relocating from London to Bishop Auckland, Durham...opinions plz

[sj1979]

Opinions plz...Been given an opportunity to moved from London to Bishop Auckland in Durham with my three daughters aged 19, 9 & 5. Will we be welcomed being southerners & any information about the area, schools, work etc..
Thank you

Yes of course you will! Does it have to be Bish (often known colloquially as Bish Vegas 😏)? There's some nice places close by to live that are easy to commute. Bish itself is a bit tired, bits can be rough, but there is talk of major rejuvenation on the back of Kynren. Lots of new estates going up. There's a big college and several secondaries that are good.
If you do, PM me (Ive got an 18 yr old and always need new friends!)

Thank you Ohwhatwitcheryisthis
Being a cockney & fitting in too a new community is hugely important...Yes, only been offered Bish on a new estate close to Bishop Auckland shopping centre. Do you know any thing about that area???
Worried that my girls will struggle to fit in but London is no place to offer my little ones the child hood that they deserve. After my divorce, I'm simply looking for a new start & yes i would love to contact you if we make the move.

There's quite a lot happening in Bishop Auckland at the moment, sj1979, as Ohwhatwitchery says. I am quite near there too, and know quite a few people who live there. I have noticed quite a lot of people moving into the area on the back of the regeneration that's going on. Hopefully you'll get some more practical advice from people more local to Bishop.

We only ever pass through Bishop, but there's definitely worse places to be. The town centre is tired but does have a fair few interesting shops, with a Morrisons there, which is convenient, plus places like Wilko. A Short journey out of town, there's a massive new shopping complex, with some of the usual out of town places, Brantano (now th eonly one in the area, I think), M&S food hall, big Tesco and Big Sainsburys, plus there's Lidl And Aldi, but i can't remember where each one is. If you don't drive or have your own transport, then it's all very convenient as there are frequent service buses linking those bits of town, plus free buses to to ASDA (near the hospital, I think that one is) and Tesco. There's 7 buses an hour into Durham and 2 of them carry on to Newcastle. There's also several buses an hour to Darlington, 2 of them fairly fast.

If you're on a brand new estate, then there's likely to be as many incomers as locals and young kids tend to be fairly curious and accepting.

And it's not half bad for Pokemon, if your girls enjoy that!

Is it near the shopping complex mentioned? It's almost taken over as the heart of the town and is probably the biggest employer. Never underestimate how flexible kids are. I work at a small secondary nearby, it's got to be about the least cosmopolitan place in England, but we have children from all over that have moved here and fit in.
And on your doorstep is some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain.

I am sorry to say but large out of town shopping complexes such as the one in Bishop Auckland are what makes town centres 'tired', which is what people seem to be complaining about on here. We should be boycotting large companies who exploit tired places, or at least putting pressure on politicians and local authorities to insist that if big corporate businesses (who don't pay enough tax anyway) want to draw all the money and life out of town centres like Bishop Auckland they should have to pay a high premium local tax so that money can be reinvested back into the town centre... local entrepreneurs should be given opportunities to open independent, classy businesses, not tacky and depressing chain restaurants and supermarkets

I grew up fairly local to Bishop. Wouldn't be my choice of places to live and wouldn't want my children to go to school there or in anywhere like Aycliffe, Spennymoor or surroundings. Seems tasteless with nothing of quality. Visited recently, quite rough, tired and the people we came into contact with were rude and also rough around the edges. Maybe caught it on a bad day. I won't be popular I know. Sorry!

Though I admire you OP for your fresh start, I did that too. Moving away and starting again post divorce was liberating and the best thing I ever did.
All of this is relative to where you are now. The fresh start might improve all of your lives, Bishop or not. Good luck to you

Bishop is fine, I live in a town close by and work with a few people from over that way, they're all lovely people with a decent education. It isn't quite London but few places in the world are.

This thread is getting old enough to begin to be zombie like.

Lots of people in lots of places are a little rough around the edges. Most people in these places are pretty decent. Just like anywhere.

And rudeness knows no class boundaries.

Hi its lovely that you have an opportunity to relocate, i work for a charity and have seen a lot of people move up from the south recently. is this a relocation scheme? lots have people have come and love it here. but the moves can be tricky. depending on the land lord and the area fee free to message me xx

Sorry to jump in but not had much luck on my own post.
I'm looking at moving around this area. My budget is 40k and ideally need a 2 bed with some form of yard or garden.
There are loads in Middlesbrough but everyone says definitely don't move there. Darlington it's harder to find something there but no ones said anything bad about it, just need to compromise on house size. I've seen loads in bishop Auckland, is it somewhere worth considering? I just assumed it would be like Middlesbrough because it has a large amount for sale at that price but it is actually ok in those areas for a single mum and one year old to be able to fit in. We're from even further south than London!

Hi, I’m in the process of selling my home in the south and looking to relocate around the Durham area, can anyone please give me ideas of better areas as I’m taking my youngest two daughters who are 11. Going to me a big move and so worried about getting it wrong! We are looking to buy there and spending around the 220k Mark.
Thankyou

Durham is arguably the nicest place to live in the North East but definitely in County Durham.
For £220k you will get a nice property but avoid some of the pit villages near Durham.
The best estates in that price range would be Belmont or Newton Hall.
Lanchester is nice too which is about 9 miles from Durham.