The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-10)

Winner

SLAITHWAITE, WEST YORKSHIRE ✪

You pronounce it “Slaw-it”. You might get away with

Slath-wait, but anyone heard to say “Slay-

thawite” will be drummed out of this 21st-

century post-pandemic paradise. It might

not win many beauty contests, but this

unsung mill village offers exactly what we

need right now: big-city train links,

sensibly priced houses, a homespun boho

vibe, bracing Pennine countryside and an

eye for a good time.

Its high street is a model of independent

ingenuity. Just ask the parents seeking

refuge at Acorn and Pip, the “children’s

concept store” where they can sip an

immunity-boost smoothie (made with fruit and

veg from the co-operative greengrocer a couple of

doors down). This is Huddersfield, but not as you know

it. There’s shirtmaker McNair, and Dragonfly, producing

high-end dog treats, and the not-for-profit Handmade

Bakery churning out croissants while its locals gather in its

wi-fi-powered canalside café. There’s a community pottery,

arts and drama spaces and a few vacancies in the 130-year-

old brass band.

“This is an arty place where people can come together and

do creative things,” Gill Burton says. “There’s a swimming

pool, cricket club and the lovely Spa Park.”

Burton spotted Slaithwaite’s potential early. She moved

here 30 years ago with her partner and three children — who

all live near by. And although she still regards herself as a

“commer-inner”, she’s helped to put Slaithwaite on the map

by launching the village’s biggest (and most eccentric)

event: the Moonraking festival, a biannual week-long

“celebration of creativity, craftsmanship and storytelling”.

Rebecca Eatwell, who owns a PR firm Font

Communications, used to live in Manchester

(trains take 35 minutes). She says: “It’s got

everything you want, with canalside walks,

and a busy high street full of indie places.

We’re lucky that we’ve got Manchester

and Leeds on the doorstep, yet we’re

surrounded by beautiful countryside. It’s

the best of both worlds.”

Best place to live if... You want

community, country and homespun cool.

Best address A stone house overlooking

the valley.

£199,000

in the surfing beach and cafés
of Saltburn and the fishing
village of Staithes. Less
picture-perfect, but
immensely practical, is the
powerhouse of commutable
Teesside, now a Freeport.
“Great Ayton suits people
of all ages,” says Michelle
Pybus, 29, a waitress at the
Velveteen Rabbit, which runs
a popular lunch club. “There’s
a library, loads of cafés, places
to walk to and classes to join.
There are tennis, cricket and
football clubs and a great
sense of community. ”

and carries on, with Max Mara

and MAC Cosmetics.

Among the attractions: The

Stray, 200 green open acres in

the middle of the town centre;

RHS Garden Harlow Carr; the

Great Yorkshire Show every

July; Harrogate Convention

Centre and Harrogate Theatre

hosting events and big-name

acts — Paloma Faith is here in

June; the Blues Cafe Bar with

live music every night of the

week; and a branch of The Ivy,

which opened in 2017.

“We were careful when

choosing the location,” says

Robinson, who lives in a

Victorian house off Cold Bath

Road, where locals nip in to

Major Tom’s Social for

stonebaked pizza (Super

Vegan £9.50) and craft beer

after a Saturday morning

browse of the boutiques and

artisan shops. “The drawback

is we don’t have a proper

garden. We could have got a

bigger house with a garden,

but further out.”

It’s all about being in the

mix. Harrogate is still a safe

place for relocating younger

families and second-steppers,

often from London and the

Southeast, who want all the

fun and fresh air of being

“up North” without the

grim and gritty bits — but

now it has a little more

pizzazz. Big news.

Best place to live if... The

north beckons, but only if it’s

wrapped in vintage cashmere

and ciabatta.

Best address The Duchy,

land owned by the Duchy of

Lancaster, is Harrogate-

shorthand for “expensive”.

£390,000

HOVINGHAM,

NORTH YORKSHIRE D

Hovingham, deep in the

rolling Howardian Hills,

doesn’t just hide its light

under a bushel — it has no

streetlights. However, this

traditional stone and brick

estate village is old-fashioned

North Yorkshire posh and

deserves its starry status.

Murray Stewart, the

74-year-old chairman of the

local tennis club, moved here

with his wife from Doncaster

14 years ago when he retired

from the hotel trade. “We

wanted somewhere where

there weren’t too many

holiday houses,” Stewart says.

“It’s a vibrant village. I didn’t

realise it had so many facilities

until we moved here.”

Tiny, but delightful.

Hovingham Stores, the village

shop overlooking the green, is

Pybus, who is married and

has a young son, says you’ll

need sturdy walking boots if

you live here. Looked after

by the National Trust, the

distinctive hill of Roseberry

Topping rises 1,049ft above

sea level and wraps around

the east and northeast side

of the village centre, with

views of North Yorkshire on

one side and Teesside on the

other. It is also a “thrifty way

to wear the little ones out”.

Best place to live if... You

want house prices almost as

friendly as the folk.

Best address Period

properties in the centre, or

the hamlet of Newton under

Roseberry.

£267,000

HARROGATE,

NORTH YORKSHIRE C

Five years ago, Harrogate,

which had been a mainstay of

Best Places to Live since it

launched, was kicked out of

the guide. Big news.

The highly prized, highly

priced spa town fell out of

favour because it had become

just a little too predictable, a

little too prosperous. Or

perhaps familiarity just bred

contempt. Fast-forward to

today, and slowly, Harrogate

has been reinventing itself

as one of the hippest and

happiest Yorkshire home

grounds, made all the more

seductive by its good schools:

co-ed academy Harrogate

Grammar School is ranked

17th in The Sunday Times

Parent Power league of top

state secondaries in the North.

“It used to be grannysville,

now it’s really cool, with

delis, bakeries, boutiques.

It’s like living in Wimbledon

— loads of people have moved

back from London,” says

Lucy Robinson, 36, the

founder of fashion brand

Aurélie, who lives here with

her husband, Ralph, an

international retail

consultant, and their

three-year-old daughter, Sofia.

Harrogate has probably not

looked this fashionable since

about 1842, when The Royal

Pump Room opened. There

are still reassuring vestiges of

starchier times — Bettys Café

and Valley Gardens, with its

carpet-bedding and Sunday

afternoon bandstand concerts

— but these days, ease of living

and everything within

strolling distance is key.

Hoopers, an affluent art deco

department store (also found

in Torquay, Tunbridge Wells

and Wilmslow) keeps calm

This is an edited version. For the complete guide visit thetimes.co.uk/best-places-to-live

April 10, 2022 17