York has been named among the happiest places to live in Britain.
Great pubs and a walkable city centre were two of the things that counted in its favour. So too did warm and friendly pubs and people.
And that’s before you factor in its natural and historic charms
These factors were why York was included in The Guardian‘s happiest places to live in Britain published this weekend.
It was one of four in the north that made the list, including Berwick-upon-Tweed – named as the happiest place of all – Durham and Padiham in Lancashire.
“With its cobbled streets, eccentric independent shops and snuggly pubs it contains all the charm of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield put together,” was the Guardian verdict on York.
Our 2,000 years of history was a help of course. And the city boasts “at least a dozen pubs that if they were in London would be considered among the best in the capital”.
Among those getting a mention are House of Trembling Madness, The Fat Badger, Pivni, Eagle & Child, The Hop, Guy Fawkes Inn, Minster Inn, The Punch Bowl, The Market Cat and Valhalla York.
The racecourse and the river add to the city’s stock of happiness, as do the students who “the city young and relatively diverse”.
The verdict: “All this makes York a shining example of a great modern historical city – cool and stylish (yes, perhaps a little bougie), all amid awe-inspiring millennia-old architecture.”
But the article does have a word to the wise. “The throngs of tourists going in and out of the Harry Potter shops are perhaps a downside to living here, although they tend to congregate around the Minster and the Shambles, places easily avoided by locals.”