Considering moving from South London to Wirral or Chester

[GoldenDaffodil]

Hi All

This is a long story so I thank you in advance if you can stick with me for a minute. In the last 18 months I’ve lost both my mum and my 33 year old best friend to cancer. My only other close relative is my sister who lives in Rock Ferry, Wirral. Before my mum died she used to live in London and I miss her terribly. We live in South London and DH’s parents are nearby but spend half the year abroad. We love our house but it’s starting to feel small now that our two children are getting bigger (6&4). There is one bathroom/toilet between us and the third bedroom is tiny. Money is tight for us and we can’t afford to do a loft conversion/extension etc. Just the general cost of living often sends us overdrawn at the end of the month.

Whilst I love my friends and DH’s family dearly, I’ve been starting to seriously think about relocating up to the Wirral to join my sister and her DH. They’ve just bought a house and they’re trying for their first baby, it’s hard to imagine not being around to see my future niece/nephew grow up.

Are there any ex-Londoners on here who have moved to the North West and feel it was the right decision? Apart from my sister we would know absolutely no one. I worry so much about making new friends and feeling isolated, especially after two bereavements.

It’s also the practical aspect of where to move too. We will have a budget of 350k, possibly a bit more for the right house. My sister has recommended we look at Bebington, West Kirby and Heswall. She doesn’t have local school knowledge though. Is there anyone on here who can advise? How does the grammar system work? Do you need to live close to the school or is it simply a case of passing the 11+ to gain a place regardless of where you live?

Where in the Wirral is best for young families? My daughters currently have swimming lessons and do ballet and gymnastics classes. I’d want all this to continue. We’d also like to be a driveable distance to the coast and green spaces but live near some local amenities. I wouldn’t like to drive everywhere so a high street is important. I’d prefer to walk the girls to school too.

There’s just so much to consider. It’s very hard to research an area when you have no local knowledge. I’ve never lived outside of London, not even when I went to university. It’s so hard to know if moving north would be the right thing.

Many thanks if you’ve made it through my ramble.

Hi GoldenDaffodil,

I was brought up on the Wirral and moved back from the south-east to be closer to family, after we had dc1. I've never regretted the decision and being close to grandparents has enriched all of our lives.

If your dsis lives in Rockferry, the closest of the places you mentioned is Bebington (a few minutes on the train). It is close to both of the Wirral Grammar schools and although I don't know the primary schools well, I've visited St. Andrew's and been impressed with the quality of teaching that I saw there. I don't know the location requirements for the grammar schools but I think that distance may be a factor.

West Kirby and Heswall are closer to the coast but you won't get as much for your money.

There are loads of things for little ones to do on the Wirral - beach at New Brighton, West Kirby and other locations, walking at Wirral Country Park, fruit picking at Claremont Farm, ice creams at Parkgate etc. It's also a short train journey into Liverpool and Chester with all that the cities have to offer. At Bebington your dc can learn to swim and there is a swimming pool in West Kirby too, if I remember correctly.

Let me know if you've any further questions!

My dc also loved Church Farm in Thursaston .

I was born and brought up on the Wirral, I absolutely love it, a fantastic place for children. I'd absolutely recommend you moved there and with your budget you'd be able to get a very nice house in a nice area.

The beauty of it is that nowhere is really very far from anywhere, have a look at Bebington (Wirral Grammar Schools) Spital and Heswall.

It's really lovely, you should absolutely go if you can!

Something else to consider is what your new earnings will be given you are likely on London money at the moment. Cost of living is cheaper but public transport isn't as good and likely you will need at least one car.

My Family are from the North Wales side but still around 12 miles from Chester, housing is much cheaper and schools as good - but factor in Welsh!!

If you get on well with your Sister definitely do it. Nothing can replace that bond. You’ll be drawn together even more now if you’ve lost your Mum. That family bonding will be great for you and you’re kids.

Thanks so much for your replies. My sister keeps telling me it’s lovely and you guys are echoing that. I’d love to hear from anyone who has relocated about how you went about making new friends. I’m guessing the main way would be through our DC’s new school. My sister reckons the locals are much nicer than Londoners and everyone knows their neighbours. Do you find this too?

I’m a teaching assistant and currently studying for a Primary Education degree with the Open University part time. This means I can work anywhere. DH is a project manager for a university so hopefully he could find work in a HE institution up north. Our London home is worth considerably more than we paid for it that would enable us to take out a much smaller mortgage if we sold up sand left London.

I do think our neighbours are friendlier than they were when we were in the South-East! We know most of the people on our street and have a reciprocal key arrangement with our neighbours, so we look out for each other's houses and do their bins if anyone is away.

When we moved up, I made friends firstly through the toddler group which dc went to and eventually those children ended up going to school together. I also made friends through my work, which was on the Wirral. You could look for schools vacancies here at the Wirral council website, here at the Cheshire West and Chester council website or here at Liverpool City Council.

If your dh works in higher education, maybe look for vacancies at Chester University, Liverpool University, Liverpool Hope University or Liverpool John Moores University? If driving, bear in mind that it's £1.80 each way through the tunnel to Liverpool, although you can get a hefty discount with a FastTag.

Thank you so much for your very helpful replies. I might try posting in the schools section to try and get some specific school recommendations. It’s been really good to hear that the Wirral is a good place to bring up DC though. xx

I love Bebington

Do you currently live there gower4?

No, but have friends there. It's really lovely. Villagey feel, lovely houses, easy to Liverpool/Chester

I grew up on the Wirral but have lived (and brought my children up) in South London most of my life. I couldn't wait to leave, but I can now see that it is a lovely area!

We visit regularly - loads for children to do, West Kirby particularly good if they might be into watersports as they grow up. Still has grammar schools - West kirby/Calday and Wirral Grammars (Bebbington) if that's important to you. Easy access to Liverpool, Chester and Mancs. Houses in West Kirby/Heswall area arent cheap

I moved from London to the Wirral when DC were little and have never regretted it. I would echo your sister's view that West Kirby, Heswall and Bebington are your best options, Hoylake & Irby are good too.
West Kirby has a lovely beach & good schools. The 4 primary schools in Heswall are excellent so you will be guaranteed a good place. I don't know Bebington well.
There are plenty of good dance schools around the Wirral for your DDs. The girl's grammar schools are in West Kirby and Bebington & there is a bus service from Heswall to both.
West Kirby has a leisure centre with pool & there is a recreation centre in Neston, just down the road from Heswall, for swimming lessons.
Your house budget is great for all of these towns. Heswall is the most expensive but there are plenty of 3 bedroom properties in that price range.

My friends moved from south London to Hoylake and are very happy. It was a job move for one of them but Houlake should be on your list.

Hoylake!

I love the idea of being close to the sea. That is a big tick in the positive coloumn for reasons to move. We love days at the seaside but at the moment it means sitting in lengthy traffic jams on the M25.

My main worries are making new friends and putting my children into new schools. They are definitely what’s holding me back. My DH is keen to try living somewhere new. He’s really tired of the high cost of living down here. He’s far less emotional than me.

My best friend lives on the Wirral - in Heswall. She used to live elsewhere but is originally from the Liverpool area. It's such a nice area - I'd move there in a heartbeat! Her kids are in a good local primary, which seemed fairly easy to get a place at, and the town itself has a great high street and plenty of stuff for kids nearby. I was also surprised by how nice the coastline around there is - we visited the area around West Kirby with them and it was lovely. Liverpool itself is also much nicer than my jaded southern self thought it would be... I'd definitely make the move. And even in a posh-ish place like Heswall houses are so much cheaper than in the SE.

Im a Londoner and have in laws in bebington. I am not tempted to move one little bit. If I were you I'd rent first. If you can, you could try spending a long school holiday there (the whole Christmas period, see if you can find a house on airBandB maybe?) before committing. The things that get me down are probably very specific to my in laws, so I'm biased against the area, but in your shoes I'd go gradually and keep the London house and rent it out. It is very very hard to get back on the London property ladder once you've stepped off it!

Renting first has definitely crossed my mind. I know that it would be impossible to get back on the property ladder in London if we sold up. We’ll be spending October half term with my sister so plan to have a good explore then. I’ve stayed in Liverpool city centre several times and loved it but that’s obviously very different.

Saw this and thought of you, OP .

www.wirrallife.com/wirral-happiest-place

I have lots of family in various places on the Wirral and think it’s a lovely place. Some lovely towns, nice beaches, near to cities... I think it’s a good combination of everything. It’s somewhere I would personally consider living.
If you wanted somewhere with more of a city-feel, Chester is lovely! (I know it is a city, but it’s a small one).

I was brought up on The Wirral and have lived in London for circa 20 years (so the other way round to you).

The Wirral is beautiful. There are some rough parts I would avoid - New Ferry, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead (these areas have high unemployment rates). Some really lovely parts - Thursason, Hoylake, West Kirby.

The Wirral has once of the best free Grammar schools in the U.K. - Wirral grammar.

Property wise, you will get so much for your money.

Liverpool One has fab shopping and the arts are great in Liverpool.

www-newhomefinder-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.newhomefinder.co.uk/AMP/Best-Places-To-Live-On-The-Wirral.html?amp_js_v=0.1&usqp=mq331AQGCAEoATgA#origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk&prerenderSize=1&visibilityState=prerender&paddingTop=54&p2r=0&horizontalScrolling=0&csi=1&aoh=15344927583977&viewerUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Famp%2Fwww.newhomefinder.co.uk%2FAMP%2FBest-Places-To-Live-On-The-Wirral.html&history=1&storage=1&cid=1&cap=swipe%2CnavigateTo%2Ccid%2Cfragment%2CreplaceUrl

The Wirral is lovely, it's convenient to jump onto the train into Chester or Liverpool. I wouldn't bother driving into Liverpool, my Dad sometimes does for work but the parking and tunnel even with the tag can get pricey!
I don't know much about the school side of things though, but there are plenty of lovely places to live.

I'd echo what your sister said, those areas are lovely. Generally the primaries in these areas are very good. The secondaries can be difficult though, around bebington the best secondaries are the grammar schools and st John plessington which is a faith school.
I know your children are little but id look at Heswall/West Kirby/Hoylake. West Kirby and Hoylake are right on the coast and have stations which are only a few minutes into Liverpool.

I was brought up on the Wirral and still live nearby.

Frankby and Thingwall aren't bad either. Nobody's mentioned Neston which is a bit trickier for trains but well placed for getting to Chester as well. Bits of Moreton. Most of Upton and parts of Prenton worth a look. Oxton is on my list for relocation in the future.