Michael Poole, Stockton On Tees

The town offers housing to suit all tastes whether you are looking to buy a Georgian or Victorian terrace in a village location or rent a modern detached property on one of the many modern estates, it has it all. There are also many fantastic schools in the Stockton area which are a magnet for people wanting to buy, sell, let or rent, making this one of our most popular locations.

The town has many suburbs with individual identities such as Fairfield, Grangefield, Hardwick, Hartburn, Fairfield, Elm Tree Farm, Norton, Roseworth, Newtown, Bishopsgarth and Oxbridge to name but a few.

The town centre retail is largely concentrated within two shopping centres, namely Castlegate and Wellington Square. The Tees Quay Millennium footbridge links the rear of the Castlegate centre to Castlegate Quay on the north side of the river and then onto Teesside Business Park and Durham University's Queens campus on the south side.

Since the construction of the Tees Barrage in 1995 the level of the River Tees through the town is permanently held at high tide creating a back drop of Riverside events making it useful for a number of water sports activities including rowing, canoeing, Jet skiing and dragon boat racing. Work is currently underway to develop the north bank of the River Tees in Stockton with the £300 million North Shore scheme which will include new offices, leisure facilities, housing, hotel and a new campus for Durham University. The town also boasts a nationally recognised water sport and leisure destination namely the Tees Barrage International White Water Centre.

Theatres in the town include the Arc Theatre on Dovecot Street and the restored Art Deco 2800 seat music venue, The Globe Theatre and there is also the Georgian Theatre located within the Green Dragon Yard.

Public parks include Ropner Park, the 100 acre Preston Park on the banks of the River Tees.