Seven reasons to move to Yorkshire
01 Aug 2018
Today (August 1) is Yorkshire Day – a date in the calendar designed to celebrate the county and its traditions and achievements.
To mark the occasion, Andrew Porter Limited has put together a list of seven reasons why you should consider making Yorkshire your home.
- Sporting success
Yorkshire has produced more than its fair share of homegrown sporting talent, including heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis Hill, triathletes Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee, boxer Nicola Adams and cyclist Ed Clancy. In fact, if Yorkshire had been competing in the 2012 as an independent country, it would have come twelfth in the medal tables. Yorkshire is also the most successful English cricket team, having won 33 county championship titles. In 2014 the Tour de France visited the county and was so popular it led to the launch of the road cycling race Tour de Yorkshire. This year’s Tour attracted 2.6 million spectators.
- A wealth of famous inhabitants
If you choose to move to Yorkshire, you’d be in good company. Many famous literary and historical figures have called the county home. These include internationally-renowned writers like the Brontë sisters, Alan Bennett, Ted Hughes, W.H. Auden and J.B. Priestley. Other famous Yorkshire folk include the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, pioneering aviator Amy Johnson, explorer and naval captain James Cook and actors Sir Patrick Stewart, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ben Kingsley and Michael Palin.
- Good transport links
Yorkshire may have a reputation for wild, rugged wilderness but the county is surprisingly well connected when it comes to transport links to the rest of the UK. The M1 and A1 both go through Yorkshire taking you north and south. And the M62 motorway cuts across the Pennines, linking east and west. You can get from York to London by rail in less than two hours, while trains from York to Edinburgh take around two and a half hours. And if trains are your thing, York is home to the National Railway Museum which has an impressive selection of historic engines to visit.
- Brilliant beer
Yorkshire is well known for its breweries with the county’s oldest, Samuel Smith, producing beer in Tadcaster since 1758. There are more than 30 real ale breweries in Yorkshire, including Black Sheep in Masham, Bad Seed in Malton and North Brewing Co in Leeds. And if you want your pint with a view, the UK’s highest pub, The Tan Hill Inn stands on the Pennine Way in the Yorkshire Dales and is 1,732 feet above sea level.
- Fantastic food
Yorkshire has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any UK region other than London.
Six restaurants have been awarded the much coveted star in the 2018 Michelin Guide. They are: The Pipe & Glass Inn, in South Dalton; Star Inn, in Helmsley; Box Tree, in Ilkley; The Man Behind the Curtain, in Leeds; Black Swan, in Oldstead; and Yorke Arms, in Pateley Bridge. Yorkshire is also home to a number of delicious local delicacies, including the much-loved Yorkshire pudding, Parkin – a gingerbread cake made with oats and treacle and traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night, Wensleydale cheese and Henderson’s Relish, a spicy sauce made in Sheffield.
- Super shopping
Yorkshire has a lot to offer when it comes to retail therapy. If you’re looking for well-known high street names, Meadowhall in Sheffield is the UK’s tenth largest shopping centre, while York offers a wide range of unique, independent shops. York is also home to The Shambles, a medieval shopping street which looks like a real-life Diagon Alley. Meanwhile, Leeds has a compact, pedestrian-friendly city centre with more than 1,000 shops, including high-end luxury names like Harvey Nichols.
- Affordable house prices
In 2017, Savills estimated the average house price in Yorkshire to be £151,000. This makes the area a more affordable alternative to London, the south, the East of
England and also the Midlands. And the good news is that if you buy your property in Yorkshire now, you could well be making a wise investment. Savills forecast that house prices in the region will climb by 17.6 per cent to £178,000 by the end of 2022. In contrast, London prices are only expected to rise by 7.1 per cent in the same period.
If you’re planning a house move to Yorkshire (or anywhere else), Andrew Porter Ltd specialises in home removals and our expert team will make sure your relocation gets off to the very best of starts. Get an online quote now and let us take the stress out of moving house.
