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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want to move 'up north'?

454 replies

onemiddlefinger · 19/02/2015 14:38

That is if South Yorkshire is actually considered 'up north'?
We have always lived in London and now DH might have a job offer near Sheffield and i'm actually surprised that really want to move.
If someone told me 3 years ago that we might be moving nearly 3h away from London i would have been laughing, but now it might be a reality and i'm really hoping it works out.

We would have less money each month, but i would be able to stay home with DC for a few years and we would have much more space, a lovely house, a garden and DH would have more free time to spend with us.
I'm just so sick and tired of squeezing into our tiny flat and worrying about the downstairs neighbours coming to complain again about the noise and the commute on packed tube trains and just generally people everywhere.

AIBU?
Maybe it's just a phase of being fed up and once we actually move i'll be missing London? This is really all i can think about the last few days and in my head i'm already decorating the house and imagining us there - kids happy playing, our family able to come and visit (they live in another country) and actually be able to stay with us comfortably.

OP posts:
winkywinkola · 19/02/2015 21:00

We too are considering this move only h would commute to London to work two days per week.

We are from the north and so it's not unfamiliar territory.

squareheadcut · 19/02/2015 21:07

I just moved from London to midlands for the house and garden as we were cramped. But i miss London. People don't understand. London is a lifestyle. The people you meet are often gems, the cosmopolitan nature of it. The freedom. The joy of being in the capital. The confidence to just be. Be who you truly are. That's why London is what it is. Think carefully before you give it up for good. Sheffield is nothing like London. Nothing compares to it. London is unique and you will miss it too.

ouryve · 19/02/2015 21:08

Adding to the Durham love, here. (On a shallow level, I particularly love that, despite the insistence of some on Mumsnet style and beauty that flat shoes and boots are frumpy, anyone daring to wear heels in Durham tends to attract an audience when they inevitably fall over.)

I had no idea, until listening to Now Playing on 6 music, last Sunday, that Prefab Sprout were from Witton Gilbert (near Durham, for people who have no idea). It's such an unassuming little place!

Anyhow, even some of the "culture" can't afford to stay in London, as evidenced by the BBC's move of so much of its output to Media City.

Original poster
onemiddlefinger · 19/02/2015 21:24

So many great replies!!
Northeners really are nice, even on internet Grin

We do realise that it would be very hard or impossible to come back due to London property prices, but we have actually always planned to move out of London once we had kids, just never thought of moving that far (although i realise that it's not actually that far...).

We always thought that it would be better for DC and they would actually have better chances at going to a good school than in London (as we couldn't afford private schools here or to move to an area with great schools).

Travelling i think is possible anywhere, but yes London has more choice in flights etc, but still that's not good enough reason - with 2 DC how many holidays are we really going to go on? maybe once a year.

And it's not just about a bigger house and a garden, but a total lifestyle change. At the moment i'm working full time (pregnant with DC2) and so does DH. I usually take the tube every day in the rush hour with DS and drop him off at the nursery, then get back in the tube and continue to my work (total time 1h10min), same in reverse in the evening with a tried and grumpy toddler (and we live in zone 2). I'm not enjoying it to say the least.
Being at home with the kids is a big part of the appeal for me, i don't mind working, i just hate to pay crazy amounts of money for other people to rise my kids and feel like a hamster trapped in the wheel.

OP posts:
Mrsstarlord · 19/02/2015 21:29

T'internet! Wink

When you move up, you need to start a glossary thread to help you understand what people are talking about!

Original poster
onemiddlefinger · 19/02/2015 21:30

Mrsstarlord thank you, beware though i might actually do that as i won't know anyone for about hmmm... 200 miles

OP posts:
brimfullofasha · 19/02/2015 21:31

Do it! Sheffield is a fantastic place to live. It's friendly, you get culture and beautiful countryside. You can live a short bus ride away from the centre and still have the Peak District on your doorstep. Employment opportunities are the main disadvantage in my eyes and it sounds like you have that sorted.

Original poster
onemiddlefinger · 19/02/2015 21:32

Mrsstarlord
x post!
this was in reply to your earlier post!

ah yes, i already feel a bit confused - it took me while to get "Penistone" Blush

OP posts:
museumum · 19/02/2015 21:33

I honestly don't understandvpeople who move "out of London" and stay in the over-crowded expensive South east. You are absolutely doing the right thing - if you're not going to live properly in London then it is really worth moving properly away from the SE to one of the smaller cities in the north (or Scotland).

ginzillas · 19/02/2015 21:33

Do it if you can. We're trying to move back up north to Leeds from Hertfordshire but DH can't get a job. We made the mistake of looking at houses online and we could get SO much more for our money as well as being near family. But I'm worries it's not going to happen as jobs on his field are scarce up there. I loved London - we lived there for almost ten years before moving to Herts. But I'm so over it now and just want to get back to the Motherland...

Mrsstarlord · 19/02/2015 21:36

Ooh, i feel dead excited for you!

When i moved to Yorkshire I used to just stare at people and wait for them to laugh so that I knew when to join in - had no idea at all what people were saying (although turns out that some of them were exaggerating the accent to wind me up!)

Definitely PM me if you move up here. I work in Sheffield so know it a bit and my colleague would I'm sure have lots of good advice!

natureplantar101 · 19/02/2015 21:39

pirate how so ? all those areas are run into the ground plus leeds is now 3rd highest unemployed city in the uk no wonder with all the young girls pushing prams at the age of 16 and boys running round with knives and such. id recommend Durham its amazing there Grin

Momagain1 · 19/02/2015 21:42

If you move up north, but decide you miss city life, then come up to the real North and Glasgow. All the city stuff: museums, art exhibitions, shopping, music, theater, restaurants, multiple sports teams, but in a city small enough to walk across, or take the wee subway.

It can be pricier than down south below the Pennines, but still quite a bargain compared to London.

PavlovtheCat · 19/02/2015 21:43

I live more than 3 hours from London. It's ideal Grin

I live in the SW and the only reason I wouldn't live up north is lack of work for me/DH. If I had the chance to work there on the same pay as I get now, DH too, I would move without a doubt.

Original poster
onemiddlefinger · 19/02/2015 21:47

I am getting a bot too exited - looking at cheap antique furniture on ebay that i could potentially "upscale" (yes, i know it's considered a bad word...), but at least i wouldn't be distressing it.
I need to calm down, stop looking at houses and furnitures and stop reading this thread, DH has not got the final "Yes" yet.

OP posts:
Original poster
onemiddlefinger · 19/02/2015 21:48

bot = bit

OP posts:
derailleurdePan · 19/02/2015 21:52

tis true though. The North is full of northerners, fill their baths with coal, sneer at anyone who isn't 'local', do swingers parties with the same partners (boring), shag sheep as a result of poor swingers parties, ask nosey-parker questions at bus stops of complete strangers, eat tripe, think t'internet is the work of the devil, all speak funny.
Nooo..stay where you are...

Mrsstarlord · 19/02/2015 21:55

Baths? They're for shandy drinking southerners. Strip wash in the garden of the back to backs, thats what hardy northerners do!

SignoraStronza · 19/02/2015 21:58

Another reformed Southerner here - and I'm from that MN hallowed place called HorshamWink. North Notts, so probably more like the Midlands really, but about 45 minutes from Sheffield, a short train ride from York, half an hour to Lincoln, day trip to the Dales etc etc....
Love it here. When I visit my friends and family in London and the SE, it feels like a totally different planet!

1944girl · 19/02/2015 21:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

derailleurdePan · 19/02/2015 22:00

and worst...northerners don't know the difference between Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano.

It's hell, I tell you.

BarbarianMum · 19/02/2015 22:00

We moved to Sheffield from London area 20 years ago. Couldn't move back but have never wanted to.

From where I live I can be in the city centre in 20 min and the Peak District in 10. The Dales, the Lake District, North Yorkshire coast and moors and Snowdonia are all in easy reach for a weekend trip.

Tomorrow we go down to London for our annual visit. We'll enjoy the museums, galleries and theatres for a few days then go home with a sigh of relief.

LaurieFairyCake · 19/02/2015 22:02

One person has mentioned this but I just want to give hoose room to how fucking cold it is outside the South East.

It's fucking freezing. I drove to my aunts in Cumbria last year leaving Hertfordshire at 30 degrees in my car at 11am to get there at 3 to 15 degrees.

Literally the only thing preventing me moving back to Scotland where I'm
from is the dreadful dreich.

WereJamming · 19/02/2015 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissPricklePants · 19/02/2015 22:07

I live in South Yorkshire, I love it! Did my degree at SHU! I would never choose to move away from this area.