Tell me about Lancaster for local riding,house prices and general vibe!

Other half has an interview up there so I need selling on it before I give the nod any positive negative comments please.

Rich

Loads of good riding, minutes from south lakes, Kentmere, Farelton. Where are you moving from?

Lichfield Staffs!

SFB lives there – I’m out 8)

Minutes? It has taken me a good few hours to ride to the lakes on a mountain bike. I have a number of mates that live in Lancaster and reckon it’s quite weak for mountain biking – you generally have to get in the car. You wouldn’t have to drive far though but it’s nice to avoid the car. There are train links which are good but you have to be careful because you have to book bikes on some of them. It’s fantastic for road riding and a nice place to live.
I wouldn’t mind living there at all but I’d miss mountain biking from my door.

I live there. On me phone at the mo so I won’t type a long answer now, but Lancaster is nice. 30 mins from some great riding in Kentmere and masses another 1/2 hour or so away.

But yeah no biking from the door really apart from (great) road biking.

What little I know Rich…

Pros – as above re Lakes, good cycling city, lots of trailer bike trails nearby, cycle trails to the coast, good M6 access (apart from rush hour nightmare) pretty vibrant city centre, nice big park in the centre, surrounded by greenery

Cons – city centre very busy with traffic, really needs a ring road, er no idea of people issues,

I lived there for 5 years, really liked it.
30 mins drive to Kendal/Ambleside, maybe an hour to Keswick and there’s plenty of other good riding round there too – Howgills for example. Great for road riding too, I used to ride up to Kendal and Grizedale quite regularly as well as out into the Trough of Bowland, down towards Blackpool or out to Yorkshire. Very varied routes.

The town itself is nice and compact although when I lived there it had a distinct lack of coffee shops and decent restaurants. It’s now got the usual CostaBucks Nero though. Good farmers market there. Traffic is shite cos of the rubbish one-way system but you’re very close to J33 and 34 of the M6 and right on the main West Coast line.

Oh yeah and as mentioned above SFB lives there, the Bogtrotters meet for their weekend rides at the Holiday Inn just by J34 so there’s a good riding scene up there.

House prices: no idea now but when I moved there in March 2002 you could geta 2-bed terrace for <£50k. By the time I left in 2007, the same houses were fetching >£100k. 😯

Loads of good stuff, Clougha Pike out the back of lancaster, Warton Crag to the north near Carnforth and Silverdale woods. Think the Bogtrotters Club are based up there somewhere. I’m from Morecambe originally and there is stuff there, just not any trail centres… Lancaster is quite nice too, lots of smaller pubs and shops to choose from, just don’t buy a house on Rylands, the Marsh or the Ridge estates.

Oh and for a ‘fun’ night out you can always visit Morecambe…. Wear some fast trainers!

hey moved up here 2007 from Manchester and really like it. As has been said the lakes is all very close by. I can get to Borrowdale in about an hourish and Ambleside’s 40mins.

Traffic is bloody awful but there is very little reason to drive as most places are easily accessed by foot or bike if you live in town.

House’s are all mainly Victorian in Lancaster and compare to most places up north. It can feel a little bit cut off but thanks to the uni there is a decent amount of culture art, house cinema and very good gallery, if this interests you at all.

Great place to live 🙂

I have some friends there and it seems a nice place to live and well positioned for MTBing! Was a pleasant surprise for my very southern wife who thought it was entirely grim up North…

Also less than an hour to the Yorkshire Dales and Gisburn Forest.

Some nice villages also around – Wray, Bentham, Quernmore – to live in.

I echo what’s been said. Nice place.

2 bed terrace go for 100-130 (we’ve just bought one to rent out….). 3 bed terrace are 125-150. 3 bed semis go from maybe 150 upwards.

Local trails aren’t that numerous. Lakes is near enough though. Good for roadie loops too.

Any good local bike shops?

… 😉

I live there. Be afraid.

Wow cheers guys!
Having a look round next Thursday does it need a bike shop? could transfer to Lancaster office but it would only be on a PT basis.
Do the Bogtrotters have a fast section 😉
Houses prices seem very resonable might be able to afford a Garage 😆

Rich

Leisure Lakes and Edge Cycles both in Lancaster and MTB savvy. Lancaster is generally a good spot to live – any further North and prices are shocking. You could look at Carnforth / Arnside so you’d be north of Lancaster but only 10/15 mins away. The good thing is that you’d be 10/15 mins closer to the Lakes and a bit closer to training rides from the door. There is also a Canal that runs up towards Kendal (think there is a break in it at Tewitfield still..?) so you could use that as a means to head north and stay off the road.

does it need a bike shop?

there are 3 at present: The Edge (also Chester), Leisure Lakes (all over north west), Destination Cycles (local)

Do the Bogtrotters have a fast section

all levels of ability and speed 🙂

There’s some nice riding on Farleton Knott, about 15 mins drive.

Do the Bogtrotters have a fast section

The Boggies have ‘Junior’…….. 😉

(think there is a break in it at Tewitfield still..?)

the M6 cuts the canal near Yealand, but there’s road bridge, and the canal terminates near Hincaster though most of the towpath is still there (well, the canal too but empty apart from earth). I don’t know if the 2 tunnels are passable…

yeah for the return of barnes i sent you an e-mail you did not reply 😥
Schools are poor if you have secondary age children

Schools are poor if you have secondary age children

the girls’ grammar school is brill 🙂

yeah for the return of barnes i sent you an e-mail you did not reply

you did ? I can’t find anything from you since last June…

LOL
it was only saying I missed your presence on the forum
Busy now will send you one tomorrow hope you are ok

just imagine having barnes as a neighbour………….. 😯

😉

all levels of ability and speed waiting

😉

we have some awesomely fast riders, though I rarely see them 🙂

I’ve only done one ride (well, walk, given the conditions) with the boggies, in the absolutely freezing Kentmere valley a couple of winters back. A great bunch of people, pity it never worked out for me to ride with them more often.

Oh, and as for Lancaster – great place. If we ever move back to the UK, it’s high on our list to live there again.

I went to university in Lanky, it’s a proper northern town, and good for it. Go back every few months to visit and it gets better to be honest.

Loads of good riding, close to the lakes, and some brilliant pubs.