Good to hear that Newcastle-under-Lyme made the “top 12 places to retire”. This was run by the UK’s trusted Which? magazine, rather than some headline-grabbing estate agency. North Staffordshire can rival the Outer Hebrides, Exeter, and the High Peak as a retirement spot. While being far more central and with better long-distance transport connections (e.g. direct train from Stoke to Birmingham International airport).

I image the presence of the massive university hospital at Hartshill gave the town a boost? But perhaps not, since Which? were scoring at the local Council data level…

Which? gave each local authority a score out of 10 for healthcare, happiness, green space – specifically parks and playing fields – and also considered house price affordability.

Since the hospital is actually in Stoke-on-Trent, it presumably wouldn’t have counted towards the Which? score…

No mention of one of the biggest and best hospitals in the UK and Europe, in the press-release…

Newcastle-under-Lyme was one of the highest-scoring English local authorities for green space, scoring 9.6 out of 10. The area is home to 7.4 parks and playing fields within [a 15 minute walk] on average. It was also rated the joint-happiest English local authority based on data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), tying with the High Peak. The ONS also reported it has an overall score of 7.9 for health and well-being.

And, as I found a few weeks ago in my photo-report, Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre is looking distinctly better than it was a decade ago. Though the lockdowns did cause the closure of the town’s second-hand bookshop.