To set the record staight, Manchester is not 3.5 hours away. It is 144 miles door to door, making travelling time 2 hours or 2.5 hours in traffic!
Gateshead is lovely village, based on the alter shtetl style. It has one rov who does a great job. The vast majority are litvish yeshiva type. There are about 5 yeshivos, two sems, one girls school and one and half boys schools. (A new started a couple of years ago, and is still in its teething stages.)
One butcher and baker. There is a tax charged for meat brought from out from town – shechutay chutz!
If you are a “heavy weight” you would fit in well.
Having said that, there are many baalei batim there too, but they are looked down upon as inferior by the “bnei torah”
These are my own personal views having learnt in the yeshiva Gedola and married a good lady from there, but HATE going back!