Moving to Derbyshire, considering Alfreton

[GeorgiePie92]

Hello everyone, I'm wondering if anyone can offer any advice. Me and my husband are looking to move to Derbyshire and buy a house, we are considering Alfreton. I guess in some ways we have extremely specific needs as we are both visually impaired, so transport is of huge important to us. We have obviously googled the area, and we are coming up to visit it next weekend but we have no idea of its merits or downfalls as it were. We don't have a huge deposit to play with and we are looking at newbuilds which narrows the search down considerably. We are very excited about these houses as they look gorgeous, but my mother-in-law isn't entirely sure about the area and would rather us move to Dronfield I very much liked the look of dronfield when we visited the only problem is that they have no newbuilds available, and we need that as we are looking to get a house using the help to buy scheme. My parents live in South East London and Alfreton look like a great place as it was only a few hours at the very most in the car , so we are looking for any advice on the area if people know it. Thanks in advance x .

[GeorgiePie92]

We are trying for a baby as well so any information on schools in the area would also be appreciated 😊

[CurlsandCurves]

Alfreton, I really, really wouldn’t.

I have worked there, as has my mum for over 20 years. Friend of mine worked at the local high school and as tough as she is, left before she was signed off with stress.

Dronfield is lovely as a place having visited but no idea what it’s like to live there or schools.

Where are your jobs? Feel free to message me. I live in Derbyshire so if I can help I will.

[Bourbonbiccies]

Dronfield yes
Alfreton probably no
Would also suggest Wingerworth, Walton, Ashgate, Newbold in Chesterfield (I am in Chesterfield but not those areas as a bit expensive and I wanted a big house for not too many £££s!)
Also Matlock is fab if you are keen on being South of Chesterfield. Feel free to PM me too.
I love it here... not from here originally at all but very happy to have found myself living here. It's a happy secret part of the country that the southerners don't know about! Shhhhh!

[fussychica]

Agree with Bourbonbiccies. Lived in Wingerworth for nearly 20 years, though that was about 20 years ago but loved it. It was very good value for money and is right on the edge of the Peak park. I know there has been quite a bit of building there but not sure if there is anything currently in the pipeline. The primary schools were both very highly rated. It's only 3 miles from the centre of Chesterfield but public transport isn't the best. Walton and Newbold would probably be better in that respect. Don't know Dronfield well but always thought it was nice. Alfreton wouldn't be on my list.

[AVeryBigHouse]

Alfreton certainly isn't considered to be desirable but it's not THAT bad. It's an ex mining town so it's rough round the edges and not exactly 'Pretty' but people are friendly on the whole and you'll get a lot of house for your money.



The town has a market and has a few high street shops (as well as home bargains, b&m). It has great transport links to the m1 plus it's a 5 minute drive into beautiful countryside.

I'm not sure about primary schools but I know that the secondary isn't well regarded at all.

[CurlsandCurves]

@Averybighouse i think your description is very accurate. I’m going to declare my hand as much as I can on here as far as secondary education goes...

One of my closest friends worked at the secondary school. They are working very hard to bring it up and make it better. But it took less than 6 months into her teaching job that she had to leave. Admittedly part of that was due to the fact that she was pregnant and got signed off with stress but pregnancy aside she found it a tough gig and she is one of the toughest people I know.

[NotMeNoNo]

What is it about Alfreton that ticked the boxes for transport /budget /type of house? Do you need railway station /bus,/London connection?

[whiskyowl]

I think you need to be careful about the topography in Derbyshire. To state the obvious, some places are really hilly and it's really wet a lot of the time. The combination can present a range of challenges in terms of getting around. Bear in mind that rural bus routes are being cut and cut and cut at the moment too.

I would choose to live somewhere urban, central and close to all amenities/work over living rurally if I had to get public transport.

[AVeryBigHouse]

Alfreton has a great bus service and the train station of course. It's not really considered to be rural.

It's pretty much flat too.

[whiskyowl]

Yes, sorry averybig - I wasn't talking about Alfreton. Should have been clearer about that! I just wanted to flag that some parts of Derbyshire are more accessible than others.

[GeorgiePie92]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry I haven't got back to all of your really helpful comments so far. We live somewhere fairly Rurel at the moment, and whilst we absolutely love being in the countryside it has proved to be a nightmare regarding transport. When we first moved to the area that we live in we had good access to buses, and taxi services. As the years have gone by these have unfortunately dwindled as I think I mentioned in my original post we are both totally blind and rely on buses, trains, taxis etc. There is absolutely no way we are going to be out afford to buy a house in the Reading area, and as we already have some family family in the area we thought it would be a good place to look. We really liked Dronfield as a place, but there aren't any new build houses available until a few years away. So the plan might be to buy in Offerton to then move to Dronfield in a couple of years time. I think what made us look at Alfreton in the first place was the fact that it has the train station which is very well connected, the market town which means that we again have good access to shops. And I can easily go and see my family back home in London , and also easily get to see my husband's family if we ever need to, because hopefully it won't take me too long to fall pregnant and when we have a baby, I am aware that we may possibly need a little bit more help than your average sighted couple. So I think I'm right in getting the impression that Alfreton isn't a terrible place to live, transport connections make it quite good, perhaps the schools aren't as desirable as we would hope, but if we move to a different area in a couple of years time anyway then the school situation will change again. I am also considering studying for a masters degree At Sheffield, so it wouldn't be too far to travel which would again be quite good 😊 I think also it's quite nice to know that you don't have to travel too far to get to some beautiful Places within Derbyshire. Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to comment on my post. We are going to look at a house this weekend, so I will report back about what we thought about the area and the house. X

[GeorgiePie92]

Also my husband's job doesn't count really travel wise, as he works from home. It will be me doing the most travelling around, x

[whiskyowl]

Why not aim for the western edge of Sheffield instead? It'll be easier for you while you do your MA, plus there are quite a few new build houses going up and excellent public transport links. People think of Sheffield as a massive city, but it's really more like an oversized market town, with lots of peripheral villagey-like suburbs. You can be out in the countryside within literally minutes.

[woollyminded]

I posted this in the other Alfreton thread (can't believe there are two) but it was meant for here -

I'd swerve Alfreton too, it's not a great place and transport there - public and private - is going to be horrendous once (if) the HS2 work starts. How about Ambergate or Belper area? There are still reasonably priced houses in those places and some new building going on in Belper. It's a nice town too.

[woollyminded]

Western Sheffield is nice. Sheffield is in itself good, got lots going for it, would be good to have easy access to what is has to offer.

[AVeryBigHouse]

Belper is lovely but has the price tag to go with it 😉.

Offerton? You're practically a local already 😂😂.

[GeorgiePie92]

Oh haha, I was using dictation so apologies for any spelling mistakes. :) Bloody phone. We are going to look at another house next month in Woodhouse. the transport does seem a little bit more complicated though, and the taxis are definitely more expensive, but it doesn't mean that it is a complete no no. We really liked the sound of Belper but unfortunately as it has already been said, the houses are pricier, but there is a housing development in discussion nearby so that may be a possibility. At this point we are really just trying to get a good idea of where we possibly might like to live, and also meets our long list of requirements lol. xx

[AVeryBigHouse]

It just made me laugh Georgie as locally, Alfreton gets shortened to Of'ten 😃.

[woollyminded]

Woodhouse on the A610 just out of Ripley OP? It's a bit out on a limb, not far from the train station at Langley Mill but I think it might be a bit tricky without a car, I would ask about the bus service while you are there and check.

[GeorgiePie92]

This seemed to not be far from Crystal Peaks shopping centre I think... it's all extremely confusing when you can't google any images of the areas, and also are not a local! 😂 Oh I didn't know that about the shortened name. It was a happy accident Lol

[GeorgiePie92]

We would love to live somewhere like Bakewell, but we never be able to leave it 😂😂😂

[woollyminded]

sorry Georgie, it must be very frustrating. I'm sure you'll find it much easier when you are there, so much of where is good to live is how it feels to you when you put your feet on the ground. And yes, be wary of the accent - affrtun, bowser, and chezvegas should always be cross-referenced to a map!

[whiskyowl]

There are too many places called Woodhouse around here! I think you mean Woodhouse in Sheffield. What I would say is that it's out to the east, and while it has some lovely country parks and things nearby it's quite a poor area - parts of it are amongst the most deprived 10% in the country.

Sheffield is a city of two halves. I don't know if you can see a map, so I'm going to describe to you what it looks like on the 2015 English Index of Multiple Deprivation, which measures how rich/poor areas are on a scale of red (poor) to green (rich). Imagine a circular shaped city, with a line running through it, just left of the centre. You have two areas, a large right-hand area and a small left-hand area. To the right hand side, the east of the city, it's a sea of different shades of red, with some of the poorest areas in the country. To the left hand side, the west of the city, it's a sea of greens, with some of the richest areas in the country. The difference is stark and highly noticeable! These two halves were partly dictated by wind direction in the era when it was a very grimy industrial city. Prevailing winds go east, so the poorer areas (where the smoke ended up) tend to be in the east, the richer ones in the west.

There is a band of cheaper, but still very nice housing that runs between the two areas, north-to-south. This includes neighbourhoods like Meersbrook, Heeley and Woodseats. Young families priced out of the richer areas are moving to these neighbourhoods at the moment, and they are increasingly full of trendy bars and cafes. The more expensive areas further east are Dore (which really does feel like a village), Whirlow, Ecclesall and Nether Edge (Sharrow and Broomhill, too, but those are more central).

[whiskyowl]

Here is the link to the map - you can check up on any area in the country

dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/idmap.html