Alnwick Voted The Best Place To live In Britain

Alnwick, in Northumberland, is a coastal town located 30 miles North of Newcastle and enjoys an exceptional setting near spectacular countryside. This beautiful town has just been voted 2016’s Best Place to Live in Britain, as judged by Country Life.

There are many things about Alnwick that has contributed to winning this title including its cheap homes, low crime, character, history and good transport links. There are 8,000 residents on Alnwick and these residents claim that living in Alnwick is giving them a fantastic quality of life.

The beauty of Alnwick isn’t newly found. It was originally discovered way back in 1309 by the Duke of Northumberland. He stayed resident in the town when he came across it and the current of Northumberland still lives there now. The original residence of The Duke of Northumberland was the magnificent Alnwick Castle. The Castle was restored in the 18th century and has more recently been used in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Alnwick castle was transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The landscape of Alnwick consists of cobbled pavements and historic stone houses. There is an annual fair, music festival and Northumberland gathering that features sports and traditional music.

The market town came out a clear winner in the survey of towns ranked by measurable criteria. This criterion included house prices (average home in Alnwick is £85,000), crime rate, amenities, character, and quality of local produce, sporting and outdoor opportunities, weather and historical or cultural buildings.

Alnwick looks like the perfect chocolate-box fantasy of rural living when first encountered but it also has all the facilities needed for life in the real world.

These facilities also include the transport links to the big cities and traffic congestion. The rush hour in Alnwick Is less than 20 minutes starting at 5:01pm and finishing at 5:18pm.  The amenities in the town include a varied selection of shops, a craft centre, a theatre and loyal employers including ‘House of Hardy’, a fishing tackle manufacturer.

The Mayor of Alnwick, Mayor Ken Gray, believes the title of Britain’s best place to live is well deserved as Alnwick is one of the few unspoilt towns in Britain. He also appreciates that this title wouldn’t have been won without the local authorities and the 8,000 residents of the town doing all they can to make Alnwick the special place that it is.

Other towns that were in the running for the Best Place to Live in Britain included;

Midhurst, West Sussex, which settled in 2nd place. It was hailed an ‘Island of Tranquillity’ amongst the transport problems of the South east.

Tetbury in Gloucestershire was joint 3rd place with Fowey in Cornwall. Tetbury has remained unchanged since the 17thcentury but missed out on a higher place due to a lack of affordable housing. Fowey is a former pirate base that was marked highly for its long hours of sunshine and pretty streets, but had to settle for joint 3rd due to its high numbers of day-trippers.

Alnwick isn’t as wealthy as the other towns shortlisted, but money doesn’t necessarily make you happy.

Why not come and visit Alnwick yourself so you can see its beauty and the reasons why it has been voted the Best Place to Live in Britain. Original Cottages have luxury, self-catering holiday cottages located nearby that will provide a perfect base for you to explore Alnwick and its surrounding areas.