Commuting by train to Manchester Piccadilly

[MissElaineNeus]

Considering a potential move to the NW - can anyone help with ideas for towns and villages that are under an hour by rail to central Manchester? Short drive to a local station OK.

Two of us, no kids, one dog. We like hiking in the hills, riding bikes, photography, eating out.

Perfect scenario would be a small town with food shops, pubs and restaurants, ideally a cinema, with quick and easy access to beautiful countryside.

Does such a place exist outside my wildest dreams?

Rather than commuting an hour everyday, what about somewhere on the Met link (Sale, Altrincham, Chorlton, Didsbury) - none are too far from the countryside at the weekends

@ginpuddles, sorry I'm confused. Isn't there more space the further out the train is, and then it fills up as it gets closer in?

@georgedawes That first one is an absolute stunner! And an annexe too - maybe not such a ridiculous dream. The purple thing that's going on in the kitchen would have to go though. And the second one has masses of potential, pity that's really our maximum budget though. Enough land for glamping too.

@MissElaineNeus the trains start at Blackpool, so once they get past Preston they're quite full already. If you get on at Chorley / Blackrod you could be stood the whole way, especially if there are only 2 carriages.

Somewhere on the outer reaches of the tram network is a good bet

It's in a lovely location too, near a very nice pub! How many bedrooms do you want?

Forgive me if I'm boring - we have no where near your budget so it's fun to browse properties I have no hope of buying!!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60024181.html

Near a nice pub is a definite win! Our current pub is a bit Sky Sports.

Bedrooms - we only really need 2 - us and a spare. We do need a home office though as I work from home - so either a third bedroom or a study downstairs (better). But we do like large rooms and that tends to mean we end up buying a bigger house than we strictly need as people tend to put 3 or 4 bedrooms in whatever.

In a perfect world there'd be a 2-3 bed old house with large rooms for us and scope for a holiday letting business of some sort which we'd build up for retirement.

Oh, and don't worry about bombarding me with properties either, I've done this before for other people (pre name change) :-)

And kind of aware I've drifted off into day dreaming of big house plus holiday lets - that's really the retirement plan, and the more likely scenario would be the house in small town for 500K tops, as I first mentioned...

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70601774.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60024358.html

I'd say Macclesfield or Buxton are better bets then as a town with shops/restaurants etc.

If you want the place with land and can spend more I think you'd probably find something in the surrounding villages (perhaps not Macc). Chinley/Hayfield/New Mills/Chapel en le Frith/Disley/Whaley Bridge. I guess it depends how much you want to spend and how rural you want to be!

@CurbsideProphet luckily I can work at home a fair bit, but I really feel for people who have to endure it every day. And getting as to anyone who has to get to work on a Saturday or Sunday 

@MissElaineNeus yes, but on particularly bad days, everyone getting on at the first station pretty much fills the train, so anyone further in has to watch train after train go through without being able to get one. There just aren't enough carriages for the number of people wanting to travel - I read somewhere about the growth in rail passengers in the NW over the last 20% years during which time there hasn't been a corresponding growth in train capacity.

I'd echo PP saying target a tram line route.

Yeah, you might be right, though probably not the Cheshire side as I fancy pastures new. Similar goes for Ramsbottom, Tod etc as we have family there and know it very well. I like the idea of the Hope valley - the walking is great, it's south of Manchester which is good for my family, and you've found some stunning houses! Maybe a village house with a walk to the pub would be a good compromise.

Hope Valley is lovely. Chinley and Hayfield (drive to either New Mills or Chinley for the train) are very nice, Hope and Edale are nice but too touristy for me.

This has just come on today in Buxton.

Have you thought about Bakewell?

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Taddington which his close to Buxton. You can get the train from Dove Holes which us about 45 to Manchester.

Or the Buxton train which takes a bit longer.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64985815.html

Just thought of Hathersage - bit nearer Sheffield but it's lovely, nice pubs/shops and an outdoor pool!

Another one in Hope.

Hathersage is lovely and close to Sheffield if you want more varied restaurants, indie cinemas, theatre etc.

Another vote for Hope Valley. Hathersage is a great little place. Castleton is beautiful but very popular with tourists so gets a bit busy at weekends. The surrounding hills, reservoirs and caves make for very interesting pottering and there are SO many good pubs!

We are in Sheffield by the way and DH commutes to Manchester.

Agree on Castleton. It's stunning but it would drive me mad living there, it gets so, so busy (even on some weekdays).

Bit of a wild card, but Totley in Sheffield. Within the Peak District, just up the Road from Totley and Dore station (fast train to Piccadilly in 45 mins), walking distance to one of my favourite pubs The Cricket Inn. Open countryside on your doorstep but lots to do in Sheffield a few miles away.

Third Castleton, we live very close by and often go for a potter, I always think how lovely it is but all the people in Summer would drive me mad.