Durham relocation; what's Belmont/Framwellgate Moor/Merryoaks/Sacriston like?

[jessnthebeanstalk]

Hi there, we're planning to relocate to somewhere around or near DH1 over the next 6 - 8 months. Hubby will be taking the train daily to central Newcastle and I'll be looking to buy in a place that is very handy for taking the kids (4 & 7yo) to school (ideally no more than 20 mins drive one way including rush hour traffic).

What are the areas above like in terms of raising young kids, not too rough/depressed and preferably a suburban feel but easily accessible to Durham train station etc? We don't need to consider catchment areas for schools.

Sorry for long post but struggling to narrow areas down. We will be driving around to get a feel of the areas but need help developing a shortlist.

Thx!

Hi, I've just seen this post, not sure if you have already made a decision on where to re-locate to. Most of the villages around Durham are old pit villages so theres nice parts and rough parts in all of them. Obviously theres the expensive areas too like Merryoaks and Newton Hall. Framwellgate moor is typical of places close to Durham, very busy as it has a comprehensive school, many shops and pubs and also close to a retail park. Belmont is similar but also full of students as the housing there can be cheap and Durham is a very student ran place due to the university. I think the main thing you should look at are the ofstead reports for the local school and also the public transport to Durham for the train. The village I live in has an ok bus route but it tends to go through lots of other villages and therefore can take 40 minutes to get into Durham even though I can drive there in 8 minutes. Good luck.

Hi there summersun0191, thanks so much for the insight. We're unfortunately not much further ahead in nailing down locations, from when I posted back in June! So your feedback is really helpful towards narrowing down places. Local schools/catchment or Ofstead reports won't be a factor in our decision so hopefully this opens up more options. I'm going to be going round over the coming weeks to get a feel for places. I'm curious to see more of Merryoaks, Esh, Langley Moor and Pity Me.
I'd love to ask more pointed qns by direct message if u wouldn't mind, but if not, thanks for what you've already replied above. Much appreciated!

I'm glad I could help.
Feel free to DM me, I can probably give a good insight as I've lives here all my life and worked in the area too :)