UKC

what's it like from a quality of life point of view? (apart from the proximity to the Lake District and Yorkshire/Cumbrian limestone). Thinking of a base to live. I can work from home with proximity to a motorway and broadband.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Ticks all of your boxes

Plus Oxenholme station for fast rail service to Edinburgh & London

In reply to kevin stephens:

Well, it kind of depends what's important to you when it comes to quality of life......you're not going to get huge art galleries or an airport on your doorstep. But that might well be outweighed by some decent pubs and easy access to the fells.

The downsides compared to a city are likely to be poorer public transport (although if in Kendal itself, probably not essential), longer to travel for health services (a lot of hospital services will be in Lancaster), and far less stuff available 24/7.

If you need fast Broadband, rather than just an internet connection, it might be worth checking what Kendal's actually like - I don't have first hand experience, but it's not wildly reliable or fast either here (North Cumbria) or at my parents (Lancaster), and Kendal's kind of between the two. That's probably (hopefully!) changing fairly quickly along the M6 corridor these days.

In reply to kevin stephens:

After being there this weekend, I wonder what it is like having those swarms of visitors? and also if it is OK for buying day to day stuff, rather than touristy stuff...

In reply to kevin stephens: is it Kendal in particular or would you include the surrounding area? I live in Bolton le Sands just north of Lancaster and I think it's a great place. We have fibre broadband, good public transport: lots of buses because of the Uni, west coast mainline station in Lancaster, a campaign to get those trains to stop in Carnforth too. Access to the M6 is pretty good and they are currently building another link road to it which will make connections even easier. House prices are very reasonable and in this area there is a nice balance between countryside and suburban facilities with house prices in the South Lakes being higher than here. There are lots of other places that are similar but not particularly well known in the area between BLS and Kendal: Lyth Valley through to Bowness/Windermere is a real gem of an area (just ask Bob) without it being a honey pot like further north into the Lakes, really good road cycling and MTBing too. Plus it's easy to get to the Western Dales around Sedbergh, Forest Of Bowland as well as the main Dales, north Pennines and the Lakes proper. There's much more to the area than just the well known places.

In addition to that you can get to Manchester and Liverpool for bigger cultural stuff. In a nutshell I would say it depends on what you want in the place you live, Kendal has reasonable shopping, cinema, restaurants etc but can be quite busy. It's satellite villages are very nice but more expensive. Come a little south and South East (Endmoor, the Kellets etc or Warton, Milnthorpe etc) and you get more house for your money but are still well connected to all the good stuff, there are of course places to avoid as ther are anywhere. I wouldn't pick Kendal over where I live. There's also Morecambe bay and the Silverdale/Arnside area too. My advice would be to have a good look around the area between Lancaster and Kendal, there's plenty you might prefer.

In reply to Escher:

Likewise, I've never been all that struck on Kendal, but really like the area north of Lancaster, helped by strong family connections to Hest Bank, Silverdale and Cartmel.

In reply to The New NickB:
I looked at Kendal as a place to live a couple of years back. I know the area well and would agree with most of the above. More upside stuff: the Brewery Arts Centre is a big plus, as is the climbing wall. Shops are OK I'd say. More downside stuff: any half-decent restaurants are mobbed at weekends; lots of pubs, but not that many good ones. Parking is a pain, and a lot of the older housing I looked at in the centre is quite dark, with smallish rooms (not a bright sunny wfh office / penthouse in sight - I didn't check any newer or less central housing).

All the comments about the area N of Lancaster/S of Kendal (eg Silverdale/Carnforth, Bolton-le-Sands) hold, and I'd add that the weather is generally better here too due to the proximity of the coast (rainfall lower, less misty, more sunny). Pros and cons, for sure...

In reply to tlm:
Kendal is where a lot of people in the lakes head to for day to day stuff. I cant think of anything you cant do/get there (well not that s legal anyway)
If one needed to get to London one or two days a week but otherwise could work from home I would say kendal would be an ideal choice, in fact anywhere a short drive from Oxenholme would do it, 6.21 train gets in to Euston at 9.07. I d choose the south east side of town to minimise faff getting to the station.
Not the original question but what about Penrith ? bit lacking in culture, but otherwise always struck me as the ideal base for climbing types.

In reply to kevin stephens:
Having moved to Kendal just over 3 years ago, it's definitely grown on me as a town. I work from home (internet is pretty good fibre), but am about 10 minutes walk from the town center. There's a bit of green space in the town by the river, or you can be on Scout Scar for an evening walk in minutes.

I can be in Langdale in 30-40 minutes (traffic dependent), or on the M6 in 10 to get South. Scotland's accessible for a weekend, taking around 4-5 hours to somewhere like Pitlochry or Glen Coe. Manchester's easy enough to get to on the train, though don't expect to get back late of an evening. London Euston is a surprisingly quick journey too if you get the right train. Yorkshire and the Peak are pretty accessible too (2 hours to Hathersage).

As mentioned elsewhere, Kendal's fine for shopping - Booths, Morrisons, Asda and supposedly a Sainsburys on the way - although a little less "cosmopoliton" in its stock variety sometimes compared to other places I've lived (i.e. the South). The outdoor shop option is basically Nevisport, with an increasingly poorly-stocked field and trek and a couple of other minor places.

The brewery was a major selling point for me, with cinema/mountain fest/comedy/music/theatre as well as the bar and restaurant. Kendal's not blessed with lots of good restaurants, but there's enough. The pubs are quite varied, and rarely do any food worth speaking of, but there're some good ones like the Riflemans.

For me personally, the property prices were good (compared to Winchester), but obviously that depends where you're comparing it to.

The traffic in town at rush hour is moderately bad, but I don't personally notice much inconvenience from tourists; certainly not as much as say in Ambleside or Keswick.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Thanks everybody for the time taken to post some detailed responses, slightly going off the idea of Kendal

In reply to kevin stephens:

But Silverdale is great Kev. Btw are you the "unknown climber" on Cenotaph Corner in the October edition of Climber?

In reply to Mark Harding:

If I am it would be a very very old photo. Must catch up soon!

In reply to kevin stephens:

I moved to Arnside a couple of years ago and commute to and from London each week at the moment. Broadband speed is pretty good so no issues working from home either. Haven't regretted moving to the area Kevin and I doubt you would as well.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Mark, Cass and others
So apart from good connections, what's Arnside and Silverdale like in terms of community / amenities? Shops, pubs, eating out etc? Not to keen on living somewhere too sleepy (would I even have to rejoin the FMC?)

In reply to kevin stephens:


Hmm, OK in some respects sleepy it is. A lot of retired people and a lot of what goes on (and a hell of a lot of stuff does go on) caters for that demographic. If you are in your mid 50s you can end up feeling a bit young! But consider the advantages: As soon as you step outside your door you are in a fantastic AONB landscape. The pubs are very good, particularly the more esoteric ones like the Woodlands in Silverdale. (Went to their beer festival last weekend, excellent). The local shops are just that, but the Co-op in Silverdale is open all hours and you can get most of what you need, there’s also a pharmacist, newsagent and butcher, a few more than this in Arnside I think. Carnforth is five miles away and has Booths, Tesco and a new Aldi. Eating out is good if you know where to go. The Indian in Silverdale is great, as is the No 17 at Milnthorpe and the Wheatsheaf in Beetham. For more “big name shops” it’s Lancaster or Kendal. I prefer Lancaster as there’s more stuff there. Both are about 12 miles away. It’s great country for cycling and climbing. Trowbarrow, Warton etc are on your doorstep, the Yorkshire crags between 45 min and an hour away, Langdale about 45 min too. I think it’s been mentioned before but The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal is great for entertainment as is the Platform in Morecambe. (Live bands, stand-up, that sort of stuff).
I guess most places you might choose to live are a compromise but we’ve lived in Silverdale for about 14 years now and I wouldn’t want to swap it for anything else. One of my old mates, also a keen cyclist, had to move up from Preston area when he changed jobs. He now lives in Arnside and feels exactly the same way I do.
Oh yes, you would have to re-join the FMC!

In reply to Mark Harding:
My mate (who's in his late 60's) moved to Silverdale from Kendal and absolutely loves it - he's some kind of village sex-god amongst the older ladies...

He also told me the lads in the Indian commute from Keighley!