Moving to Leeds after living in London for years

[Uniquorn]

Hi there,

There is a possibility me, my partner and our toddler son will be moving to Leeds. My family live about 20 miles from Leeds, but other than the family we would know nobody.

After living in London for 15 years I am petrified (yet excited) at the thought of "moving back".

Can anyone give me any encouraging stories of similar moves they did from either London or the South, to Leeds?

Many thanks!

I don't know, but I did it the other way round!

Where are you planning to live in Leeds? IMO it's a great city, very compact, and really easy to get out into the country if you want to.

Well I didn't move so dramatically in one go, but gradually moved north from the West Country, via Birmingham and Sheffield. I now work in Leeds and live in a lovely village between Leeds and Selby, about 15 miles out. Leeds is great, I love it! Friendly, vibrant, loads of culture, great shopping, did I mention friendly? Really, the people in Yorkshire are great. And you'll find it loads cheaper too.

Thanks for the input! No idea which part yet - we'll be looking at places in the next few months. As well as fact I'll be moving away from friends, I guess the next big thing I'm concerned about is moving from a big buzzy city to a city that, although it is still buzzy and vibrant etc, is a lot smaller than London. I won't be able to just hop on a bus and go to the National History Museum etc etc. I know I'm being ridiculous, but I'm scared that Leeds might be too "quiet". I think I'm being irrational.

You'll be able to just hop on a bus and go to the Royal Armouries (where most of the kit from the Tower of London is these days) or to the National Railway Museum in York or the National Media Museum in Bradford, or Eureka in Halifax. Plus Leeds has film festivals, music festivals, etc. And you'll be able to get out into the countryside much more quickly too. And you'll soon love going out with your new friends because you'll get stacks more alcohol for your pound...

I moved up from the Home Counties where I'd been brought up to Leeds for my first job - have never left.

I'm really a country person in my heart - but I love the culture available easily in Leeds, so we live on the edge where we can walk out into proper (real) countryside from the doorstep in about 10 mins, but I can get into rehearsal in the centre of town in less than 20 mins.

And we'd never have managed to get the house we live on if we still lived in the south east - we have much more living space and a good sized garden.

There are lots of things to do with toddlers too - once you work out where you're moving to, someone here can probably suggest some options.

I moved from London to Leeds and I hardly missed London, except for going to the V&A on the bus! I love that it's smaller and I can walk home from town in 40 mins or bus in 10. I like food shopping at the market and being able to visit all the shops in town without getting a bus or tube from one side to the other. Also when the countryside is so close you feel like you're on holiday at first.