Hexham - is it a nice place to retire to - cousin retiring there?

Hexham is lovely - regularly voted one of the happiest places to England to live. Have a look on Google to see all the facilities on offer - it’s a really nice Town with parks, shops, a market and of course, an impressive abbey. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and villages like Corbridge are very pretty and friendly. Newcastle isn’t that far away via a good dual carriageway. Without knowing your cousin, I can’t see any problem in relocating there, but maybe rent first before the final decision?

Georgesgran is right, it's a nice place. The town centre, like so many, isn't as good as it used to be, but is better than many, and there's a hospital within walking distance of the centre. The countryside isn't far away and, as she says, the A69 gives a easy route to Newcastle and west to Carlisle while the nearby A68 takes you north to Edinburgh and south to pick up the A1. There's a railway line, too, along the Tyne Valley to Carlisle and Newcastle which passes through some lovely country. There's a wide range of house prices and a lot of new building going on.

We don't live far away and visit for shopping and the cinema. It's one of the places I'd consider moving to if I was forced to give up village life.

I would say that it nice but I would look around first, as someone mentioned the town centre is not as good as it was. There are other towns within Northumberland that have better town centres these days. The countryside around it is lovely and good links to Newcastle.

My cousin has a cottage there and I’m going over with him and his partner early October. Not much of an answer to your question, sorry - but I am really looking forward to visiting Northumberland! He and his partner plan to take me out & about the 4 days I’ll be with them.

I live near Hexham. Everything is within walking distance. The hospital is excellent, my husband had surgery there a couple of years ago. There are regular bus and train services to Newcastle , Metro Centre to the east and Carlisle to the west.
There are doctors surgeries and dentists and opticians.
Hexham people are lovely, it's a very friendly town with all sorts of groups to join. My daughter goes to a book group there.

MiniMoon mentioned everything I think are important when moving. GP surgery, dentists, opticians and a decent hospital close by. A friend of mine moved from London much further away and the local hospital is around 80 miles away. Bad enough when she drove, horrendous now.

It sounds ideal re transport and a decent town centre.

Perhaps she should stay there for a few days and have a look around for herself to see if it meets her needs.

Having moved many times , both here and abroad, my tips are these. Whilst it would be good to visit at any time, and make a note of any areas , that you like the look of, I would suggest that she goes in something like October/November and stays for a few days in a B/B.

That allows you to see the place outside holiday times, go to the library and look up what clubs and facilities are open and check on the public transport etc. If it is a decent B/B the owner will probably know the area quite well and could give you tips and ideas about the area. Then in the future if she does actually move there, she could book a nights b/b there on the moving day. I have often done that , as it is good to know you can go to a clean bed and somewhere to relax, rather than having to push yourself sorting beds out first thing, and if there is any delay or problems you can lock the door and come back to it fresh the following day.

If she is going to have a look in the near future, then I would also go to a newsagent and get the local paper and see if she can get it sent to her at home each week or whatever. I think that is always a very worthwhile thing to do. You read all about what is going on there, and if it has houses in , get an idea of price range. Also something over time is, if you read about any problems such as a lot of noise or late night hassles anywhere, (which I hasten to add is unlikely) and notices about roadworks or comments in letters about any changes to bus timetables etc etc. It lets you build up a realistic idea of life in a new place and then when you go to stay there in a quieter time, with no festivities giving you a misleading impression, you have already got lots of information. You can also look up clubs and societies in the library and if you are a gardener for instance, you could make contact with the gardening club and get some idea of where you might find the best area for gardens.

We naturally have rose coloured views of new places , which can be very pleasant, but trying places out on an everyday basis is worth the expense, and can also be very reassuring ,especially if you are moving on your own, and I think we all get those doubts, when we have committed ourselves and signed on the dotted line. Also if you do something like this, you might find the prices higher than you expected or whatever and you could also do a little exploring and check out other places like Corbridge.

It can also be worthwhile to write out a couple of lists. One of the things you enjoy or are important to you, and without being pessimistic consider the future and maybe have less of a garden or think about any steps or how easy it is to get in and out of somewhere, so that you find a place that you will be able to stay for a long time The other is to think about anything you dislike about where you live now, or would dislike in a new place, and put that down too, to check up against when you are househunting. So for example I have always looked to see if there are two ways out from wherever I live. It has been useful, when there have been roadworks or big queues or any crashes or any hold ups, that I have another way out.

Lastly the bit that many people dont check up on. When you find a possible place, you may have a lovely view , but you dont own the view, and it is worth checking up if there is likely to be buildings or new roads or anything that might change things a great deal. If you happen to see a town map in a charity shop , snap it up. Then when you are in Hexham you can highlight any area that you like the look of, and as you wander around you can have a couple of different coloured biros or whatever and note the streets that have a lot of traffic or another colour for quieter places.Perhaps yellow highlight any roads that you like the look of, so that when you are back at home, and you see a property for sale, you can look up the address on your map and see what your comments , ideas on that street were.

I hope that some of these ideas are helpful and you can choose to see it as a win/win situation. If after looking around you dont think it is a suitable move for you, then you may look for somewhere much closer to your old home, so that you might find a quieter town but with easy possibility to get back to visit old friends and places.

Thank you for all your replies. Hexham does sound lovely. She has fallen in love with it. She has been there five times from last December to just recently. She says the people are very friendly. I am a little concerned about her as she is 66 and on her own. Parents deceased a long time ago and siblings more recently. She is on her own - divorced about 15 years ago and no children. I was trying to encourage her to stay around Liverpool - and consider the Wirral - but she wants to move.

I live near Hexham and still enjoy visiting but it's not the same as it was. Banks have closed and the department store closed. It's a town in two halves. Aldi, Liddle, Waitrose and Tesco are on a lower level than the market place and town centre. There's a steep bank between them. I would prefer Morpeth which is a thriving Market Town with good restaurants, shops and a Marks and Spencer. The one in Hexham closed, both have a railway station.

I live not too far from it and always say if I won the lottery I’d move there. It’s lovely and I prefer corbridge which is just next to it. The people are friendly there are many links easy for her to go to near there. The hospital is good. And it’s not far from the metro ccentre in Gateshead. The town is still good but again has suffered form some shops closing as online businesses grow. I would recommend Hexham as it’s also got a beautiful park adjacent to the shops. She should maybe visit and see how she feels I don’t think she’ll be disappointed.

When looking to retire, it does seem macabre, but look at how far/time to the nearest ambulance station, hospital, bus/train service, library, GP; you are only going to get older.

Then join a local fb page and ask what there is to do there.

Agree. These were the mistakes that OH made. Wouldn’t listen to any preferences and now has to drive us miles to the hospitals or trains to attend. Not good living in a rural area. Exhausting!

Unless she’s extremely outgoing, I’d be very cautious in recommending such a drastic step. People seem very friendly but that not necessarily friendship. Perhaps book a cottage for over the autumn/winter months first.

Hexham is great as is Morpeth! Both in Northumberland, need I say more?

I grew up near Hexham and now live in Alnwick and we frequently rent a cottage in nearby Corbridge. Like most towns it has changed quite a bit over the years, but would say overall it's a nice town, has a hospital, train station just outside the main town itself and buses that run to outlying villages and Newcastle and Carlisle. Like someone else has said I would suggest renting some accommodation to get a feel of the place - preferably in the middle of the winter as somewhere is always true to it's colours then. I absolutely love Northumberland, we are a very friendly and accommodating and will make anyone feel at home. Whilst many would recommend Corbridge, 4 miles away it is a bit of a tourist hot spot ! We visit in the winter and people I know live there say they are rammed at weekends and the summer months with day trippers and tourists. Hexham definitely doesn't have a tourist vibe, though there's lovely things to see and do such as Tyne Green Park, The Sele and of course Hexham Abby. The town centre has lots of shops and places to eat/drink. Best thing of all is the proximity to Newcastle for the bigger things you may need and of course the gorgeous surrounding countryside.

Lovely place, maybe a challenge in winter? Just a thought.

Sadly the M&S is closing in 2027-they are keeping the Foodhall. Main advantage of Morpeth is a good bus service to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and you can still get to the coast.

Hexham is a very good place to retire to. It’s ’single women’ friendly, with lots of supportive and welcoming groups and societies. Plenty of sports clubs of all kinds for all abilities including a weekly park run. Music, theatre and art clubs and informal groups, including bell ringing at the Abbey. Craft, sewing, embroidery, knit and natter crochet and chat type groups meet in local cafes etc.
Volunteering opportunities for everything from charity shops, Alzheimer’s befriending clubs to lunch clubs, charity gardening and rewilding including a thriving WI and U3A are easily found.
There’s a thriving history society and a photographic society among many others, The library is central and open daily (except Sunday). The cinema is owned and run by the community.
There are also several different churches with a friendly welcome.

That should read community gardening 🙄 there’s a community garden and a garden share initiative where people with gardens but find them too much share with gardeners who don’t have much garden. There are also a few volunteers who are responsible for the upkeep of a long, wide “glade” in the centre of town near the bowling green and others who plant tubs with herbs and soft fruits for everyone to enjoy when it’s ready,

Thank you for all your advice on Hexham. My cousin has actually put a deposit on a small house there, so she's well on the way to moving.