Moving to Doncaster - HELP!

[GoldMedalInScrabble]

Hi,

Sorry if this isn't in the correct place. We are currently in Berkshire but will hopefully be moving to the Doncaster area in January if all goes to plan (due to DH's work).

However neither of us know the area (the closest I've been is the Yorkshire Dales!) so any help would be gratefully received.

What areas should we be looking at? DH will be working in the town centre and wants a fairly short commute - no more than say 30 minutes. We have a budget of £600,000 max. and need 4 bedrooms, though would like 5, with a decent garden.

We also need schoools for our 4 DC (9, 6, 2 and 6 months) so any recommendations for good schools (state or private) would be helpful.

Also what is the area like? Are there lots of things for families/young children to do?

TIA

[OrangesAndLemonsAndChocolate]

Hi Gold! New baby and moving house, what an exciting year you're having

I know the area south of Doncaster quite well, and it's a lovely place.

Two of the best state secondary schools in the area are McAuley Catholic High School and The Hayfield School. Hayfield has five feeder primary schools, so if you live in the right area and have your kids in one of the primary schools you've got a good chance of them getting in.

The five primary schools are:
Branton St Wilfreds - has a very good reputation. Branton is a lovely little village, only ten minutes or so from the town centre. It has a post office and a pub IIRC. Also McAuley School is very near to Branton so you have that option too.

Auckley Junior & Infant school - Auckley is the next village after Branton, so slightly further out of town. This school is in the 'old' part of the village, which has a good-sized Spar shop, a fish and chip shop and I think a pub.

Hayfield Lane Primary School - this is at the other end of Auckley where the old RAF houses are. It's quite a mixed area - lots of three bed teraces but then plenty of five-bed detacheds. This part of Auckley has a little shop and a post office.

Finningley Primary School (Church of England) - Finningley is another village, has a lovely duck pond but don't much about it other that than! This school also takes the children from the nearby village of Blaxton.

Bawtry Mayflower Primary School - Bawtry is a small market town so has the most 'going on' in that sense (lots of gorgeous independent shops!) but it's the furthest out of town too.

Doncaster itself has lots going for it - decent leisure centre with swimming pool and ice rink, bowling and multiplex cinema, a new wildlifepark, a few retail parks and the shopping centre has been recently extended, to include a bus station. There are loads more shops now too!

Sheffield is about fourty-ish minutes away. It's a fab city with loads to do, it also has Meadowhall Shopping centre which is huge. York, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool are all a short-ish drive away, and parts of Doncaster are right on the border for Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

Any more questions, just ask!

[Katz]

Hi

I'm Sheffield based rather than Doncaster but my DH commuted from here to Doncaster daily for several years.

Try posting in the Sheffield local as other may see your request there. Ill point hulababy in ths direction, she knows Doncaster better than me.

[OrangesAndLemonsAndChocolate]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E430&maxPrice=600000&minBedrooms=5

You get a lot for your money up north!

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

I live south of Doncaster - hoping this doesn't sound snobby - that would be the best area to look in! It is a nice place to live, friendly people and lots of lovely countryside but most places tend to have shops, school etc, or are close to places that do. We live right on the border with Nottinghamshire, so on the outskirts of Sherwood forest which is beautiful.

Oranges is right about Bawtry, it is a pretty little town. Also closer to Doncaster there's Tickhill (don't let the name put you off) also small but with shops, facilities and good transport links. If you wanted to be even closer to town there's Rossington and Cantley, but you'd have to be careful which parts you lived in.

[PropositionJoe]

I'd look at Tickhill too. Nice village feel, you'll still get plenty for your moony I think.

[GoldMedalInScrabble]

Thank you so much everyone! I'll have a look at those areas.

It is all very exciting!

[INeedALieIn]

Sprotbrough is a lovely village. Very pretty, good houses, lovely school. Only a couple of miles from town and great access to the motorways.

[BettySuarez]

My sister lives in Tickhill and loves the area. Not sure about schools as hers are preschool age but there are Music Bugs classes locally in many of the areas mentioned which come highly recommended and suitable for your two youngest.

Lots of great preschools and playground too I think

[rezzle]

Would Tadcaster be too far away? I'd say it's probably about 45 minutes north of Doncaster but is really nice with a fab secondary school (Tadcaster Grammar) as well as a couple of really good primaries. Again, you get a lot for your money. Boston Spa, just next to Tadcaster, also seems nice.

[milkymocha]

My inlaws live in a lovely little place called Armthorpe, its a lovely place

[CarpeJugulum]

PIL are in the Donny area; as with most places, there are nice bits and not so nice bits.

Personally, I'm fond of Bawtry and Tickhill; and would second the recommendation for the Hayfield school.

[Mopsie]

I'm from the Isle of Axholme, Epworth area and surrounding villages, about 30mins drive to Doncaster town centre, might be worth a look if its not too much of a cummute. :)

[BikeRunSki]

You will get a lot for you money in and around Donny. Outside of Doncaster itself is mainly rural - farmland, small villages etc. Tickhill is lovely. Rossington not bad. Easy to commute to from either Sheffield (train or road) if you are a city girl, or East Riding if that floats your boat. Be very aware of the Environment Agency flood map - it's on their website - a lot of that S/E corner of Yorkshire is flood plain. Avoid Tollbar for this reason!

[iseenodust]

Bawtry is nice.
Also Howden in E Yorks is small town, less than 30mins and on direct train line/just off motorway but rural.

[starfishmummy]

Goodness Milkymocha - its many years since I have been to Armthorpe, it sounds like it must have changed a lot!!

[BikeRunSki]

Yes, Holden nice, Market Leighton too - again look out for flood plain.

[milkymocha]

Lol Starfish Really ? Both my SILs and family live in Armthorpe and its lovely. They both have the most beautiful houses/land. 5 bedrooms each.
But then i am from East London

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

The only thing I know about Armthorpe is that their graveyard is described as a 'burial ground' ... I always think of that Stephen King book Pet Semetery when I drive past

[starfishmummy]

When I last went to Armthorpe it was a mining village. My then fiancee came from there, and his parents lived in a former "coal board" house. It had an outside loo and the bath was in the kitchen, I kid you not. It had a cover over it so it looked like a big box.......

[Hulababy]

I grew up and lived in Doncaster til I was at uni. Family are still there. I taught in Armthorpe. I wouldn't describe it as a lovely village personally but each to their own.

If I were to live in Doncaster now I'd look at Tickhill I think.

[RedHelenB]

With £600 00 you#ll be spoiled for choice!!!

[MsElisaDay]

Bawtry is very smart, quite well-to-do and surrounded by lovely countryside. With your budget you could get something amazing there, too. Tickhill, or Gringley-on-the-Hill, will also be worth a look.

So, south Doncaster is really your best bet. Or there's some gorgeous places in Sheffield- Dore, Millhouses etc- which will only be a 30/40 min commute away.

[vj32]

I think my parents lived in Armthorpe just before the miners strike. Not a nice place to be. But then I don't think anywhere around Doncaster was a good place to be then, and people are still incredibly angry about it nearly 30 years later. (so may be worth knowing something about it if you move there as presumably they teach about it in schools as local history??)

[ZiaMaria]

I grew up in Rossington - and I wouldn't recommend it (little to do, bad reputation - though not as bad as Edlington).

I would suggest Tickhill, though the commute time may be a bit too much for your DH. With your budget you could look at the houses nearer in to the centre on Bawtry road (Bessacarr area).