Lincoln, Notts surrounding villages...help !!!

[clairehills]

Hi, my partner and I need to rent within a commutable distance of Lincoln. We would like to move to a village/town with good amenities ie nice shops and a few nice pubs or restaurants. It needs to be within 50mins - at present we have identified Southwell but would love to hear of any other options - Stamford would be my choice but it is just that too far.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks

Claire

viva just realised we are on about Curle Ave, not Queensway!

OP, you do realise that Lincoln is not really a City... it's just a big village and we all know each other

yes, yes to the big village that is Lincoln.. that's why I need to leave, the skeletons of a misspent youth are all rattling in their closets & preventing me being viewed a properly respectable grown up!

Ah, I normally do Curle Ave in the afternoon. Queensway in the morning.

I feel smug as there are about ten cars queuing to cross Wragby Rd on Queensway. They were all in front of me on Greetwell Rd. I go up Curle Ave, straight out and wave as I drive past them still on Queensway.

don't really wave

I live in Ruskington, 5 miles N of Sleaford. Lots of amenities and properties to rent, I believe (we own our house).

There are all amenities you could hope for - loads of shops like butchers x2, bakers x 2, co-op, newsagents, multiple churches, Dr's surgery, dentist, 2 fish and chip shops, 2 Chinese: one is a restaurant and takeaway the other is just t/a. Indian restaurant/takeaway, petrol station.

And unusually for Lincolnshire villages, we have a train stn. Services to Lincoln throughout the day, travel time is 24 minutes, 7-10 min walk to uni.

viva.. I'd never attempt to cross Wragby Road from Queensway! Madness.

If I flash you out of the end of Queensway onto Greetwell Road of a morning, please wave thank you. Lots of bugger don't (mainly blokes in mercs).

I'm normally in a very dirty dark blue Vauxhall or bright blue (dirty) subaru.

nothing to add except i agree with uphill. I'm in washingborough south of lincoln, lovely area but wouldn't be right for you i don't think. we looked at uphill but for the money we got so much more out in the villages. You'll like lincoln, it's a lovely place to live x

Just seen your reference to having a cat. Ruskington vets is next to the people Dr's. Love German lady called Steph is Chief vet there. There's also a cattery/boarding kennels at the edge of the village about a mile past the garden centre.

And I also forgot to mention: library, though not open every day, day care near the Dr's, morning play group in the village hall, two primary schools, a secondary school, massive playing fields at the village hall, petrol station with Spar shop. We even recently discovered a B&B farmhouse where DH's ex-pat parents stayed last May BH and they loved it. Much better than squashing into our spare room.

Honestly, despite what people have said about accessing the city from the south, you'd be a bit mad not to at least consider Ruskington, or a bit closer to Lincoln is Metheringham. Similar kinds of facilities but more spread out, I think.

There are always plenty of rental properties due to RAF singlies or families that don't want to live in RAF accommodation, just like us but we moved in 2000 when houses were dirt cheap.

I always say thanks to people letting me out of Queensway. Agree trying to cross Wragby Rd from there is madness.

If you like Leamington Spa then basically Lincoln itself is the only place in the entire county with that level of sophistication and choice. I grew up in Lincoln; my mum still lives just outside in one of the villages mentioned, she thinks the traffic is shocking but honestly, it's not on the scale of London or Birmingham.

Any place of that size (and it does serve a vast area) has pockets that are less well off or pretty, but they are certainly not no go areas. Lincoln is a lovely historic city with lots going on.

The rest of the flatland is pretty well a cappucino free zone. "cafe" means one attached to a garden centre. There are amenities in the bigger villages, but they are likely to be ordinary everyday co-ops and pubs and chip shops. You are not going to find Costa coffee or naice deli's and artisan shops.

Honestly, live uphill and cycle to the uni. You'll soon be fit!

How about Tuxford, near the A1/A57? Seems to be improving as far as I can tell and has a Co-op, naice coffee shop, art gallery, good bus service, butchers etc. Also, some of the villages just off the A1 such as Sutton or Carlton on Trent (butchers/shop/pub/hairdressers etc). Caunton and Norwell are nice but a bit more expensive due to proximity to Southwell.

If you're not too worried about secondary schools, anything in the Southwell Minster catchment will be expensive, those in proximity to Tuxford school are less expensive (although still a really good school).

Newark is also nice, as long as you choose the right part - the travellers sites are welll established and nothing to worry about (noticed that was one of your concerns!) and there's a Waitrose. Buses and trains to Lincoln/Nottingham too and mainline service to London.

Actually, scrap what I've just said. If I wanted nice boutiques, lots of places to eat and have coffee, wine bars, loads of independent shops, decent, low key night life (real ale or cocktails) and an easy commute to Lincoln Uni, I'd go to Newark. In fact if I didn't have kids in the mix I'd happily live there.

Or Lincoln itself!

Thanks signorastronza, would you consider southwell ?

Raising steam did you mean Lincoln is the only place without sophistication ? You said that but then went on to say that Lincoln doesn't even have a coffee shop ;-). I think that's why uphill, southwell and newark are appealing.

You should definitely look at collingham. Very popular. And you can get the train to Lincoln (or newark) from the village. Although it's not too far to drive. My choice would be somewhere uphill near the cathedral.

Thanks miss smiley, does collingham have good shops ? Not just food shops ?

RaisingSteam

You misrepresent, I'm afraid. Costa is everywhere, even Sleaford! And practically everywhere from there to Horncastle (my usual stomping grounds) can do you a panini and a latte.

But they are not, most definitely not, indicators of "sophistication" and my experiences of Lincolnshire, which is not the county of my birth, bear no resemblance to what you say.

I think raisingsteam said 'in the rest of the flatland' often the cafés are those attached to garden centres ie that out in the villages. I visited the Cotswolds recently, and found lots of villages with quirky shops, good coffee and cake etc - those villages don't really exist in Lincs. Believe me - there are plenty in a lincoln itself. All the standard Costa etc plus plenty of independents.

Personally I wouldn't live in Southwell as I find it a pain in the arse to drive through, too much traffic (they've been talking about bypassing it longer than the MIL can remember but is unlikely to come to fruition) and very expensive - the shops aren't all that either. There is no station, but Nottingham is quite commutable from there. Lincoln would be quite difficult to get to at times, as Kelham Bridge regularly closes due to lorries mis judging it or flooding. It does have that certain cache though (again, probably due to the Minster school). Another village near it (again, quite expensive) is Farnsfield, which has good amenities.

We looked at Collingham when I moved up here, but mainly because we had schooling to consider - I think they're in the catchment for Tuxford secondary school rather than the Newark ones (which are generally considered to be poor, hence the scrabble for Lincs grammar school places by Newark residents) but I wasn't keen to be honest. Ditto Winthorpe.

Honestly, there isn't really much in the way of a 'sophisticated village' around here. They are either rural farming communities (which is where I live, although write well served) or commuter/young family and good school type villages, which I'd say about Collingham. Think you'd have to pick your spot there carefully, as is quite low lying and close to to the Trent!

Personally I wouldn't live in Southwell as I find it a pain in the arse to drive through, too much traffic (they've been talking about bypassing it longer than the MIL can remember but is unlikely to come to fruition) and very expensive - the shops aren't all that either. There is no station, but Nottingham is quite commutable from there. Lincoln would be quite difficult to get to at times, as Kelham Bridge regularly closes due to lorries mis judging it or flooding. It does have that certain cache though (again, probably due to the Minster school). Another village near it (again, quite expensive) is Farnsfield, which has good amenities.

We looked at Collingham when I moved up here, but mainly because we had schooling to consider - I think they're in the catchment for Tuxford secondary school rather than the Newark ones (which are generally considered to be poor, hence the scrabble for Lincs grammar school places by Newark residents) but I wasn't keen to be honest. Ditto Winthorpe.

Honestly, there isn't really much in the way of a 'sophisticated village' around here. They are either rural farming communities (which is where I live, although write well served) or commuter/young family and good school type villages, which I'd say about Collingham. Think you'd have to pick your spot there carefully, as is quite low lying and close to to the Trent!

I wouldn't say that Collingham has anything apart from co-op, butchers, chemists, vet, doctors, hairdressers, newsagents. I drive through often and that's all I've noticed.

Oh dear, OP sorry if my post was muddled. Lincoln definitely has lots of lovely shops and coffee shops (including the famous Stokes) and all kinds of things going on and is an interesting and historic city. Of course Costa doesn't mean sophistication but it's a bit of shorthand for a place that has facilities over and above the necessities and the kind of people who will pay for it. As someone else said, the villages around are not really touristy so don't tend to have a lot of high-end shops and eateries , I'm sure there are exceptions .

Good luck with your search OP, one of the nice things is that Lincolnshire's actually quite unspoilt and a lovely place to live in lots of ways. I was trying to be encouraging, but direct you to the sort of thing you were looking for, others have put it much better!

well as a direct result of this thread we took a detour through Southwell to check it out today . I would not call it a village, but a small town. Blummin' lovely in the old part I have to say! Loads of retired people wondering around. The drive back to lincoln not so great. It was friday lunch time, and i know some people will be setting off for easter breaks, but it was a good hour back to my village (same as getting to the uni). Just wanted to let you know

Hi supadupa, thanks for your message and I glad you liked Southwell, its gorgeous isn't it. Hopefully you see my dilemma. I must admit we visited Old lincoln the other day and in the absence of having to make touch life changing decisions (they have already been made) I did fall in love with the houses in the uphill area and thought the little shops of Bailgate were lovely. We then went to Southwell, which I still loved, but it gave me the opportunity to see all the roundabouts which could get very snarled up and lead to an hours commute, if not longer. I think we are going to go with whatever has the nicest house for the budget that we can afford, but maybe due to the nature of our jobs as well (needing to be in a lab daily) Old Lincon may be the better option. :-)

definitely old lincoln. Your budget is much bigger than ours was. we ended up to the south of the city because we got much more for our money......but i have to say village life is definitely for me :-) I'm sure you will find what you are looking for. All the best x

I thought of you today Claire, we drove to the Yorkshire Wildlife park but the satnav took us the back way through gainsborough.

I was thinking about having to a commute along twisty single carriageway roads when someone in front is doing 40mph and slowing down to 30mph for the bends, no chance to overtake them and slowly losing the will to live. I thought - that'd be the commute from Southwell to Lincoln!

I came home along the A1, so I didn't have to experience it twice :o

Now I was at YWP on Monday and always go the Gainsborough way. I actually messaged Claire afterwards to say that I thought Bawtry might be an option or even Tickhill as the Gainsborough rd is so quiet compared to the a46.