To me, any commute more than half an hour is significant, and the worst bit of any commute is getting into a city, the miles on easy roads are no big deal. You’ve actually got a pretty decent commute to Lincoln and Sheffield starting in Scunny, with the A15 and M180/M18.
Retford is quite nice with the market place and lots of the villages around it are very nice indeed. Bawtry is where the poncier monied set of Doncastrians hang out. Both put you close to the A1 and give another decent route to Sheffield. Gainsborough sounds posh, but really, really isn’t.
Probably too far north to matter to you, but there’s a new link road being made right now from J3 of M18 across to Rossington and the airport which will make access to Sheffield easier for that area.
Or you could find a job in Lincoln, and move there.