Never been to the North really but pls tell me where to live

Formby? Incredibly reliable train to Liverpool, great schools, on the beach, good for families and you’d get a big detached house for that budget.

Nantwich is a lovely little town with lots of things going on-Easter weekend has a music festival, start of September has a food festival, battle of Nantwich in January, Nantwich agricultural show in July, regular farmers' markets . Might be worth visiting for a few days to see if you like it-there are a few nice hotels.

If you're thinking more rural then nearby then there's Audlem, Wrenbury, Wynbunbury. Definitely worth a look.

It’s has a nice rep. But a longer commute to Liverpool and Manchester. Further up m6 northwards corridor would be better.

towns you list in Cheshire are good…blinking expensive! Do have a look round Chester area and places like Frodsham and grappenhall so as not to rule out Liverpool option as well as Manchester still being viable form there.

Also we are relocating from litchfield which is lovely and close to Birmingham!

We are moving to Liverpool, some really nice areas such as Calderstones, Allerton and great local schools. My family live there so plays a big part, there will always be something for the children to do.

My DF lives in Alderley Edge lovely village - bit pricey. Could also look at Wilmslow.

Birmingham! It’s an easy trip back to London and there are cheap rail fares into Marylebone. You could buy a lovely Georgian house in Kings Heath / Moseley for that price, there are really good schools there (including some of the best grammar schools in the country) loads of independent restaurants and bars both locally and in the city centre, and a great arts and culture scene.

Ah, should add, watch for toll fees on commute into liverpool

Liverpool is as far as I know the only place where they (technically not Merseyside in fairness) applied retrospective tolls on a bridge built years ago with government funding thst was never a toll bridge . Fecking outrageous. They built a new sparkly toll bridge. Grand. But then got away with charging for both and making the old dual carriage on old bridge single carriage way, restricted.

So if you are commuting from Wirral (via tunnels ) or Cheshire area south of Mersey through Runcorn you need to factor that in. Trains are good, and there is now direct route from places like Frodsham since they reopened the Runcorn loop.

you can literally only drive into Liverpool “free” if you come from north of Warrington or take the long M6 or congested Warrington town centre route. 🤯

but please don’t let it put you off of Cheshire, it is affordable, just factor it in

Edinburgh or NB.

🤣 I obviously didn't fully read the opening post.

I'd like the home I posted now though!

My bil and family live in altrincham,

Lots of young families and they are very happy with the schools.

I'd live SW of Brum, and find a village/small town with a rail connection there. The old Forest of Arden area, around Henley-in-Arden, is gorgeous. You've got Stratford, Warwick and many other lovely towns and villages in the vicinity.

Or Cheshire where there are connections to Manchester and Liverpool. Knutsord, with good connections to Stockport and M/ch, Hartford (direct station to Liverpool) and lots of lovely villages.

I've always had to live in or near London, and I get quite depressed when I think of the lovely places I could have spent my life in rather than a dreary commuter town on the edge of London.

None of those cities are up north. 😂

Lovely but nowhere near commutable to an office in Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham!

@TheFirmLurker Osmotherley is near Northallerton

I have to say west coast mainline has (touches wood) got a lot better in recent months. Almost back to virgin days standards
my last trip form Wigan to London was bang on time to minute, and coming back on home on Sunday we kept having to wait at Warrington and Crewe because we got ahead of schedule! Bang on time agian.
the visitors I’ve had in last 3 months have fared much better as well.

it was horrendous through, rewlly really bad until recently.

Agree with this! Marsden and Slaithwaite in West Yorkshire are lovely villages. A few miles from Huddersfield town centre. 20 mins to Leeds, 45 minutes to Manchester on the train. You will get a mansion for that budget, but as your mortgage before was burdening you, perhaps look a little lower? You'll still get something grand!

People saying Wirral…it’s lovely(or rural parts are). But it adds time to journeys if you still want to go south or north to see friends etc

one of best connected areas is around the Chester, Warrington areas.. Close to M6, on west coast route to get to anywhere in country very easily. You can get to 4 (yes 4) national parks within 1.5 hours (dales, Peak District, snowdownia, lakes). You have Liverpool and Manchester in commutable distance. You can get to coasts in less than an hour, and even lovely beaches on Anglesey are doable on along day trip. I was stunned when first came up this way 20 years ago just how bloody well positioned it is. Your budget would get nice location and nice house.

if you have kids or intend to have kids think about schools. Wirral is part of Merseyside and is still 11plus and grammar schools. Cheshire state schools is no 11plus, and tend to be a bit better all round, so not dependant on one massively oversubscribed school. West lancs school tend to be more variable, with some not great schools in some of nicer rural areas. So do your homework on secondary ed if you need it. I now live in Lancashire, but we lived in Cheshire while kids at school for that reason. Things may hav3 changed since mine were at school, but do check it.

so good places imho would be around grappenhall, Frodsham, Chester itself, Lymm areas

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150975272#/?channel=RES_BUY

Osmotherley is lovely. Close enough to the A19. Has a shop and 3 pubs. Well within your budget.

I know it's semi detached but 10 minutes from the beach and a short walk to the station. In Liverpool in 20 minutes.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86495181#/?channel=RES_BUY

Alderley Edge? Cheadle?

If you want countryside look at the Trough of Bowland - AONB. Simply beautiful. If I was moving to the north west, this is where I would search.

You can get trains from Clitheroe or Burnley to Manchester

Cheshire , Derbyshire and the Peak District. You’d get a lovely property for that budget. Villages near Macclesfield are also an option.