Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Moving to the Yorkshire Dales/Cumbria advice please
  • boris001
    Free Member

    Hi All,

    I’m hoping for some advice from like minded riding folk about a move from the south to the Cumbria/Yorkshire Dales area.

    We’re looking for a good country / village location, not too far from the M6 but access to great trails. I also road ride every now and again too. My wife and I work from home so good broadband is a must.

    My mum is going into a care home around the Milnethorpe area and as we’d want to be within a half hour drive or so from her. We’ve been looking around the Kirkby Lonsdale area but would really appreciate any advice/insight as to areas that we should focus on and those to avoid.

    Cheers
    Boris

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    We’ve been looking around the Kirkby Lonsdale area

    That’s a great place, Kendal or surrounding area would be my choice with those criteria.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Sedburgh if you fancy a bit more villagey if outrageously expensive, you’ll need deep pockets anywhere close to the M6, Kendal’s probably the best compromise

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    oldtennisshoes
    Full Member

    Kendal

    cb
    Full Member

    Budget, size of property?

    sarawak
    Free Member

    Burton. Near enough to everywhere, but always overlooked.

    bongle
    Free Member

    We moved our young family from Manchester up to exactly that area recently. We ended up in the Lune Valley – in between Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh. – no pub, or shop in our hamlet but beautiful, peaceful and Oxenholme mainline station 20 mins and M6 10 mins. My own rambling thoughts :

    Sedbergh – quaint. 4 pubs, independent but limited selection of shops, use of swimming pool, tennis club, cubs etc, fells literally on the doorstep – decent riding.

    Kendal. A vibrant town but necessarily a ‘rural’ location, if that’s what you want. Good beer shops, yoga, climbing and biking scene. Not found the nightlife there yet. People seem friendly.

    Kirkby L – nice. Booths is a bonus. Tourists would annoy me after a while. Very limited mountain biking from the door.

    As you’ve probably identified – there is basically no decent legal mountain biking south of Kirby L.

    I’d have a good look at Staveley. Has train. Great mtb scene centred around Wheelbase shop, some employment, nice pub, good riding from the door. Probably within 30 mins of Milnthorpr.

    Silverdale / Arnside area?. Pricey but nice coastal and lovely sunny microclimate. Train stations. Mtb limiter thoigh.

    Many villages in the area have hyperfast broadband now (BARN) and BT are being paid to put fibre in too.

    Good luck. Am sure it will be a Great move.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    I grew up in the area (just north of Grange over Sands) but moved away 30yrs ago so things might be a bit busier than I remember.

    +1 to @bongle’s list and Burton is a good call.

    Levens is handy to the M6, Milnthorpe and Kendal. Brigsteer a little further to the first two.

    Witherslack, Lindale and Grange are the next “group”. Grange used to be retirement central but it seems a bit livelier these days.

    The villages in the Cartmel valley (Allithwaite, Cark, Cartmel, High Newton) are probably at the limit for your 30mins to Milnthorpe.

    eruptron
    Free Member

    Moved last year to Allithwaite near Grange over sands, Love it. Close to Coniston, Windermere, Staverley.Bowness, Ambleside, Grizedale. Not cheap but close to the M6 train from Kents bank or Grange to Lancaster Manchester Airport etc. It’s also close to Yorkshire. We did Inglebough the other week. 40 mins drive. Hawes last weekend just under a hour. so loads to go at.
    Close to Milnthorpe.
    Kendal isn’t for me. I worked there for a while. Other than a bit of shopping that’s about it. It also sits in a hole so flooding is the most obvious problem if you are buying.
    As mentioned Arnside is nice as is Silverdale which are also on the train line and close to the M6

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    Barbon – 2Gb broadband!!!!

    poolman
    Free Member

    I would add Storth, hidden away and everyone drives past. Nice walks to arnside along the beach, train station at arnside. A bit bungalow central but the views are stunning. The road can flood at high tide so be aware.

    Re staveley have a look at rail timetable, last month half of the trains were buses. Nice cafes though.

    There are some interesting houses in Bolton le sands, good access to south lakes, canal walks, beaches.

    Grange does have a micro climate. Kent’s bank is nice but getting a bit remote.

    Good luck in the search. Kirkby lonsdale would drive me mad with the tourists.

    grum
    Free Member

    I grew up in Kirkby Lonsdale. It’s beautiful but very touristy, mostly populated by wealthy old people (/Tories :P) and crap riding from the door. I don’t live there any more!

    Round Arnside/Warton/Carnforth is much cheaper and closer to Milnthorpe and has a little bit of riding. Farleton Knott is good but limited.

    Staveley is a great little place, I wouldn’t mind living there.

    Bit further away but Settle is nice and not crazy expensive for the Dales. Ingleton also which is closer.

    Not a fan of Kendal – it should be great but it’s just not.

    boris001
    Free Member

    Thanks so much for all your responses. Budget would be around £200/220k I guess. There’s just me and my wife plus our dogs. I’d also need to look for a part time job once we’d settled.

    Not so sure about KL now given riding and tourist feedback however with some new ideas thanks to the great suggestions here I’ve got some real food for thought. It’s a bit daunting moving somewhere brand new and coming from an area with great riding on my doorstep so all your advice is very gratefull received. Will let you know how we get on…

    lesgrandepotato
    Full Member

    There’s plenty of riding in the Cartmel valley and plenty of us that ride. Allithwaite is a nice village in budget as is Cark. Cartmel is probably a touch out of reach for the budget you have but a lovely place to be.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    With that budget I’d look for suitable properties first then see how far they are from Milnthorpe using AArouteplanner or similar then ask on here about the locale. The closer you are to The Lakes the higher the pricing will be. In High Newton the average house price in the early 1980s was over £100,000 and just checking now the average is nearly £400,000.

    Just checking on routeplanner and half an hour from Milnthorpe would give you options as far as Ulverston to the west and Ingleton to the east.

    jwt
    Free Member

    I also live in Allithwaite, easily in Milnthorpe in under 30 minutes.
    Cartmel peninsula is nice generally but can be pricey as alluded to above.
    Kendal, Stavely, Burton, Holme all offer easy access to good riding and Milnthorpe.
    Why not have a weekend in the area and have a drive around?

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    As mentioned above, Settle and Ingleton are worth a look, as is Bentham for value.

    postierich
    Free Member

    Think I asked the question several years ago and plumped for Kendal which was the right desicion, Staveley property is like rocking horse poo Sedbergh has no decent pubs but a great big hill behind it. K L is very nice with ace pubs but as they say above pricey and no legal trails.

    Kendal is getting better year on year.

    Rich

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    Sorry to ehar about your mum but …. congratulations on your move, the area has some of the worlds best mountain biking and the road riding is utterly fantastic from your doorstep.

    Kendal is great if you want the facilities of a town, and its a very friendly town.

    Kirkby is a Lakes honeypot £££ for property and £££ for pubs/meals. Almost all the villages down the Lune valley are the similar, lovely but overpriced. You need will need a Range Rover to fit in with the city boy turned country gent image. This does mean there are some fantastic restaurants though!

    Burton in Kendal you can ride Farleton Knott from your doorstep. But you can hear the motorway…..

    Ingleton is worth a shout, good routes from doorstep / clapham and a fantastic pump track for the kids / you.

    Burton in Lonsdale is lovely as is Low Bentham and you will get much more for the money. Bentham has the Leeds Lancaster train line if thats of interest. Only 15 mins drive to the riding hotbed of Clapham, 35 mins to Staveley and Gisburn trail centre is 25 minutes away.

    Arnside / silverdale there was some brilliant riding to be had a few years ago, unfortunately mostly on footpaths and the locals / landowners REALLY don’t like it so its a no go anymore.

    boris001
    Free Member

    Amazing, thanks for these additions to the thread.. so helpful.

    I’m working out travelling distances, affordability and riding opportunities and will go from there. Will let you know how we get on and where we end up!

    Again, thanks to you all for your advice!

    boris001
    Free Member

    We’ve been spending as much time as we can checking out the areas you all mentioned and it’s all definitely coming together. We’re narrowing down on where we want to buy and have found a couple of great places around Caton, the Kellets, Claughton and Hornby areas – the area is stunning and fits the travel criteria to where my mum will be eventually.

    Given the poor state of the property market in the south, we’re having to consider renting our place to get us up there in the new year. The issue we’re now facing is trying to find something to rent where they’ll allow dogs – does anyone have any experience/advice or contacts in the rental field please?

    Thanks again All

    boris001
    Free Member

    We’ve found a house just outside of Ingleton. Hoping it will all go through sometime in November. Looking forward to mtb and road riding in what looks like stunning scenery.

    Anyone out this way? Any bike shop and routes recommendations?

    Cheers!

    thegeneralist
    Free Member
    tomg17
    Full Member

    We lived in Kirkby Stephen for 7 years and only moved away (to Canada) recently. Can recommend the mechanic in Kirkby Stephen, and also Keswick Mountain Bikes where we bought our bikes while there. I’m sure you’ll get lots of great riding and shop recommendations on here.

    boxelder
    Full Member

    I hear lots of things about Barrow-in-Furness……
    I’d go Kendal/Milnthorpe, or what are the Lune Valley – Caton/Hornby?

    keithd
    Free Member

    I hear lots of things about Barrow-in-Furness……
    And all of it true. I live about 5 miles away and if I didn’t work there I wouldn`t go near the place!

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Barrow-in-Furness……

    A bit like the land that time forgot when compared with the eastern side of the Lakes…

    GlennQuagmire
    Free Member

    As an aside, for any motorcyclists here, the road from Hawes to Ingleton is absolutely fantastic.

Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)

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