So found out I’m getting made redundant and whilst I’m reluctant to move from where I live just now jobs are pretty thin on the ground but I may have an option of moving to Manchester.

I’ve only been a couple of times with work in the past so don’t know much about it. Keen for some help on where would be good to live with a young family, that’s not horrifically expensive and I can get to Spinningfields within a max of 40 minutes by public transport.

It’d be good to be able to have trails a max of 40 mins drive away but also be able to ride the road bike from the front door.

Cheadle/Cheadle Hulme? Great road riding from out the door. Great mountain biking within 30 mins at Macc forest and the peaks would be an hr away. Train into Stockport and Picadilly to. I don’t think house prices there are too extortionate?

Bromley Cross to Manchester Victoria is about half an hour by train, you’ll be into the Binners’ country and there are plenty of nice villages around there that’ll give the kids a great quality of life and the cycling is supposed to be great too.
Do you want city living or something out of town?

Where are you now?

Do the walkers appreciate cyclists bombing around The Clough in Prestwich? 😆

Last time I walked round there was before mountain bikes took off, perhaps ~1980, certainly before I was 10 years of age… I feel old! 😯

Live in Aberdeen at the moment so if we do move its a big one for us.

Don’t want to be in the city centre and would prefer suburbs or village as we’ve done the whole living in the city centre thing and with the wee one need a garden and stuff that’s easy to get to for the Mrs as she doesn’t drive.

North Manchester is reasonably priced and good for getting to good riding. Look at Prestwich/Whitefield/Bury (Not Radcliffe).

Spinningfields is in the distance, and it’s 25 minutes by train….

Have a look at Prestwich.

Good transport links to the city, all the amenities, trails on the doorstep and an hour in the car will have you in Wales, The Lakes, Yarkshr or the Peak District.

Cheadle/Cheadle Hulme?

I get the train in from Cheadle Hulme to Piccadilly. I used to work over at Spinningfields – 20 mins walk across town. As edward2000 says, 30 mins to Macc forest, also Mellor Moor and Hayfield (for Kinder). An hour to Peak District. Lancs, N York Moors 60-90mins. Lakes not much more. I moved here 30 years ago for walking and climbing, proving now to be just as good for MTB.

Marple/New Mills worth a look too, 30 mins into Picadilly on the train and ACE for riding from the door

Two words; Whaley Bridge

Horwich is nice , 30 mins to Manchester on train
Houses reasonable
Rivington on the doorstep
Lakes 70 mins away
Nice schools , pubs and restaurants

Hey I’m supposed to big up horwich…

Spinningfields bout 25min on the train.

Kendal 1hr Birmingham 2 Glasgow 3 by car.

Horwich is nice a little bit “local” but I’ve been here ten years n enjoy living here

I’d recommend coming down for a weekend and I’m sure people would offer to show you round.

Hebden Bridge is 38mins to Victoria

Horwich is nice , 30 mins to Manchester on train

Which bit? 😛

My bit.

In STW tradition, recommend what you know..

Sambob and IHN speak sense. I’m in New Mills. Peak District on the door. 30 mins on train to Piccadilly. Free bus or walk to spinningfields.

You seem to get a decent ammount of house for the money.
The traffic from the south is horrid… It’s also equally as horrid from the north.

The traffic from the south is horrid… It’s also equally as horrid from the north.

Travel into Manc from the south and it’s not a problem, travelled into Manc from the north and admit that the M62 and M61/A666 is a nightmare. Fortunately the OP is looking at public transport and the roadworks are temporary. 😉

Bromley Cross is much nicer than Horwich, but not as well connected.

Rochdale.. its cheap.. with good reason.. stay away..

Bromley Cross is much nicer than Horwich, but not as well connected.

Horwich gets a train every 30 mins and gets to Manc Vic in more or less 3o mins, Bromley Cross gets to Manc Vic in more or less 30mins with a frequency of 3 per hour. Much better connected.
BTW I have no allegience to this area, I think it’s shite.
If I wanted to live in Manc, I’d go back to Didsbury.

Marple Bridge, Whaley, Chinley, Hayfield (great village and 5 min from train staion) and even parts of Glossop are great areas to live. Affordable housing thats rising, good schools and fantastic countryside on your doorstep.

Newhey, semi-rural, metrolink into town and its cheap…..ish, top end is on the Pennine Bridleway.

Chippy, butty shop, 4 pubs, tapas bar and italian bistro……….its the DB`s 🙂

Prestwich yes. Horwich? If your looking at a train ride i’rather do Littleborough etc (tram)

IHN – Member
Two words; Whaley Bridge

I rented in Whaley to assess feasability of commute into Manchester (Uni). It takes:
55 mins – road bike not pushing it
1h30 mins – mtb halfway (canal/chadkirk woods/woodbank/Reddish Vale) then road
2h 30 mins – mtb all the way, as above but onto Mersey and canal into centre
1h 10 mins – train, door to door.
50 mins minimum by car, and more like double that in rush hour.

I just bought a house there though 🙂

I’d try anywhere on the Buxton train line, e.g., Hazel Grove, or as above Marple. Lots of great riding.

Where are you going to be working in Manchester? Use that to guide where you choose to live. The trams (Metro) have changed how easy it is to get around the city from the dark days of having to rely on buses and trains alone.

Like folks say, north manchester & further are great for lancashire, the pennines, the western dales, and the lakes. Pick your area carefully.

South Manchester (Didsbury, Withington on the other hand & over the border in Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall is great for the cheshire plains (!) and getting into the Peak District. There’s riding out the door from these places towards Poynton, Lyme Park & onwards.

In north Manchester if you’re off the tram route getting into Manchester can be a pain. In south Manchester once you stray south of the Mersey or east of the A34 your public transport options shrink too unless you’re close to one of the railway stations to Piccadilly.

Worth checking which bit of Manchester you want/can work in and which trainline that is on

On the rare occasions I had to use the train from Rochdale way changing to the Liverpool line was a massive PITA and timings were crap. As for driving I’m glad I’m not doing that anymore. The downside of anything that feeds down onto the M62/60 is that once that is screwed it all is (I went back to bed one morning after 30 mins of getting nowhere)
Not sure what the Aberdeen weather is like but it certainly rains more on the west than the east

Sheffield. Great trails and road riding on your doorstep (peak District to the north and south of the city) and about an hour into picadilly.

Houses cheaper than Manchester and the city is nicer (I am a little biased as I do live in Sheffield but I do also commute to Manchester and it’s really not a bad journey).

We had similar requirements when we moved here, ended up in Prestwich as it was reasonably priced, had Metrolink stops, and had riding on the doorstep (Philips Park). It’s 40 mins door to door from home to work (city centre) for me by tram and pretty similar by bike once you factor in changing time, etc. Also very easy to get to the Peak District and N Wales, and about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to the Lakes.

Now has some decent restaurants/cafes in walking distance as well, so we’re pretty happy here

Horwich gets a train every 30 mins and gets to Manc Vic in more or less 3o mins, Bromley Cross gets to Manc Vic in more or less 30mins with a frequency of 3 per hour. Much better connected.
BTW I have no allegience to this area, I think it’s shite.
If I wanted to live in Manc, I’d go back to Didsbury.

I was thinking more road connections for going north / access to riding.

If riding is your first priority, you need to look at two maps; the map showing topography will show you that Manchester has hills from about 11 0’clock round to four o’clock. A map of house prices will show the most expensive from about four to eight, i.e. Cheshire, which is also flat. For me the nicest area is the Rossendale valley, heading north from Bury. The valley sides and hills are a maze of old industrial routes from packhorse trails to quarry roads to old railays and tramways so the riding opportunities are almost endless. Once you get into agricultural areas like Cheshire or the Ribble Vallery, further north, bridleways are far and few between and it’s more road cycling. If it’s road cycling you want then head north for the Ribble Valley and the Bowland Fells, miles of glorious empty roads and plenty of hills.

Sambob and IHN speak sense. well, duh! I’m in New Mills. Peak District on the door. 30 mins on train to Piccadilly[b]Oxford Road.[/b] Free bus or[b] 5 minute[/b] walk to spinningfields.

I used to set off from home about 6:55 and ride my ratty bike to the station, get the 7:03 and was at my desk in Spinningfields by 08:00.

Cheshire, which is also flat

Tell that to Macclesfield Forest…

Marple and New Mills have excellant mtbing on the doorstep.
The housing here is quite reasonable when compared to Poynton, Cheadle hulme, Bramhall.
There are 2 railway stations and many buses into Stockport,
Manchester and into the Peak distruct area.
Plenty of local shops, fablous little cinema, theatre and a good selection of cafe’s, tearooms and pubs, 2 recently opened as real ale houses.
Some nice history if you like canals and old mills.

I live in Whaley too, thought the commute requirement might be pushing it so I suggested Marple or New Mills instead, but in reality it’s only 10/15 minutes further out than New Mills. Decent bike shop, LOADS of pubs, supermarket (or little shops if you prefer).

Decent bike shop

I know I’m in a minority of one when it comes to my opinion of the bike shop in Whaley, but we’ll agree to differ…

Bowdon, every other bit of Manchester looked a bit rough to me

Bowdon, every other bit of Manchester looked a bit rough to me

They only looked rough because they didn’t want you to stop and talk. There’s plenty of nice places.

There are little areas of civilisation all around Manchester and the satellite mill towns; you need to go on a weekend exploration by car to find them.

2nd all the recommendations for the New Mills/Whaley Bridge/Marple areas.

Best of everything there – trains to town, and decent trails from the door. Houses are reasonably priced and rail is a lot cheaper than the south. Bike shops? I used to pop into Sam’s (High Peak Cycles) in New Mills for bits/bobs and workshop type stuff. Really good service.