To relocate up north

I agree but for many Southeners Birmingham is North 🤣 For me The North starts at Leeds!

Lol at Nottingham being considered north

Some of those areas aren't really the north OP but yanbu to want to head in that direction. It's a no brainer really.

I live in Yorkshire. There are some very pretty parts ( and it's certainly not all poor like another poster suggested) but if you like decent weather don't even consider moving north. I would move further south in a heartbeat just to escape the constant crap, wet and windy weather. My friend moved to Warwickshire and she says it's like living in a different country climate-wise.

Oh and the Lake District (west side of the UK generally) is very wet, they get farm more rainfall than the rest of the UK

My relative moved to the Lake district, there are a lot of properties there that can only be bought by local people (not sure exactly what the criteria is), so just be aware of that.

Also, although your children have all moved out, think about whether you want to be near them in the future if they start families. We often thought about moving further north but now that we have grandchildren, we would not want to move away from them.

Glossop
New mills
Marple
Marple Bridge
Etc

All on the train line to Manchester

Sweeping generalisation much. I live oop North. In a very rich suburb of my city.

It sounds like a good idea in your circumstances. I would recommend the North East - somewhere close to Morpeth maybe, which has good train links to the south and Scotland, and good access to Newcastle by road, bus and train. Surrounded by stunning countryside and close to the coast, with loads of amenities both in Morpeth and the surrounding towns, especially Cramlington.

What?

I live outside Sheffield in a rural area. I would say house prices here have become astronomical in recent years compared to how it used to be (but I guess it’s the same anywhere!)- but 375k would still buy you a pretty nice house here.

We have lots of lovely countryside walks on the doorstep which is great for us as we have a big dog.

There are of course lots of poor/high crime areas in the city - but not everywhere “up north” is like that 🙄 FWIW I prefer it here to Bristol which is where I used to live. And it’s cheaper!

Be prepared @StonwEd for this attitude.
I’ve moved around a bit in the south to coastal areas and the dislike and bigotry for anyone who dares to move away from where they were born is sometimes quite breathtaking.

Welcome 😁 whereabouts in CD?

I'm.off nxt year. County Durham here I come

OP some suggested places to base yourself for a holiday/research trips:

Delph/Uppermill/Saddleworth - all nice villages on the NE edge of the Peak District with lots going on locally and about half an hour from Manchester city centre.

Saltaire - World Heritage site/model village about half an hour outside Leeds, also accessible to countryside and local galleries etc.

Malton - Market town on edge of NY Moors, about 30 mins outside York. Yorkshire coast also accessible.

I know people cited Burnley as A Place No-one Wants To Live In but there's some lovely villages and countryside in the area, one of the country's best spas (Woodland), and it's not that far from many Booths branches, the supermarket that makes Waitrose look like Tesco.

We did it. Suffolk to Cumbria.

Best decision I ever made.

Some other random options (I have no real idea what you want in a house or area! I just like browsing right move)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143340449#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145721780#/?channel=RES_BUY (House might be a bit big, New Mills is much more commutable by train if you need to work)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146035793#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145694075#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or more to Sheffield side:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139002272#/?channel=RES_BUY

I would do it, OP.

We live in Yorkshire and love it - I was born Yorkshire but have lived in various countries.

We live on a lovely quiet country lane but we have multiple lovely villages a stone's throw away. We can walk to Cannon Hall Farm (Channel 5 'On the Farm') in less than 30 mins and on to the lovely village it's next to, but then also drive to the centre of Leeds in 30 mins, too. And 30 mins in the other direction you'd be in the Peak District.

But we can also walk out of the front door and straight onto public footpaths through woodland, hills and fields, you can walk for hours without seeing a soul if you want that, or to a lovely country pub or restaurants, etc.

The downsides are relatively poor/sporadic public transport, the winter can be harsh - our lane doesn't get snowploughed for example, and you really need winter tyres in your car. Oh and you'd need to drive to anything much more than a local farm shop to buy anything.

Wirral

To quote David Byrne in his song "Lazy" - "I'm lazy when I talk, I open up my mouth, Air comes rushin' out".

‘The north’ is a pretty big area isn’t it
and yes we are all poor and uncultured and you can buy a house for 10p

or something…

What? The whole of the North? Behave.

Op lives in East Anglia, not Monaco!

Sure she can cope with the change.

Where I live , we have lovely beaches, access to Wales and the Lake District, good schools … and three bed semi for £250,000. And no, not telling where I am 😉

That's our plan in three years time. Leave the flat fens and go north.
You only live once so do it. What's the worst that could happen?
Good luck.