There are some blinking good reasons for being based in the North East

Millennium Bridge - Photographer: Anthony Burns, Newcastle

"I love the North East, I've travelled all over the world but you can't beat it here." Male, 35-44 years, Northumberland

With many of the region's landmarks recently included in Lonely Planet's world top ten lists of must-see sights, we thought we'd find out what people living in the North East really think about these local landmarks. Have they ever visited them and how do they really feel about living in the region.

We enlisted the help of our in-house panel, Panelbase.net, to collect data from a representative spread of 472 people living across the North East and here's what we found.

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80% of local people have visited the Newcastle-Gateshead Millennium bridge, almost 75% have visited Gormley's famous icon the Angel of the North and 70% have visited Alnwick Castle.

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Angel of the North - Photographer: Mark Bryant, Gateshead

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Overall our panellists felt that Alnwick Castle (36%) most deserved the accolade of ‘best in the world’ followed by the Millennium Bridge (27%). However, there was a clear preference for the Angel of the North amongst younger panellists (18-24 year olds) whilst those aged 65 years tended to feel that the historical attractions of Alnwick Castle, Vindolanda and Dunstanburgh were most deserving.

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Dunstanburgh Castle - Photographer: Graham Soult, Gateshead

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Similarly, respondents were most likely to feel that Alnwick Castle would appeal to visitors to the region (63%), followed by the Angel of the North (45%). Again there were clear age variations, mirroring that described above.

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Vindolanda Ruins - Photographer: Jaime Pharr

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Furthermore, it's great to hear that 71% of our sample feel that the North East offers a great quality of life. Respondents aged 65 years and above and those living in beautiful Northumberland were significantly more likely to think this. And we agree with them, our offices are based in Northumberland and always have been – since 1997!

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Alnwick Castle - Copyright: Alnwick Castle and Alnwick Garden

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We’re pleased to see that 84% of local panellists say that they are proud to live in the North East. This is significantly higher in respondents aged 55 years and above, who are likely to have lived in the area the longest.

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We think the following comments sum this up:

"A scenic part of the UK, beautiful scenery, lots to do and see, lovely beaches, many little villages both on coast and inland to investigate, bird life, long walks, big cities within easy reach." Male, 65+, Northumberland

"I love living here it is the best place in the world." Female, 55-64 years, County Durham

"I absolutely love it and would never live anywhere else in the UK." Female, 25-34, Tyne and Wear

"It the best place to live in the UK." Male, 45-54 years, Tees Valley

But what about the many North East attractions that didn't make it into the Lonely Planet Lists? 20% of our sample felt that Durham Cathedral deserved a mention and 11% felt that Beamish and Bamburgh Castle were unfairly excluded.

But what do you think?

If you would like to be invited to share your own opinions on anything from tourism to handbags, education to TV viewing, then you can sign up as a member at www.panelbase.net

If you are interested in utilising our online panel for your research then please contact us.

Thanks for reading.

Public Knowledge