Miss CD and I have decided that we want to move from Bristol back closer to my family in North Norfolk. We want to be closer but not too close if you know what I mean, this has lead us to thinking about moving to either Stamford or Ely. We have visited both a couple of times and both seem nice enough. We have friends in Ely so that would be an obvious choice, they've been there a year and like it. However I'm not sure I could cope with the flatness for general surroundings or cycling.
Stamford appears to be a very attractive town (perhaps a little twee) and has some rolling countryside to the west for road biking still looks poor for mountain biking though.
Any thoughts from locals or those who live there would be welcome.
Cheers
Get yourself a time trial bike and a pointy hat, then you will be loving the fact it's flat.
I did 1:59:51 in a 50mile event on Saturday, A11, A14 round Newmarket area 😀
I heard that TT is popular around there. Never TT's myself, probably because I prefer country lanes to A roads.
Don't know about Ely (apart from the shortish drive to Thetford), but just down the road (bikeable) from Stamford you now have the Wakerley Wood and Fineshade trails - nothing huge but plenty good enough if you can't drive out to anywhere bumpier on a weekend.
slainte 😀 rob
To look the part in Ely, greasy John Deere overalls are a must!
East of Stamford is Ely flat. As you have identified there is some good road riding to the west but it's still limited for mountain bikes. Having said that, it is horsey country so there are numerous bridleways (some chewed up by horses - no surprise there) that can be linked - The British Horse Society has a book of rides in Leicestershire and Rutland that provides some inspiration. It's only fifty pence from the BHS so worth a look. You'll not find much singletrack though - Wakerly Woods aren't far but it's quite limited. On the postive side, Stamford's right on the A1 so you can get away much quicker than you can from Ely.
Can't comment on Ely. Been there a few times & seems nice enough.
I live near Stamford (Deeping St James) and while Stamford is nice, you pay for the privilege compared to surrounding areas & it seems quite a snobby place to live. Probably not a very STW thing to say, and I can't really put my finger on it, but a lot of people there seem to walk around with a bit of an heir of superiority. Probably no real substance to that, just an impression I get.
With regards to cycling, it's pretty lame. Mountain biking, forget it. You need to sling the bike in the car & with regards to road riding many of the roads around my way are dead straight, flat & featureless. Admittedly, that does seem to change as you head towards Oakham/Stamford way with more interesting terrain and some twisty roads.
Wakerley doesn't look that now colournoise...!!
My ex's family live near Ely (Burwell). I always used to take a road bike when we went visiting, and there's some nice (and surprisingly rolling esp. if you head out towards Newmarket) stuff.
Ely itself is a nice town, if a little six-fingered...
Mountain biking - er, no.
My partner and I moved to a village outside of Ely recently. Its more a village with a couple of decent-sized supermarkets than a town really, but perfectly nice. Has a mix of people who obviously commute to the Cambridge area and more `local' people, which is keeping the housing market reasonably bouyant (compared with where we moved from in the North West). We moved to a village to get a house with a garden and garage that we could afford, and compromised on the commute to work. Having lived in a city, we now have a resident hedgehog in the back garden and my partner has seen the local barn owl a few times on his commute, so we are enjoying the change. Obviously it depends what your priorities and aims for the move are!
Ely itself is pretty but quiet. We like the fact we can have a night out in Cambridge (nice restuarants, some good real ale pubs, plenty of arts and theatre) and get a taxi or train back (~£25 for a taxi) or if we're feeling flush, have a day out in London and be able to get a late night train back (last one leaves London ~23:15).
I assume since you are looking between those two towns, you or your missus may be working in Peterborough. Between Ely and Peterborough, it gets flatter (if thats possible) with a lot of the lanes being dead-ends so its difficult to make a nice road riding loop, but there are plenty of quite lanes between fields to explore - just a bit exposed to the wind and not very 'interesting'.
As said, if you want to be within an hours drive of north Norfolk [i]and[/i] you want to MTB, you generally have to drive somewhere.
Having family in Norwich i have taken many a train through Ely. I have two residing memories:
1 - nice cathedral
2 - the look on people's faces when you leave the station the same way you entered it
I live near Cambridge so part way between the 2. Needless to say my mtb gets less use than it deserves and yeah even within a hours drive there ain't that much worth riding. Plenty of country roads though.
I assume since you are looking between those two towns, you or your missus may be working in Peterborough. Between Ely and Peterborough, it gets flatter (if thats possible) with a lot of the lanes being dead-ends so its difficult to make a nice road riding loop, but there are plenty of quite lanes between fields to explore - just a bit exposed to the wind and not very 'interesting'.
I work from home a lot with frequent meetings in London and some in Leicestershire so both choices work well for that. Miss CD will be changing job when we relocate, she recentley qualified as a social worker but will do anything until she can find somewhere.
Miss CD is Danish so will be quite at home in the Fens where as I get depressed without hills.
Clobber - Member
Wakerley doesn't look that now colournoise...!!
Haven't been since the start of June, mainly due to the weather and my experience of what it's like when it's a bit - erm - damp.
Last time I was there it all pretty much looked like this except for a couple of the 'surfaced' sections -
[img] 
[/img]
I imagine the place is a swamp right now - expecially if the felling machines have been round again and dug any more mahoosive ruts across the trail. They need to get all that stone down ASAP but I don't think that's happening any time soon?
slainte 🙁 rob
I popped into Wakerly for a run, on the way back from East Midlands Airport 2 weeks ago. It was tough to run, so would have been a piss awful grind on a bike.
I work from home a lot with frequent meetings in London and some in Leicestershire
In that case, I think the train from Ely to London is cheaper than from Stanford and runs until later. But as has been said, its easier to get to other parts of the country from Stanford as its on the A1 (i.e. I guess it would take ~1hr less to, say, the Peaks. Each way.)
Having lived in Cambridge for 10 years when it came to buying a house we decided to move to Ely - largely because we could actually afford a house rather than a wardrobe. Given the mainline to London, proximity to Cambridge, and reasonable amenities i think it's a good place to live.
It's got a couple of decent pubs and restaurants - although no real variety to speak of. Cambridge but a short train ride away (look out for the fascists who work for Cross Country trains and don't let you take a bike - scum). High street has standard high-street shops, although I'll always go to Cambridge for shopping as it is actually quite good there. Rumour has it we're getting a cinema soon - woop.
There are very few places to ride MTB, but roads round here tend to have few cars if you like empty tarmac - I don't do proper roadie-ness myself, but I get the impression that there isn't much in the way of great variety in scenery.
I work in Cambridge mostly and London sometimes - neither commute is totally painless, but nor are they horrifying. All in all it is a relaxed little place, with access to proper places like London and Cambridge without any real effort and with pretty low house prices.
Recently more and more of my wife's colleagues have been moving to Ely instead of the other nearby options of Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket or the villages. Seems like an endorsement to me.
Ely has a very good LBS too!
Ely has a very good LBS too!
Yep I know quite a few people in Cambridge CC who take their bikes / forks there to get serviced!
As the rest have said really - Stamford is pricey, would get more for your money in the delightful town of Market Deeping - where all the best people were brought up - or maybe Deeping St James (where they have to move to to buy their first house)
That said, my folks are selling their house in Bourne, if you are interested, so they can move to join us here in Derbyshire where the riding is better....
My Sister in law and her Husband moved to a village just outside of Stamford (Toft) a few years ago. Whilst Stamford is all rather pleasant for the life of me I can't find too much of interest to keep me occupied when I'm there. It's just mile upon mile of averageness. Last boxing day I resorted to driving to Rutland water and running around it to keep me occupied. When you have to go to Rutland Water for entertainment (apart from the great bike shop) you know you have reached the zenith of averageness - and as an ex Loughborough Uni student I'm well versed on average landscapes! Houses are so much cheaper on the outskirts (maybe not in Stamford itself) than here in the South Downs but I think there is a reason.
Too far from the sea or landscapes with proper lumps in it for me and just too bloody far from anywhere better.
I live 5 miles from Ely, I work around Cambridge, wife works in Ely, son goes to school in Ely, so I know it fairly well, and I like it. Not too big, enough shops, and Cambridge isn't far, by bike, car or train.
As to the flatness, I love it. It has it's own beauty. In the winter I love the bleakness, and the clouds, in the summer, the sun doesn't get hidden behind hills.
MoreCashThanDash - Member
That said, my folks are selling their house in Bourne, if you are interested, so they can move to join us here in Derbyshire where the riding is better....
That's an idea 💡 maybe I can move my whole family to sell the family business and Bristol instead...