Moving to Lincolnshire ?

[SpennyW]

Hi all,

Newbie alert so sorry if I am posting this in the wrong area!

I’m after a couple of bits of advice so maybe two threads are needed... sorry 🙈

Anyway, 1st off, we are looking to relocate to Lincolnshire. We currently live in Kent with our 3 year old daughter, my husband works in Barking for the Met Police but is wanting to transfer out. I was born in Louth and moved south when I was 8...

Lincolnshire police are currently recruiting so a mix of a more laid back life and ‘going home’ is really rather appealing!

Having said that I haven’t a clue as to where to start to look to live. It has been suggested that he would be stationed in either Lincoln or Boston. We don’t want town life and are all up for countryside living but need to be looking somewhere in between the 2.

However, with little lady starting school next year we want acces to a great primary school and secondary school (planning on this being the last move!)

On top of that I’m a registered childminder and would love to keep my business going so I can do the school run etc... and being stuck in an office after having had fun out and about with little people would be my worst nightmare! I know the hourly rate is less up there than down here but I’m prepared for that...

Can anyone suggest anywhere lovely to live - we have a max of 300k to spend and somewhere that would need a childminder..

Sorry - waffle over!

Thanks in advance

Claire

[MrsPnut]

I live in one of the cliff villages and access into Lincoln is reasonably good. The primary schools are all good or outstanding and most of the local secondary schools are also good or outstanding.
This added to the fact that North Kesteven is one of the safest districts to live in makes it quite attractive.

[SKYTVADDICT]

Sleaford. Brilliant schools. Childminders usually in demand. I gave up just over a year ago.

[SpennyW]

Thanks for your messages back.

Skytvaddict... why did you give up if you don’t mind me asking?

I’ve read good and bad reports about sleaford... squaddie town etc. Being the bad...

I love the idea of the cliff villages - how do I find out which ones are cliff villages? All I can find is an explanation of the cliff - which sounds very much like the ridge I live on Now in Kent! Are the cliff villages close enough to a town / schools that would warrant a childminder? I’m only looking at having a couple of kids plus possible after schoolers...

Hubby and I would love proper rural with your closest neighbor across the fields but We’be got a 3 year old so i as much as I’d love it I don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere with a bored teenager in 10 + years time 😂

[pullingmyhairout1]

Sleaford. I really dislike anywhere else.

[MrsPnut]

Most of the cliff villages have schools and there is an RAF base in one of them. There always seems to be people asking on the local pages for details of childminders so I would imagine there will be demand. The villages are about 5 miles from Lincoln and are the string from Bracebridge Heath to Leadenham along the A607.

[SpennyW]

Hi MrsPnut
I’m just looking at villages on the a607 and they all seem to be on this main drag.
My concern is that it is a busy road as it is a main run through to Lincoln... I know we have ridiculous traffic down here but really don’t fancy buses and lorries hurtling past my front door... or is it not that sort of ‘a’ road.
We will be heading up to the county for a couple of days soon to have a nosey but it will be a weekend so we might not see the ‘rush hour’ truth. Having said that rush hour to you is quite possibly totally different to my experiences of rush hour!

[MrsPnut]

It’s not that kind of road and besides we live on a quiet lane in one of the villages and we get a few cars every hour passing by.
Rush hour here means queueing at the junction at bracebridge heath and queuing to get through the city but nothing like it is down south.
We lived in Stoke Newington in central London before here and the peace and quiet takes some getting used to.
The best thing to do is come and visit lots of places and walk around being nosy. I’d also visit a few pubs too because that makes a big difference to living somewhere.

[SpennyW]

Fab thank you!
I’m quite taken by a house in Bardney, before I dream any more about it, is it a nice area?
We will be heading up soon but what we don’t want to do is waste our time visiting places the internet says is a lovely little market town and it’s actually the equivalent Peckham (don’t want to offend there) !

Thank you for your advice

[MrsPnut]

Bardney is quite isolated, it’s nice enough but there isn’t much there and the transport links are rubbish.

Having had a teenager and another child almost there in Lincolnshire, a decent bus or train service so they can get themselves around some of the time is essential.

None of the areas outside the centre of Lincoln are remotely like Peckham, and those areas are still perfectly safe.

[PsychoPumpkin]

Heckington is a great village, it’s has a Doctor, dentist, co-op, pharmacy, a few really good takeaways, a pub, clothes shop, DIY shop, greengrocer/florist, two cafes, clubs like rainbows & brownies, parent & toddler groups, a sure start centre, a pool, a hair salon, a nail salon, a fantastic pre school, a decent school.

If you’re after somewhere slightly more rural, Helpringham is 3 minutes away in the car but still only about 25 mind from Boston and 15 from Sleaford and it has a shop, a lively pub (better than Heckington IMO) and a pre school and school.

My daughter has attended both schools and I actually thing Helpringham is better, smaller class sizes, more outdoor equiptment for playtime, really emersive classroom environments, friendly teachers and a wonderful head. It’s just across the road from a big playing field with lots of well maintained play equipment. It’s a beautiful village and the people are really friendly, but the same can be said for Heckington.

[SKYTVADDICT]

I gave up childminding as my own children had grown and we all wanted our house back. I don't think of Sleaford as a squaddie town. I hardly notice any around anyway 😂. It does lack a cinema but Lincoln and Grantham are such short train rides away

[SpennyW]

Thank you for your comments. The village I live in now is about 10 minutes out of town (but it can take you up to 45 minutes to get in and park) - on our doorstep we have 3 takeaway restaurants, a sit down Indian, corner shop and 2 funeral homes - we don’t even have a pub in walking distance! So, if we stayed here there would be a lot of ‘dads taxi’ going on anyway so some of these villages you mention that are on the outskirts of sleaford sound great!

Heckington and helpringham sound lovely they’ve been added to my list of musts visits!

Skytvaddict - I was chatting to my childminder the other day and she suggested becoming a nanny instead so your house isn’t the one overrun with toys... while I can see the benefit, I just can’t see people wanting to pay their fees - I know I wouldn’t! I’d be working for nothing 😂

[Doobydoo]

Welbourn is lovely and Navenby has a doctors co op bakery etc.Both on bus routes. Both have primary schools.