Possibility of a big job coming up…will mean relocating. Is anyone on here based in Barnie? How do you find it in terms of general living, wife and child friendliness and riding opportunities?

Looking at the map, it looks like the Northern Dales are particularly handy!

Is there anywhere else commutable where you would rather live?

With GSK ?

On and on……maybe….. 😉

Great area, loads of road and mtb riding, schools ok at junior but not great at senior level, very friendly area, be prepared to travel to do things 15-20 miles to the large shops, A1 etc, most of the above mentioned company commute, I pass endless streams of cars heading to Barney every morning, house prices fairly high in the local area.

Ahh Barnard Castle, in the proper north.

I’m from Darlington 16 miles down the Tees valley from BC and I spent my childhood in Swaledale & Teesdale: I spent many a weekend tramping upper Teesdale and the Dales to the South. Fantastic location; Eastern Lake District less than an hour, Scottish Borders about the same, Yorkshire Moors in t’other direction and the Pennines directly north & south of you.

Darlington’s your nearest ‘big’ town & Newcastle’s an hour away. I’d love to be back up north but there aint any work up there in ‘my industry’. Enjoy.

I have lived in Darlington and visited Barnard Castle many times its a great area.

I thought Darlington was great place to live. If you can deal with a commute…

I live in a village just the other (better……;-))side of the A66 from Barney (Newsham). I cant comment on living in Barney itself but life up this way is good. It is a very attractive town though, some nice indie shops, especially antiquities. There isn’t much mtbing near the town (at least that im aware of), but Hamsterley is only 20 minutes away by car, and then we have Swaledale and Arkengarthdale nearby as well with some awesome riding. The Lakes are only 40mins away, and the NY Moors about the same. If you like road biking as well, then the local Dales are your oyster, some really big climbs in all directions, and some spectacular scenery. Be warned though, it gets bloody cold up here – my daughter goes to school near Scotch Corner, its almost always 2-3C warmer there than up here, and Barney is usally another degree colder than we are here.

Salsa – is there any mountain biking there?

Plumslikerocks

I guess that’s a yes then 🙂

Are you dealing with Paul, the recruitment manager ?

I live to the west of Durham City. I love the area. I tend to only drive through Barnie so cannot comment. Hamsterley good for riding…more so if you get to know it and can cut between bits.

i used to live in aycliffe, not far from barnie, i spent 7 years there, been to hamsterley many times, loved teh whole area tbh.
would do it again, cant say fairer than that.

Me!

I live in BC and must say I quite like it. It is, admittedly, a quiet place, but has a nice bundle of shops and pubs. Darlo and Bishop Auckland all close for the big shopping. Property a little more expensive than the other local towns, but a wide range of homes to choose from. Big new development happening on the edge of town.

Riding directly out of the town is a bit limited, but head a few miles up the dale and things get better. Hamsterly is about 25mins drive away, but personally I drive up to Egglestone and ride across the moor to get there.

Schools are good, 4 primary and one secondary, and an independent if you’re posh enough!

Plenty to do around and about. My kids virtually live at The Hub (music, BMX, high ropes, canoes…) Nice sports centre, GSK Social club, Cricket Club, Rugby Club. The Witham for arty Drama Comedy. Bowes Museum for a spot of afternoon tea, and the silver swan.

It’s in a sweet spot for all the best riding in the North TBH, Yorksire Dales and Moors, Lakes, Pennines, Cleveland Hills etc…

All in all a decent place be. If you want somewhere a bit livelier, Darlington is an easy commute, and it’s on the east coast main line to London, 2:20mins.

Be warned though, it gets bloody cold up here

Agreed, if there is anywhere in the north that gets snow, BC will have some of it. But in its defence, not as rainy as the Lakes. 😉

Barney is a cool place.

I lived in Middleton-in-Teesdale for a couple of years. BC has good pubs, shops, although you’ll find yourself having to trek across to Darlo for some things.

Schools – OKish at secondary level unless you’re minted and can go private. Primaries pretty good.

Good riding up the dale, although some loops take some finding/cheek. Obviously Swaledale is pretty close.

Bishop Auckland is an utter dump.

Richmond is not far and popular, bit stuffier but closer to the trails Reeth way. Some fantastic road riding is round Swaledale too IMO. Nothing wrong with Barney apart from being a bit remote.

I’m also on the other side of the A66 and echo what others have said. It’s a great area to live in; easy access to Dales, NYM, Lakes, Hexhamshire Common, superb road riding (I prefer Teesdale/Weardale to the Dales) and surprisingly good links via A1 and East Coast mainline (if I leave home just before 6am, I can be in London just after 9am).
Personally I’d definitely recommend the south side of the A66 as Barney is only 10 mins away but you can also ride onto the moors and over to Swaledale from your front door (did a couple of hours up Barningham Moor last night and saw not a single person).

I guess the only cautionary note is that you are definitely putting all your eggs in one basket jobs wise, and occasionally there will be fears over rationalisation at Barney’s big employer. It is not the sort of place from which you can commute easily to other centres, even ones that look reasonably close (Newcastle/Middlesbrough).

That’s what we found – when things went t*ts up in our sector, we had to move to within reach of Leeds before a decent spread of jobs was available. It was heartbreaking to leave Upper Teesdale at the time, and I still miss it.

Jate/John, give me a bell, I lost your contact details when my phone when kaput a few months back. Im still after that tour of the local trails….

Rationalisation fears are everywhere, but GSK seem to be pretty committed to their plant here. Frequently hear of money being invested in the factory in Barney, while other bits of GSK get the chop now and then.

It’s a manufacturing site that’s essential to gsk plans. It’s also undergoing millions of pounds of investment at the moment.

I work there. I don’t live there, though. I’m up in Prudhoe, so I have between a 37 and 44 mile commute depending on which route I go. Also car share 3 days a week which helps.

Living where I do, I have Hamsterley on the way home on a tuesday, Chopwell is only 5 miles away, and I usually go on a Thurs evening and sometimes at the weekends. Also within easy distance of Thrunton and Kielder.

Sounds like there’s a few of us from GSK on here.

Proper North – Pft!

I’ve been to the bmx and pump track there,

Pretty good fun and floodlit

All sounds good. Fingers crossed then!

‘m up in Prudhoe, so I have between a 37 and 44 mile commute

Eek. I don’t envy you. I did hexham to darlo daily for a couple of weeks and it did my head in

Plums… What department?

My folks live just outside Barny and I’m over nr Newton Aycliffe about 20 mins away.

It’s a great part of the world up here.

Lots of riding whether you want family friendly cycleways like the old railway path from Cotherstone to Middleton in Teesdale or moorland riding around Hamsterley, Egglestone, on the Pennine Way, across the A66 around Barningham and the Stang Forest and over into the Yorkshire Dales. You’ve got Hamsterley Forest which gets better every year and Whinlatter is only an hour away. Basically it’s surrounded by places to ride on or off road.

North Yorks Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Lakes, Northumberland etc are all within a reasonable distance for days out.

Maybe consider Staindrop as well for secondary schooling, I seem to hear better things about the school there than the one in Barnard Castle.