OP we moved to north Manchester 5 years ago…been pretty happy with the move. good schools and amenities nearby. we’re only minutes away from motorway access and we’ve got pretty much everything we want within easy access.
i do the school run for 9 am and i’m then at my desk by around 9.30 just past the city centre…once you know the short cuts it gets easier
travelling by bus is pretty easy too as there are plenty of bus services…depending on what time you catch a bus it can take as little as 30 minutes or as much as an hour.
the roads are pretty reasonable for cycle commuting too…city centre to the outskirts (the m60 ring road) is about 7 miles and takes about 20 minutes to ride

i’d agree with what others have said…drive around one weekend to scope out the areas that you like
property prices in north manchester are cheaper than south manchester…often by quite a bit

Look at transport links first. I’d hate to have to drive in from certain places from outside of The Manchester.

Knowing the transport links rail or tram will probably tell you your lines down for months (tram at the moment) and roads can be daft from some angles/ways.

I don’t like Chorlton (daft pricing for rampant suburbia) yet Stretford next door can be ace (great community too but eff all pubs). Prestwich is still up and coming and gonzys right. Bury still a good bet?

yet Stretford next door can be ace (great community too but eff all pubs

it’s a 10 minute walk into Chorlton if you are near the Metrolink

drive around one weekend to scope out the areas that you like
property prices in north manchester are cheaper than south manchester…often by quite a bit

often with good reason, even a couple of streets makes a difference in some areas

Bury still a good bet?

I couldn’t wait to move out.

If you’re moving, and like cycling, as well as all the above, couldn’t you pick somewhere that is cycle commutable easily? i.e. close enough and easy enough to do every day, then public transport as your back up option

(it’s what I do in that London, but I didn’t pick this area in particular, it’s my home area)

A pal of mine used to have to drive to Marple evey day and he hated it; said the traffic was a nightmare. The north seems to have less congestion.

Bury is a surprisingly prosperous town with a popular market. From the town centre you can drive or cycle out into the West Pennines or up the Rossendale Valley in a few minutes. Bury has some nice areas of housing, especially places like Summerseat where I spent my blissful batchelor and fanatical mountain biking years! However Rossendale is not served by rail whereas heading NW to Bolton and beyond is well served.

Yeah – road from Marple/New Mills is no good in the morning. Train is fine, as is cycling in if you don’t mind the A6. There’s a longer off-road/quiet route too that a few folk use to get the miles in.

Bolton.
*shudders*

got a colleague who lives in Marple…i think he uses public transport. one of the wife’s colleagues also lives there and also uses public transport. i’ve never asked what the journey is like though.
grew up in rossendale so know the area very well…nice quiet place to live…might be a bit boring to some though
like globalti said no train service to rossendale but the bus service is very good…only other option is by car
getting into manchester from rossendale can be hit and miss as it depends on what time you set off…a 5 minute difference can add an extra 30 minutes or more to your commute
nephew lives in bury and it seems nice where he lives but i’m not sure what public transport links are like
a few other colleagues live in bolton and use the train to get in…one of them had a nightmare journey in (signal problems) so you might want to factor that in

we’re actually planing on moving out of manchester and back to rossendale…kids have outgrown our current house and our needs have changed (need a man-cave and a bigger house)

if all else fails move to ramsbottom so you can pester Binners!

I’d take Glossop over New Mills every time. New Mills in in a nice location, but the shops are rubbish – though Sam at Sett Valley Cycles is an exception – the pubs are uninspiring and there’s a dearth of restaurants. Glossop’s got a really decent selection of all those plus ace riding on the doorstep plus 30 minutes odd by train into Manchester Pic.

Don’t get me wrong, I like New Mills and the location is great, but it feels properly ‘small town’ as far as facilities go. Also, Church Road, the main street, somehow manages to make Glossop High Street feel like a paradise. There’s something particularly unlovely about walking down a narrow pavement while articulated lorries fly past at 30-40mph a couple of feet away from your shoulder. Horrid and a nasty place to be on two wheels.

Also, someone earlier, I think, suggested the Hayfield is five minutes from a station. Only by car, though I guess you have the choice of Glossop or either of New Mills’ two stations.

Anyway… generally though a nice area to live. Peak on one side of you, easy access by train to Manchester on the other.

I was born in Glossop. That may or may not affect your decision.

Sam at Sett Valley Cycles

Oh, that’s what I meant, not High Peak Cycles 😳
Been over 4 years since I was there…

Anyway – is the Fox at Brook Bottom still the pick of the pubs? That’s where we went for a post ride pint.

Don’t bother with Todmorden/Walsden, the 24-35 minute train ride is always full and the 100s of kilometres of natural MTB trails can’t take any more traffic. Also you probably don’t need the extra bedroom in the houses here that your money will buy you in comparison with Marple etc.

Wot he says. Plus the Monday night mountain bikers are all arseholes.

There’s good reason why STW Towers is in Todmorden; some of the best mountain biking on the planet starts around there.

If the OP is feeling really avant garde he could even consider Hebden Bridge. How long is the train journey though?

If the OP is feeling really avant garde he could even consider Hebden Bridge

Is avante guard the new terminology for massive lesbian? I wouldn’t move there anyway. Theres some right gits displaying their mountain biking based artwork there. pretentious bastards! Its not even like theres any scenery or trails worth drawing, is it?

10min walk? 5mins for me 8)

Anyway – is the Fox at Brook Bottom still the pick of the pubs? That’s where we went for a post ride pint.

It’s a curious journey back in time in that ‘we haven’t changed the decor for two or three decades now’ way, but it’s dead handy for riding and, if you book in advance, they’ll do a group curry for a fiver a head. I have no idea how it keeps going, there’s rarely anyone in there except on sunny bank holiday weekends. I think they may just run it as a hobby 😉

The Beehive’s okay in an inoffensive sort of way, but most of the others seem to have been refurbished in that soulless modern way where they try so hard to inject soul that it makes it worse.

I like New Mills, but it’s not really a mecca for pubs, whereas Glossop has a wider choice of pretty much everything including pubs. Then again there are more important thing in life than pubs, like Thai takeways…

DOn’t move to Hebden, it’s crap here.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GM1cUU]Commute[/url] by Greg.May, on Flickr

I’m with globalti on the Rossendale Valley. Helmshore and Rawtenstall are served by bus links that will get you to city centre in 50-60 minutes. House prices are very reasonable compared to ramsbottom three miles further south and its surrounded by stunning scenery like in GregMay’s photo above.

Traffic southbound is a problem in the mornings though and made worse by the long term roadworks on the M60 .
I moved here from Bristol, via Prestwich 13 years ago and love it. Its a great place to bring up a family.

@BWD – aha, nothing has changed at the Fox then. OP – New Mills is still great 😀

Old Hall is nearby too and I remember that being particularly good.

Traffic southbound is a problem in the mornings though and made worse by the long term roadworks on the M60 .

Worse!! It was bad enough back in 2012 when I left

Why would you drive…it’s on a direct train line to Manc.

To quote the OP:

that’s not horrifically expensive and I can get to Spinningfields within a max of 40 minutes by public transport.

Who in their right mind would want to drive the northern side of the M60?

Who in their right mind would want to drive the northern side of the M60?

Exactly.

I’ve been working in Whalley Range and from mine near Bolton, it’s just as fast going on the Bike than driving.

On a normal 9-5 job, there’s no way I’d go anywhere near Manchester in the car, public transport / cycling is loads easier.

Stretford has an Aldi now. This is the most exciting thing to happen in years.

Funnily in a works car last week we drove past and I said ‘oo look shall we go in’?!! The reply was ‘you know there’s been one for years at Trafford Bar right’?

Nothing exciting happens in Stretford. Not even football, doubt it’ll get any better next year either.

OP move to Altrincham, Sale or in between.

Direct trains to Manchester:
Littleborough 23-32min
Walsden 34-38 min
Todmorden 30-41 min
Hebden Bridge 38 – 46 min

Slightly biased as I can virtually roll out of bed and down to Walsden station which makes it possible to leave the green hills whilst still half asleep and be in the city centre with a only light doze in between.

Obviously I mean that I jump on the train in joy to escape the dreadful industrial revolution / sheep ravaged desolation riven with scarcely rideable stone slabbed ‘tracks’ eroded by the bitter tears of unrequited mountain bikers.

GregMay – Member
Why would you drive…it’s on a direct train line to Manc.

Who in their right mind would want to drive the northern side of the M60?

When I was doing it I was going across to the West (don’t ask) although it was on a direct train line it was the one that didn’t connect with the other trains, the changes in the middle made the journey times even worse.