I may be moving to work in Manchester. Where is good to live away from the city, close to riding right out the door, not a ghetto and will allow for no more than a 30 min commute by train/car? People have mentioned Oldham area e.g Greenfield and Dobcorss. Very little idea about these areas, any advice would be very helpful. Cheers in advance.

Horwich

Rammy. But some of the locals (interlopers) are an acquired taste.

Marple….

Ha, used to Interlopers, had a couple as neighbours when near Leeds.

sheffield. commute in 40 minutes from crosspool way. at least then you are right side o’t pennines

Car commutes can vary wildly. I’m not far from Marple, train takes a fraction under 30 mins to Piccadilly, car can be anything from 25 minutes to 2hrs.

Bike is a consistent 1hr.

I think it’s worse coming from the north to be honest, anything on the M62, M61 or their interchanges with the M60 and you can be sat there for hours!

30 minutes by car has to be inside the M60 realistically.

Saddleworth (Greenfield/Dobcross etc) is pretty good for riding. I live in Marsden which is just over the hill, and I venture out that way fairly regularly from my door. There’s some pretty good stuff over there, I’ve certainly not managed to explore it all yet.

Great moor in stockport is fabulous too! It only takes 20 minutes off road to get to Marple….. & the peak beyond!

littleborough 30 mins on train to city centre.. mary townley route and pennine bridleway pass through village.. STW towers is 10 minutes away hebden bridge another 10 minutes best of all .. You can see yarkshire on a fine day!

Whaley Bridge. Bradley Wiggins lived there for a time. Good for road and MTBing. Or nearby villages, Disley (where I grew up), New Mills. Or even out Poynton/Wilmslow/Macclesfield way if your budget stretches.

Halifax.
On the right side of the Pennines and ~30 mins on the train straight into Victoria.

Halifax

On the right side of the Pennines .

Only when facing north.

Lancashire however is on the best side of the Pennines 🙂

MartynS – Member
Marple….

This,
Marple is a large village rather than a little tiny place.
2 train stations,
plenty of buses,
perfect off road trails that are easy to get into the Peak District from,
nice road riding (if that’s your thing too).
Friendly place with a good mtbing scene.

Cheers everyone – very helpful and lots to look up on maps. Certainly I’d rather use trains than the motorways.