Market town near Lancaster named one of the best places to live in the north west

The Sunday Times judges said: “There’s a commanding view over every horizon, but this handsome market town – marking the sweet spot where Lancashire, Cumbria and North Yorkshire meet – is all heart.

"After a fire that devastated many of the shops on Main Street in December, the community is pulling together with its trademark good-heartedness and gumption.

"There’s a lot on offer: Kirkby Lonsdale is crammed with independent stores, cafés, pubs and volunteer-run activities and the schools are justly popular.”

Published by The Sunday Times, the guide includes 72 locations across the UK and is released online today, Friday, with an abridged version published as a magazine supplement on Sunday.

Woolton, Liverpool, was named as the regional winner for the north west, while other places in the region listed alongside Kirkby Lonsdale (not ranked) were The Heatons, Greater Manchester, Knutsford, Cheshire, Malpas, Cheshire, Mossley, Greater Manchester, and Parbold, Lancashire.

Overall, Saffron Walden in Essex was named as the best place to live in the UK.

Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, said: “It is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, but there really is so much to celebrate as we look closer to home.

"From small gestures that lift the everyday – like verges blooming with daffodils and volunteer-run dementia cafés, to larger initiatives from repair cafés to new railway stations.”

The Sunday Times’s expert judges visited all the locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and mobile signal to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.

There are more new entries than ever before in this year’s guide and no place for many previous winners including York, Winchester, in Hampshire, and Altrincham, in Cheshire. As always, the judges looked for thriving locations with a strong sense of community rather than famous names with high house prices.

“What makes our guide unique is that we actually visit all the places we choose and talk to locals to find out what life is really like there,” Helen said. “That means we can see what people really love about the places they live.

"That could be anything from exceptional schools and fast trains to beautiful houses and countryside. The health of the high street is important, but more than anything else, what we are looking for are towns, villages and cities with strong communities who work hard to make the best of where they live, and play hard too.

“We also consider affordability. High house prices are no barrier to inclusion - as long as they provide value for money. Different people will be looking for different qualities when they are choosing a place to live. One thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.”

The guide is sponsored by the mortgage lender Halifax, which provided an average house price for each location.

Amanda Bryden, head of Halifax mortgage, said: “We know it can be daunting buying your first home, looking to move to your next home or even getting a new mortgage for your current home. There is so much to think about even once you’ve found the right house in the right area.

"The best thing to do is speak to a mortgage adviser as early as you can in the process. They will be able to help you understand the mortgages available to you and how to get the best deal for your circumstances to help you focus on the exciting things that come with buying a home too.”

Broadband speeds were provided by Thinkbroadband.com, the UK’s leading independent guide to broadband. For the first time the list includes mobile signal coverage, which is likely to be even more important with the shutting down of the 3G network, using network data from signalchecker.co.uk

Previous winners of the Best Places to Live in Britain title are: Stamford, Lincolnshire (2013); Skipton, North Yorkshire (2014); Newnham, Cambridge (2015); Winchester, Hampshire (2016); Bristol (2017), York (2018), Salisbury, Wiltshire (2019), Altrincham, Cheshire (2020) Stroud, Gloucestershire (2021), Ilkley, West Yorkshire (2022) Wadhurst, East Sussex (2023), and North Berwick, East Lothian (2024).