[Closed] Where to live in the midlands /north/ north west

We moved from Crawley to Derbyshire in 2000. Might have gone higher up to Yorkshire but wife's family is in Eastbourne so already a 3-4 drive to go and see them.

Ended up near Ilkeston, halfway between Derby and Nottingham which offered us more job opportunities, just off M1 and good rail links. Both cities have improved in terms of retail, pubs, restaurants, theatres, unis etc while we've been up here. Can cycle into either for work, a lot of it off road. Surrounded by bridleways, footpaths, canal paths etc.

Half an hour drive/ one hour by road bike to reach the bottom of the Peak District and all that it offers. Been a great place to settle down and bring up kids. Long way to the coast though, if that's a factor.

Somewhere between Chester and Conwy.

In the classic STW tradition of recommend where you live, I have never, ever regretted escaping London decades ago to live on the Manchester side of the Peak District. Easy access to the Peak in one direction, 30 minutes by train into Manchester on the other. Cracking mountain biking, road riding, climbing, running etc on your doorstep. No need to drive, just go out and ride.

I like Glossop - it's really changed over the past 10 years or so and is a genuinely lovely place to live - but other options are available. Everyone moans about the traffic, there's an easy answer to that, don't drive into Manchester. It's generally fine going out the other way.

Or if you want to live in a city with great outdoor connectivity, Sheffield. Again you can do stuff from your front door or the Peak is a short hop away if you want to go cragging etc.

I have to grudgingly admit that I have a soft spot for Hebden Bridge and Calderdale as well.

I don't really understand why anyone would move to somewhere which still required driving to ride, but who made me the relocation police?

Annual rainfall Lancaster: 43in E Midlands 23in

Lancaster is lovely but that weather would grind you down.

Yeah agree, north of Manchester is great in many respects, countryside, accessibility, cost but my god can it rain.

Sheffield of course. Edge of the Peak, I can be at a crag in 5 minutes from my door for climbing, some great biking out of the front door too (you’d need to look at the west side of the city though). Great range of pubs, Hathersage outdoor pool in 20 minutes drive from western suburbs, easy rail connections to Manchester, Leeds and London. Perfect!

I have to grudgingly admit that I have a soft spot for Hebden Bridge and Calderdale as well

Made the move up here a few years ago from Northamptonshire.

Pros: Same as BWD the outdoors is a ride away, and the trails I can access from my door range from 20+ mile moorland vistas, to full on techy madness. The town itself is great, filled with nice pubs and cafes, all the quirky little shops, a railway that's handily connected to Manchester and Leeds. It's beautiful up here.

Cons: The weather, and the roads/infrastructure. Hebden feels like it's going to just wash away eventually, In the time I've lived here, there hasn't been a winter without flooding of some description. It's a mental grind if I'm honest. The road infrastructure up here for the population density is properly shocking, It's partly geographic fo'shure, but for any journey regardless of distance add 15-45 mins on to it just for traffic, at rush hour it's worse, and don't get me started on the horror that's the M62.

I love living here, but I'm moving to Manchester (mostly as my partner lives there, and doesn't want to live in Heb) and I'm ready for something new. I think I'll enjoy being a visitor to the valley more than being a resident.

It would be Shropshire for me if I was heading middlands / "southern part of the north" for me

We settled in rural south Shropshire about 5 years ago. Its stunning countryside and well off the beaten track. We are in the Shropshire hills area of outstanding natural beauty, just north of Ludlow which is a beautiful little town. I live on a bridleway within site of Brown Clee hill and Wenlock edge and we can't see our nearest neighbours. The loudest sounds we have to endure are sheep, our chickens and owls at night.

Within 10 to 40 minutes I have Mortimer forest, Bringewood, Bucknell, Long Mynd, Stiperstones, Caer Caradoc, Eastridge, Wyre forest, Clee hills and the Wrekin. I'm close to the mid Wales border so can reach any of the main Welsh trail centres or Bike parks in 90 minutes to 2 hours. Cannock chase is also less the 90 mins away.

Downsides. We are 900ft above sea level in a fairly exposed location so winters can be a bit of a challenge. Road and rail links aren't brilliant if you need to travel a lot, but I'm retired so I don't 🙂

I'm 56 and originally from Chester. I have lived in London, Kent, Oxfordshire, Edinburgh, Lisburn in NI, Warwickshire, Stroud in Gloucestershire as well as Cyprus and Germany. This feels like home and as I no longer need to move due to work, I dont plan to any time soon.

Ramsbottom.

why leave Surrey?
I'm in Dorking and can ride out the door in any direction to probably the biggest trail network in the country.
The weathers better, the beer is colder....

You've got to look at your priorities, and that includes work.
Do you need access to a big City for job? And if so, which one? And what's your tolerance level for a commute?
Do you want riding from your door? And of so, what kind? Road, gravel or MTB?
Do you want to live in a village or close/in a reasonable size town?

I won't suggest where I live but will suggest Derbyshire where my brother lives, somewhere north west of the City.
Very short drive to The Peak District, great country lanes and paths from his door and can get to Birmingham in an hour, London and Manchester in just over 90 mins.
Obviously the closer to the hills you are, the better the riding but the worse the commute.

Shropshire is also a good shout, somewhere around Church Stretton, very easy access to Birmingham and Manchester and the riding is great too. You're also close to Wales which may appeal.

Edgeworth

Midlands - somewhere near the Tweed valley

North/Northwest - Somewhere near Torridon

I used to live in north Kent and work in central London. Moved north to the midlands almost 20 years ago.

We wanted to be north of London as my wifes family were midland based and kind of worked our way up the M1 looking at locations until we found a place where house expectation and budget intersected. That town was Burton on Trent. I got a new job in Nottingham but Birmingham and Derby also easy commutes by car or train.

Riding from the doorstep is not great, just bridal ways, towpaths etc. Peaks further north, Cannock down the road and mid wales trail centres doable in a long day. There is enough for me but its more gravel bike than downhill.

I would like to be a bit closer the Peak District as suggested above but we are settled here now and the kinds have put down roots locally.

Shropshire as above, although we went for near-ish Shrewsbury for links to Manchester and London. Loads of brilliant biking and outdoors stuff, lovely villages and nice people, it’s a bit like stepping back in time, very pleasant and mostly uncrowded.

I’ve lived in London, Manchester, Pennines and the edge of the Peaks amongst others, there are lots of other nice places to live too, you probably need to do some extended visits! My wife is from Windlesham originally but absolutely loves Shropshire.

As a side note, the weather mostly seems to be better than Manchester. I travel between the two places with work and it’s like going to a different country some days.

If you're content to say farewell to predictable settled sunkissed skies, then I can recommend some of the places in and around Stockport. Marple, Whaley Bridge, Hayfield etc.

Having lived in Shropshire (11 years) and south Manchester (15 years) I would say that you aren't doing too badly living in Surrey!

Don't underestimate how much worse the weather is on the west of the country...

East of the peaks is worth a shout, however.

I don't like rain...

Peak District, Dales, Northumberland or Cumbria can’t go far wrong.

Don’t underestimate how much worse the weather is on the west of the country…

Yes, you do kind of get used to it though. And when the sun's out, it's just extraordinarily beautiful, which makes up for it. A bit.

I live just north of Derby which is great for the White Peak. Towns I’d recommend for the White Peak are Belper, Matlock, Wirksworth.
For the Dark Peak I’d suggest Buxton, Glossop and Chesterfield.

We had the amazing Covid spring in the Lake District, and it's often nice at that time of the year. It's actual summer that's usually rubbish.

Sheffield, Derby, & Nottingham all seem pretty susceptible to down turns. I suspect that with Roles Royce laying people off Derby is going to be tough until things pick up. Manchester and Leeds seem a bit more resilient because of their size but that could be the grass being greener elsewhere.

I’m about midway between Derby & Sheffield on eastern edge of the Peak. The commute to Derby, Nottingham & Sheffield is fine. Although Manchester isn’t much further away the commute is less straightforward although I know plenty of people who do it (although they earn significantly more than me to justify it).

In terms of getting out to play I couldn’t have better (off road within 400 yards, cheeky off road within 100, and I can see the local gritstone crag from my front window (perversely I prefer limestone).

Someone told me the local house prices are comparable with Cambridge but I’m pretty sure they are comparing apples with pears. When we moved the house prices were comparable with the more affordable bits of the south & west side of Sheffield.

Annual rainfall Lancaster: 43in E Midlands 23in

Having lived where annual rainfall is 53in and 54in, you're going to have to toughen up...

This thread is unusually realistic about the weather, must be the recent weeks of never-quite-dry trails up here in Northern England.

Also don't underestimate how good a thing you have in the Surrey Hills. I was riding there recently and you won't find a similar density of trails (especially ones with corners) anywhere else in England. Plus they are dry a lot more of the time.

I live 15 or 20 miles north of MCR and it's nice enough. As a former London and home counties-dweller, I love having rocks and proper hills. And day trips to the Lakes are awesome.

If I'd had more choice, I might've been tempted by Shropshire for the greater variety of trails, that bit less rain and the proximity to Wales.