Considering options, I may be able to relocate to Shotton, having been there and talked to people i have no intention of living there, nor Queensferry, etc. So where in the area is ok to live, Chester looks nice but i believe it is expensive.

Related what is the riding like, both road and off-road?

Have some friends that live in Tarvin (’bout 5 miles east of the centre) and its pretty nice. Suffers from Cheshire commuterville-itis, but you can’t get away from that. Chester itself is a great little city. As for riding, delamere and easyish access to wales.

Chester is a very nice place, but it’s very expensive. You don’t get terms like “Cheshire Set” and “Cheshire Wives” for no reason either, Cheshire is the land of the bored rich housewife and the Man Utd football player I’m afraid!

Close to North Wales though which has got to be good for riding, and Chester itself has a lot of character.

Chester v nice although while house prices have fallen you’ll need a well paid job to by a house there! Mold and Buckley good (mostly, just like anywhere else), Hawarden nicer but a bit more pricey. Most places between Mold and Wrexham ok.

As for the riding you’ll be spoiled for choice. Betyws y coed, the Marin and Penmachno all just an hour away. Llandegla 20mins down the road and there’s loads and loads and loads and loads and loads and loads of natural trails around Moel Famau/the Clywds (see ride the clywds web site).

I’m no roadie but you see loads of them about so assume must be pretty good around here as well.

I work in Chester, and bits are nice but expensive, avoid Hoole, as its all terraces, lots of new build flats everywhere, but watch out for high service charges, there are some really nice new homes near the railway station, on black diamiond street, almost in the city centre, tescos within walking distance, and station and M53 just down the road as is Delamere , flatish forest, or llandegla, and the whole of north wales.
There is a direct sustrans cycle route from the city centre to shotton on old railway line, and along the river dee, route 56, all tarmaced and safe.

Need any more detail just drop us a email.

Chester is OK, I am from liverpool and though I love it, I am thinking I don’t know if I want my daughter to grow up there these days. I know Chester well enough but we are looking at Frodsham and Helsby which is not far from Chester, Delamere is on the doorstep and as mentioned above, the Clwyds (absolutely great) and the Welsh trail centres are just over an hour away.

South Wirral is also nice, around Heswall etc.

Mold , Buckley and along the a55 corridor are nice areas, along with Broughton, near the British Aerospace factory, large shopping centre there as well, (not to be confused with Boughton, the other side of chester, m53 side.

Do you a cracking deal on a 2 bed semi in New Broughton, Wrexham < 5 miles from Degla. Alarmed 1.5 car garage and excellent transport links including the bypass @ 500m and a 10min bus service during the day with buses back from town until 10:45. We’ve got a house all lined up to go and just need to shift this one.

IF it happens won’t be ’till next year. Just considering options for now.

Consider the smaller villages to the east of the Cheshire plain for reasonable prices and good facilities, such as Ashton Hayes, Mouldsworth, Kelsall gets a bit more expensive for some random reason. Head South East (ish) Tarporley, Bunbury and down to Wrenbury are beautiful but expensive areas.

Head south and your into Tattenhall / Farndon area and acroos to Wrexham, prices become generally a bit more reasonable.

It’s always said that if you want more bang for your buck look just over the welsh border. There are some cracking spots there!

Try THESE about riding in the Chester area….

Doug, i lived in caego, next place down from you, went to school at new broughton school and bryn offa.

Being a local (living in the next town along from Shotton) so far all the posts are pretty good advice and I agree looking at one of the smaller towns/villages in the area would be a good choice. There’s plenty of riding groups and rides on the go through the week and it’s a good place to be based for a large choice in riding.

I suppose alot depends on the lifestyle you have/want. I lived in Chester for abour 15 years and loved it, most of the time.
I was lucky as I had a house 10 mikns walk from the city centre.
Around the city you have terraced housing, Hoole/Boughton-ok or Garden Lane area-studenty. More suburban in Vicar’s Cross, Expensive in Upton.

As a small city you can be in the country in a few minutes. Further afield and you are easily in wonderful North Wales. 😉

It’s been along time since I lived there, but there used to be a good selection of bars and restaurants.

If you’re looking outside Chester, and are not a millionaire, then some of the villages along the A55 might be worth a look, but it might be getting a bit Welsh there and you know what the Welsh are like…

Generally Chester is OK, 40mins from Manchester, 60mins from beautiful Snowdonia. 😆

I lived in tattenhall and now in kelsall and both are about 10mins from chester, the advantage is the village stuff with very easy access to the city. I really liked tattenhall but its proper expensive for houses, kelsall was cheaper but not as “exclusive” BUT you can ride delamere and primrose within minutes so if you want a quick ride out you dont need to plan. getting to llandegla, marin , penmachno, snowdonia etc is easy as you like as is the peaks (relatively) and onto the M6 north!. I love it here as its a good compromise of nice countryside but city access and amenities, bottom line is IMO live in Chester/Cheshire and it’ll cost you live in wales and it wont (well not as much). and they both give good access to to great riding (see delamere mondaynight ride)….. 😉

Yep, Chester’s pretty nice as everybody’s stated. I’m a big fan of the East/south side but that’s because it’s were I grew up. I used to live in Tarvin (now just 1 mile outside) and it’s on the up I think at the moment with proper village shops and pubs.
Kelsall nice also with the same sort of facilities.
Tattenhall is very nice but you need to put the bike in the car to get some decent riding (plenty of hills nearby but mostly Nat Trust so limited where you can legally ride)
Tarporley – expensive but more shops/cars.

Delamere OK but you can see the Clywyds not far away and they’re great.

As above, Chester nice bit pricey.

Roadie-wise, Cheshire is wonderful. Oodles of rolling lanes in attractive rural landscapes. Even some decent hills if you look in the right place. For extra distance/hills you can link into the Peaks or North Wales.

If hollyoaks is anything to go by then there should be some pretty tidy boilers knocking about.

The key question is – obviously – whether it is still legal to shoot a Welshman from within the city walls with a bow and arrow during the hours of darkness.

With that as an option, who needs somewhere to ride a bike to have fun?

swadey – Member

The key question is – obviously – whether it is still legal to shoot a Welshman from within the city walls with a bow and arrow during the hours of darkness.

With that as an option, who needs somewhere to ride a bike to have fun?

I have a feeling all the gates to the city need to be shut too, but I’m not sure.

But it sure as hell can make you nervous 😉

djg – took the words out of my mouth mate 🙂

I lived in Hoole in the mid 80s and then in Kelsall for a few years. Kelsall is a good place really up a hill with a good view and convenientish for getting to motorways. Hoole was a cheap place mostly but we had a semi near playing fields and there are some nicish roads around there. At night Chester centre seemed to have to many unappealing types from the rather large local council estates for my liking – a nicer place to visit than live IMO.

PMSL at projects comment about hoole and terraces…. cheers fella! i live in hoole and guess what? i own a terrace house – I shit you not!

chester’s cool, and for a small city offers a lot more than most towns twice its size, yes the nice areas are expensive, but what do you expect?

its flat as **** round here and for offroading there is very little local, but its surrounded by north wales, the clywds, the wirral, delamere, the peak district, the pennines, the lakes and to the south places like church stretton – but you’ll need a car or a mate who’ll take you along

quite a large roadie thing on the wirral and plenty of clubs if you swing that way as well

Hi chunky Paul, also forgot to say about Hoole is youve got 3 bike shops the Bike Factory, and the Specialised concept Store next door to each other and now the Edge cycleshop.
Um and lots of coronation st styllee houses. 😀

I suspect I’d be happy to live in Canadian Avenue in Hoole. A mix of big semis and detached houses sandwiched between playing fields and a large recreation ground with tennis courts.

Second everything that’s been said about Chester. Outside of my Scottish homeland I reckon its one of the best places in the UK to live. Lived in a village near Chester for 20 years before redundancy forced a move to Wiltshire. We were in two minds whether to move as I was thinking of staying put in Cheshire and travelling Mon and Friday- still not sure I made the right decision.

I live in Heswall on the Wirral, bout 25 mins from Chester. Tis very nice!