A CUMBRIAN town has been included in the Sunday Times’ Best Places to Live Guide once again.

Kirkby Lonsdale was one of six locations in the North West to be included in the list, with Trawden in Lancashire clinching the top spot for best place to live in the North West.

The Sunday Times’ judges behind the guide assess a wide range of factors, from schools, transport and broadband to culture, green spaces and the health of the high street. 

They look to celebrate improving towns, villages or city centres, attractive, well-designed homes and locations bursting with community spirit. 

An average house price for each location has been supplied by Halifax, the sponsor of the guide, and up-to-date information on broadband speeds has been provided by Thinkbroadband.com, the UK’s leading independent guide to broadband.

The judges said of Kirkby Lonsdale: “An immovable fixture in Best Places to Live: no other town offers better access to so much magical scenery, and few others can match its attractive town centre for independent shops.

“The school, rugby club and churches all play a keen role in the community and the Royal Barn tap room and Milking Parlour cow-to-cone ice cream shop are the kind of businesses that would improve any town.”

The Westmorland Gazette:

The town’s average house price is £404,000  and growth since 2020 is at three per cent.

The Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2022 for the North West of England are:

·       Winner: Trawden, Lancashire

·       Altrincham, Cheshire

·       Christleton, Cheshire

·       Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria

·       Prestwich, Greater Manchester

·       West Kirby, Merseyside

Helen Davies, The Times and Sunday Times Property Editor said: “The Sunday Times Best Places to Live list is necessarily subjective. Leave it just to statistics and you will never capture the spirit of a place. For that, you need to visit to take into account that ‘you have to be here’ feeling. Is the pub dog-friendly, for example? Can you live car-free? What are the schools and houses like? Is it multicultural and multigenerational, and can it offer a good way of life to lots of different sorts of people?

“Ten years ago, when we launched the inaugural list, London’s gravitational pull was strong, the WFH revolution had not yet reached our doorstep and high streets were stacked with chains. How times have changed — and how welcome that change is. 

“This year we have discovered new best places to live from resurgent city centres in the North, rejuvenated suburbs across the country, hidden villages in the Southwest, and a commutable Scottish island.

“We hope there is something to suit everyone.”