Where do I want to live?

[MegBusset]

Tired of living in the flatlands of East Anglia and thinking of where to move in a couple of years when no longer tied to schools:

• Mountains, if possible, or if not then very decent sized hills
• Good community, not overrun by tourists and Airbnbs
• Probably a market town, with independent shops, cafés, cinema and swimming pool
• Not Scotland (midges)
• An hour or so from a reasonable sized city for culture and gigs
• WFH so local jobs not an issue

I'm thinking possibly somewhere in Yorkshire (commutable to Leeds or Mcr) or Northumberland (Newcastle)? Any ideas?

Oh yeah - budget! £300k for a nice terrace or tidy garden maisonette would do fine.

Wales!
Crickhowell
Brecon
Abergavenny

Cardiff and Bristol in easy reach.

or

Shrewsbury
Ledbury
Ludlow
Malvern

I don’t know Northumberland or Yorkshire btw although have heard good things about Hexham.

Northern edge of derby, on the edge of the dales

Clitheroe or whalley. Pendle hill, lovely feel to the rubble valley. Manchester and Leeds accessible.

Ribble Valley!

Hebden Bridge
Hathersage
Northallerton
Helmsley
Harrogate
Keswick

??

Hexham, Penrith, Carlisle

Shropshire? Wye Valley? No idea how that works for budget though!

Hebden bridge and Keswick would not fit the not touristy or overrun with air bnbs memo!

Yes to Clitheroe
Whalley is nice but I don’t think has a cinema/pool?
Mossley or Greenfield?
It’s big but Sheffield might fit the bill? Not sure on prices there days.

A lot of the places mentioned are very touristy and get very crowded.

But I recently drove through Ripponden and Sowerby Bridge areas and they both might fit your bill, apart from I don't know where the nearest swimming pool would be.

Also the Greenfield/Delph/Uppermill areas?

I don't know if broadband speed is still an issue in rural areas.

Pickering/Malton in edge of North York Moors but also on outskirts of York.

Ilkley/Otley/Bingley/Saltaire? Ilkley and Otley both have (unheated IIRC) outdoor pools, all except Otley have good train access to Leeds, although budget may be an issue, especially for Ilkley.

But basically, quite a lot of the rural areas on the outskirts of Leeds or Manchester and to a lesser degree, York - some of it would give East Anglia a run for it's money in the flatness stakes, but there's also some very hilly bits.

North Yorkshire - Thirsk, Ripon, Richmond.

Hexham. Good facilities and shops, surrounded by beautiful countryside.
or Alnwick.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126604754

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123661310

Alnwick but i've no idea what you'd get for your budget.

Lots of ideas here - thanks!

Out of all these places, I've been to Sheffield (too big for what I'm thinking of), Alnwick (busy / touristy), Ludlow (I liked but think I'm thinking more of a dry stone walls kind of area), Hathersage I like a lot but wouldn't have thought was in budget?

Interesting to see Hexham come up so often. I've got family in Northumberland so that would also be a plus. I'll stop off next time I'm up that way to have a nosey.

Hebden Bridge was on my mind for its arts scene but I think it gets flooded a lot?

I don't know where the Ribble Valley is, will have a Google! Can see a road trip or two for research :)

Skipton. Commutable to Leeds and ticks all your boxes.

There are no hilly bits in York! It's pretty much a 40-45minute drive in any direction until you hit decent hills.

There are plenty of places in Yorkshire which have hills on the doorstep and are commutable to Leeds etc. York is not one of them.

Outskirts of York - Pickering/North York Moors area, the OP said within an hour of a city, so meets the criteria.

Oswestry, Shropshire, it has it all!

Skipton
Hexham
Lancaster
Bangor

I think you are silly to write off Scotland due to midges, but there you go.

If you want mountains or hills, how about Mold or Ruthin? Mold has a twice weekly and livestock market, near Clwydian range, a theatre and less than an hour from Snowdon area. Ruthin terribly pretty-bit more isolated than Mold which is an hour from Manchester or Liverpool and 20 minutes from Chester. Near beaches too. We have never regretted moving to NE Wales.

A19 side of the north York moors. I’m an hour from York and Newcastle, just over to Leeds. 25 mins from the sea. I live nearer Stokesley (no cinema) but there’s Northallerton and Thirsk too which have better/bigger high streets.

Glossop?

Malvern