NeutiquamErro: I don’t know if you are right about Gateshead being the perfect place for virtually any bochur. It certainly is an incredible place for those motivated and willing to immerse themselves fully in the ים של תורה. There are a fantastic amount of Bnei Torah and choshuve Yungerleit, dozens of mosdos spread over four streets, and is a place where a Yeshiva Bochur can sit and learn without any distractions.
To be perfectly honest, for those interested in anything other than pure, undiluted, Torah, there isn’t much in Gateshead. You can’t even buy supper on the nights that there are weddings in town; the only deli takeaway uses the kitchen of the Bewick Centre, which doubles as the Chasuna Hall, Computer Suite and Football/Basketball pitch.
Not everyone can/is willing to squash themselves into the system; there are those who need outlets, who need the very distractions that Gateshead exists to circumvent. They need the freedom you can’t find in a neighborhood so small, and the space which Gateshead certainly doesn’t provide. (And the relatively few outlets in Gateshead/Newcastle are less than Kosher.)