Where to live in North England

[Cazleanne]

We need help with finding an area which pleases all the family and a place to put our roots and hopefully be forever.
We moved to North Sheffield for work commitments 5 years ago and we got it so, so wrong. To put it honestly, I can't stand it here.
My daughter is at Leeds uni and now she's in a long term and talking kids in next 5 years etc it's got me panicking we're all going to end up stuck here forever. I love my house and we have all conveniences on our door step but I'm not happy at all.
My 2 boys are 16 and 7 so we have looked at Ripon, Malton, Wetherby so far and even though we love the little towns, I don't think there'd be enough to do without having to keep travelling etc. We're not the hiking kind although we do like to get out for strolls and picnics etc.
I love having retail parks etc near by but I want somewhere with a village feel and less crime.
We can move to anywhere within the North really as long as it's within easy reach of trains for my daughter and commutable roads for us as we're contractors.
Don't want to get it wrong again so really need some help for areas we may not know that have what we need for everybody as well as good schools and where we can get a 4 bed detached with a good garden for a budget of around £450k.
Sorry for long post but I'm at the end of my tether here, we're so unhappy.

Warrington? Easy train links and right on the M62, M6.

Hebdon Bridge? Peak District? Good luck with your search!

I'm in Horsforth, North Leeds.

Commute to Leeds is 9 min train, 20 min bus, 30 min cycle. We have excellent schools, involved community (sports clubs, annual art trail etc) and great pubs (and microbrewery) and restaurants on our doorstep. River and canal and woods on doorstep for leisure. Plenty of retail parks either in Leeds or in surrounding areas. Easy to get to the dales, easy to reach the motorway, great for trains north to Edinburgh or south to London for weekends away. Yorkshire coast just over an hour by car.

Housing is bang on your budget.

We came here 16 years ago and I'm so glad we did.

North sheffield isnt great,,,but South Sheffield is! Look at S10 or S11 if your budget allows...right on the doorstep of the peaks but near to great amenities and only 15 mins from town and the M1.

It would be easier to advise if you say specifically what it is that you don't like about where you are?

Agree, South Sheffield lovely.

Sorry I should of said but we'd prefer to stay on the east side of the Peak District. I love the west coast, it's where I grew up but we'd be too far from family.
Horsforth looks lovely but there doesn't seem to be much on the market from what I can see; definitely has the look to it that we'd like.
The problem with where I am now is it's a village called Wath-Upon-Dearne and the centre is dead, nothing is ever open and it's always full of bored teenagers causing problems. High crime rate which is doubling by the month, no bars/restaurants aimed at couples or grown up families and not a lot to do without having to drive far.
I love places with personality and a nice community feel where we'd feel happy to raise children/grandchildren. I hope all that makes sense

I agree with Horsforth or slightly further out of North Leeds. Ilkley, Menston might be good. House prices are a lot more than where you are at the moment which I think is quite telling

Yarm could be worth a look.

Wath on Dearne isn't South Sheffield, it's nearer to Rotherham or Barnsley.

Horsforth is on the list, just no houses for us at the min. I've not heard of Menston so I'll look at that.
I love the look of Yarm but it's a bit too far for commuting. We'd not be able to go further north than Ripon really.
Wath is in North Sheffield, in between Rotherham and Barnsley, yes

oooh thats contraversial - north of Rotherham? I wouldnt class that as Sheffield either ;-)

I'd never even heard of Rotherham before we moved here but people always know Sheffield. A lot easier to describe where you live to everyone and I 'refuse' to put Rotherham as my address now I know the place 😩

It sounds like you're wanting a to be pretty close to a city still if you were concerned about Ripon etc being not enough to do. Obvious places then are York, Harrogate and Leeds. If you're concerned about Harrogate being too small, it is easy on the train to get to Leeds and not too far to drive.

Horsforth has already been mentioned. Roundhay is a nice area too, just got to watch the schools as Roundhay School catchment is quite small I believe.

If you want actual villages, then the ones in between Leeds and Harrogate are pretty much all decent. But they only really have a pub or two. Some are on the train line at least, but you would probably end up driving around a lot, and kids would be on the bus for school. Might struggle to get 4 bed detached at that price too.

Otley and Ilkley are nice towns, with good schools, but again would struggle to get a detached at that price I think. (Gorgeous stone semis and terraces though).

York is lovely (and the surrounding villages too), though I don't know the areas particularly well.

Another one for north Leeds, or Harrogate or York. Not sure you would get a four bed with a good garden and detached in all those areas though. A decent house yes, but perhaps not what you have now.

Strensall or one of the villages in that area. Close to the monks cross retail park, strensall has a nice community, close to,York for transport links.

Harrogate, knaresborough, York are all vibrant Would you consider somewhere like Scarborough or skipton.
If you’re not sure about a market town why don’t you stay in one that you really like in a self catering cottage for a few days. If you like it stay again in February, they’re different in the quiet season.

I'm a bit confused about what you mean by things to do and how this would be achieved in a village? You're lucky it's such a lovely part of the world, but villages tend to be small and quiet... perhaps and shop and pub with activities in a village hall. Some might have a cricket club. What sort of things do you want?

I probably used the wrong description with village, just a market feel is what I mean. Independent shops and restaurants, greenery feel in spring. I hope that makes more sense and then retail parks etc within a 20 min drive.
We looked at Strensall areas but just no houses coming on which shows how popular the areas are.
I loved the look of Yarm but it's just not doable for work commutes.

I'll have a look more at roundhey and north Leeds areas too.
We loved Boston spa but too small for the kids and nothing sizeable seems to be available in wetherby.
If we find the perfect area, we don't mind renting for a few months until a house comes up but I'd be slightly worried in case nothing did. My anxiety is already through the roof with all this 🙈

I agree - Wath isn't somewhere you'd move to if you were moving to Sheffield!

Knaresborough ?

Ha! I knew someone would say Horsforth on the first page-they always do! God knows why. It's over built, over crowded, traffic is awful and the housing stock is actually not great ( plus very overpriced as full of mnetters who moved "for the schools").
If a market town is too small and you want to be commutable to Leeds, nice independent shops, community, I would say South Sheffield, Durham, York maybe although I don't know it well? If you reconsider market towns then Malton and Ripon are good and well connected, also Richmond (A1)and Northallerton.
If you were a hiker I would also suggest north Peak district ( Matlock) or dales (Ilkley-although that's very expensive )

I'm going to move things further away from Leeds and Sheffield and throw Beverley in east Yorkshire into the mix. Lovely market town, lots of cafes and nice shops.

Or county Durham or Newcastle areas. Again further but dead quick and easy by train or road for Leeds for your daughter, lots of excellent schools, lots going on. Easy access to a1 from most areas for your commutes.