Is Doncaster the answer?

I’d get a different job and stay in Scotland

Genuinely, it would have to be a hell of a job for me to consider that as a lifestyle, so this was my reaction. Especially of there’s any family with you.

How often are you commuting to London and who is paying – those costs will be eyewatering.

Maybe Derby? Decent trains to London, lots of great road and gravel from the edge of town, 30 minutes drive to the Peak (depending which side you live). I’d say Ilkeston but you’d have to train from Ilkeston-Nottingham-London – a mate does it two days a week.

Eldest has just moved to Rugby – can walk to the station and then quick trains direct to London. May be out of budget as a result. Maybe somewhere with a mainline station nearer Cannock for riding?

If Doncaster is the answer you need a different question. How about Leeds? If I wanted to live in a city and Edinburgh wasn’t an option it would be fairly high on the list.

I grew up outside Donny in a nice village – there are nice villages outside Donny and it does have easy access Motorways and Rail links. Flat though,  very, very flat – but great for road riding on the back lanes and bridleways. Anyone moving to the flatlands should check the floodmaps. I used to live near Fishlake – was called that for a reason.

Another one for Retford here, plus Newark & Grantham are similar one horse towns on the London mainline. Not the best for mountain biking but there’s miles and miles of singletrack and fire roads across Clumber Park, Sherwood Forest/Pines, and old train lines if that would do, well over an hour into the Peak if not.

We live quite close to Doncaster but also I had a workmate who lives there.

When he first started at our company last year he said that within weeks he’d had two attempted burglaries…. Happens everywhere I suppose but he said that Doncaster is one of those places!! The villages on the outskirts there’s plenty of money and nice areas but sounds like there are some good suggestions here

I’m sure you’ve considered this, but how close is your office to where the train takes you?

And what is a student HOMO?

House of multiple occupancy.

It’s been said. Consider full door to door time – where in london is your office? Consider peak train costs, parking at station etc. Our calcs when we’ve moved is you need 3+ years to make finances make sense to buy housing.

If the job in London is ‘worth it’ – very personal / subjective – can you do 4 days in office every two weeks? Fly or train on a Sunday, stay 4 nights in hotel and then home? I do Cambridge to Bridgwater (4 hours) at 1-2 times per month, it’s not great but for me at the moment it’s a nice job.

At this point in time, you are asked to go in for 2 days. Do you have absolute guarantees that you won’t be asked to go back 5 days a week ?

I only mention it as it’s becoming a bit more frequent than it was…. and that could affect all sorts of work-life-balance…

I’m in a not dissimilar position as just changed jobs to one in Leeds and I live in Sheffield. I’m eyeing up properties in West Yorkshire as I get free travel on the train within WY but the cost of moving would cover my current rail costs for about 5 years (and I hate moving house).

if you do go for it, places like Tickhill are nice (got a couple of friends there) but places like Maltby a few miles away are horrible (see point above about recovered pit villages or those which haven’t).

Sheffield is of course always the answer too and I’d happily stay here  until my last days but the point about door to door is important. I’m at about 90 minutes to Leeds but rely on a connection which can easily push that to 3 hours if I miss the hourly train.

There is no way you are getting to London from Doncaster in 2 hours

Not read all of the thread, but I live near to Macclesfield. I’ve had to travel to London twice recently for work. The two trips cost well over £400. Both times the train was late arriving in London, and the second time the train home was late too. It’s an utter shit show ime. 2 x per week to London…..I just couldn’t do it.

There is no way you are getting to London from Doncaster in 2 hours

The longest options are just over 2hrs and the quickest (Grand Central Railway, non stop) is 1hr37min.

House of multiple occupancy.

thanks

I live in Macc and would recommend it.  Not just for the MTB but it’s definitely a 15 minute town which somewhere like Leeds or Sheffield certainly aren’t,  everything you need is pretty much walking or a short bike ride away.  We have nice pubs now (we didn’t when I first came here 28 years ago).

I used to go to London once a month with work and the London end of the commute to Borough was much worse than the journey down to London.  However trains are far worse these days you could easily end up paying £400 to sit on the floor by the nonfunctional toilet and rammed train but that’s the same everywhere.

We have good mountain biking as stated also gravel and the road riding is great as you can go into the hills or ride for miles on the Cheshire plain.   Also it’s a short train ride to Manchester for some culture I was there twice a week for gigs before Christmas packed in Ideles, Fontains, Prodigy, Nick Cave amongst others.  We  also go to Buxton, Stoke or Crewe a lot to the theatres especially for Comedy.

Its also full of Scottish folk, including my mrs,  though that might influence you either way.

I guess if you are a very, very good roadie, Doncaster has the redeeming feature of the Donny Chain Gang.

I’m in Macclesfield too. It does have great transport links for road and rail, but the rail service is an expensive shit show. As already stated decent MTB on the doorstep or a short drive away and everything is in easy reach. The monthly Treacle Market is great and there are a few good events on throughout the year. I’d be happy to stay here for the rest of my days.

Bloody hell, how many of us on here live in Macc?!

The longest options are just over 2hrs and the quickest (Grand Central Railway, non stop) is 1hr37min.

that might be what the timetable claims. In the real world……

How many live in Macc? It’s no different to any “what’s it like in the SE” thread where it turns out that we all live in Redhill.

Lived in London for seven years and originally from Stockport, now “back home” and so would recommend trying to rent a room in London on an informal basis if possible through estate agent contacts. I worked with people who lived with a two hour commute to London and it just ate into their working day. Watford or similar might be an option if you want to stay north. If you do choose Macc then please visit the salvage yard near the football ground and the excellent fish monger in town.