Beverley, Driffield or Market Weighton?

[perplexedandbemused]

Considering a move from Bristol to Yorkshire. We've narrowed it down to Beverley, Driffield or Market Weighton. Looking for any insight/feedback into life in those places to help us choose.

Few things people seem to like to know on these threads:

• my partner and I have home based jobs - so no geographical ties
• We have no family in the UK
• We're a family of 4 (2 primary school aged kids) - we're pretty active/outdoorsy. Love watersports in particular and would like to get into climbing.
• we're aware that things like future jobs for the children will likely be more difficult in Yorkshire than Bristol but on balance feel like the 10ish years in between now and the kids being of working age would be better spent in a place where we'd have more disposable income.

The move is largely financially driven, but also things like space (we're in a 2 bed house with one toilet and no outdoor storage ATM) and aire quality. We are managing currently, noone is hungry, we're clothed and can turn the heating on when needed etc. But there is very little 'fun money' for holidays, babysitters, meals out, after school clubs, gym memberships etc. We're basically at work/school and then at home hanging out. Which we like to do, but it would be nice to feel like we had the option to do things of an evening rather than worrying about the impact on finances.

Having researched all three places were confident if we moved we would likely gain a bedroom, a reception room and a garage and still release equity from our home, even after covering moving costs. We could then use this to pay off more of the mortgage, bringing down the monthly outgoings which would mean we could relax quite a bit when it comes to spending money. Be nice to have the kids see an ice cream van and not say "there's no point asking, they won't say yes" :(

So that's about us and the motivations. Be lovely if anyone had anything to say about those three towns which would help us choose!

Well, I think they're all nice towns but there are definitely some pros and cons!

Driffield is, by far, the cheapest place for property and is a busy little town with some good shops. It only has one secondary school though, and if that isn't the right place for your children then you've got a long drive to the next 'nearest' schools. It's also feels like a long way from the motorway network so if you do a lot of travelling it can feel like a bit of a slog.

Market Weighton is a bit more accessible with a few more school options but the town centre is probably the least 'vibrant' of the three.

Beverley has lots going for it - better choice of schools, really busy and well-served town centre, train station, lots of amenities - but property is more expensive because of that.

Beverly is a beautiful town, historical buildings, good shopping, racecourse, open common land. Driffield smaller, quite old fashioned, farming type community, decent everyday shopping. Market Weighton more like a village with some shops, pubs. All similar re Road travel for getting to coast or larger places such as York. Can't comment on schools, kids clubs etc but it's a lovely area to live in. Good luck!

I love Beverley- it’s naice. Driff is nice iyswim. Don’t know Market Weighton now the Chinese restaurant has closed🤣🤣

I find Bev a bit overpriced and overhyped. And you can visit anytime if you move to the others. Driff is well placed on the wolds for walking and views, which I why I'd probably choose it. And great prices. But MW is nice foe somewhere smaller.

Thanks so much for the replies! Noted a lot of threads on this channel with 0 responses so delighted the 4 of you took the time. Thanks!

We've been leaning towards Driffield because it seems to have a fab community feel to it and it's closer to York/beaches we know well. But we worried that after living in the big smoke it might be a bit too much of a leap in terms of size/things going on. Beverley felt like a smaller stepping stone, but maybe at the detriment of the community feel. MW was a bit of a curve ball option, the one we know the least about.

We have relatives in Driffield. They really like it but they are quite self sufficient, over 50, don't have young children and like a quiet life. You would want to be sure you could get on with day to day life in Driff or travelling to maybe Hull. The roads are slow: York is best part of an hour, nearest IKEA a looong way.

In places like that you need to join in with what's going on locally to get to know people, even if it's not your first preference of activity. Having said that I'm not sure it's a particularly outdoorsy area, apart from having great scenery for low level walking and maybe riding. I expect you would be driving to Hull or Bridlington for specialist activities like sailing, indoor climbing and right over to the Peak district for outdoor climbing. Dalby Forest for mountain biking.
Whereas Driffield probably has the sort of activities you get everywhere - football clubs, swimming, martial arts, gymnastics, dancing, Cubs etc.

That's not necessarily a bad thing but it's what small town life is like, if you would pine for big shops and fancy restaurants and live bands and specialist sports, you might look to place yourself nearer to a city.

Can I throw a curveball into the mix? Have you considered Pocklington? It's closer to York, still relatively well priced housing, at the bottom of the Wolds with some lovely walks and the coast, moors and Dales are still accessible.

The other thing to say is of course, it's not just about the exact town you live in. The slightly wider area probably has all kinds of treasures tucked away. When we lived in a rural area, we were within a 20-30 minute trip of an excellent folk club, a heritage railway, a science museum, large forest centre, numerous historical attractions, nature reserves and childrens farms, a zoo, annual county show... none of them in a place you'd have heard of, but they became the geography of our DC's weekends growing up. And the Driffield/Beverley area has the advantage of being near the coast too.

Absolutely, and it's lush to think whichever town we choose that the others wouldn't be so far away! The wider area is a great reason we've narrowed ourselves down to these towns in the first place. Now hoping to be able to choose a location which allows our kids to have some independence (play out with kids their age for example, be able to cycle themselves to activities in a few years time) and offers all of us a sense of community that the big smoke doesn't. I lived rurally as a child in a place where there was loads going on once you could drive, nearest bus stop was a mile away. I was reliant on my parents for lifts all the time. We'd like amenities within walking distance, a train station which goes to a bigger town/city within an hour, but also the kind of place where our kids could be the ones popping to the shop in a few years. Where I am currently I doubt they'd be doing that solo before secondary. Hoping a move to somewhere smaller buys them some freedom.

@NotMeNoNo Also love that you mentioned IKEA, leaving that has been near the top of the con list for a while 😂but we'll survive!!

Otherwise the things you've mentioned aren't ones we'd pine for, or currently have budget for despite them being on our doorstep! Man I miss gigs and nice restaurants. Think the last time I enjoyed either was about 2017!!! We're more about IKEA meatballs and picnics at the playground these days.

Beverley. Amazing place to live. You can walk from one end to the other easily. Plenty of things to do for adults and children. Friendly people. Drama, singing, pub, music, craft etc groups. Near the coast. Near Hull. I wish I still lived there.

Thank you! We haven't visited it but it's popped up in chat a few times. Mostly when I've looked at houses there have been very little for our budget, maybe it's just the luck of the draw. With being so far away too we can't afford to move anywhere that's too in-demand as we're not able to race up as soon as a house becomes available to view it etc. So places where there's high demand aren't going to work for us sadly. Not sure if that's the case in Pocklinton, was just something I pondered when there weren't many houses on the market when I checked.

I’ve been a reader of threads for years but I’ve made an account purely to reply to you today.

We moved from Sheffield to Driffield 18 months ago with our three children. It has honestly proven to be the best thing we’ve ever done. Our children are thriving. We have an incredible standard of living. We go to the beach (Brid, Flamborough, Hornsea, Scarborough, Filey) when ever we have any sun. The kids are all in tons of clubs.

Driffield has everything you could possibly need on a day to day basis and Beverley is less than 30 mins in the car or 15 mins on the train for nicer shops and restaurants etc.

My kids are not secondary age yet but I’m not worried about that next step.

Market Weighton is lovely but there’s no train station, however it is on the bus route from Hull to York as is Pocklington. MW is a 20 minute drive from Beverley and probably the same to Driffield. I have to say, I don’t know Driffield that well although we’ve been there but if we could choose again where to live, we’d probably choose Beverley although it’s more expensive than MW as is Pocklington, but there’s more in Pock than MW.
We don’t have young kids so I can’t comment on what’s in any of the places you’re looking at. MW has only one secondary school, but there’s several primary schools.
MW to the coast at Hornsea is about 40 minutes drive, with less than an hour to Bridlington and about an hour to Scarborough.

If I can ask, what’s your budget for a property?

I don't know driffield, but out of options so far I'd choose Beverley, then Pocklington, and ... I wouldn't chose mw. You do get a lot for your money there however! Also the villages along 1079 between York and Pocklington are nice - dunnington, wilberfoss, barmby moor are all good, and on the bus route into York.

Market isn't crazy at the moment, should be ok with Pocklington. What's your budget if you don't mind me asking?

Hey all, thanks so much for the replies to this today! We really appreciate it.

@Elbone your post is so lovely! Thank you for becoming a first time poster on our account. The more we hear about Driffield the more we like it 😍Have you found many friends? Loads of clubs for the kids sounds just so wonderful. We have hundreds on our doorstep here so you'd assume we're spoilt for choice but they're either unaffordable or have 15 month waiting lists. By the time you're at the top of the list the kid has probably grown out of the activity 😂
Planning to visit the area next week and again later in the summer to explore it more but everything you've said sounds wonderful. And it's nice that the other options wouldn't be far away. Days by the seaside are the dream! Got me all excited and wishing we were there already.

@Femalefootyfan and @Pootles34 thanks for all the local insight! A trainline would be a real bonus as the kids get older, and we like vibrant (!) so on the whole it sounds like MW doesn't sound like the best option for us. Will be sure to check out Pocklinton when we visit again next week. We have a 'stretch' budget of about £340k for the right property that doesn't need any improvements/extending but would prefer to keep it closer to £300k. Based on that Driffield has seemed the most attractive, though there have been nice places we could manage in Beverley.

I live in Beverley. Not sure whether £340k would get you the house you want in the right area, but if you can stretch I would recommend Beverley without a doubt.

I moved here 20 years ago and have brought my kids up here. We all love it. The other two don't come close imo.

Feel free to post links of the houses:locations and i can give you the insider view

Oh thanks! That's good insight. Yeah without having had a good snoop around it's hard to get a feeling for the exact area. Can only tell so much from Google maps and YouTube walk around videos.

We're not ready to move yet so haven't been getting too attached to individual properties. But here's an example I found in Beverley:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149329898

Beverley is by far the nicest place but Driffield is more central for coast and countryside.
Hull is very underrated and you might look at South Cave or Pocklington.
Although this is a very cheap area for housing £300k will go further in Driffield than any of the other places.

Driffield is about only an hour and a half from Leeds IKEA. A lot of money is being pumped into Driffield in terms of housing. There is the Driffield show which the schools close for every year. You are within a stones throw from Bridlington, York etc. Beverley is lovely as is Pocklington

What makes it nicest in your opinion?

I was watching a few walk around videos which showed that for example Beverley has a really lovely town centre, which I'd prefer to a long central shopping street as you'd get in Driffield. But then I remembered I shop about twice a year so really that shouldn't be high on the.priority list of amenities!! None of the videos showed what the culture was like in terms making friends, being welcoming, things to do for adults in their late 30's with primary school kids, or of perceived safety being out as a woman alone, or younger people walking themselves to school/shops alone or going to town with friends. We're planning to visit in the next few weeks and do things like head to the leisure centre, visit playgrounds etc the sorts of places we usually end up chatting to others in the hopes we'll get a vibe either way!

@Inthesnug same questions to you. What have you and your kids specifically loved about it? Real experiences will help us in our choice. Thanks so much for sharing anything you'd be happy to tell!

😂I'm really hoping we'll be able to replace our weekly trip to IKEA (mainly for the free play area tbh) with a host of other lovely places so we're supporting our local economy and not living on meatballs 😂

I was watching videos about the Driffield show!! Sorry to be missing it.

Have you thought about Malton or Norton? Closer to the Moors and the countryside is a bit hillier than around Beverley. Lots of clubs for kids, good train and coach connections to York, Leeds, the moors and the coast; nice cafes and restaurants and good schools at primary and secondary (there's also Ryedale secondary, which is up near Helmsley and outstanding - Malton/Norton aren't officially in the catchment but quite a few kids go there, and there's a school bus service (not a free one sadly))

If you bought that house you'd be about a 20 minute walk from the town centre, and within a really good primary school catchment area. Cinema, leisure centre, lovely shops (mint velvet, whistles, white company, Oliver bonus etc). Great pubs and restaurants, lots of activities and clubs for the kids. My pre teen and teenager can walk and bike everywhere (safely). There are loads of things for the kids to do (for a small town). Seaside 45 mins away on the train. Hull 12 mins (if you need a city, I rarely go).

Beautiful countryside. A racecourse and golf course. The Minster and a lovely C of E church. The ancient "bar".

Folk festival, puppet festival, often get car and bike races, fab little theatre (Judy Dench is the patron)

Genuinely pretty town. Safe and friendly.

Can't fault it! I wouldn't live anywhere else.

I’d definitely be thinking ahead to secondary school years - both MW and Driffield (and Pocklington, for that matter) are very limited for secondaries and I’ve known a couple of people that have ended up going private when the local secondary hasn’t worked out, as there are so few other options. Beverley has great schooling options and has a bit more going on. Would also second the PP who suggested malton/norton - 2 secondaries in the towns and some kids travel out to Ryedale school and York (outstanding Catholic secondary and good range of private schools), trains to York only take half an hour and there’s a good bus service too, the coast is also still pretty quick to get to.