North Berwick has recently been named the best place to live in the UK - and from our point of view, it doesn’t require too much leg work to understand why.
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00:00 Hello, I'm Neil from the Evening News. Today we've come to North Berwick, which was recently
00:04 named the best place to live in the UK by the Sunday Times in a nationwide survey.
00:09 Each year, judges at the Times travel the length and breadth of the UK to find the most
00:13 desirable locations in the country. And this year, the beautiful seaside town in East Lothian
00:19 became the first ever Scottish location to top the list in the annual guide's 12 year
00:24 history. Judges were left impressed with the town's thriving high street, the range of
00:28 shops and restaurants, its beautiful beaches and excellent transport links with Edinburgh
00:33 and neighbouring towns. We thought we'd come down and have a look for ourselves.
00:38 There's plenty to see and do in North Berwick, and it doesn't take long to succumb to the
00:43 town's charm with its quaint streets, colourful houses, sea breeze and beautiful beaches,
00:48 all within minutes from each other. Walking through the thriving town centre and speaking
00:53 to friendly locals, it's easy to understand why many people flock here. As well as a popular
00:59 destination for holidaymakers, it's also a dear place for many who live in neighbouring
01:03 towns, like Heather, who has frequented the East Lothian beauty spot from a young age.
01:09 I just think it's lovely, the beaches, the walks, the harbour, I just love everything
01:15 about it. As soon as I come in, my shoulders just go down and I relax. It's my happy place.
01:23 North Berwick residents told me why they think this is such a great place to live.
01:27 So I moved here about three years ago, and I think the best thing is this sense of community,
01:33 it's a really friendly place, you've got a wide variety of things to do, and the whole
01:39 environment is such, it gives you a sense of well-being, if you like, but without a
01:46 doubt it's the fact that you can walk out of your door and meet people from all sorts
01:52 of walks of life, from the young right through to the old, and everybody's got time for each
01:55 other. It's quite a remarkable place, really. Well, I've been here probably about four years,
01:59 I moved from Edinburgh down here, actually during lockdown, and yeah, I moved here not
02:04 knowing anyone, to be honest, so it was a big change, but I've always loved North Berwick
02:10 ever since I've moved to Scotland. The beaches are amazing, the high street's really lovely,
02:17 you know, it's got some really nice shops, and the people are just generally really friendly,
02:20 so I've always been drawn to the coast, I've always been my dream to live by the sea, I
02:26 just love the place, all year round it's great. Walking around here you'll find a combination
02:31 of new and old, with many original features maintained in the town centre. You'll find
02:36 many independent shops on the high street, traditional bars and cafes, seafood takeaways
02:41 and fine dining restaurants, and the historic heritage remains present throughout. Some
02:47 shops will even take you on a trip down memory lane. It's a lovely place to work, we don't
02:52 get many complaints, and people leave with a feel-good factor. And it's a privately owned
02:58 shop, the owner works jolly hard to keep it going, keep the new things, he makes all the
03:03 fudge, he makes the tablet, a lot of hard work, but it's a shop that's succeeding. As
03:10 well as enjoying working in North Berwick's high street, Meg also feels very lucky to
03:15 have brought up her children here. I moved here in 1970, and married a local chap, and
03:21 had three daughters, and they've had the most wonderful outside form of education, in the
03:27 sea, in the outdoor pool, good education in the schools, and the nursery, very fortunate
03:33 to live here. In the summer it gets very very busy, we've got Fringe by the Sea, that brings
03:40 famous people in, and it just brings something a lot now, which is really good fun. And we've
03:45 got obviously the Yacht Club, the Rowing Club, the Golf, there's all sorts of things to be
03:52 done. In the summer it does get busy, but in the winter you've got more time to talk
03:56 to people, and the locals can chat to each other. The sense of community felt by residents
04:02 is also shared by business owners. Established ten years ago, Why Not provides a platform
04:08 for small independent retailers, with more than 30 traders using the space, and in the
04:13 last decade, more than 27 businesses that started here, have gone on to open shops of
04:18 their own. Living here is fantastic, you know, you've got everything you could wish for,
04:24 you've got the open air, you've got a buzzing high street, which we're very privileged to
04:28 be part of. There's something for everyone in North Berwick, it really is one of the
04:32 best places, and that's why I stay here. Each space that you'll see in here is one separate
04:39 tiny, tiny business of its own. So inside this shop we have about 35 small start-up
04:48 shops of their own, people who make their own work, and they sell it from within here,
04:53 and we look after all the selling on their behalf, which leaves them to concentrate on
04:57 what they do best, which is make their products, we sell it on their behalf. They have a small
05:02 business, and from here hopefully that might grow to the point where they can then occupy
05:08 premises and become employers in their own right. North Berwick is a small enough town
05:13 where everyone almost knows everyone else. It's difficult to walk along the high street
05:17 without saying hello. All the shopkeepers kind of look after each other, look out for
05:22 each other, work off each other. You know, we have a cafe out the back here, but we're
05:28 also good friends with the cafe right next door, so we all work together to make the
05:33 place as good as it is. After visiting the seaside town for a few hours this week, it
05:40 wasn't hard to see why North Berwick is considered such a desirable location, and why it has
05:44 recently been named the best place to live in the UK. For many watching this, you'll
05:49 know what I mean, but for those who have never made the trip, it comes highly recommended.