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Poynton seems to fit the bill. 40 mins from Salford, small town but enough going on, excellent road cycling and some reasonable mtb on the door with it being in the edge of the Peak District.
I live in Macclesfield. Riding from the door for both MTB and road. Cheshire plains to one side, Peak to the other. Loads of tech riding in the Forest. Loads of pubs and eateries. Easy to get into Manchester by train in 20 minutes. Close to the M6 for everything else.
Absolutely would rate. We moved from Nottingham and absolutely can't imagine going anywhere else now.
Tockholes, horwich Belmont n bits of chorley are ok too
Poynton is nice except the horrendous mess of the shared roads in the middle - blooming nightmare on a road bike with all the damaged block paving due to weight of vehicles. Good idea, poor materials.
I would look at houses in areas with reliable public transport and a decent commute by bicycle.
Some of the areas suggested are nice to live in but could be a hightmare for commuting.
The guy I used to work with joked about getting a commode seat for his car as he spent so much time commuting a short distance.
Right, I live prety much half way between Delamere and Antrobus, so can give you my thoughts about those two places. Delamere has the advantage of the station as Steve says, but it doesn't really have any focal point to the village, everything is quite spread out. It's also on the SLOWEST LINE IN THE UNIVERSE, takes over an hour to get to Manchester. Chester about 10 mins the other way though.
Antrobus does have an actual village centre but is surrounded by a massive area of sparsely populated farmland, so you could still be quite out in the sticks. Very convenient for the M56/M6 though in terms of getting into Manchester or Salford.
Next to Antrobus is Comberbatch, (also noted above I see) but the real gem around there is Great Budworth. I don't know that houses actually come for sale very often there, and you'd probably not get any North/South divide price advantage either. Mobberly, Mere or Ashley between Knutsford and Wilmslow would also be worth considering - if you like planes.
I have a soft spot for Bollington and a studied indifference to the Cheshire plain, which is kind of a transplanted heaven for big, south-east style roadies. Disley, like High Lane and Marple is full of people who think they live in a peaceful village but open their front doors onto the A6 or similar hell road. IHN lives in Disley in the same way that folk in Everest Base Camp live in Kathmandu 😉
A lot of this stuff is very subjective. I love Glossop, but it's not really comparable to the OP's preference for: 'Nice and quiet, village vibes and quintessentially English which i love (think Midsomer Murders without the body count!).' Ditto virtually everywhere else that's being suggested, unless you really think of the A6 as some sort of bucolic country lane, in which case may I recommend any number of excellent local opticians. There's a lot of recommending 'where I live or used to as per usual.
I suspect somewhere in Cheshire to the east of Manc is probably your best bet, Ive ridden through various pleasant enough villages on the road, though don't remember any of them specifically. Either that or embrace a more rugged, northern mill town vibe.
Edit: I googled Great Budworth, looks spot on, but undoubtedly with a nasty undercurrent of very genteel murders.
Edit: I googled Great Budworth, looks spot on, but undoubtedly with a nasty undercurrent of very genteel murders.
Actually you're more likely to get lasered to death by space aliens. It was used heavily for the last remake of War of the World's.
I live in Ramsbottom, and having grown up in a village Rammy doesn't really feel like a village to me, more of a small town. Ditto Rawtenstall.
Around here Holcombe, Edgeworth, possibly Hawkshore have more of a village vibe IMO. There's also a fairly quiet area north of Edgeworth but south of Blackburn which feels fairly rural to drive through without actually being that remote.
However this is all North Manchester and as advertised it is quite damp!
As others have said, Very much depends where you live and work. I'm only 10 miles South East of Manchester, but have a reasonably good off road commute into the city - worst bits for traffic are completely avoided by various tracks and shared routes. Driving in takes 45-60 minutes or more. Ditto coming in via any of the motorways. If you are working outside of the city then you've a little more choice. Public transport is pretty poor in places - you might want to consider somewhere on the tram lines ? - nothing out where I live - Trains are every half hour into Manchester and are standing room only for £7.90 a day.
Salford can be a bit tricky to get to anywhere near rush hour, especially from the South and East, so bear that in mind. Salford/Chorlton sides of Manchester have good cycling infrastructure for commuting, the rest doesn't.
I suspect somewhere in Cheshire to the east of Manc
Sorry, I meant 'west of Manc' there.
I lived in Manchester years ago and still go back. It sprawls - just conurbation and suburbs / dormitory towns for miles. Traffic is awful. It rains a lot - not in inches but in rainy days.
For what the OP suggests I would live in one of the wee towns to the north I think and put up with the damp and proximity to Binners
I agree with BWD, everywhere being mentioned in South Manc, the suggester clearly hasn't read the req's, especially Poynton. Likewise, are we just laying bingo buzzwords suggesting Chorlton 🤷♂️
Macclesfield and area are better suggestions but the commute to Salford could be tough depending when the OP will be visiting.
IHN lives in Disley in the same way that folk in Everest Base Camp live in Kathmandu 😉
I mean, the fella has a point
Overall though, the request is for a pretty, quiet village with easy travelling to a Salford. I honestly don't think that such a thing exists, so, as with any house move, he'll have to pick his compromises
Fwiw, Goostrey is nice
Was going to mention that Great Budworth was destroyed by Martians during the last (truly forgettable) invasion, but @tthew beat me to it.
I live in Simister, which has a quieter sort of feel to it, despite only being a mile or so from one of the main A roads into Manchester. You could get to Salford in about 20 minutes.
Mrs The Spider commutes by bus and whinges about it constantly. I drive to Rochdale daily and (says it quietly) it isn't too terrible on the M60/62 for my three junction route.
Don’t forget Salford is quite big and also encompasses places like Worsley. But I’m guessing we are talking about central Salford near the Uni? I was born and grew up in Salford, lived in Ramsbottom, Bromley Cross and Didsbury. I then moved to Shropshire about 12 years ago but commuted to Salford Uni where I was a lecturer for 21 years. I split travelling between the train and driving across Cheshire.
Depending on how often you are heading into Salford, just live in Shropshire, it’s epic.
We did initially look across Cheshire for somewhere to live and couldn’t find anything we liked; lots of lovely villages but the lack of hills for mountain biking meant it was a hard no for us. If we were road cyclists or just coffee shop strollers, there are lots of great villages and traffic isn’t too horrendous to Salford depending on frequency and timings.
I liked Ramsbottom (it’s a lot nicer now too, I still have friends there) and also spent lots of time around Rivi, nice spot, but definitely moist. Traffic can be an absolute arse though depending on timings and exactly where in Salford you are talking about.
I’ve never lived in Macc, but that general area would definitely be on my to look at list, especially from a MTB perspective.
It’s priorities, I would prefer to live in my perfect location and take the travelling pain, but that’s me! 😀
I live in Ramsbottom, and having grown up in a village Rammy doesn’t really feel like a village to me, more of a small town. Ditto Rawtenstall.
@tomparkin - you should nip onto one of the Rammy facebook groups and ask if its a town or a village. You'll be there all day, 500+ replies, 30 bans, 2 death threats and 20 flounces 😂
I lived in Manchester years ago and still go back. It sprawls – just conurbation and suburbs / dormitory towns for miles. Traffic is awful
Sounds like you're describing the M8 corridor between Glasgow and Edinburgh there 😉
I'm not really sure north Manchester is any damper than south Manchester. The north west of England is damp, you have to accept it if you're going to live here. Lancashire is a good shout, as although it's further, the travelling doesn't take so long due to the lack of traffic. It only becomes slow once you get close to Manchester. Since Salford is on the north side of Manchester, Cheshire can be a lot longer journey than further away in Lancashire. Crawling around the M60 can be a nightmare and my friends from Cheshire seem to hate the train service.
East of Manchester has some nice villages, such as the Saddleworth area as mentioned. The weather can get a bit grim in my experience though, but there is a nice community and nearly as much Botox and filler as Cheshire.
Plus, Cheshire always strikes me as a giant 4x4 car park, but plenty of people love it I guess.
Somewhere will appeal to you, which is why everyone will recommend their own place. But you have to learn to accept rain.
Plus, Cheshire always strikes me as a giant 4×4 car park
I think a lot of people when you say Cheshire immediately think Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and (aagh) Prestbury which indeed to have more 4x4s than inhabitants. The rest of Cheshire isn't really footballers wives territory.
I avoided mentioning Great Budworth earlier as although a charming place the bits which were not destroyed in the great Martian war are regularly invaded by tourist hordes.
Thanks all - appreciated. I'll keep checking back should more replies come through. Never considered Ramsbottom, but it looks like a funky place these days!
I'm driving up next Thursday so will do some exploring. I'm starting around Jodrell Bank and will work North. Great Budworth looks lovely and being a bit of a nerd, the Martian connection is ace! Could i have found a new home so quickly?!?! 😂
Rammy is indeed damp. It is worse than some nearby alternatives and gets me down sometimes but over time I always realise it's really the only down side and is massively outweighed by the huge countervailing advantages of living in this location.
I'm sure there are better places to live - but (as @binners has already indicated in terms I endorse wholeheartedly) they aren't in the soulless hellholes of Cheshire. Elsewhere South of Manchester? Maybe - but we're talking hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of km...
Sun just came out. With your constraints, you should move here. Recommend what you have/did etc etc. And if you insist on exploring South to North next week, don't wear yourself out and get here bored/hangry/done for the day etc etc
M61 corridor has to be worth a look - most direct route into Salford by far and some nice spots. Horwich usually mentioned but a town not a village.
You'll find proper village living further out in West Lancs if you don't mind some weird. Midsomer murders, odd Scouser edition. But honestly that's a feature compared to the Cheshire plain. I ride round all those places in Cheshire and never get that 'I wonder what it's like to live here?' feeling where it captures your interest. Just feels a bit empty.
Somewhere will appeal to you, which is why everyone will recommend their own place
I don't. I always tell people to steer the hell clear of Alti if they have any interest in adventure sports recreation
@steamtb makes a good point with this
I would prefer to live in my perfect location and take the travelling pain
Need to decide what end of the spectrum you want to be on. I suppose it will depend on how often you are going to be traveling.
I grew up in Macc, but I left about 25 years ago now(!) Even back then the MTB was great (it's what got me hooked and the reason I'm here now)
Think it has only got better since then really, with all the stuff in the forest you can now throw yourself down 👍
Also dining / drinking seems a lot lot better than when I grew up (and it was a slight dump really)
+1 for Saddleworth. Don’t bother with S or W .Manc unless you like your ‘mtb’ flat, boring and full of dogsh1t (or you’re happily resigned to driving everytime you need to get out on an MTB.) I lived there for 12 years so know. It rains A LOT in Saddleworth though, dare I say it more than Rammy (I’ve lived there too.) but it’s lovely, and quirky and pretty quiet as soon as you’re away from Uppermill.
Manchester is bone dry by NW standards.
@tomparkin – you should nip onto one of the Rammy facebook groups and ask if its a town or a village. You’ll be there all day, 500+ replies, 30 bans, 2 death threats and 20 flounces 😂
I think I might try something like:
"Scraping my daughter's pushchair past some ridiculous SUV on the pavement only to find the way blocked by a horrible lot of dogs muck! Properly disgusting. Come on everyone, sort it out, let's get Rammy feeling like a proper village again!!!1!"
Keep an eye out for the mushroom cloud 🍄
@tomparkin - if you can somehow show-horn a complaint about the regularity of wheely-bin collections then it’ll go fully thermonuclear 😃