Julian - cheers will do. I already have bought my 2 Dartmoor maps but would very much welcome some local advice on where to ride.
Maybe I should bookmark this thread for when I need to look for somewhere to live in 2010 
I will need a couple of months to write my book and thesis, and due to budgets may be renting a room at a friend's house in Blaenau Ffestiniog. At least the trails are great around there!
I have to wonder why so many of you actually live (and continue to do so) in places you describe as being completely crap.
Everyone has only given the worst and best things about where they live. There's a hundred other reasons why they live there.
Larbert
Bad:
Nothing it's full of drug dealing and binge drinking scum. The trails and riding are shit, anything that get's built is soon destroyed by Dog Walking Nazis and it's the dog shit capital of Europe.
Good:
It's probably a good place to live if you want reasons to leave Scotland and the UK for good
Balerno
Good: Close enough to Edinburgh for access to work & shops etc. but far enough out that it's quiet. Right on the edge of the Pentlands so decent riding on my doorstep and lots of great riding not far - south or north.
Worst: No really good pubs in Balerno (R.I.P. The Kestrel), house prices are quite high.
East Molesey (Hampton Court)
Best - Small town feel, safe, clean - mins from Surrey hills and Swinley
Worst - Nothing really, could do with a bakers I suppose
Epicsteve - the Grey Horse ain't too bad, they've worked out how to keep their beer. I've not been here long enough to remember The Kestrel unfortunately
Swindon
Best: Cosmos
Worst: Arkells
Manchester
good hills nearby
always p155ing down though. 
Stafford
Best - easy access to Cannock Chase
Worst - easy access to Cannock Chase for all the numpties in the area on a week end 
Borders of Berkshire/Hampshire/Surrey.
Best - Swinley Forest but nothing else except easy access to motorways to get away from here. Can't believe I moved back to this area 
Worst - traffic, particularly aggressive drivers. Would love to get away.
cockermouth
the view of skiddaw from my lounge window, endless riding in the lakes
crap weather and lack of choice of employment
previous
Kathmandu
endless riding wherever you like, 8 months of sunshine and fantastic climate, cheap tasty food, trekking, paragliding and fantastic kayaking
crap milk, and a long way from family and friends
Northfields, West London
best: Food shopping: Local farmers market, butchers, fish mongers bakers + great for pubs eating out + great neighbours, more community feeling than anywhere I lived previously (N Yorkshire, Co Durham, W Yorks) + great school on my road
worst: no mtb for 27 miles, making mtb at least a half day event, and no mountains for over 2 hours drive.
Too many good things here to trade off moving to some of the above just for better riding though.
Did I mention that I lived in Northfields in 1997? There was a cracking Indian/Balti restaurant there on the main road - not too sure if it's still there though.
Montys?
Yeah Monty's - really rings a bell. Loved it there. Am sure that's the one.
Yeah, still there, still good, but been superseded by papaya which is the second best curry I've ever had. Monthys is 4th
Well you should also try and get to Monafs in Hampton - maybe get a STW SW London curry night organised - or make it a regular event and try out different ones while also being able to chat about all things bike. Can't remember any good ones in East Molesey although there used to be a great pub right on the Thames tow-path.
New Forest:
Worst, f*cking tourists
Best, f*cking tourists 
(nah, you're right - neither of those)
Best - climate, nice village to bring up kids
Worst - NF is a bit flat & boggy and you're not supposed to ride in there
North of Bradford
good: ace trails on your doorstep; fantastic curry; Leeds close enough to do the social life thing
worst: well it's Bradford, innit?
deserter - I know what you mean. Just spent a week in Canmore. and a few more days in Vancouver. I know where I'm emigrating to...
Brentwood, Essex
Best - easy for work, close to London, low crime and some local singletrack through the very flat woods.
The road sign "secret nuclear bunker", still makes me smile.....
Worst - miles away from any hills, 4x4's gridlocking the town every morning from 8.30-9.15 and the same on an evening.
Dubai, UAE
Best: Reasonable access to Oman and the mountains of the UAE (good mountain biking), tax free, very close (relatively) to India and the Himalayas
Worst: Most of Dubai sucks; the fakeness of it all, the willy waving (big cars, watches etc) and all of this attracts the worst sort of people.
Overall: I've made some awesome friends out here but we all live for the weekend when we can get out of Dubai and go camping and riding - pretty similar to London then except it doesn't rain... I'll probably leave June next year which will be 18 months - plenty.
Switzerland:
Best the alps and the feeling of safety
Worst Swiss ar a bit creepy and the bars are bland
Worst - TJ can make it to here in less than an hour.
Nice best: The countryside.
Worst the people the fricking useless living human being...
Near Southport
Best Thing The sand dunes and the pinewoods
Worst thing The wind (which blows 367 days of the year)
Best things:
Bikes on buses
Uplift 1 hour away
mini DH in local woods
Great lakes and beaches and woods for the kids and really safe.
Worst things:
The coming months of Nov till April.
Miss my family, friends and home.
North Devon
Best bit: Cracking beaches, relatively low populace, the odd bit of surf now and again, mega road riding, close to Exmoor & Quantocks
Worst bits: Boring local mtb, local soil that turns to evil clay as soon as a cloud appears, grumpy farmers with snarling mutts, Emmits/Grockles leaving bloody litter everywhere (it's so much cleaner around here in the Winter), millions of tourists in the water gawping at you as you're surfing straight towards their head
I still miss Plymouth. I'd rather live here than That London though.
Edge of the Peak.
Best: ace gritstone trails on your doorstep.
Worst: it does rain occasionally.
Plymouth...
Like:- Dartmoor and the countryside and being by the sea
Dislike:- Plymouth as a whole, being so far away from everything
Really wish i was back in Norway....Bergen would be lovely 
Small town in North Yorkshire
Best
National park 5 miles away
Great biking
Good transport links (close to A1M & on east coast mainline)
Family nearby
Friendly LBS
Worst
Sheep are sometimes a bit loud in the field at the end of the road
Can't think of anywhere I'd rather live at the mo
Wellington, NZ
Best
Affordable fantastic view from house - natives trees->blue sea->snow capped mountains
25min cycle to centre of town passing kayak storage shed so can stop and paddle, or 1hr with scenic bays option
4hr mtb from from front door with about 10min on tarseal
Very safe place
Good nightlife, sport, food, friendly people
Worst
Long way from anywhere and family
Bit windy on occasion
Brisbane, Aus.
Best
Weather, beaches, lifestyle.
Worst
Snakes, spiders, jellyfish, sharks, crocs, Aussie beer.
Rossendale, Lancashire:
Best: Superb trails, Lee Quarry, superb ale on tap, great mates, not too far from family, great bike shop, 40 mins from the dales.
Worst: 3 hour road commute every day, lower down in the valley a bit rough, sue is leaving the Buck in a fortnight, it has a weird rainy micro climate
Sunny Bolton
Best : Certain areas are still very nice to live in with nice pubs and nice people. Bank top Brewery is 5 mins walk. Riding from doorstep and Dales, Lakes, Peak and Wales all around an hour away.
Worst : Some areas are inhabited by life forms lower than that found in Leigh. Toss lives here.
small town in Surrey:
best - plenty of local riding you measure the width of in inches not yards!
you can find rideable trails all year whatever the weather
Wisley jumps and Esher shore if I'm feeling 'rad'
local shops/pubs (for local people), plus farmer markets, pick your own etc !
friendly, zero crime rate community with neighbours you actually want to stoip and chat with
trees, lots of them
london half an hour by train plus excellent rail/road links to most places I'd want to visit
15 minute bike ride to work across the fields
worst - ummmmmmmmm, local bike shop would be good I s'pose other than that pretty content
Malvern -
Best - the hills
Worst - tourists and being so far from a decent beach break.
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