Moving to Lincolnshire

[DontMumble]

Hello
We're thinking of moving to Lincolnshire. We're considering the villages around Lincoln or one of the Market Towns such as Louth, Market Rasen, Horncastle.
Would appreciate advice on what villages are nice and what the Market Towns are like to live in.
We want facilities at hand, such as supermarkets, schools etc, so the really small villages where you need to drive everywhere won't be for us.
The only other thing that would concern us is an area with a flood risk.
Thanks
Mel

[MrsLegume]

It depends on where in Lincolnshire you need to be for work because crossing Lincoln during rush hour is a pain.
Nice villages around Lincoln are the Cliff villages to the south or Nettleham and Welton to the north. These all have pretty much everything you could want as well as a reasonable bus service into Lincoln during the day.

Not really sure about the market towns, I've visited them but haven't lived in any of them.

[DontMumble]

Hi MrsLegume
Thanks for replying.
No job lined up at the moment, that is why a village around Lincoln seems like a good place as the chance of a job would be better in the city.
Mel

[MrsLegume]

Then the villages would definitely be a better idea than the market towns. All of the villages listed above have decent bus links to the city.
I live in one of the cliff villages and am happy to offer any further advice if necessary, we moved to Lincoln for work 9 years ago and lived in a couple of places before we settled.

[DontMumble]

Thanks MrsLegume for your offer of further advice. We will take you up on that in the very near future.
Mel

[GladGlum]

I live near Mkt Rsn in a village where you have to drive everywhere. We'd like to move to Mkt Rsn or Caistor! Fab place to live, love it. I work in Lincoln - it's traffic is not like the Thames Valley, but tedious when you're used to villages. Find your jobs first then work from there. You should be aware though that this is Tory and UKIP country and the stupid bloody people have voted to leave the EU. It sticks in the gullet at every election. Edward Leigh is our MP. Say no more. Schools are good on the whole, but if you're thinking Grammar or LSST (grammar by another name), you should look at catchments. For some reason Louth's house prices are low, and it's a lovely place to live, great schools, sports centre etc, just no trains.

[DontMumble]

Hi GladGlum (an apt name for this last week lol)
Don't know much about Caistor. Yes finding a job first would normally be the most sensible way to go about it, but when you are used to two hours commuting, anything less than an hour is easily do-able. Living where we want to live is therefore our top priority. Louth does seem to have a slight price premium on other places in Lincolnshire, but there is probably a good reason for that.....it's desirable perhaps? It may be a bit too big for our taste though. Somewhere smaller but not too small might be better for us.
Thanks for your post.
Mel

[GladGlum]

I was a bit squiffy when I posted before!
I'm surprised you think Louth is more expensive - seems cheaper to me than elsewhere - more house for same price.

You should realise that Lincs is quite big roads wise, and public transport in villages is so poor as to be unusable - there may be a school bus but nothing to use to commute. To put this in some context, we drive about 35,000 miles a year in 2 cars. 8 miles school run takes about 12 minutes though - which is about the same time it took to go 1.5 miles in the last city we lived in. Diesel is a significant part of our monthly budget. Having said that, one of the reasons I'd like to move to Rasen is for the train to Lincoln.

It's also notable that there is not the same range of jobs that you get elsewhere in the country, certainly not at professional level, but as with other aspects of life here, you have to choose from what's available rather than seeking dream position (though you may be lucky!). This goes for things like kids' activities. But there is plenty on offer, but you'll be driving. Our sports are all Lincoln based, but it depends what you want - football, rugby, cricket are in the smaller places, but little else. You need Louth or Lincoln for anything else much.

Have you visited? I would recommend. It's a lovely place, but varies quite considerably. Lincoln itself is lovely too and villages like Washingborough and Heighinton and Branston are well-located too. And Welton!

[DontMumble]

Perhaps we've crossed lines here. I can see you get a lot for your money in Louth compared to the South East, but to us, Louth seems a little dearer than other parts of Lincolnshire.
I noticed Market Rasen had a train link to Lincoln which would be useful. And we are prepared to drive if there isn't a good public transport service.
We're not looking for dream jobs, just plain old jobs.
We will be going up soon to look around hence the quest for info and help on here.
Mel

[MrsLegume]

If you want a train station then can I throw Metheringham into the ring. It has most of the amenities you would want and is between Sleaford and Lincoln.

[DontMumble]

Do you know what the service is like between Metheringham and Lincoln? I had heard that the service between Market Rasen and Lincoln isn't that regular and that wasn't untypical in the county.
Mel

[MrsLegume]

I think it's every hour, and it takes 12 minutes, not sure what time the last one is though. There is also a bus service but I think the last one back from Lincoln is only 18:00 and a taxi would be doable.

North Hykeham has a train station between Lincoln and Newark, it is a suburb of Lincoln but there is plenty of countryside around and you can drive in to Lincoln if required easily.

[YellowBellyCat]

Bus from methringham to lincoln takes 45mins

timetable

[YellowBellyCat]

Last train to methringham leaves lincoln at 20:48. They're approx one an hour all day in either direction.

[DontMumble]

Thanks guys.
You wouldn't want to miss your train if you've an hour wait for next one! Bus doesn't sound a great alternative because of the 45 minute trip and the 18:00 finish.
I've read somewhere that the commute into Lincoln from North Hykeham is a slow one. Didn't realise there was a Hykeham railway station, but from google maps it looks like a bit of a walk from NH itself, but might be better than a traffic jammed road journey into Lincoln. However it also opens up the option of getting a job in Newark I suppose.
Mel

[Volatile]

You don't want to miss the 5.22 Lincoln to Mkt Rsn either - 3 hour wait, none for 2 hours before either. Public transport is really not reliable from village to town. But traffic 'jams' are not as you know them in the South.

[MrsLegume]

It depends on the time you're travelling, as it does anywhere. I drive 10 miles each way to work through the centre of Lincoln and I can do it in about 20 - 25 minutes each way but I leave the house before the morning rush and leave work before the afternoon rush.
North Hykeham to Lincoln is similar, except there are more buses and a train station - I do know a few people that work in town and use the train to commute in from NH because there is free parking at the train station.

[DontMumble]

A 3 hour wait after the 5.22?! If you finish at 5 and aren't far from Lincoln station you'd be alright (if you can always leave on time), otherwise the train option may as well be ruled out. Makes the one an hour service from Metheringham look excellent! lol
You're lucky MrsLegume that you can avoid the rush hours, but some jobs have the standard 9-5 type hours, so the rush hour cannot be avoided.
Free parking at a train station?! We have to pay £5 a day at ours. If people get the train in from NH, that makes me think either the jams are bad enough to opt for the train or the parking in Lincoln is expensive/difficult.

[MrsLegume]

It's £5 a day to park in town, the parking at the station is free because there is the LN6 project to reduce car use in the city.
But this is pay off for living somewhere with cheaper housing, and the traffic isn't as bad as many other cities we've visited.
We lived in London and my commute into the city took about 50 minutes by bus and we lived in zone 2.

[DontMumble]

Fittest I've ever been was when I worked in London. It was just as quick to walk a mile than get the bus. Put on weight since I stopped working in London as I don't get the exercise every day now.

[YellowBellyCat]

You could cycles from hykeham. There's a cycle path along Tritton rd. Wouldn't take long.

[Volatile]

I work at the uni which is close to the station, but parking for uni staff is around £6 a month (and I can park there on weekends/cinema trips etc.).

Y'know North Hykeham isn't a village or town, don't you? It's suburban, and estate type housing. Nice enough, but not at all villagey.

[DontMumble]

There's nothing wrong with cycling, but it isn't for me. lol
Yes, I'd prefer a village or town, than in Lincoln's suburbs. I've seen some NH houses on RightMove and can see it's estatey. But if its more practical than would still consider it.

[WaddingtonWitch]

I am currently in Waddington but I've just bought a house in Horsington, Just outside Woodall Spa. I see you have Horncastle on your list, That will now be my closest big town. It has everything there you need. I know there are busses run from there to Lincoln but there is no train line.

Metheringham is ideal for train access to Lincoln but it is a bit lot meh in my opinion, I used to live in Billinghay, then Walcott and I would not recommend them to anyone but maybe thats just me.

Waddington is lovely though, very close to Lincoln, regular busses and everything you need close by :)

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[DontMumble]

Hi again
Can anyone please give me some views on Market Rasen? A couple of people have said they wouldn't want to live in MR but without giving a reason as to why. We were definitely interested in MR and so we'd like to know if there are any problems we aren't aware of, that would explain why we've heard some negativity about it.
Also we hadn't realised until recently there was an international airport close by (Humberside International airport). Looking online, Caistor looks lovely, but it is very close to the airport and the runway points practically in its direction, so this would concern us for Caistor and possibly for Market Rasen too. I wouldn't want to live under a flight path and have jumbo jets flying only a couple of thousand feet over the house.
Maybe this is the reason why some people have said they wouldn't want to live in MR.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Mel