Where to live in North Yorkshire?

[helsbels03]

Hi, we are looking to move from north London to North Yorkshire. 3 dc, 2 at primary and 1 pre school. Just done a half term reccy and like wether by . However it seems to be a little more expensive than other places. Our main priority is schools, but ideally would like a new build.

Any suggestions??

[Toptack]

There are many lovely parts of North Yorkshire but frankly unless you live in a fairly sophisticated bit of it that has good connections back too London you will find it to much of a culture shock.

^^This. We've moved up (temporarily) from the SE, and it has taken a lot of adjustment. We're near Richmond and, while it's v pretty, I wouldn't recommend it... Restaurants/shops/cultural stuff are all a bit limited, and I've heard quite negative reports about many of the schools. I wish we were closeR to Leeds, York or Harrogate - any decent size town really!

[41notTrendy]

We'll have to agree to disagree about the pork pies then!
(Have you had a warm Stanforths one? Takes it into a different league...drool...dribble.. .mmmm). We prefer the Narrowboat to the Woolly Sheep too, but the Narrowboat serves a better pint of cider! Can't comment on the fish n chip issue, only had Bizzie Lizzie's! Eaten on a freezing cold day by the canal being dive bombed by seagulls!
OP, move to Skipton!

[MoreBeta]

Toptack - phew!

Thanks for backing me up on that one. I thought I might get lynched for that post.

I have to say I am quite amused by people saying move to Wetherby, Skipton, Rufforth, etc.

Come on guys! The OP lives in the centre of one of the greatest cities in the world a gigantic metropolis where you have cafes with 15 types of latte on every street corner.

In places like Wetherby you have one decent cafe. Nice place and all that but really the OP needs to be a big city. You need to be IN Harrogate, York or Leeds and in a nice bit of those cities as well.

[MrsPnut]

You wouldn't get a new build but if moving to Harrogate then I would recommend looking at the kings road/regents/dragon areas. Much cheaper than the other side of the town and the schools are all good.

You could move the worst performing school in Harrogate to inner city London and the parents would be flocking to it. We moved from Stoke Newington to the Regents and our daughter went to Woodfield school which was brilliant. She loved the years she was there and I was heavily involved with the school as a governor. We've since moved in and I miss living there.

I also grew up in Harrogate and lived on the other side of the town as a child, going to Rossett acre and Western primary schools as well as the grammar school so have something to compare it to.

[lalalonglegs]

But Beta we don't know why the OP wants to move to N Yorks (she hasn't come back since her first post) and it could be that she wants a lifestyle change. I live in London and I think it would be pretty hopeless trying to find something a bit like London that isn't London. Assuming that she is moving to North - or West - Yorkshire because she likes it, maybe better to find an authentic Yorkshire town?

[BikeRunSki]

N Yorks is an enormous county - there's Selby, there's Yarm there's Malham and there's about a million square miles of N Yorks in between. We need to be able to narrow it down a bit.

[Yfronts]

York, Whitby, Ripon and in W Yorkshire Hebden Bridge

[iclaudius]

agree the op needs to be somewhere happening

Harrogate is great and nice light i always feel - York is nice but i found it a bit isolating feeling and 'out of it'

Personally i'd go wetherby harrogaet Ilkley as need rail links to leeds to feel close to the action
Personally i'd avoid Skipton

[helsbels03]

Thank you so much for your suggestions- dh needs to commute to Leeds and York so anywhere within a 45 min drive is ok. Schools will be state grammar or comp.

Will have a look at skip ton, need a 4 bed house with a downstairs playroom £300

[helsbels03]

Will def try all pork pie shops as part of research too

[lalalonglegs]

Skipton not great for getting to York .

[BinarySolo]

We live the wrong side of Huddersfield for Leeds, BUT the commute to Leeds is quicker from where we are than it is from Otley which is much nearer.

No to Hebden Bridge. A quick look at their community website shows it's a town very much divided. You're an 'off cumden' unless you've 5 generations buried in the graveyard there. And it appears to have a bit of a drug/drink problem.

[BinarySolo]

A village like emley or Shelley would mean a commute of 55 mins to York and about 40 mins to Leeds.

[Inthepotty]

Copmanthorpe, outside York, is very good for getting to Leeds and York. Nice schools, good grammar, shops, pubs. Also some of the Selby villages are nice, you might feel a bit 'out' though.

[Awks]

Harrogate or Knaresborough then for you - prices are ok and commute fine. Good luck with your search and your pork pie research

[fedupwithdeployment]

Remember the traffic can be bad up there (many hours on the A61 going into Leeds at the wrong time, being held up by the Grammer School roundabour...) so do look at public transport links. Agree with Awks....the commute from Harrogate or Knaresborough will be much simpler than many other far flong (but lovely) parts of NY.

[megandraper]

Ex-Londoner in Harrogate here - love it. Direct train to both Leeds and York too, which might be good for your DH (as a back-up option even if he wants to drive).

[MyNameIsAnAnagram]

I think you need to be looking in & just outisde the so called Golden Triangle then tbh, much further out and you could be spending all your time commuting, the traffic can be a right bastard.

[MoreBeta]

You need to think about what happens when your DCs reach teenage years. Living in a village is OK when they are tiny. I lived on farm outside a vaillage near York and believe me it is terribly isolating. I was over the moon when my parents sent me to boarding school in Harrogate at age 12!

Do you really want to become a taxi driver to three children? If not, you have to live in a decent sized town with a rail station and plenty of buses.

[itsmummynotmum]

Saltaire is lovely!!! a conservation village, great primary school at least & trains into leeds - and culture - have frieds there

[HazzaB]

Had same dilemma. Moving from London, wanted to go to North Yorkshire, couldn't face the beautiful but isolated villages (and even towns). Ended up in north Leeds - love, love, love it. Lovely countryside in 15 mins. 10 mins into centre of town on the bus. Good schools. Nip into Harrogate. Take train across to York or drive when it's not rush hour on the A64. And can vote for Saltaire too. Although I grew up in North Yorkshire and had lots of idyllic ideas in my head, I just couldn't cope with the isolation after London. Still feel out of it in Leeds some days, to be honest, but that's just being silly.

[BikeRunSki]

Saltaire is in W Yorks though.

[helsbels03]

Hmm I think I like the idea of a village rather than the reality- taxi for 3 teenagers when the time comes will be a logistical nightmare, bad enough now on a weekend for parties etc. do I think in a town would be better. My family are in south Leeds so don't want to be too near but closer than the usual 200 mile round trip is what it's all about!!!!

[poweredbytoast]

I live in Skipton: I love it. Used to live in Leeds but really don't miss city life and you can easily get to Leeds, Bradford or Harrogate if you like shopping and cafe culture. It's very friendly here and I seldom go anywhere without passing someone I know. Might be too small town for you though if you're used to the daily buzz of city life.

[Loshad]

agree with awks, Harrogate, or possibly north Leeds, eg Alwoodley. Many of the other suggestions on this thread would be nightmare commutes for your DH. The only other option is out to the east of Leeds, eg Tadcaster, or many of the small villages but i think you might find it very stultifying if used to London, and it might be too handy for South Leeds!