Moving to the North East

[Casslaar]

Hi

We are looking to move to the North East soon and I am stuck between a few places so after some advice. I want somewhere with a bit of life, semi rural with nice walks nearby, a few nice pubs or restaurants close and a shop walking distance for essentials.
Of course good schools is a must, I have a 3 Yr old.

Currently looking at Prudhoe, Ovingham, Whickham and Corbridge. Are any of these in your opinion a bit nicer? Is Prudhoe OK?

Any thoughts would be great, I am torn right now!

Bumping this for you
Only one I've been to was Corbridge which seems very nice

Not an expert on any of them although they are quite different to each other. Have you been to visit them.

Corbridge is picture postcard beautiful. Lovely yellow stone period properties, and little antique shops, foodie pubs. But more distant than the others. Closer to Hexham than Newcastle. Hexham also nice.

Whickham is basically Gateshead, but with its nose in the air a bit. It's not semi rural. It's middle class but urban. You're right next to the Metro Centre and A1 there, and a short run into Newcastle.

Prudhoe is a nice enough market town. Unremarkable really. It has a decent swimming baths and a small castle. And a few local shops. I expect it would be a lot cheaper to live there than Corbridge or Whickham.

Ovingham I don't recall being to. I think it's a village.

This is my neck of the woods! How many bedrooms, what's your budget, what's important? Walks? Pubs? Shops? Character? Public transport?

Hold on, I can see you've answered most of that!

Budget??

Where will you be working?

I suppose it depends what you want from lifestyle too. I wouldn't live in any of those places not because they're bad just not for me.

My sister lives close to Wickham and the schools aren't that great.

Wylam, Ryton and Heddon are close by and lovely too, Wylam has a train station.

For good schools I think Whickham is your best bet from that list, but I don't think it meets the rest of your criteria. It's not really rural - it's hard to explain what it's like as a place. It's very nice, it's where nice people move so they can live in a nice house near a nice school beside a nice park. My friend moved there to be close to a fantastic SEN school in Whickham, but moved out again as soon as he left because she found it quite a dull place to live. She felt there was a big element of keeping up with the Jones's/superficiality there.

It does have some beautiful houses, with lovely views on the outskirts though and some good bars.

I'd look at Wylam. Semi rural, lovely houses, own train station, close to the river. I don't know about schools though.

If money was no object for me I'd move to Seahouses or Beadnell.

Whitley bay is a lovely place to live, also monkseaton/Cullercoats/Tynemouth.

Re Wickham school. The secondary school was previously rated requires improvement and is now up to hood but isn't thought of particularly well I don't think. Obvs your child is 3 so this may not be a big concern. But if you wanted your child to go to a primary shool then the secondary school it fed into then it's with considering. Also I don't think it's particularly nice just a boring suburb really. I grew up nearby and wouldn't want to live there. As pp said a lot of that keeping up with the Jones. But always makes me chuckle as it's a bit of a crappy place yet full of people thinking they are fancy. Also not semi rural.

What is your budget Corbridge is expensive

I don't actually know if this is true but a friend is an Estate agent and told me when the secondary in Whickham moved to requires improvement, the house prices there also dropped. I think a lot of the appeal is linked to the schools near by in a way that I haven't noticed as much with other areas in the north east.

Budget up to 400k max, seen houses in the areas mentioned so want to focus on these and because of family and friends it makes sense to stick round these places,think Ryton might be too small?

Working from home with 1 day a week in Leeds and 1 in Gosforth at our head office

@Okokokbear where would you recommend? I want somewhere with good transport links, close to some shops and restaurants / pubs with good schools nearby.
Nice walks close by too would be ideal

Morpeth? It has everything you're asking for plus it's got a train station - very easy to get into Newcastle/Edinburgh/York/London.

Plus the secondary school in Morpeth is rated Outstanding and is locally very highly regarded.

Given you are going to be working in Gosforth (albeit it only part time) have you looked at the likes of Ponteland (or possibly woolsington) ? Certainly not as semi rural as some of the other places mentioned but some lovely properties, nice high street and good schools. Of those you mentioned Hexham would get my vote, really lovely place again with well regarded schools. Good luck !

Where does Whickham come in to this as the other places are a few miles away along the river and Whickham is not semi rural? Is that where your friends and family are?

It would probably help if you indicated how close you want to be to family and where they are.

@SuperSange

Whitley bay is a lovely place to live, also monkseaton/Cullercoats/Tynemouth.

I was going to say this. Would you consider the coast OP?

Corbridge is the nicest of the places in your OP.

Corbridge is lovely but if you are commuting to Leeds, even if only one day a week I'd have thought sticking closer to the East Coast Mainline would be better for you. We're further South as County Durham but Dh used to commute to Leeds and extra travel to get too and from the train station is just a pain and makes everything into a very long day.

[quote Casslaar]@Okokokbear where would you recommend? I want somewhere with good transport links, close to some shops and restaurants / pubs with good schools nearby.
Nice walks close by too would be ideal[/quote]
Where do you live at the moment? Just I ask as I previously lived in London zone 3 and moved back here. One thing I feel is very few places their own high street with small shops the way London does. Also not that many places have both that and nice walks on the doorstep.

As pp's have said Morpeth or the coast could be good but you are that bit further away from Newcastle for the train. Ryton and Wylam could work but are small. Wylam being more rural but on a train.

There are places around Northumberland like Hexham, Prudhoe and Stocksfield that are on a train line so could make living more rurally easier. But then poss don't have the walking distance to the shops and pub etc you're looking for.

One thing with the North East is you're not a long drive from nice walks. So personally I'd live somewhere like Gosforth or south with fairly decent access to parks or the town Moor then drive to the coast or Northumberland for walks. But you know your lifestyle.

Hi, I'm currently considering all the places you've mentioned and some that others have suggested and just wondered if you'd mind sharing where you ended up and how you've found living wherever you ended up please. Thank you so much