Talk to me about Harrogate, Yorkshire - is it a nice place to live?

[LarkinSky]

We’re returning to the UK next July after 13 years living overseas - me, DH, and our two DDs (6 and 10).

We’re looking at Harrogate. We did a recce this summer and it looks gorgeous, even in the rain , schools and all. But I don’t know anybody from there and would love to hear honest views about it.

We both have portable careers and can remote work for the international organisations we’re employed by, so we can choose anywhere, pretty much. Our family are in the north-west and midlands.

We’re coming back to put down roots for our kids, who are British in name but never lived in the UK. DH and I both from the north although spent several years in London.

Any advice, thoughts, insight into Harrogate gratefully received!

York and Sheffield are cities and much bigger than Harrogate so perhaps recommending specific areas would be helpful. I live close to York but wouldn’t have a clue which bit of it would be nice to live in.

I lived my teenage years in Harrogate in the 70s, and returned again to live for a couple of years approx 10 years ago. I still go back regularly and love the town. I think the shopping is still good, and with theatre, convention centre auditorium and royal hall there's always plenty going on culture-wise. Plenty of restaurants and cafes. If you can live walking distance from the centre it's brilliant. As for traffic, yes, it's busy but far from horrific - I've lived in the south east and its far worse there. If we could afford to I'd move back in a heartbeat. It's so easy to get out into the dales and there are so many great places to visit around and about the town.
These days I find York far too busy and touristy ( again a place I visit regularly as my son lives there. ) Harrogate has good train links with both York and Leeds for any extra shopping needs.
I can't speak for now with the schools, of course, as it's been a while, but I was at Harrogate Grammar and my daughter was in sixth form there when we moved back, and it was a very good school at both those times, with 30 years in between, so I'm biased.
Good luck with your search. Hope you find happiness wherever you fetch up.

Ripon is smaller but has an excellent state grammar school, www.ripongrammar.co.uk if selective is appropriate for your DC's.

I have friends with DH's who work in the NE but chose Ripon just for the grammar school. Selective followed by distance to the school.

We moved to Harrogate from London about 20 years ago. It's a great place for kids to grow up. Very safe, excellent schools but large enough and close enough to big cities to have the amenities that teens want.
The lack of diversity PPs mention is true but we are a non white British family ourselves and know many many other similar families. We have never felt that we stick out until we visit some of the more remote dales villages where we have been stared at.
I've found the town's reputation of being 'stuck up' unfair. True, a lot of people in Harrogate have more southern (London) accents than those from the towns around (Bradford, Leeds etc) which can be seen as posh. It's probably because a lot of people who have moved up from London to work in Leeds choose Harrogate to live but I have always found it friendly and sociable with lots going on.. We did move to a smaller village for a couple of years and found it much harder to integrate being obvious outsiders.
House prices reflect the excellent schools. Like anywhere else in the country people pay a premium to get their dcs into the schools seen as outstanding. Ours went to Harrogate Grammar and have done extremely well academically and enjoyed themselves while there. That's not to say they wouldn't have done as well elsewhere. No way of knowing!

I wouldn’t say Harrogate was posh and snobby particularly. I’m quite surprised by those comments. I remember the old market hall too from my teenage years, and the old bus station too. I never got used to the Victoria centre. The more moneyed areas seemed to be some of the posher villages around Harrogate. Re York, Fulford area has a very good comprehensive.

I live nearby and just don't love it. Plenty to do due to the size but horrendous traffic. last time I was there looking around a restaurant and noticed everyone seemed to have identical face lifts, not really my scene. The schools are well regarded thoufh, depends what you're after

LarkinSky would you not rent for a while before buying, wherever you went? Hope everything works out well for you.

I don't know Harrogate particularly well so can't really add to what others have said. But if you're after a nice little town in Yorkshire what about Ilkley? It's lovely and I think ticks a lot of your boxes - small town, nice place to bring up kids, on the southern edge of the Dales so lovely countryside, easily accessible to Harrogate and Leeds if you want city amenities and you can get to London on the train (change at Leeds).

If you were minded to consider the south I'd say towns like St Albans, Horsham or Maidenhead would up your street.

You mentioned family in the Midlands. I used to live there and liked Leamington Spa, Warwick, Cheltenham and Malvern. I believe Evesham and Worcester are both popular too. In certain parts of the Midlands they still have grammar schools if that's a plus for you. I lived in a place called Harborne in Birmingham which I loved, it's a proper urban village but maybe too big city-ish for what you're looking for x

I live in Yorkshire and I love Harrogate. Open space, good schools, nice restaurants etc.

However, there are lovely villages and towns around Harrogate that might tick your boxes.

Have you considered Wetherby. It is close to Harrogate and has a good community feel.

I grew up in Yorkshire and left for almost thirty years post uni, lived all over the world. When we came back we looked at houses in Harrogate (Harlow Moor Road in particular) but chose to live elsewhere nearby.

Agree with all the Ilkley suggestions, I always think of Ilkley as an outdoor persons Harrogate, less pretentious imo (higher house prices).

Whilst Harrogate does have beautiful architecture and posh bits it does have the problems of any modern rural town.

North Leeds, Alwoodley area is a much better bet imo. Diverse and good public transport links into the city centre.

Berkhamsted and Tring in Hertfordshire are very nice.

Harrogate (best friend lives there) is nice but v.high house prices, not so keen on the traffic and although I like to visit it just isn't for me - can't quite put finger on why
Ilkley is lovely too (ILs live there) but parking can be a nightmare, there are some bloody ugly conversions into flats and some bits are a bit overcrowded with retirees
We're near to Darlington which is no way as pretty and you have to be really careful about schools but much much better links to London, very friendly town, a surprising mix of high end and low end shops (not much in the middle) much cheaper house prices , some beautiful Victorian houses and very easy links to stunning countryside
Durham might be worth a look - yes it's a city but a small compact one with a lot of charm , very vibrant thanks to the university, lots of beautiful houses, nice shops, markets and some good schools - again fab links to London, and local countryside

Wow, so much food for thought - I can’t emphasise enough how helpful all these comments are. 😊

@IBlametheTeachers that’s so great to hear re 30% English as a second language at your school - sounds like the schools are quite diverse and languages play a strong role. We’re looking at HGS for DD1, which sounds quite strong on language teaching.

@Drabarni and @Parkandride - that’s not really us 😀 but maybe / hopefully it’s just pockets / a certain restaurant scene etc?

For those who suggested York, thank you, I started reading up about it, but unfortunately i think it’s too big (a city - albeit a small one) for DH. At first he wanted somewhere very rural with land, then a small village and now agrees a bustling town with secondary school and good walkability for DD is the way forward. He just wants to be able to jump on his bike at the weekend and get into the countryside (ie the Dales!) as quickly as possible :)

I love Harrogate, never lived there but I'm from the general area. It is a bit Hyacinth Bouquet but there are many other aspects to it too. But yes there's also York, Ilkley and Otley. I'd choose York but I like cities - but again terrible traffic.

@HarryG8 thanks for sharing your positive experience- it’s very heartening, same for @daisypond, @Hubcapdiamondstarhalo and @mrsrhodgilbert. We’re coming back to our own country but it also feels a bit like taking on a new foreign posting, research wise, only this one is permanent.

@Bloodybridget we can rent first if we don’t find the right house to buy yet, but I don’t think we can move the children out of schools to another area - DD1 will be starting secondary and after years of moving, once she’s in a school, that’s it for her and DD2’s secondary years. So no option for us to try a location first, unfortunately.

After a very sheltered childhood overseas it’s going to be a transition to UK life for my kids for sure - especially as DD1 edges closer to the teen years.

Any thoughts on Harrogate for young teenagers? What about these references to drug problems? She’s very sporty, loves the arts etc. But she’s not been exposed so much to commercial / fashion trends, UK TV, smart phones / internet / social media, etc. Hoping it won’t be a baptism of fire for her!

Look at Ripon then OP. Grammar school and an outstanding academy. Fountains abbey. Safe for kids to grow up with a bit of freedom, Dales on your doorstep.

One more question, an important one for me, re Harrogate political landscape - it’s Conservative but leaning LibDem for MP and local council, is that right? Any showing from Labour? Looks like the Brexit vote was split 50/50 there?

Whichever party people support, do you find folk get involved in the community and local politics?

Ahh, Ripon sounds gorgeous but I do want to avoid the 11+ system. I went to a Grammar but saw so many siblings divided as one passed and one failed. And practically, although I think my kids are pretty bright, I don’t know if DD1 would pass the 11+ if I put her in it next month without any prep / tutoring, then I’d spend four years worried about DD2 passing. Would rather just avoid the pain!

If your dd is going into yr 7 September 2020 and you're moving back in July 2020, may be sensible to have a look at admissions policies for non-residents - in particular, do you need to be at the relevant address to apply for a place?

In some (many?) areas you might need to come back in July and then apply - which will mean taking whatever is available?

Skipton sounds just like what you are looking for. Small town but right on the edge of the Dales so you can be in the countryside really quickly. Great place to bring up children. We love it here.

I think it depends on how much money you have to buy a house. If a million, fantastic, you can get a nice house in a nice area. If only 300k it may be a different situation. I echo everyone saying about the smaller towns and villages which have a good community feel. If money was no object I think I would plump for somewhere over the border into West Yorkshire, so Ilkley or And don’t underestimate how difficult it is to get into Harrogate Grammar. Huge waiting list

Your husband will be happy if he’s into cycling, it’s massively popular here. We are about to be the host of the largest cycling event in the world, that’s how good the area is for the sport.

If you can live within walking distance of HGS and the town centre your young teens will have a good time. Many kids are brought in from surrounding villages which makes socialising more difficult, lots of late night driving around for parents collecting and returning offspring to friends houses. I think where there are young kids who have money to spend there will always be drugs these days, Harrogate is no different and that’s something you will find wherever you choose. It’s how you deal with it as a family that matters.

I’d say there is lots of opportunity to be involved with sports and there’s certainly a big youth theatre scene, you just need to find the right group.

There’s a very wide variety of people here, I think the snob factor is overused. It’s still Yorkshire and very friendly.

I grew up in Knaresborough and it’s very pretty - ancient market town with a lot of history and a community feel. But its high street is in decline, like many high streets, I suppose. It also has a good secondary school. It’s on the Leeds-Harrogate-York railway line. There’s more going on in Harrogate, which has a cinema and theatre and shops for teens, but it’s very easy and quick to get there on the bus.

Harrogate is known for being snobby and posh by those of us from the more lowly West Yorkshire. It is supposed to be nice though so if that appeals then got for it. I would rent a house there for a while before buying so that you can get a feel for the area before you commit. Ilkley and Skipton are also nice and smaller. Durham is nice and a bit further north. Ripon, is nearby and very pretty.