wanting to buy a small house in rural Northumberland.

Longhoughton will have a lot of cheaper properties coming onto the market with the RAF [or is it Army?] base closing there. And it's quite close to some nice beaches as well.

Thanks again. I'm beginning to come round to living in a small town, because driving will soon be a problem. And maybe we couldn't put up with the short summers and cold winters as we could 10-20 years ago.
As I wrote before , I do know Rothbury a bit, from childhood. That could be a good place to start.
Anyway that's enough of me! I hope the thread has helped other people too - in deciding what are the priorities of where to live in old age.
We would have preferred to live near eldest daughter, Berkshire, but that's far too expensive for us. My sister lives in Edinburgh.

meant to say Zoopla, not hoopla ha ha

Hi Tricia, I live in Amble, I have lived in Warkworth, worked and went to school in Alnwick.
pros. Northumberland IS beautiful, there are some great villages with good access, GP surgeries and shopping, the cost of living is less than down south and you will be able to get a property for the £200.000 mark
cons. we get about two weeks worth of summer, we don't get lots of snow in the winter but plenty slush and rain. I have arthritis and have a hankering to move to the sun !!! to be really rural can also mean becoming isolated as we get older
so for a happy medium, check out hoopla/rightmove in areas such as Rothbury (and no, we don't get flooded that often), Wooler, Belford, Longhoughton.
Villages such as Bamburgh, Alnmouth and Warkworth can be exceedingly expensive and as you don't wish for a larger town I have deliberately missed out Alnwick, Morpeth and Amble (as lovely as they are) have fun searching xx Karen

I don't live in Northumberland but do love property threads and Rightmove! So just poking my nose in here.

Tricia may I ask why you want to live out in the country, rather than say a village or town? I can understand the desire for peace and quiet, especially if used to it, but many country folk seem not to want to be so isolated in older age.

(Rothbury looks nice!)

I hope I eventually manage to realise my "dream".
I've been to Warkworth a few times, but only to look round the castle, not the rest of the village.
My Dad had an interest in local history and especially the many castles in Northumberland.
Another thing that prompted my question was a tv programme last week, Escape to the Country, which was supposed to be about Northumberland, but 2 of the 3 houses were over the Border, only a house in a holiday complex in Northd. Their budget was 200k, the same as ours. It was disappointing.
The area I know best is around Otterburn, where I have a farmer cousin, we spent many holidays on the farm, but it's rather bleak there.

I love Embleton Church...

The wall was done in 2013, but I think they were given more money last year to complete the floodworks.
I wonder if they could sort the Coquet out further up the valley. Morpeth seems okay now (hope I haven't jinxed it).

Of course, if you lived up near the castle there would be no problem.

Tricia, Tegan has a good point there.
Make sure you look at the environment agency flood maps.

Has that been done recently? I do hope so. I love the place. We always park by the river and have a cup of tea there, before walking down to the hermitage. I've never been to that as I'm scared of getting in and out of the boat with my dodgy knees!To me Warkworth is The Wind in the Willows country and I'm sure Mr Toad and his pals reside there. Several times we've seen photos of Warkworth in flood and realised we'd been sitting on the exact spot just a week or so before. It's fascinating walking up the middle of the town and seeing the old gardens; I'm sure the layout is medieval.

My husband used to go fishing there when he was a schoolchild. Hope your S.O.'s finger is okay. Gets him out of gardening, I hope.

Interesting, Tegan. I thought Warkworth had had floodgates and a wall erected.
Don't they work?
Hope the Hermitage is okay.

Are you familiar with Whitfield Tricia between Hexham and Alston? The drive through there is stunning. Certainly out of the way if that's what you want.
Allendale a Town is another suggestion!

Warkworth floods quite badly; it is one of my favourite places though. Had the walk in centre at Alnwick closed as well the S.O. would now still be sitting in A&E somewhere [sliced his finger open whilst gardening].

Lots of nice villages around Amble and the Coquet Valley that are not too expensive. Alnwick itself, or Warkworth with that lovely castle to look at, Embleton on the coast, Beadnell, Druridge.
Happy hunting. Hope you sell your house quickly.

Yes, I remember Rothbury too. During the war my cousin's family (the same ones as I joined in Bamburgh) was evacuated from Newcastle to Rothbury. 4 girl cousins. They had a house up on the hill above the town. We used to go to a little village school. A lovely house, HildaJenni, but as you say, beyond our reach!
I was also evacuated earlier, with my Mum, to Bardon Mill, which is in the south of the county.

They have closed walk in centres everywhere Tegan including the one serving my ( quite large) town. No wonder A and E is overflowing !

Just heard that they've closed the walk in centre down at Rothbury [not that that's important].

Sorry, just saw your budget, that one is a bit pricey. I would love it though.

How much have you got to spend Tricia. This one is gorgeous.
here it is

Have a look at Rothbury Tricia it's a lovely village with a few more rural properties on the outskirts . Making me with I could live there too.

Yes Tegan my son and grandson are up in Bamburgh as they are both Transformer mad .

You own 80% of the house I think. They're only @£110,000 but to say they're in a prime location is an understatement. I also like Amble and that area; house prices are cheaper but I think it's an up and coming area.

No, I can't find it.
The scheme is for retired people who already have a property which they could use as security. The houses for sale are at a reduced price, but you don't have full ownership.

Jane A - I know Wark, my Auntie Nellie lived there in her (nearly) last years, visited her a few times. She died aged 101 in a Home in Hexham. It is worth looking into.
Tegan - are those properties in Bamburgh for retired people on a scheme where you don't actually own it? I was looking at some in the SE, near our eldest daughter, being promoted for that.
Have to look it up from an email.

Just a thought but there are some properties in Bamburgh that are specifically for older people. We were quite interested in one ourselves [it has a lovely stone wall in the garden]. Because it was to be second home we couldn't buy it. That particular one has now sold but there is usually another one for sale.It's not your typical 'older persons estate' sort of thing. I know they're small, but they're right in the centre of Bamburgh and, as I said before, there is so much to do in the village all year round. If we were going to live there permanently we'd certainly consider one of them.

Wark in the North Tyne valley is lovely Tricia.
It has a little health centre, several shops and at least a couple of good pubs.
The Tyne Valley villages like Wylam are popular now with young professionals and have become quite expensive.