to ask if it's grim moving up north

[Eugenekrabs1]

I am from the south (England) and have lived here for most of my life. DH is from the north but has lived in the south for many years. We have children who are school age.

Circumstances have changed for us recently and because of this, we are considering a move to H's northern homeland. I'm wondering what other people's experiences of moving their family have been like.

H has friends and family there whereas I (although being welcomed by them) will not have any friends and will need to find a new job. Our kids are not keen to move.

In short, we don't have to move but there are lots of pros to us taking the leap. At the moment I have a list of pros and cons which I will proceed to bore you with....

Pros
Bigger house with little mortgage
Job change for me (something I want)
DH is close to friends and family - lovely for him
Can get a dog (all want one, current house small)

Cons
Taking kids out of schools they are happy in. They will have to make new friends.
Once we sell in the south it is unlikely we will be able to afford to return
No friends/family close to me
Leaving an area I like (but a house that's too small and expensive to extend)
Rain up north

I'd be grateful to hear any tales of similar moves. Is it grim up north or should I just stop being risk averse and make the move?

I think the PP was trying to say that it's not whether you're living in the North or South, Manchester or London it's which part. Hampstead is as different to Peckam as Didsbury is to Strangeways. The house prices reflect it too. You just need to find the right part for you.

Friends who lived in north Islington liked Chorlton / Didsbury. I preferred Richmond / Twickenham and so found the more suburban Altrincham area more my style.

It does rain more here though. I mentioned what a crappy summer we were having to MIL in Bristol a couple of years ago and she was shocked as she'd been in her sunny garden every day!

I have lived and worked in London and it is a very dirty place. Grubby.

I'm from the north but lived down south for a long time. Moved back 15 yrs ago and never regretted it. Life is cheaper, people are much more friendly , there's more space and access to the most amazing countryside. Down there I could never find true silence. I can here within ten mins from my door.

I wouldn't live I'm Manchester as I don't like cities and some of the urban sprawl round it is very depressing. I'd live out and commute in.

I live in the most fabulous place over the yorkshire border and would highly recommend. Pm me for details:) .

Undereducated? Tough as old boots?!

Seriously WTF???

cries intelligently

sorry Fatty

I try to find the positives...
We are only a couple of miles from the nature reserve...
ERM... My neighbours are elderly and lovely and quiet.

IWasHereBeforeTheHack Seriously? It's a turn of phrase, of all the things to get pedantic about! And I am fully aware people live further north, I have (gasp) ventured beyond the A1 on occasion, but the OP was asking about Manchester and Leeds is comparable in terms of 'northernness' hence my post.

I moved from London to Yorkshire and the quality of life up here is immeasurably better. We still pay less rent for our three bedroom house 12 years later than we did for our cupboard in London in 2003. Easy commute, cost of living much cheaper so more spare cash, easy, cheap commute. Lots of space and things to do for kids.

I do miss the 'all night' culture and always open shops, but now I have kids how much I would use that is debatable. I do miss the shops and museums but my parents and friends are there so can often visit so it's a good balance.

What I miss the most though is the better weather. If I could transplant that life would be perfect. Yorkshire seems to get less rain than Manchester though.

Oh and we have nice neighbours who we know and aren't insane and stabby like the ones in London.

Agree that Preston is grim as all hell, except perhaps for the tiny bit of leafy back area with the nice railings and white facades and stuff if you try to park somewhere near enough to walk to Pizza Express. Which is the only reason you would ever go there until Lytham got one so now there's no need.

Smilla, that's Avenham Park. It's all listed but is, alas, crime central. Fulwood is ok (the top bit near M55).

Threads like this always leave me open mouthed

OP - it is seriously grim oop North. You stay where you are love.

This should help make your mind up, OP.

Manchester

Fulwood is ok (the top bit near M55).

Having played around with Google Maps Street View for a few minutes, I will concede that there seem to be lots of leafy-looking lanes much like many other places, and they mostly look lovely enough to live on/around.

I'm also feeling smug because I managed to navigate from the turn off the M55 onto Garstang Road all the way to the entrance to Deepdale in Street View mode, despite never having driven myself (or particularly paid attention, as a passenger). /smug

Q tis true

I've lived all around Manchester, both centrally and the outskirts. There are grim areas and I've lived in many of them, but as people have pointed out, there are grim areas everywhere. The best advice I have really is to move to a cul-de-sac with lots of families there. Your kids should make friends fairly well there.

And I can't recommend Trafford highly enough. I received a fantastic education there...it's certainly earned its reputation. There are cheaper areas there too, both housing wise and general cost of living. I recently had southern family come to visit. We all stayed in DM's (far larger than mine) home. I popped out to get a chippy tea with one of the southerners for 9 of us and they were astonished at how cheap it was. We fed 9 people quite generously on about £35.

It's wet sometimes, I won't deny it. But that's how we have so much lovely greenery just a short drive away. Wellies and a waterproof will mean you can enjoy your surroundings year-round. Besides, part of the experience of having a dog is playing in the mud with them occasionally

I popped out to get a chippy tea with one of the southerners for 9 of us and they were astonished at how cheap it was. We fed 9 people quite generously on about £35

I bought 9 teenagers and two adults fish and chips on the last day of school and it only cost me £16.50 in leafy Wiltshire (south west for those who don't know it).

The thing is we could compare all day and the answer would still be the same - it doesn't matter which part of the country you live in - there are good and bad, cheap and pricey in all areas of the country!

Not read the whole thread, I currently live in London but I am originally form the NW. To be honest I like them both. There are good bits about the north though, if you are looking for the possitives. You get much more house for your money. The house we live in is tiny compared to that of my parents' and twice as expensive. The cost of living is less too so you can live more comfortably. Shops, if you like shopping generally stock more as they tend to be more spacious due to the lower land costs. The same goes for soft play and other indoor activities if your children are young enough to still benefit. What I would miss about being in London, though, is so many opportunities being on our doorstep. There are so many things for us to see and do with the children, it is a real blessing. In terms of standard of living I think we would be better off up north, but we are all perfectly happy here for the moment. I've not helped at all have I?

Am laughing (kindly) at the poster who.said "nicer places than Wilmslow" and the subsequent, Wilmslow-dwelling poster who (in my mind) huffily replied to question such a ridiculous statement

In my experience, Wilmslow (and the other sought-after South Manchester/North Cheshire villages) really aren't all that. They're nice, but a bit fur coat no knickers

There are lovely areas in the North West of England, as there are grotty areas.

Am genuinely amused that a few people are dissing the culture up here though.

I'd list everything I take my children to, but I don't want to out our secrets - no masses of sweaty tourists here thankyouverymuch.

Well Im confused

The north is supposedly full of lovely fresh air, has a better quality of life and... the snails and slugs are beaming with health yet there is a massive divide in the rates of poor health/early death between the North/South .
Yorkshire comes out well as does Derbyshire but overall the chance of dying prematurely is 20% higher in the north.

How can the quality of life be better when 20 out of 100 people die prematurely?
I work in healthcare and this has really shocked me.

healthierlives.phe.org.uk/topic/mortality

How can the quality of life be better when 20 out of 100 people die prematurely?

Presumably the quality of life for a given amount of money is far better up north. But, presumably, the wealthiest generally flock to (or grew up in) London, and the wealthiest are those with the best health, for a multitude of reasons.

Actually if you look at the map London has pretty shit health outcomes as well ,with a few minor exceptions.
Its a myth that London is full of wealthy people,it has many areas of deprivation and poverty as well as a Russian Oligarchs !

It's grim up North so stay dahn Sarf.

Please.

I know it's grim here because here in North Yorkshire I can't even go to fecking Poundland wi'out having to elbow my way through literally thousands of bloody tourists - tourists from all over the world. They must be coming to marvel at our grim.

Despite being the wrong side of ' Pennines, Manc is great. But will lose its character if it fills up with Southerners so please stay put.

Time was we looked down our noses at folk from 5 mile away. But a few year back I wa' in 'playground doing ' school run and every other fucker had a Southern accent (prolly posh but they all sound cockney to me). Only me and one other still had ' local accent. Someone's forgot to tell em it's grim.