Me and the Mrs have had enough of City living and decided to look for a gaff in the sticks. Despite being born and bred in Manchester, I haven’t got a clue about any of the surrounding areas. I’m after somewhere close enough to travel to and from Manchester for work and close to some good riding, without being stupidly expensive.

I’ve been recommended Mossley, Diggle, Delph, Ramsbottom by various people. I’ve seen a few nice places in Bacup but people have said it’s a bit weird there whatever that means.

I’d be interested to hear of any recommendations from the STW clan.

Ramsbottom is nice. Prestwich/Simister are worth a look if you want to be a bit nearer town.

Birmingham. It’s bloody marvelous. 😉

Currently living in Cheetham Hill, so anywhere will be an improvement really. Probably like to be a bit further that Prestwich.

petergee, my Mrs was born in Brum

I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry. All the best with your quest.

bolton obviously 🙂

Liverpool

Calderdale. Hebden Bridge 40 mins on direct trains. Half of Hebden moved out here from Chorlton.

Ramsbottom is ace! We’ve been there a few years now and I absolutely love the place. We were out riding last night. You just head straight out of your front door onto fantastic trails, then go for a pint afterwards in one of the many great boozers.

There may be other considerations when deciding on a place to live, but I can’t think of any 😉

If you do a search, there were several recent threads about this. People tend to recommend where they live and slag off other places which they’ve driven through once on a dull day in November. Stuff on the Glossop/Hayfield side of the Peak is great for riding, but not for road commuting, okay by rail. New Mills gets mentioned favourably for riding, Whaley Bridge ditto. Marple with its inhabitants’ delusional village thing, Stockport, which is apparently not as bad as it’s painted, though I rode through it yesterday and it seemed unlovely 😉 Marsden’s always looked okay to me and has a nice caff, which is a boon. Mossley seems okay.

I guess it all depends on your lifestyle and priorities. I live on the Glossop side of stuff and like it here, the riding and access to the hills is awesome, but then the roads are pleasingly awful into Manchester and lots of people who don’t live here can’t seem to see beyond the traffic. Train is 30 minutes odd into Piccadilly. But people’s ideas of what’s a nice place to live are really personal, so who knows.

Defo not bacup!!!!! Littleborough is nice

BadlyWiredDog, I get what you’re saying, just after ideas for places to research at the moment. It’d be nice to have walks and rides nearby and be able to have a decent local boozer. The A6 is annoying but I wouldn’t let it put me off as I’d probably get the train anyway. Cheers for the suggestions so far.

Saddleworth.
25 mins by train to Manchester, 1 hour by bus. 45-55 minutes by car.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/09/lets-move-to-saddleworth-greater-manchester

BWD’s right. Hebden’s far from perfect and it’s not for everyone. I (mostly) really like it, and the quality of the riding is beyond question. That’s what brought me here. Great cinema and a very friendly bike shop, too. Appalling weather though, but then you’re from Manchester, so that’s hardly relevant.

Another shout for Saddleworth here, although I’d visit extensively to get the vibe of the place first. There’s quite a bit of obnoxiousness from some locals but if you can put that aside it’s decent. Pricey, mind.

South Manchester is more trouble for getting into town than it’s worth IME but getting out towards Stockport etc. puts you within striking distance of the Peak.

If you don’t mind nipping over the border then Holmfirth is pretty nice and Marsden too.

After living in Didsbury for a few years, we moved to Bollington. I commuted by car+train every day for 4 years and it was great.
Really settled here now.
Riding is superb.

Downside is proximity to Macclesfield, but then at least there are shops there.

I would also consider Whaley Bridge, Hayfield and Disley, but the A6 is a horrible commute.

Whether rail commute works or not is largely due to where your work location is in Manchester. If right in the centre, it’s a no-brainer.

I can wholeheartedly NOT recommend Stockport. I quite like Grizzly Disley.

Horwich, or blackrod is nice

People tend to recommend where they live and slag off other places which they’ve driven through once on a dull day in November.

well yeah obviously 😉

I do have some good reasons for bolton apart from being born there. Getting into manchester (for work or play) is a decent cycling distance and an absolute piece of piss on the train. Big town with loads of civic and commercial amenities (assuming the former don’t all get closed due to cuts) and short distances from some decent riding (rivi darwen and rammy all close by)

Rammy sounds decent
hebden/todmorden ditto
new mills, hayfield etc brilliant riding nearby
Would consider moving to any of them but all of those just seem a bit out of the way and trickier for none bike commuting* and shopping and stuff. What are house prices like on the edge of the peak district? expect them to be silly high, but no idea tbh.

*Ride as much as I can but there are days when it’s not feasible/possible, car is an absolute last resort.

I’m over at Sandiway, next to Delamere.

Really like it.

Bit flat mind, but nice enough.

I used to live in Diggle (dad is still there). IMO & IME Diggle and most of Saddleworth are lovely but pricey. As buck53 said, there are pockets of what dad lovingly calls ‘fur coat and no knickers’ brigade – up themselves, in other words but, there are plenty of good folk about as well.
Diggle is a lot quieter than it once was, used to have a great community vibe but, that’s long gone. Apparently The Diggle Hotel is not a bad pub. The Hanging Gate, my local for 17 years or so is, i believe struggling? 5 mins or so drive to Greenfield railway station for the 25 min trip into town or, as said above buses / drive.

Marsden – i’ve long waxed lyrical about my home village so, I’ll bore you with nothing more than the basics… 😉
Housing – cheap, compared to Saddleworth.
Several great eating and drinking holes (one a micro-brewery).
Riding from the door.
Direct train to M’cr – only potential snag with it is cost – IIRC a return Greenfield to M’cr (same line) is <£4. Same thing from Marsden is around £10.
Good community vibe.
Perfect – no but where is?

edit – just seen this bit

It’d be nice to have walks and rides nearby and be able to have a decent local boozer.

We’ve got all that in Marsden 🙂 See above 😉

Sheffield – its less than an hour on the train and you have the Peak District on your doorstep and its the right side of the Pennines 🙂

Cheers

Danny B

What are house prices like on the edge of the peak district? expect them to be silly high, but no idea tbh.

It depends. The upside of Glossop’s special relationship with congestion is that prices are reasonable unless you want to live in Old Glossop, which attracts a special price premium. Hayfield is relatively expensive, because it’s small, picturesque and generally pleasant.

Then again it doesn’t have many shops. Or a station. And it’s small, so people seem to tend to know each other, which you’ll either like or not. It also has a really good outdoor community – climbing club, fell-running club and a regular mid-week night ride. Several okay pubs too and a chippy.

I like Hayfield in theory, but I also like being able to do a weekly shop without driving and having the option of hopping into town on the train.

You also need to factor in housing – round here a lot of houses are traditional two-up, two-down, stone-built terraces (cottages if you’re an estate agent) which is fine for singletons or couples, if you want bigger, there are relatively few traditional houses, so you tend to be looking at more modern stuff. That’s a factor for some people, not for others.

Ramsbottom absolutely

Theres another place but its so nice I dont want it over run with riff raff by the time I retire there

I live in S Manchester, a requirement by law if you work at the university, but if I didn’t then the Tame valley up to Saddleworth is where I would look. Seems nice, decent variation in price to work with between areas, excellent bevvying, great riding, easy bike commute but the train is there if you want it etc.

Quite like the idea of riding in quieter areas of the Peak, I would guess that you basically have free rein up in that North end. Hayfield, Edale are great n all, but there’s barely room to swing a cat on the trails at the weekend.

Hebden’s far from perfect and it’s not for everyone. I (mostly) really like it, and the quality of the riding is beyond question. That’s what brought me here. Great cinema and a very friendly bike shop, too. Appalling weather though, but then you’re from Manchester, so that’s hardly relevant.

Planning to move there soon – any reason I shouldn’t? I read the Guardian so should fit in quite well. 🙂

Planning to move there soon – any reason I shouldn’t?

You’re a bloke, aren’t you?

I like Hayfield in theory,

it does seem a nice place but TBH if I did get off my arse and look to more rural places with excellent riding I reckon I’d be heading lakes direction rather than peak, as nice as peak is lakes kicks it’s arse in my opinion.

Whitewell Bottom, only because my house should be going up for sale next week 🙂 The MTL is the other side of the road, Lee Quarry is a 3 mile pootle away. I’ll even leave the Dog Eggs in the garden for you 😉

😆

😀

You’re a bloke, aren’t you?

Yeah but I’m totally metro.

TBH if I did get off my arse and look to more rural places with excellent riding I reckon I’d be heading lakes direction rather than peak, as nice as peak is lakes kicks it’s arse in my opinion.

+1, but are you planning on a massive lottery win?

+1, but are you planning on a massive lottery win?

nah the getting off my arse bit included knuckling down and working hard which as you all know from previous threads is the only thing needed to become a multimillionaire in our glorious meritocracy

it does seem a nice place but TBH if I did get off my arse and look to more rural places with excellent riding I reckon I’d be heading lakes direction rather than peak, as nice as peak is lakes kicks it’s arse in my opinion.

Whilst the lakes is truly awesome it is not known for it’s proximity to Manchester.

Marple with its inhabitants’ delusional village thing, Stockport, which is apparently not as bad as it’s painted, though I rode through it yesterday and it seemed unlovely

You poor thing, good job you kept going 😉

Anyway I do live in Marple and moved here because we liked the independant shops, small cinema, theatre, 3 good sized local parks, canals, friendly folk, gym, swimming pool, chippys, but best of all the mtbing is brilliant.

I could go on but it’s all been said before.

Edit: forgot to mention 2 railway stations. several tearooms, cafes and proper pubs.

Grum – Hebden’s a great spot with loads going for it, especially the instant access to some of the best riding in the UK. Great cinema, loads of pubs, low crime, vibrant arts scene and bags of community spirit. Also well connected to big cities and some interesting towns. Lakes 2 hours away. Fairly mixed and interesting population, too, although it’s a bit white and chattering class. On the downside, lots of rain, high flood risk (even well above the river), can be a bit cliquey, self-conscious and up its own arse, house prices are higher than surrounding area, gardens almost non-existent unless you’re reasonably well off. Also – and this is the most interesting one – it can be slightly oppressively lefty. I’m no Tory by a long way – I even read the Guardian – but there’s a tendency for certain chunks of the population to assume you’ll always tow a particular line on any vaguely political/social issue. Can be a bit ‘worthier than thou’ and judgemental, and occasionally intolerant or narrow-minded. Overall though, it’s ace here.

Guildford.

Thanks for that wl – pretty much as I thought really. I have mates who live there and really like it and I’ve spent a fair bit of time there recently and can see why. Done a few lovely bike rides and walks round there and I like the general ‘vibe’ of the place.

At the stage in life where I’d like to move to the countryside but not somewhere where there’s nowt going on and nowhere to work. Even though Hebden is expensive it’s cheaper than the countryside where I grew up (Lune Valley).

I get what you mean about the lefty judgementalism – get a bit of that here too amongst certain circles. I guess you can mostly just ignore it though.

We are not planning to move to central Hebden as we really want a garden/outdoor space – might yet end up in Mytholmroyd.

Mytholmroyd would be good – defo get more for your money and Hebden amenities are still on your doorstep.
This neck of the woods certainly offers that elusive mix of countryside and stuff going on. If you want showing some new trails once you’re here, drop me a line. I ride midweek as well as weekends. Blazing Saddles can point you in my direction – just ask for Will who rides Oranges. No worries if you’re sorted tho.

Thanks that would be ace. Will definitely give you a shout. Seems like the kind of place where local knowledge would be very handy as there are trails/paths bloody everywhere!