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?

And of course there is Hereford and Worcester and Shropshire going towards North Wales, which is even closer to Manchester, some lovely rural areas there too.

My 'best friend' at university refused to visit me (Leeds) because she was convinced that The North was horrible and all cooling towers and industrial stuff.

Her loss.

cold whippets as well.

FFS...I am so fucking sick of the animal cruelty that I see on here. What do you think Flat Caps are for?!

'Doesn't it rain down south then?'

Yes, but the rain clouds would come in over Manchester, hit Saddleworth moor and dump the load on Oldham. It's one of the reasons that the cotton mills thrived, damp threads snap less easily. Soggy.
It rained a lot! The rainiest place I've ever lived in, and I've moved around a lot.
It rains less in the SE.

It's not grim at all! I've lived just south of Manchester for 18 years and I can't imagine ever wanting to leave. The people are friendly, the countryside is beautiful and the pace of life is perfect. Fwiw I lived in Dublin for the 18 years before my move to the north.

I never see any crime. We often forget to lock or even close our garden door. I left the puchchair out on the stoop the other night by mistake - still there the next day. Our postman leaves parcels at the side of our wheelie bin. We have a stunning apple tree full off big red apples hanging o er into the street- kids never touch it- never had a car damaged. Never had any crime apart from a house burglary 15 years ago when a mad man moved in next door to my flat and burgled me while he was drunk - unfortunately for him he fell over on the way out and someone saw him staggering in next door and rang the police.

It does rain more I think.

Like others have said, each to their own. I didn't like East Anglia much either, I need hills.
Debyshire is lovely, as is North Yorkshire.

I live 5 miles from Blackpool and shock horror even here it isn't grim . We have a huge 4 bed house valued at half the price of DB's tiny 2 bed on the outskirts of London, better local schools and a top 1% college 10 miles away, and fresh air! Nothing beats waking up and inhaling good old northern fresh air .

Birmingham is fantastic. Yes it has it grim bits - just as parts of London i wouldn't dare venture without a stab vest.

Millions are currently be spent in the city and HSBC are moving it's commercial banking arm from Canary Wharf to Birmingham city centre. So it can't be that horrendous. We have first class schools, university and hospitals. All injured military personnel overseas are airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth in Birmingham so we definitely have world class facilities. The New York Times voted Birmingham as one of the top 10 cities in the world to visit due to our history, culture, restaurants etc.

I digress that of course you aren't looking at the Midlands - parts of the North are fabulous as well including Manchester.

I'm making the point that London isn't all the be all and end all. And I say that as a Londoner who moved to Birmingham and would never want to go back.

OP, have you had a decent holiday in the area? A few weeks?
That might help you decide.

I'm a Merseysider who has lived in Lancaster for the best part of 15 years; it is rainy but definitely not grim. OP, you, say near Manchester; how near? I work in Bolton and have worked in Wigan and Warrington. None of them are that grim. Preston is though.....but it has its charms (lived there too). You get a lot more house for your money, people are friendlier and you have the Peak District and Lake District and Yorkshire Dales near by. What's not to like? I spent a lot of my childhood in castles in N Wales too, not far from home really. Wonderful!

bogey I will let you know my whippet has a duvet coat!

Manchester is down south when you live in Scotland!

Climate-wise you get used to it. I live on the east coast of Yorkshire and it is usually cooler here than inland even 10 miles but we like it now and find temperatures elsewhere sweltering sometimes! There is always a nice breeze here and it's never too hot. It also stays fairly mild in winter overall.

Lulujakey1

Jeff disagrees.....

m.youtube.com/watch?v=jO8yHVYof44

Don't do it OP. Some parts of the North don't have electricity, people eat coal and still have outside toilets. Is that what you want to hear?
Seriously though. I take it you have lived a very sheltered life and have hardly travelled at all to think moving to Manchester is some sort of journey into the great unknown!

Well if it's good enough for the bbc.....

I moved from East Anglia to Manchester fifteen years ago. Lots of my friends moved to London. There now all trying to escape having had children and I'm happy raising my family where I am. You have the lakes, dales, peaks, and Wales all within an hours drive. Admittedly you'll need an umbrella.

I'd probably keep schtum with the whole 'grim up north' twaddle though, it won't win you many friends here.

And you'll need a dictionary to order a simple bread roll!

cantpickaname I LOVE the Jeff rant!

Whereabouts in Manchester? All cities have grim bits, but there are some really lovely bits of Manchester and environs - out towards the peaks is gorgeous (although of course the Yorkshire side of the Pennines is far superior in every way.) There's even the super duper verrrrr naice areas like Hale (you'll need a footballers salary for that though.) easy access to the west coast of Scotland, the lakes, North Wales, morecambe... It's bloody lovely. And you get much more for your money. Some very good schools in Manchester too. And of course you're only a quick trip away from Gods Own County, Yorkshire... ;)

Personally I think rather a lot of the South is a bit grim. Overcrowded, flat, expensive, polluted, very little in the way of hill country or wilderness....you couldn't pay me to live in most of it.

Manchester is a bit rainy, but everywhere on the west coast is. It's not cold though - unless you're a bit higher up you don't get very harsh weather.

Whippets are optional these days I believe, as long as you own at least three ferrets and agree to stop pronouncing your vowels incorrectly.

Yes the grim up north thing is really fucking patronising and offensive and usually only uttered by those that haven't travelled further than Watford gap.

Just check out which area you're moving to carefully. Manchester will have lovely bits and not-so-lovely bits.

I've spent fair bits of time in Liverpool, Merseyside, Sunderland, Manchester, Bath, Bristol, London, Essex, Hertfordshire and I can tell you it's all pretty much the same up and down. Scenery and weather change a bit but your standard three-bed house is quite similar anywhere.

Also, at least up north Castle Black protects us all from the worst of what's beyond the wall. Might get a bit tricky with winter coming though.

I truthfully do have an outside toilet.

I'd love to live near Manchester, so close to the glorious Peak District

I'm a south coast dweller and it definitely is milder down here. It rains plenty but it's less cold rain!

My personal opinion is that I wouldn't move my children's school unless I had to. That's based on my own very personal experience though and it has made me a bit rigid.

If you really think your quality of life could improve its worth serious consideration. Do visit the area though, at different times of year ideally.