I live near Ashbourne in a village. I love it- can't stand Derby and steer clear most of the time.

@Belledechocolate there's no sketchy area between Littleover and Normanton The catchment area for Littleover Community school includes part of Normanton. If you mean some folk insist their address in Littleover it happens everywhere, some folk in Allestree insist they live in Darley Abbey.

Belper is another town to consider, slightly north of Derby (and Duffield). Trains to Derby and London go every hour and fares quite reasonable if you book as far ahead as you can, DH used to commute into London every week. There's 5 primary schools, all different in themselves but standards are good at all. Cheaper housing than Duffield, and you can be in the countryside in minutes, and Belper has olde worlde charm too. The town has most of what you need plus a few special shops- Fresh Basil is a local deli, I should cocoa choccy shop, www.belperpeople.co.uk/home might give you a taster.

The trains from Duffield don't run too often but it's easy to get to the main station in Derby. The parts of Derby by the train station and Pride Park are not very affluent. Property has been developed there over the past few years but Alvaston and Willmorton are still two of the main areas of poverty in Derby.

We should all have a meet up Some wine etc.

I'm a Duffield girl, though not a resident at the moment, its a nice place to live, good schools, train station, great community I would recommend.

Thanks all - bit of strange situation with the schools since we are unlikely to be in the area for more than 2/3 years so secondary schools are a while off yet! Its more finding a nice/good primary that the girls will settle into. I'm in a medium sized town at the moment so still trying to get my head around the suburbs. I grew up in the backend of nowhere in Gloucestershire so trying to measure my hankering after the good life with the reality of being stuck out in country with 2 little un's! Also I run my own business and need to able to get into London quite easily so being nearish to a station has to now go on the list...arghhhh so much to think about!

I live in north of Derby itself and like it very much (Allestree).

It's close to town (short bus ride, lots open there on a Sunday!) yet you can walk to open country. Also very suburban and lots of families, very friendly and quiet, good community feel tho, Scout group, active churches etc. Good facilities too (library, doctors, shops etc). Schools both inf/jun and primary and secondary are good.

Also Duffield is nice tho more expensive (paying a premium for well-rated secondary); also Littleover is good, to west of Derby, Littleover School (secondary) v good, make sure you are in catchment tho; Spondon is nice too, or how about Ockbrook? nice village tho secondary means a bus ride which might put you off.

I agree Ashbourne and Melbourne both pretty places, guess it depends whether you would rather live in nice suburb of medium city or nice small town! What secondary do you go to from Melbourne? Is it Chellaston? In which case that's v well rated too. Ashbourne of course is QEGS tho don't be decived by name, it's not a grammar school as such. Don't know much about primaries there tho.

<reads posts and see belle and others have said what I said!>

Duffield is closer to the city centre and the shops, Ashbourne is lovelt but small. It gets a fair amount of tourists in the summer though.

Thanks - Duffield is next on our list for a look around. We went back up to Melbourne/Ticknall and then Ashbourne today. Love Ashbourne on 2nd visit, like Melbourne but could be a bit quiet, I'm used to be able to potter into town for a coffee on a Sunday and nothing was open! Also much closer to airport than I remember previously but the school is good. I'm not sure about the schools in Ashbourne? Duffield will be first on our next trip up North - thanks for all the help.

Hi-I've namechanged as I don't want to out myself. I would recommend you look at Duffield if you want state education. There are two good primaries (one a CofE the other a community school) and a secondary, Ecclesbourne, that is rated outstanding. The village is more of a small town with shops, couple of pubs etc but more importantly its a proper community with lots going on-sports,scouts and guides,churches, carnival week etc etc. It is relatively pricey for Derbyshire but worth a look. Hope this helps.

You're very welcome. Derby isn't a bad place and the locals are friendly (most of them). There's a lovely park in Allestree and it's close to Kedleston Hall. I think there's a smaller park in Littleover. Markeaton Park is lovely, it's near Allestree and has a huge firework display and a bonfire. A steam train goes around it in the summer, there's a duck pond and a tiny craft village. Darley Abbey is lovely also but there's nothing there, just a shop, a rugby club and a pub. It does have a huge park that follows the river, they have an open air classical music concert with fireworks at the end of August. If you need to know anything then just ask.

Mmmm...will have to take a look. Thanks for your help - its a minefield and I don't know the area at all!! One thing about moving from south to north is the property seems very good value compared to the ludicrous inflated prices down here!

Littleover's OK, my dentist is there. The secondary school is excellent so the house prices are rocketing (even renting there will be expensive). It's near the hospital as well. There is a part which is classed as Normanton as the border between the two is titchy. Normanton is more ethnically diverse but is a poorer area then Littleover. Littleover itself is sweet, there's a small highstreet with a pharmacy (and a dentist). I don't know about the schools there though. There's a couple of private schools there, one for boys and one for girls (but takes boys up to 11). It's not too far to get to Mickelover. The only problem I can think of about Littleover is the traffic leading through it; it's manic and it takes a long time to get through the traffic lights.

Thanks so much - do you have any thoughts on Littleover - seen a lovely house there but don't know the area at all. We will be renting so less affected by the house prices.

Hi Kabby. Ashbourne is lovely and it doesn't take very long to get to the city centre from there, about 20 mins. I'm in the city centre and the nicer parts are Allestree, Mickleover and Duffield. All have a good community and have what you are looking for. Duffield is generally a little more expensive though as it has the best state secondary there so it's bumped up the house prices. I hope this helps

Hi,

We are potentially relocating to Derbyshire from Hertfordshire in the New Year with 4 year old twins. DH is based in Derby so we are fairly relaxed about where we live but would like somewhere with a good primary, some reasonable shops (pub!) and a good community. We've looked at Ashbourne and Melbourne and liked them both but was wondering if there was anywhere else to add to the list. We have to apply to primary schools now so I'd like to get the ball rolling asap.

Thanks in advance of some assistance!
K