Anybody live in/near Tynemouth or Goathland?

[AnnieAreYouOkAreYouOkAnnie]

There's a remote possibility we may consider moving from London to Up North, and I know there are some beautiful places there.
Would you recommend it as a place to raise your young children?
(With the added 'attraction' of the inlaws grandparents living nearby in Middlesbrough.)

Thanks for your opinions.

Hello all,

Just back from a week up North and really enjoyed it. Based in Boro at the in-laws, then spent an afternoon in Seaton Canoe Carew and Hartlepool. SC is lovely, the beach and the dunes were really nice. In Hartlepool we visited the museum, but that's about all we saw there.

Then we drove to Scotland, and of course the scenery was breath-taking, despite some torrential rain and fog!! On the way back we visited Alnwick Castle, an absolutely beautiful village, and Warkworth, also beautiful. I think I would definitely consider living there.

Didn't get a chance to look around Newcastle or surrounding villages, so missed out on Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, but next time we'll definitely have a jaunt around there.

Spent an afternoon at the beach at Saltburn too, really loved it there, the tide comes in fast, eh?!
Then a rainy day driving through the moors:
Leaholm, lovely village, but too little to live there!
Goathland, it was only when I got there, I made the Heartbeat connection, and therefore found it far too touristy. Nice enough, and a lovely railway station, but I don't think I'd like to live there. Drove round the coast them via Whitby, Loftus and Redcar.
Whitby I could see us living there, Loftus looked really nice (we didn't stop it was pouring!) and Redcar the beach is great, but apart from that there's not much to do there, plus it's just a bit too close to the in-laws for my liking!!

Then spent an afternoon in Yarm which is very nice too, but again, too close to the in-laws!

So, next time, I will try to get to Tynemouth, Hexham, Whitley Bay, Jesmond and Gosforth, Cullercoats, Monkseaton and Durham!

Thanks again everyone, you have all been really helpful. You'll make northerners of my LO's yet!

I lived in Monkseaton for a while..which was okayish...Whitley Bay..well I risk triggering people's wrath here..but I seem to recall it was a bit of a seedy hotspot for hen and stag nights....

I used to live in Tynemouth many moons ago, when I graduated from Uni in Newcastle. Tynemouth is beautiful, I found it very safe compared and quiet...after many a night clubbing I'd go down onto the beach when I couldn't sleep and sit chilling and watching the waves....the things you do when you are young!I can't think of many other places I'd feel safe doing that. I used to work at Kings School (its private, but bright kids can get in with a scholarship) its a very good school with a very good reputation. The centre has of lovely little 'quaint' shops, lovely pubs, and restaurants. Its a bit of retirement place and many people choose to holiday there, so that tells you how nice it is. I understand its getting quite a 'surfers' hotspot. I have good memories of the place. I'd recommend it as a place to live. Newcastle town centre (also fab) is 20 mins on the Metro, great for shopping.

Hi there
Don't know if you're still interested but thought I'd add my contribution especially given that we moved from London to Whitley Bay back in April (I'm a southerner by the way, West London girl).
Definitely recommend the move up north - absolutely lovely area, lovely people.
Don't know how old your children are, my eldest is 7 and he does compare it a bit with London; he has a good time but won't admit it.... He misses his friends back in London which is understandable but he's made loads of new friends here.
Tynemouth is lovely, a little villagey, beach full of surfers... What I seem to have found though (through speaking to other mums) is that a lot of people in Tynemouth area send their children to the private school there so perhaps the state schools (middle and high) aren't as good as in Whitley Bay/Monkseaton area. I've no problem if you can afford private (I have friends who've moved up from London, live in Tynemouth and send their kids to private school) but something to bear in mind.
At the moment we're renting in central
Whitley Bay. Yes, there are a couple of streets with stag and hen parties but those people don't tend to move down to the residential roads. Honestly, we're a few roads down from the famous (infamous?) South Parade, towards the lovely park here and we get no noise, no hassle at all from hen and stag parties, drunkards etc.
They are regenerating Whitley Bay and it's changing all the time. Old timers here say it used to be a lot better and I can believe that but we like it and they've made/making terrific improvements. It's got a decent shopping centre (not brilliant but enough - Woolworths (small), Peacocks, small Boots, Holland & Barratt...). It's great to be able to walk down to the beach. This afternoon we walked down to Cullercoats Harbour and then down to Tynemouth Priory. With the metro you're in Newcastle proper in no time (20/25 mins). Beware though if you're out for the night, the metro doesn't run as late as the tube in London and buses aren't as frequent here/run as late. My husband got caught out one night and ended up on a 6 mile walk home at midnight - so yes, you might have to consider taxis if you go out for the night in Newcastle (or at least make extra sure you know metro/bus times...)
Thanks to Popyscal we thought we'd try out Whitley Bay and now we're buying here . Schools are lovely, teachers I've met at my children's first school actually seem to enjoy teaching! The kids are out and about in the open air a lot more than they ever were in London. And I see lots more kids out and about generally, on their bikes, playing in the park, than I did in London. My eldest has learnt a lot more about nature (especially sea life here) since moving up. There are great museums in Newcastle too (although beware that you have to pay to get into some (not all) i.e. the fantastic Life Centre). There are plenty of events on for kids to do/see.
I assume you can guess that as a mother of 2 young children (5 + 7), I would definitely recommend the move up north and I think Whitley Bay is great. Only drawback is the wind that comes from the sea! And the sea frets (mists). Sometimes you only go a few miles inland and there are no mists and it's bright and sunny. So the temperature/weather along here can be a little lower than in central Newcastle.
Anyway, sorry if I've waffled a little (!), bear in mind I've just had a gin and tonic as well! Feel free to CAT me.

I'm from Newcastle but I don't live there now. Newcastle is great. If I could pick a place to live I would pick Gosforth but its very expensive compared to places very close by (although not compared to London). It has good schools and a lovely park, excellent local shops and very close to the city. My parents almost moved to Tynemouth when they got married but my dad didn't want to. His brother lived there and he though it very bleak in poor weather and the foghorn kept him awake. I have just spent a week in South Shields and I really liked it. Lovely beaches, really nice park but I don't know what it would be like to live there. Its on the South of the river which is traditionally less desirable than the north but I thought it was lovely. Its good to be close to a metro station and Newcastle is on the east coast mainline which means London direct in under 3 hours.

Still thinking about it, yes, so thanks waldorf, susanita, and pickle.
We may spend a week around there again soon and get a better feel for the place.
Susanita, my babies are 2 and 3. They get very excited about EVERYthing at the moment!

Thanks all

Annie