Great Move North

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The north-south divide has gone. Great Move North meets the people who chose to step across the divide to build new lives in the north – and asks: why did they do it? What is it really like to make the move? Find out more at the Great Move North website -

Tony Maguire


    • Nov 3, 2023 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 29m AVG DURATION
    • 16 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Great Move North

    Philip Caine: 'Drama & danger in the oilfield war zones or Dubai glitz? None compared to Cumbria'

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2023 30:41


    He ought to have followed everyone else into a job at the huge shipyard, but Philip chose kitchen work, then catering and hotel management. Next? mega moves and mayhem; life-threatening steps in an astonishing globe-trotting career worthy of a best-selling thriller writer. Yet none was fiction, so he decided to write it himself. Meet author Philip Caine; sometime KGB negotiator, global oil's go-to fixer – and the man who turned his back on Dubai's high-life…for an overlooked corner of the Lakes.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Maggie Massam: 'West Coast highlife or Whitehall mandarin? I ditched both for fieldwork in the Dales'

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2023 29:08


    She was a globe-trotting big pharma executive who ditched the stateside healthcare mega-millions machine for pre-pandemic Whitehall. But even here something was missing in her career, and her life – until she stumbled on a distant college course. Meet Maggie Massam, the woman with a plan to transform the way we farm and the way we eat…perfectly wrapped in a recipe for contentment.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Laker & Lane: 'London to Paris? TV or film studio? We both left all that for a lifechanging makeover'

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2023 27:28


    From Eurostar to close ups with TV stars, Jody and Amy seemed to have it all. Then their lives were turned upside down moving hundreds of miles from home. What about their careers? What would they do? Fate drew them together; a bold plan took shape. Meet Laker & Lane, the clean up women.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Michael Manaley: 'In London sirens woke me, then sad faces on the Tube. Now? Silence. And glimpses of deer near my office'

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2023 33:33


    City broker Michael Manaley never understood why his father commuted daily from York to London. On a break with his new girlfriend he paused in the shadow of the Minster to propose. How she reacted to the sights she saw on that fateful trip changed both their lives forever.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Laura Glanfield: 'I just missed out being crowned Queen of the Desert, but to my new best friends I'm Queen of the Dales!'

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2022 25:55


    As her husband's car reversed out of the drive, Laura Glanfield had a choice to make. Should she fight to keep her marriage and glamorous expat lifestyle in the Middle East's glitziest centre, or devote herself to the abandoned pets in her care? Find out exactly what Laura chose to do next.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Margaret Brenchley: 'I worked at Heathrow but my heart never left the Hodder Valley'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2022 32:41


    Author Margaret Brenchley's career took her far and wide, but her heart always remained in a beautiful valley beside the Forest of Bowland, bordering Lancashire and Yorkshire. Since her Great Move North she's unearthed countless stories of how wartime families coped with conflict and loss.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Ayme Harrison: 'I've left America's Sunshine State to gaze across Morecambe Bay'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2022 26:54


    As thousands of British holidaymakers eagerly planned their dream holidays to Walt Disney World, one woman was packing her bags to head in the opposite direction. Ayme Harrison has stunned her Sunshine State friends by swapping Florida for a new state of mind… gazing across Morecambe Bay.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Steve Ward: 'I left the New World to join a different league - and now I'm building a future in the Ancient World'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2022 24:27


    Like all kiwi blokes, Steve Ward loves watching the awesome All Blacks. It's just the game they play isn't in the same league as his: rugby league stirs Steve's passion, nearly as much as his dream... to build a new monument from Ancient Times. He's a true northern one-off: the Great Pyramid Geeza.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Andrea Ward: 'I slipped on some truly special shoes to take a long, nighttime, walk to freedom'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2022 28:03


    Andrea Ward felt torn as she chose a new, safer, life for her family in a new country thousands of miles from home. Then she had an idea: why not bring part of that country with her and help those she'd left behind? The idea grew into a unique market offer that's growing daily… one step at a time.Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Julie and Martin Carrick: 'We worked out in the city and looked fit but we were too fat. It was time to move...everything!'

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2022 36:10


    Personal trauma, critical illness and high pressure careers would have been enough to derail the lives of most people, yet Julie and Martin Carrick aren't like most people. Shrugging it all off they carried on with inner-city living. But the arrival of a grandchild triggered huge change in every part of their lives, starting with a remarkable transformation in how they look and where they now live…Contact Julie & Martin Carrick at julieandmartinlosingit@gmail.comFind out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/Produced by Tony Maguire.Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh.

    Andy Mouncey, Doing Big and Scary: 'I raced from London to Paris - then found the toughest challenge of my life behind bars'

    Play Episode Play 26 sec Highlight Listen Later Oct 15, 2021 30:00


    Bored and restless, triathlete Andy Mouncey needed a new challenge. He felt he'd found the answer as he set out on an astonishing race against the clock from London to Paris. He quickly found that wasn't enough. Andy's true personal challenge finally fell into place inside a prison in Cumbria…  Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/ Produced by Tony Maguire. Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh / Phase 2 Sound (Twitter: @phase2sound).

    Lizzie Kaye, Cast Iron Books: 'It was time to get off my bike for a new life away from London'

    Play Episode Play 27 sec Highlight Listen Later Oct 8, 2021 30:00


    Eager to succeed, Lizzie Kaye sat at her desk in the heart of Big London Publishing and stole a glance at her colleagues. All seemed careworn. Was this her future? Five years might mean promotion, ten perhaps a senior role. Lizzie paused. Then came a decision. It was time to make a life less ordinary… Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/ Produced by Tony Maguire. Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh / Phase 2 Sound (Twitter: @phase2sound).

    Kay Backhouse, Sydney's: 'I had to make my big move when I read his hidden message'

    Play Episode Play 24 sec Highlight Listen Later Oct 1, 2021 30:00


    Life changed forever for Kay Backhouse when an unexpected birthday card dropped through her door. It came from her brother, Syd, who never celebrated birthdays. The card's hidden message launched an astonishing odyssey, with despair giving way to hope. Kay describes her great move north – and the surprising new chapters now emerging... Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/ Produced by Tony Maguire. Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh / Phase 2 Sound (Twitter: @phase2sound).

    Keith Mothersdale, Chief Technical Officer: 'My scorching broadband speed left my desk too hot to handle'

    Play Episode Play 48 sec Highlight Listen Later Sep 25, 2021 30:00


    Globetrotting telecoms consultant Keith Mothersdale faced one problem as he eased into idyllic rural life: “awful broadband.” So Keith decided to fix it – with a spade and a bold idea. From a shed in a sleepy village, with no pavements or streetlights, Keith set out to become Britain's Fastest Man… Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/ Produced by Tony Maguire. Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh / Phase 2 Sound (Twitter: @phase2sound).

    Ali Priestley, Craftopia: ‘Alone and fearful in South America my laptop surfing set me free'

    Play Episode Play 36 sec Highlight Listen Later Sep 17, 2021 30:00


    Living in Brazil, the privileges of Ali Priestley's international expat lifestyle sat in sharp contrast with the searing poverty and constant threat of kidnap. With Covid surging out of control, Ali was left trapped and alone. Her escape? Buy a business – sight unseen and 10000 km away – then race to the airport… Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/ Produced by Tony Maguire. Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh / Phase 2 Sound (Twitter: @phase2sound).

    Tanya Carter, Limestone Books: 'My winning formula? Easy: bras, beer & books'

    Play Episode Play 34 sec Highlight Listen Later Sep 10, 2021 30:00


    When Tanya Carter opened her bookshop she faced two seemingly insurmountable hurdles – no experience of an industry dominated by giants and a global pandemic hurtling towards small businesses trying to get on their feet. How did Tanya survive? Find out more at the Great Move North website - https://www.greatmovenorth.com/ Produced by Tony Maguire. Recorded and edited by Tom Haigh / Phase 2 Sound (Twitter: @phase2sound).

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