If you'd like to move somewhere that your friends will probably approve of, then:
Exeter
Bath
Cornwall in the summer
Small villages in the Cotswolds (I'm not sure Gloucester or even Cheltenham would be quite the right locale but somewhere like Cirencester might do at a pinch - the Royal Agricultural College is just up the road, and Cheltenham Ladies' College is in Cheltenham, to give you an idea)
Bristol - though you might find some parts of it a little too vibrant, real and diverse to meet with your friends' approval. I do understand, however, it is in the process of being civilised. House prices have certainly soared in the last few years and it's considerably easier to get sourdough bread.
If you have to move to the north, then parts of York or Richmond or Harrogate might suit you. I've heard York described as "a southern town in the north of England". (Disclaimer - exiled Geordie here, who has lived all round England and elsewhere.)
I'm delighted for those in the north east who have been able to profit from the bottomless pockets of "DFLs" - or I suppose, technically, "UFLs" geographically. This is exactly why large parts of the south west are now utterly unaffordable for the offspring of families who lived there for generations and why much of the coastal West Country now pretty much only has ghost towns in winter. I know that doesn't apply to the coast around Newcastle, obviously; but if OP is used to the relatively balmy climate of the Home Counties I don't think the biting winds of the North Sea would suit, really. (And that's in August, most years.)
OP, if you did move to the north east, I'm not sure anywhere but Durham, Jesmond, Gosforth, Tynemouth, possibly Darras Hall, and some parts of Northumberland would suit your friends, really.
And if you did decide to move to Scotland, the culture shock anywhere but Edinburgh might be a little too much, I suspect.
Good luck finding somewhere.