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Might be moving down to the south of peak district area, looking at sort of matlock and further down / across towards derby or Mansfield.
Any towns that are nice , or ones to avoid? Got two young kids so need primary and secondary schools, and also ideally some nice riding close to home.
Matlock is nice, wife and I have looked at moving there on multiple occasions but it;s location just didn't work with jobs etc. Also has direct trains to Derby/Nottingham which link you to pretty much the whole country.
Lots of the north notts/north derbyshire villages and towns can be a bit grim, never having recovered from the closure of the coal pits. Based on limited local knowledge I'd avoid Mansfield, Kirby in ashfield, sutton in ashfield.
Personally, if you have the choice, go for something in the hills like Matlock, rather that an outlying town/village.
Based on limited local knowledge I’d avoid Mansfield, Kirby in ashfield, sutton in ashfield.
I'd second that!
The need for trains would point you somewhere in the Derwent Valley from Matlock down to Derby. There is a branchline with hourly trains through to Derby/Nottingham. Trains stop at Matlock, Cromford, Whatstandwell, Ambergate (me!), Belper, and Duffield on the line.
Matlock is nice, Belper is nice too and both have secondary schools. Belper secondary school is a no-uniform and 1st names for teachers place, that some people don't like. My daughter is there and we find it good place to be.
Getting in and out of Matlock in the summer can be a bit ball-ache though due to tourist traffic.
Anywhere in or around Bakewell, Matlock, Wirksworth is fine the secondary schools in all three are good, although I believe that Gells in Wirksworth is currently edging it on results etc (its slightly smaller than the other two and doesn’t have uniforms). I’d be happy sending my kids to any of them.
The primary schools are a bit more varied but I’ve not heard of any real horror stories (The main problem is keeping them open as numbers drop).
The cost of houses in the villages round the towns varies so its worth looking round (Some villages are a bit more biscuit tin than others so they tend to have a high proportion of holiday homes).
Being close to the Matlock Derby railway line is a big advantage for Derby & Nottingham (I tend to drive or ride) (If they ever got the Eccelsbourne line running as a commuter line it would make Wirksworth idilic).
It does get busy during the summer but there are plenty of back routes to avoid the problem routes.
Riding wise all are good.
I was brought up in the immediate area so I’m biased (I wouldn’t disregard any of the other places you mention (Both Belper and Ambergate have good riding).
Ashover for the win!
Wirksworth if you need a town rather than village - Gell is a fine secondary (my daughter goes there).
Friends live in Belper (in fact he's on here), they seem to like it.
Probably not that important, but there also used to be a Delorean to be seen driving round Belper, dunno if that's still there.
Ashover for the win!
Ashover for the [i]lottery[/i] winners!
🙂
Did a nice ride through there at the weekend - 42 miles of glorious gravel taking in the high peak and Monsal trails. Not a very exciting technical ride, but holding nearly 18mph steady for the whole length of the HP trail took some bloody doing, I can tell you!
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/690704
Lovely corner of the world and although I can't comment on specific towns and villages as I'm not from round there, it's somewhere I visit quite often on holiday with the family.
Ashover for the <em class="bbcode-em">lottery winners!
True, there is an element of that! I'm fortunate in that I grew up there and have been able to stay but quite honestly I can't think of anywhere I'd rather live, at least within reason.
Crich, ambergate, whatstandwell are all good. Nice villages, good riding and schools
Need to think about access to jobs and tourist traffic jams. I'd avoid going too far east of the A38, more former mining/industry areas.
The nice bits with good links are expensive, but I can't think of anywhere between Matlock and Derby along the A6/Derwent/Amber valleys and across to Ashbourne I wouldn't want to live - parts of Belper maybe but a nice town on the whole.
Access in snow and ice can be tricky away from the main roads when we have a decent spell of it
(I'm in a village near Ilkeston as we couldn't afford the nice bits......but we love it here!)
I live in Darley Dale, which is nice enough. Spent a lot of time growing up in village called Elton. Wouldn't move back there as nice as it is - a bit to much 'village community' going on. If i had the money, Ashover would be my choice, but yeah there are lots of lovely areas. The riding is spot on, albeit quitea bit of cheeky