both cases the alternatives are just one change at Leeds, which is a fairly compact station.

Not much wrong with other places up and down the line, Retford, Newark, Peterborough

I'd say there's a quite a lot wrong with Peterboghorror, but I guess that's pretty subjective. Folk I've known who've been committed to Peterborough for work reasons have tended to move out towards Stamford, which - Google says - can be less than 90 minutes from London by train. And then, I guess, there's Cambridge if you're that way inclined and like flatness.

Maybe speak to HR if your organisation has any offices based outside of London?

Maybe Derby or Sheffield, for Peak riding?

Actually just read the OP again and realised you haven't yet moved. Given that is the case I would say why make life harder than it needs to be? If you are determined to live in Yorkshire (and lets face it who wouldn't be!) then somewhere closer to York will be significantly better for commuting to London. It has far more services to choose from and a much better journey time. There are also some very nice villages round there...

York is under 2 hrs to KX but you'd need to live in cycle distance, 'driving' in York is a misnomer and not going to change anytime soon. There are plans for a big re-development round the station that includes residential, timescale unclear though.

Oh and Harrogate is a bit anti-cycling, big chunk of locals hated the Tour de France.

Prevous stop is Doncaster, hmm. Next as mentioned is Northallerton which has designs on a mini Harrogate. And getting to the station would be a lot easier.

What about Retford? Also on the mainline but never got off to have a gander.

Not Yorkshire but how about Macclesfield? Plenty of trains to Euston and not far from Manchester.

Howden? Great little village in East Yorkshire. Right in the middle of York, Leeds, Hull, Doncaster and Sheffield. Handy for motorway network to get to all of these and further afield.

For some strange reason it has a large minster bigger than some cities, and direct trains in 2hr20 to Kings Cross on the Hull main line.

Is a bit flat though.

You wouldn't want to do it every day, it would exhaust you for the weekends. You could start by just going one way per day. Have you got showers/changing rooms and somewhere safe to leave the bike overnight. Definitely need to have a full spare set of clothes (bike and work) at the office for mishaps, rain etc.

pollution is affecting me badly

Why chase the money? If your health is bad what is the point of earning the big bucks?

If you are looking at moving anywhere that sounds like you have no ties.

Put your health first, take a pay cut, downsize, drive a smaller car, take less holidays, keep your bike a few more years, shop at lidl and aldi and buy a house up north and find a new job.

Life's too short to live and work in London if its making you ill. Good luck

The air in London is bad and I wouldn't commute from Harrogate it will stress you out. Depends where in London you re trying to get to, if near Waterloo I would go for the south coast. Grantham is a good shout too.

Macc would be a good location - i.e. live within walking distance of the Station. My sister does Stockport - London most weeks (works from home) but has a taxi ride to the station. Living near Stockport station isn't fab, so Macc is the next main station - good riding too.

Macc is a great shout for this sort of thing. Sub 2 hrs to Euston and a v nice area to live.

Was at the train station today as it goes and there's a big Joy Division photo on the footbridge. Didn't see the Macc Lads monument but must be round there somewhere.

big Joy Division photo on the footbridge.

Joy Division songs for Northern Rail commuters, perhaps?

Something Must Break...or maybe Failures

Crikey all this talk of trains from Harrogate to London and no one has mentioned the 250 day fare for standard on a peak service [edit 1500pcm for a season ticket] (before 9am/4pm to 7pm iirc) travel or the fact that the local service is Northern and regularly just doesn't appear.

If you're working "office hours" the best you'll manage by train is 9 ish arrival in kx. Then the joy of trying to pick up the tube in Central London at rush hour. You'll probably not get a bike on the train to pedal from kx as there are only 2 spots London bound.

I'd say no is the honest answer, Sheffield isn't too bad for traveling down but realistically there's a reason we're all forgotten by government up here and it's because it's too far from London to be of practical interest. You'll end up living in London a few days a week any how so either save the hassle and stay where you are or move jobs and house if you want to be in Yorkshire.

Yes it's a daft idea.
The fact that the OP hasn't returned suggests that he or she realises this now.

Crikey all this talk of trains from Harrogate to London and no one has mentioned the 250 day fare for standard on a peak service [edit 1500pcm for a season ticket] (before 9am/4pm to 7pm iirc)

Depends how much you earn I suppose.
I know someone who commutes to BP Head Office in London from up North once or twice a week, they wanted twice, he negotiated once, it generally averages somewhere inbetween. otherwise he can work from home or a regional office. I think the return train fare is £200, but he earns £800 a day, so average weekly train fare of approx £300 is not particularly relevant when you're being paid £4000pw

What do you do when the Trains fail? Quite often on the local radio something has happened on the East coast main line. My son got the 0600 train from York to Grantham last week, got there at 1200.
Generally the Electric cables fail or some numpty decides to play chicken and looses.

I’ve just been informed by the missus that the glitterati are moving to Suffolk. She should know.

I'd live in York before Harrogate, speaking as someone who works in Harrogate.

My brother in law wanted to move out of London and ended up in Bishops Stortford. Seems a nice place and worth a look. His commute to the centre of London is no longer than when he lived in Muswell Hill.

 the pollution is affecting me badly, and I want to get out.

Then get out. No point in still being there half the time.

People seem to be talking of time to KX but he could be anothe 30min to work after transfers walking etc. Find a cheap hotel for 2 nights a week

I did it from Sheffield on and off for about 10 years. Was ok until I got near 40 and frankly had enough of it, I was burnt out. If you can deal with a couple of hours each way on the train then great but my experience tells me that that exhaustion creeps up really slowly on you and then gets you in one hit.

Having said that, if I needed to do it again I’d not move from Sheffield. Love this city.

Think differently. Plenty of the mid life self help books out their speak sense about adding 3-5 hrs of miserable commute time to a working day. Think what else you could be doing with 15-25hrs a week spare.

For nearly 3 years I travelled by car to Huntingdon, them train into Kings cross and walked to the office. The area is ok and train takes ~1 hour.

While the job was great, I hated the time I lost (and I don't have any kids to worry about), weekends felt very short and when trains go wrong, which they do a lot, it sucks.

Back on a 16 mile round trip daily these days by bike and it's a much better life, plus with some controlled eating in 2.5 stone lighter!

It depends on how much you need to show your face and who pays for your travel. I do a day or two a week in London most weeks, with a half hour train journey into Leeds to get there. Done this for years and it's no biggie. My line management and the team I manage are all down there, and all seem pretty happy with this arrangement...

I rarely do a full day in the office, but if I leave the house bang on 6:30 I can make a 10:00 meeting pretty reliably. 7:30 for 11:00 in the office is easier. It was my choice to move my job out of London (for kids' schools and outdoor stuff reasons, panned out better for the latter than the former fwiw) so I don't resent this at all. They're lucky to have me, basically.

It depends on how much you need to show your face and who pays for your travel. I do a day or two a week in London most weeks, with a half hour train journey into Leeds to get there. Done this for years and it’s no biggie. My line management and the team I manage are all down there, and all seem pretty happy with this arrangement…

I rarely do a full day in the office, but if I leave the house bang on 6:30 I can make a 10:00 meeting pretty reliably. 7:30 for 11:00 in the office is easier. It was my choice to move my job out of London (for kids’ schools and outdoor stuff reasons, panned out better for the latter than the former fwiw) so I don’t resent this at all. They’re lucky to have me, basically.

And this is the real reason for HS2. It is to allow London workers the chance to buy reasonable housing in a good part of the country but still commute easily into the big city.

London calling.

HS2: Expanding London's unaffordable housing problem to the rest of the country;-)

Surrey isn't just one massive homogeneous lump of guildford-a-like, thee are some nice bits that are still fairly easily to cycle into the city from.

Keeping away from the mainline stations means you get (relatively speaking) more for your money, then again, you were looking to buy in Harrogate so i'm assuming that money isn't an issue 😉

Woldingham is nice and quiet, <20 miles from canary wharf, depends what you want really, Oxted is nice too. I grew up on the downs, so maybe i'm biased 😀

to allow London workers the chance to buy reasonable housing in a good part of the country

That was not part of my business case, and nor were the family reasons in part behind a move that was utterly perverse in career terms and not great for the older two kids. And trust me, I do regret selling our nice Hackney house when we did 😉

(But yeah, agree with anti HS2 sentiment though it's possible to be pro north without being anti London)

Some great input here, thank you.

I wouldn't commute every day, so that's not too much of a worry. It would be a case of spending two to three nights in a hotel (or with friends - sadly no Flashheart largesse at this point for a pied a terre...)

Harrogate sounds like it might be difficult, but is a compromise - the Ms RL is not from the UK, and doesn't particularly want to live in 'England', so it's a case of trying to find compromise places. Hadn't thought of Macclesfield, so that's a good shout..

We are committed to a five to seven-year project, and it must be completed in London, so we are locked in that way. We just need to find a way of making life viable and enjoyable around that...

Don't think you can get much more English than Harrogate! Sheffield not a bad place - 2 hrs to St P on train and decent countryside close by. Lots of parks in the city and fairly laid back overall.

Somewhat more multi cultural than Harrogate too.

We are committed to a five to seven-year project, and it must be completed in London, so we are locked in that way. We just need to find a way of making life viable and enjoyable around that…

You need to go on a road-trip really. Location stuff is really subjective, Harrogate is a nice place if you like that kind of home counties vibe mixed with a bit of added northern grit. Sheffield is brilliant in an evolved, industrial, Peak District on your doorstep way, Macc is different again, smaller and a little rougher around the edges.

I guess it also depends on what Ms RK sees as 'England'. If she's mostly tring to avoid village greens with morris dancers and communities straight out of the Archers that should be quite straightforward. If she's expecting to live in a sort of scaled-down Venice it could be more complicated. How about Scotland, that's not every 'England' 😉

A 7 year "project"? So, the pollution isn't affecting you that badly then?

WTF is wrong wth Surrey ?

WTF is wrong wth Surrey ?

If you need to ask...

I knew someone who lived in York and worked three days a week in London. He managed it by working on the train down, aiming to arrive in the office by 10.30 am, worked through lunch and was on the 4.00 pm train back, again working. He has wall-to-wall meetings in London, but it worked for him. His company picked up the rail fare. He lived on the outskirts of the city and cycled to the station. Some weekends he was knackered, but generally he said it was not too bad. He did this for over four years before moving to another in Leeds.

I wouldn’t commute every day, so that’s not too much of a worry. It would be a case of spending two to three nights in a hotel (or with friends – sadly no Flashheart largesse at this point for a pied a terre…)

Harrogate sounds like it might be difficult, but is a compromise – the Ms RL is not from the UK, and doesn’t particularly want to live in ‘England’, so it’s a case of trying to find compromise places. Hadn’t thought of Macclesfield, so that’s a good shout..

Then your answer is to not live in England. Plenty of people live in Edinburgh and work in London, train is good and plenty of flights. An 45 mins drive from Edinburgh, Glasgow or Inverness airports/stations will find you in some amazing places. I live in the Scottish Borders and know of a few people who work in London a couple of days per week.

If you are staying over when in London then you should really think about Scotland or Wales.

I used to commute from York a couple of days a week. Its was OK but i found myself staying over at least one night as it becomes very tiring after a while.

I now live in Cheshire West and commute from Crewe (1hr40) and that's a lot more doable. Wouldn't want to do it for 5 days a week, but 2 or 3 are fine.

And i'm only about 1hr away from both Peaks and Snowdonia for the weekends.

the Ms RL is not from the UK, and doesn’t particularly want to live in ‘England’,

There's some lovely bits of Northern France from which it would be easier to commute to London than up North.

There’s some lovely bits of Northern France from which it would be easier to commute to London than up North.

Risk of sharing carriage with Farage

Risk of sharing carriage with Farage

Just because he's got a French name...

I've been doing it 4 times a month since 2016. It's doable on that basis.

There is a morning train that runs directly to Kings Cross from Harrogate station, otherwise you'll have to change at Leeds or York.

Flying is possible but more difficult now BA only do one flight a day on average.

Driving is least hassle but also most unpredictable. Much easier if you have a car with semi-autonomous driving capability.

Not been one point where I'm driving home and regretting my move from the south east.

Well, I just did that journey you asked about.

Started 0600

In office 1100

Luckily I’m staying over this week, heading home on Thursday night (not back to Harrogate) but still a 2hr shlepp to the south coast.

It’ll kill ya..

I suppose the question is, how much 'not England' do you want?

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Haven't read the whole thread but a colleague lives in the Lake District and spends 2.5 days a week in the office, getting a fast train down after the peak pricing. Spends Weds and Thurs in London. He's played it well by owning a flat in London that he Airbnbs out the rest of the time. Mind you, if I was in that position I wouldn't pick the Lakes, I'd go for the Alps...

Luckily I’m staying over this week, heading home on Thursday night (not back to Harrogate)

What a waste, now you don't get to enjoy the eerily zombie apocalypse quiet roads of Harrogate on Bank Holiday half term week. I'm disappointed I'll miss them tomorrow as I'm on the 7am train to make and 11.30 meeting in Mayfair though that said I'm back out at 14.30 so should make the evening crush.

I honestly thought it was still Bank Holiday this morning. I didn't see a single car at bond end and only a handful at woodlands and Hornbeam. Something of a system shock after the last few weeks of standing traffic all the way from mother Shipton's to the office (though I do take great pleasure in plodding up the outside lane of Knaresborough Hill on my bike past all the cars, especially when one thinks the queue isn't for them and comes zipping up behind me then proceeds to rev and honk to indicate their displeasure at being stuck behind a cyclist)

I've restrained until now, but really, who the **** would want to live in Harrogate?

It’s the wife’s family that brings me to Harrogate’shire.

I think it’s a really nice little place, got most of what you need and the moors are in spitting distance.

What i don’t like is the silly sullen driving people seem to adopt, chaos for the 45mins either side of school kicking out time and the randomness that is tourist season.

But on the whole it’s a bit twee and maybe suffers from its own reluctance.

HeyHo.

Needs more micro breweries, definitely 👍🍺 less Gin palaces 🤮

Don't take this the wrong way but feel free not to move here. Nothing personal, just venting. I've been here 40+ years. Harrogate has been completely shafted by incomers to the point that no-one born here has a chance buying a house unless their parents are well off. The traffic is mental, the new housing estates that are popping up everywhere due to the council being rubbish and corrupt start at £1/4 million and go north fast. There aren't many proper jobs that don't require a commute. Not having a Tesco makes us quite exclusive I suppose. My kids will never have a house here.

No idea why you'd want to move so far away. My mate lives in High Wycombe, it's nice enough and the road biking is superb, haven't looked at off-road.

yeha - I think you are talking about a lot of places up North.

Again I think Macclesfield is a good start for the lifestyle the OP wants.

It's got its very exclusive side of the Cheshire triangle ie: Prestbury, Wilmslow and Alderley Edge. The actual middle of Macc is a bit scruffy. However the people are friendly, it's surrounded by gorgeous countryside with whooping big hills for proper mtbiking.
Some nice pubs and the foodie scene is good nearby (our area of Marple not far away has some fabulous restaurants and cafes).

I used to live a 26 minute train ride away from the City, I've now moved the south East Lincolnshire and it's bloody great, not crowded and much slower pace of life.
My commute takes me 2.5-3 hours each way and to be honest if I wasn't retiring in 3 or 4 years it would drive me nuts as I'm losing a lot of time at home. If you've got little people at home it would be even worse, luckily mine have all grown up and left.

PS; my cycling has suffered as I haven't got the time to get out as much now.

Not Yorkshire but how about Macclesfield? Plenty of trains to Euston and not far from Manchester.

Its surpassingly close on the train - 1hr 40 mins. Train only stops at Stoke and then straight on to Euston. Macc is relatively cheap, Bollington about 2 miles from the station is worth a look or with a big budget get some Cheshire set style in Prestbury - also about 2 miles from the station.

I didn’t see a single car at bond end

That's pretty much been the case since the 2 roundabouts were installed, now if only the council would see sense & stick one at the top of Claro road.

I’ve restrained until now, but really, who the **** would want to live in Harrogate?

To pay way over the odds for a house & show off your Chelsea tractor of course.

Edit, & why the OP wants to move from a congested city to another of the most congested towns in the country is beyond me.
(i'm qualified to comment as I drive a minibus in & around Harrogate every day)

I live in Stafford* and the time to Euston can be under 80 minutes.

About 100 yds from the station there are some fairly nice flats. I've been told that one of the penthouses is rented by a couple who are doctors at the University College Hospital, a 5 minute walk from Euston Station.

*Within riding distance of Cannock Chase

That’s pretty much been the case since the 2 roundabouts were installed,

I'm still convinced most people just found that it was better to go around when they did the works and haven't reverted to bond end. It doesn't just feel like less standing traffic but less actual traffic.

It has been lousy since they closed bogs lane though, its like flower and Yorkshire show traffic rolled into one.

to another of the most congested towns in the country is beyond me.

I think my record was a little over an hour to drive from Hornbeam to Starbeck, that's under 2 miles in over an hour, with no road works. I hate when I need the car/van for work.

Having lived and worked in Harrogate for over 40 years I feel I can comment on this thread

The traffic is mental,

Not in school holidays it’s not ....on the contrary if we could persuade folks not to drive their kids to school but enable them to walk, cycle or use the many school buses it would make life much better for everyone all year round.

On the other hand I do feel the town has more than a touch of xenophobia, so as the OPs other is non English that may possibly be an issue.

Housing is without doubt a huge issue, there just isn’t enough properly affordable housing in the new developments springing up, unless you call affordable approx 8 - 9 tomes national average wage,

Local rag likes to make out there are no go areas in the town And it’s a war zone .... comical as it’s so genteel compared to back in the 80s when Saturday night meant running fights on West Park and Parliament Street between local yobs, squaddies ( when penny pot had proper squaddies ) and passing football hooligans.

Harrogate has a lot going for it, but it’s a lot like Royston Vasey in some ways

WTF is wrong wth Surrey ? I'm in ghastly Guildford atm, you'd have to pay me to move here and the driving I find very aggressive, no jaywalkers here and the best beer is in 'spoons ffs.
Harrogate seems to me to be full of elderly wealthy types in German cars and Betty's Tea Room is the town's hot spot. The Little Beer House is a saving grace but I'm always glad to leave the town.
In terms of commuting, off the top of my head, I'd be looking at where I can get to from stations like Wellingborough, Peterborough, Corby. Not places I'd want to live in but they are the gateway to some great towns and villages and relatively affordable after London. Corby to London (I think) in under an hour.

To clarify I don’t live in Harrogate but in one of the far more pleasant (but slightly madder) towns in the vicinity. I don’t know why anyone would willingly choose to live in Harrogate itself. It’s got some good coffee shops but isn’t a particularly attractive place, and it’s a bit stuck up itself.

The traffic situation is dire because of the divine right drive into the town centre. Apparently they’re considering a park and ride but it’ll take ten years to implement. In the meantime they continue to encourage vehicle traffic and actively discourage bikes and pedestrians. For the time being we have easy(ish) access from one direction on the Beryl Burton cycleway / Nidderdale greenway but it appears that a new ring road is planned to replace it in the near future.

You could consider York for easy commuting, but riding isn’t as good there. I also only have to get to Heathrow when driving, which is under three hours at night.

i do wakefield to/from kingsX once a month (read that as at least every other week)
the 17:33 arrives harrogate 20:27 if on time, or change in leeds, trains every 1/2 hour take 3-3 1/2 hours)

(which my trains have been ok TBH over the last 5 months)

your Standard single is £134.50 (i go wakefield to slough £275 return, its normally around £90+ each way if you book early and intend to arrive before 9am and leave 4-6pm

wakefield would be better or one of the other stops further south. or elsewhere entirely.

i get tired after a day a way, but i prefer to day return, as i dont sleep in hotels too well. excellent mtb riding around the pennines and peaks