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!

Beverley has lost a lot of character is the past 20 years- taken over by many chains of shops- restaurants etc. Lots of housing go recently built and it has expanded greatly.
Driffield has a much nicer 'market town' feel, similar to how Beverley used to be.
However as PP have said, there's a lot going on there (in Beverley).

I mentioned Malton a few times and 100% of the first responses were 'Malton floods!' 😅 it was between Malton and Beverley when we first started looking but when that was the universal response we set it aside tbh. Had heard great things about the schools and the countryside. I do enjoy some rugged scenery!! But compared to the city we're in now any scenery would be an improvement!

I want to shout BRID and make you move here and be my friend but to be honest much as I love the town the shopping is just ugly and I would much rather go to Driff or Bev! Saying that you'd get even more property for your money and there is a good train station. Plus lots of gigs and interesting concerts at the Spa.

Watching a show with Jane McDonald where she was talking about the wonders of Brid is what started this entire move!!! 😂

Look at Cottingham. Between Beverley and Hull. Lots more choice re education, still close enough for beaches etc.

Beverley

@perplexedandbemused No Way! I have to find that and watch it. It's actually a very nice town with some good housing stock and very kind people. Also don't know how old your children are but Sewerby Hall and the little zoo is a delightful place to let them run off steam.

Leven near Beverley is lovely, close enough to go there for shopping etc but live in a large village with a sense of community.

It was called My Yorkshire I think, might have been channel 5

We've been thinking about moving to Market Weighton. Have family there and it's always seemed perfectly nice when we visit. We prefer smaller places though, used to not being in a town or city now. Bonus it has all schools, so no bus rides. I don't know the other two places.

Thanks for this! DH has colleagues who live there who spoke highly of it which is what made it to the list. Can imagine having family ties would certainly help sway a decision either way.

Like others have said Driffield is the best value for money, I actually grew up there and it is a safe friendly market town.

Things you might consider are that the children's part of the library isn't great, not many books and they aren't forthcoming about events in the library - it is modern and clean though, but just not geared towards kids.

The secondary school is quite large nowadays and hasn't had the best reputation for the last few years.

I don't think I'd personally live IN Driffield but there are lots of nice outlying villages

There's a nice park there forgot to say

We moved to Bev three years ago, with no local connections. No kids, so can't help with that I'm afraid, but as adults, we've made great friends through hobbies and volunteering and find plenty to do. There's a great small-chain cinema, excellent pubs, a parkrun, a good arts venue, festivals and events of all sorts. I like being only 15 minutes from Hull on the train and only 20 minutes from the coast at Hornsea. The Westwood is a brilliant amenity. We have a really excellent GP and jaw-droppingly fast NHS appointments. Town centre is buzzy, accessible and attracts a lot of incoming shoppers and people on a night out.

Downsides - while there are plenty of independent shops, there's a lot of turnover as retail struggles (like everywhere). It can feel a long way "over": getting to the M62 takes a good half hour. Hull is trying hard, but it's difficult to see how it will ever regenerate successfully. Parking can be a chore, but the local moaning about it is worse. Property is more expensive than your other options, but still affordable to an ex-Southerner. There are 3,000 houses being built on the south side of town and some ugly road developments.

Key for me is that I love living in a beautiful town, where just walking to M&S is a pleasure. I've been pleasantly surprised by how we've made friends without family/school/work connections.

The place you've tagged on Rightmove is in Molescroft, which sees itself as somewhat separate to Bev. Worth checking that public transport would meet your needs. It would be a solid 40 minute walk into town (and that parking!). There's also a plan to move the town tip to the other side of the bypass from that location. Just saying.

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 fact is that unless you live in London the chances of your DC getting jobs nearby and staying in the area they grew up is slim.

I don't live in any of those places but I live nearby and know Beverley and Driffield. I think schools are an important consideration and Driffield school isn't the best. Beverley has good / outstanding schools but be aware that Beverley Grammar is not actually a grammar /selective school.
Bridlington is a lovely place for a day at the beach but, like many coastal towns is run down and the town centre is grim.
Pickering is further north and a great base for the outdoor activities of North Yorkshire.
You mentioned climbing, there's a huge climbing centre in Hull.

Beverley is lovely but very expensive. The road networks are not great and there are ridiculous queues at peak times. Parking can be a definite problem in central areas: ensure your home either has designated parking or a drive. Also, the area has been so built up that some large housing developments (and they are really large) are a considerable distance from the centre.

I'd choose Pocklington a million times over Market Weighton. The centre is quite run-down and there is not really much going on. Schooling isn't great in either area. There are lovely villages all the way up the A1079 to York, and pretty countryside in the foothills of the wolds.

Driffield I know less well - it's a rural, 'farmer's market' kind of place - but is great for access to the coastal areas and the wolds.

Other areas near Beverley you might want to consider: Walkington, Little Weighton, Bishop Burton, Cherry Burton, South Dalton.

Happy hunting!

Bridlington is quite run-down but nearby Filey is beautiful, and has a five-mile long golden beach.

Flamborough, on the chalk peninsula, is one of those places that never changes. Lovely for wildlife lovers but it's remote.

We're happy to have these things on the doorstep without needing to live right on the beach I think. At the moment our nearest non estuary beach is 90 minutes away so any improvement on that would be wonderful

I was also going to suggest Pocklington. All those East Yorks towns are nice, but I'd choose Bev for schools and teenage independence.

@perplexedandbemused

I’ve started to make friends through the kids.
We’re also fortunate that a lot of our family and friends have the odd weekend in Bridlington or somewhere along the coast so we meet up with them then, or they come and stay with us. It’s a really lovely place to come and visit and we’ve been able to buy a house with enough room for a spare room.

A couple of things that I did struggle with at first (which I fear will just out my laziness)…
Ocado don’t deliver here yet. Waitrose do though so it was a fairly painless switch and I pop to M&S in Beverley fairly regularly to get the bits I miss.
Amazon don’t deliver on the same day or deliver Fresh. In Sheffield, if I was stuck in the house ill or after the kids were in bed, I could go on Amazon and have a bit of shopping delivered. I’ve just had to become more organised. We always have a full bottle of Calpol in the house etc.
The takeaway options aren’t fantastic. We’ve found a few that are good and we stick to those on the rare occasion we have them but have really cut back. We now go out for lunch and make a bit of a day-date thing of it.

Bert’s in Hornsea is fantastic.
The Highfield House Hotel in Driffield is a real treat.
and there are endless places in Beverley and the surrounding villages.

When we were looking at relocating, I had my heart set on Beverley. We had a budget of £320k and it just got us nothing close to the house we got in Driffield so we just went for it. I was used to driving 20-30 minutes to get into Sheffield city centre and parked up so I just see going to Beverley as the same.

I like avoid market weighton yes the houses are cheaper but there isn’t much going on and I think for teens it might be a bit of a bored.

Driffield was nice last time I visited but limited experience in the area.

Beverley is lovely, nice schools, lots of houses being built and good activities for the kids, varied things to do. If I had a choice this would be my pick!

I would avoid cottingham as it’s still in Hull council and the schools aren’t great. Once you move into East Riding the schools tend to be better. If you wanted different options, Brough, South Cave etc are more smaller villages that have expanded but more travelling needed for shops / cinemas etc

Ferriby, brough and south cave are all lovely too.

I live in malton, we had flood defences put in 20 years ago, we still have occasional issues when the river is high but it doesn't flood any houses, there's just one road Norton side of the bridge that becomes unaccessible and then all the traffic has to go via the other route which can cause a bit of congestion, but any small town will have that problem if one main road can't be used.
We live one end of Norton and the kids go to school in malton so it's a journey we make twice a day and have done for the last 4 years, we've only had a small number if times there's been issues getting through town due to closed roads or roadworks but on thise days we just go down the bypass, it doesnt take any longer!
There's a fantastic secondary school in malton (we chose it over the one near us in norton) and a few good primary schools in the area.
We have a 4 bed detached house in Norton which is valued around 340-350k.
Of the other towns you have mentioned I'd personally say Beverley is the best in terms of having things in the town itself, the others are very limited! But it's quite pricey I believe.
Driffield is cheap, friends of mine moved there a few years ago for a cheaper house but they came back after a couple of years as they didn't like it.
What I dislike about all the towns you mentioned is the main roads they are off. The A1079 and A166 are both horrible single carriageway roads with awful traffic, particularly in summer.
Malton isn't a huge amount better tho, the a64 can be bad at peak times, especially in summer, although it's heading towards the coast it's usually worst so getting towards York or Leeds isn't bad but getting back can be bad if you time it wrong.
But as you both work from home commuting won't be high on your list of priorities, we also don't need to commute as I wfh and partner works in town, but we do travel to York a lot for dentist/orthodontist/shopping and also Scarborough occasionally for cahms appointments, these small towns generally don't have local services so expect to travel for these sorts of things. Both York and Scarborough are about a 30m drive.
Leeds is an hour away from us, we go there a lot as we are football fans, plus I like a cheeky trip to ikea every now and again.

40 mins walk... how slow do you go? To Tesco would be 20 mins at a decent pace.

The way this site is, I thought this was suggestions for baby names at first 🤣