[Closed] Moving to Manchester

Cheadle/Cheadle Hulme? Great road riding from out the door. Great mountain biking within 30 mins at Macc forest and the peaks would be an hr away. Train into Stockport and Picadilly to. I don't think house prices there are too extortionate?

Bromley Cross to Manchester Victoria is about half an hour by train, you'll be into the Binners' country and there are plenty of nice villages around there that'll give the kids a great quality of life and the cycling is supposed to be great too.
Do you want city living or something out of town?

Where are you now?

Do the walkers appreciate cyclists bombing around The Clough in Prestwich? 😆

Last time I walked round there was before mountain bikes took off, perhaps ~1980, certainly before I was 10 years of age... I feel old! 😯

Live in Aberdeen at the moment so if we do move its a big one for us.

Don't want to be in the city centre and would prefer suburbs or village as we've done the whole living in the city centre thing and with the wee one need a garden and stuff that's easy to get to for the Mrs as she doesn't drive.

North Manchester is reasonably priced and good for getting to good riding. Look at Prestwich/Whitefield/Bury (Not Radcliffe).

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Spinningfields is in the distance, and it's 25 minutes by train....

Have a look at Prestwich.

Good transport links to the city, all the amenities, trails on the doorstep and an hour in the car will have you in Wales, The Lakes, Yarkshr or the Peak District.

Cheadle/Cheadle Hulme?

Marple/New Mills worth a look too, 30 mins into Picadilly on the train and ACE for riding from the door

Two words; Whaley Bridge

Horwich is nice , 30 mins to Manchester on train
Houses reasonable
Rivington on the doorstep
Lakes 70 mins away
Nice schools , pubs and restaurants

Hey I'm supposed to big up horwich...

Spinningfields bout 25min on the train.

Kendal 1hr Birmingham 2 Glasgow 3 by car.

Horwich is nice a little bit "local" but I've been here ten years n enjoy living here

I'd recommend coming down for a weekend and I'm sure people would offer to show you round.

Hebden Bridge is 38mins to Victoria

Horwich is nice , 30 mins to Manchester on train

My bit.

In STW tradition, recommend what you know..

Sambob and IHN speak sense. I'm in New Mills. Peak District on the door. 30 mins on train to Piccadilly. Free bus or walk to spinningfields.

You seem to get a decent ammount of house for the money.
The traffic from the south is horrid... It's also equally as horrid from the north.

The traffic from the south is horrid... It's also equally as horrid from the north.

Bromley Cross is much nicer than Horwich, but not as well connected.

Rochdale.. its cheap.. with good reason.. stay away..

Bromley Cross is much nicer than Horwich, but not as well connected.

Marple Bridge, Whaley, Chinley, Hayfield (great village and 5 min from train staion) and even parts of Glossop are great areas to live. Affordable housing thats rising, good schools and fantastic countryside on your doorstep.

Newhey, semi-rural, metrolink into town and its cheap.....ish, top end is on the Pennine Bridleway.

Chippy, butty shop, 4 pubs, tapas bar and italian bistro..........its the DB`s 🙂

Prestwich yes. Horwich? If your looking at a train ride i'rather do Littleborough etc (tram)

IHN - Member
Two words; Whaley Bridge

I rented in Whaley to assess feasability of commute into Manchester (Uni). It takes:
55 mins - road bike not pushing it
1h30 mins - mtb halfway (canal/chadkirk woods/woodbank/Reddish Vale) then road
2h 30 mins - mtb all the way, as above but onto Mersey and canal into centre
1h 10 mins - train, door to door.
50 mins minimum by car, and more like double that in rush hour.

I just bought a house there though 🙂

I'd try anywhere on the Buxton train line, e.g., Hazel Grove, or as above Marple. Lots of great riding.

Where are you going to be working in Manchester? Use that to guide where you choose to live. The trams (Metro) have changed how easy it is to get around the city from the dark days of having to rely on buses and trains alone.

Like folks say, north manchester & further are great for lancashire, the pennines, the western dales, and the lakes. Pick your area carefully.

South Manchester (Didsbury, Withington on the other hand & over the border in Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall is great for the cheshire plains (!) and getting into the Peak District. There's riding out the door from these places towards Poynton, Lyme Park & onwards.

In north Manchester if you're off the tram route getting into Manchester can be a pain. In south Manchester once you stray south of the Mersey or east of the A34 your public transport options shrink too unless you're close to one of the railway stations to Piccadilly.

Worth checking which bit of Manchester you want/can work in and which trainline that is on
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On the rare occasions I had to use the train from Rochdale way changing to the Liverpool line was a massive PITA and timings were crap. As for driving I'm glad I'm not doing that anymore. The downside of anything that feeds down onto the M62/60 is that once that is screwed it all is (I went back to bed one morning after 30 mins of getting nowhere)
Not sure what the Aberdeen weather is like but it certainly rains more on the west than the east

Sheffield. Great trails and road riding on your doorstep (peak District to the north and south of the city) and about an hour into picadilly.

Houses cheaper than Manchester and the city is nicer (I am a little biased as I do live in Sheffield but I do also commute to Manchester and it's really not a bad journey).

We had similar requirements when we moved here, ended up in Prestwich as it was reasonably priced, had Metrolink stops, and had riding on the doorstep (Philips Park). It's 40 mins door to door from home to work (city centre) for me by tram and pretty similar by bike once you factor in changing time, etc. Also very easy to get to the Peak District and N Wales, and about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to the Lakes.

Now has some decent restaurants/cafes in walking distance as well, so we're pretty happy here

Horwich gets a train every 30 mins and gets to Manc Vic in more or less 3o mins, Bromley Cross gets to Manc Vic in more or less 30mins with a frequency of 3 per hour. Much better connected.
BTW I have no allegience to this area, I think it's shite.
If I wanted to live in Manc, I'd go back to Didsbury.

I was thinking more road connections for going north / access to riding.

If riding is your first priority, you need to look at two maps; the map showing topography will show you that Manchester has hills from about 11 0'clock round to four o'clock. A map of house prices will show the most expensive from about four to eight, i.e. Cheshire, which is also flat. For me the nicest area is the Rossendale valley, heading north from Bury. The valley sides and hills are a maze of old industrial routes from packhorse trails to quarry roads to old railays and tramways so the riding opportunities are almost endless. Once you get into agricultural areas like Cheshire or the Ribble Vallery, further north, bridleways are far and few between and it's more road cycling. If it's road cycling you want then head north for the Ribble Valley and the Bowland Fells, miles of glorious empty roads and plenty of hills.

[I]Sambob and IHN speak sense. [b]well, duh![/b] I'm in New Mills. Peak District on the door. 30 mins on train to [s]Piccadilly[/s][b]Oxford Road.[/b] [s]Free bus or[/s][b] 5 minute[/b] walk to spinningfields.[/I]

I used to set off from home about 6:55 and ride my ratty bike to the station, get the 7:03 and was at my desk in Spinningfields by 08:00.

[I]Cheshire, which is also flat[/I]

Tell that to Macclesfield Forest...

Marple and New Mills have excellant mtbing on the doorstep.
The housing here is quite reasonable when compared to Poynton, Cheadle hulme, Bramhall.
There are 2 railway stations and many buses into Stockport,
Manchester and into the Peak distruct area.
Plenty of local shops, fablous little cinema, theatre and a good selection of cafe's, tearooms and pubs, 2 recently opened as real ale houses.
Some nice history if you like canals and old mills.

I live in Whaley too, thought the commute requirement might be pushing it so I suggested Marple or New Mills instead, but in reality it's only 10/15 minutes further out than New Mills. Decent bike shop, LOADS of pubs, supermarket (or little shops if you prefer).

[i]Decent bike shop[/i]

I know I'm in a minority of one when it comes to my opinion of the bike shop in Whaley, but we'll agree to differ...

Bowdon, every other bit of Manchester looked a bit rough to me

Bowdon, every other bit of Manchester looked a bit rough to me

There are little areas of civilisation all around Manchester and the satellite mill towns; you need to go on a weekend exploration by car to find them.

2nd all the recommendations for the New Mills/Whaley Bridge/Marple areas.

Best of everything there - trains to town, and decent trails from the door. Houses are reasonably priced and rail is a lot cheaper than the south. Bike shops? I used to pop into Sam's (High Peak Cycles) in New Mills for bits/bobs and workshop type stuff. Really good service.

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

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://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7186/26763553112_c497dd9087_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7186/26763553112_c497dd9087_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/GM1cUU ]Commute[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/13995637@N08/ ]Greg.May[/url], 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 .

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 [b]public transport.[/b]

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?