The locations chosen for this year's list came in all shapes and sizes and there were more entries than any previous this year. The judges favoured community spirit over big names with high house prices, which meant some like Bristol and York were bumped from the list. The full guide featuring seventy two UK spots can be found online.
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00:00 Our aim is to pick out the places in the country where people are happiest and proudest to
00:06 call home. So in some ways that just means literally adding up things that make you happy
00:13 and subtracting the things that make you annoyed and seeing where it comes out well.
00:18 The judging panel has a whole list of things to look out for when making their annual choices.
00:22 Fast trains and good schools, but they might also be a thriving high street with lots of
00:27 independent shops, lots of useful shops, cafes, pubs. It might be things like beautiful architecture,
00:35 amazing countryside, being somewhere good by the sea. Also one of the things we look
00:40 at quite a lot these days is places that are getting better. So places that are on a good
00:45 journey. And the other thing of course is places with a strong community where you feel
00:50 part of things, where you'd like your neighbours, everyone looks out for each other and the
00:55 people who live there are willing to work hard to make the place as good as it can be.
00:59 Based on these categories, the likes of Altrincham in Cheshire, Skipton in North Yorkshire and
01:04 Stamford in Lincolnshire have won the top prize in years gone by. But what about for 2024?
01:09 The crown jewel this year, our overall winner is in Scotland. It's our first ever Scottish
01:14 winner, our first ever seaside town that has won and it is North Berwick in East Lothian,
01:20 which is a fantastic little town, half an hour by train from Edinburgh, two great beaches,
01:26 feels just a tiny bit wild, but it's also got a fantastic high street, lots of great
01:31 independent shops, a really good place, a very good place to do business. And what would
01:38 sell it for me on its own is the fact that it does have some of the very best croissants
01:42 in the country from its local bakery.
01:43 Sounds like I'll have to be making a trip there.
01:47 Definitely. I would heartily, you know, I couldn't recommend it anymore, certainly as
01:50 a place to live. House prices are expensive, though, be warned. It's, you know, it is definitely
01:55 one of Scotland's very top addresses.
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