Milton Keynes?

[blueskyeve]

Thinking about moving with my dh and young family to the Milton Keynes area. Could anyone living in the area tell me what it's like for families? I'm thinking specifically Deanshanger. We've seen and viewed a house there we love, but the local school doesn't have the best Ofsted report. How much would this bother you? The area seems perfect for us, lots of young families with a community feel. Id love to hear thoughts from those living in the area.

Deanshanger is nice but technically its Northampton.
Milton keynes is ok but some rough schools so pick estate wisely. Avoid any estates with food in its name.
Towcester is nice too

Deanshanger is a village in Northamptonshire. You'd be a couple of miles out from the western corner of Milton Keynes, if that's significant.

Milton Keynes itself is grid-based and great for cyclists and walkers because of the red routes. Full of roundabouts.

Nice large shopping centre in MK. Technically two, almost stuck to each other. All the usual shops, some restaurants. Random stuff pops up in big indoor space in front of John Lewis. eg, in the summer they do an indoor beach.
There's an Ikea in Bletchley.

Lots of restaurants and pubs dotted about.

The secondary school in Deanshanger itself doesn't have the greatest reputation and is split-side, the other half is in Roade, 9 miles further north.

In theory, you could also try for a school in Milton Keynes but some of them aren't any better.

Other things I can think of at random:
Gullivers Land - theme park for younger children
and Gulliers Dino and Farm park - also for younger children
Lots of play parks dotted around Milton Keynes.
Outdoorsy activities at Willen Lake and Caldecotte Lake
Stadium MK, home of Dons football club and also has events (Imagine Dragons and My Chemical Romance played there earlier in the year)
Snozone - indoor ski slope
iFly - indoor "skydiving" thing
MK Museum, with random stuff, plus a room of phones that is good for younger ones to phone each other on.
Bletchley Park - really good tour if you like history and WW2 in particular
National Museum of Computing (on part of the Bletchley Park site but separate place/entrance/carpark) - they also do really good weekend and holiday workshops for older children and teens.

Slightly further out, there are places like Woburn Abbey and open farms,

Less than 45mins from central London (Euston station) and about an hour from Birmingham on the London to Manchester line.

Milton Keynes is close to the M1. But from Deanshanger you'd have to cross north MK.

Also fairly easy drive to other places like Oxford, Silverstone (if you like motorsport), Bicester Village (if you like designer retail outlets), the Chilterns and the edge of the Cotswolds.

Thank you! That is such helpful information. Lots to think about.

With regards to secondary schools, MK is technically in Bucks, but MK doesn't fall under Buckinghamshire Council's admissions. Bucks is wholly selective (you opt out of 11+, not in) and has no comprehensives, MK is different and has no 11+ or grammar schools.

Despite this, several students in MK opt to take the Bucks 11+, and travel to Aylesbury or Buckingham, etc, to get a better secondary education.

Should have clarified: "Red routes" are proper cycle paths, they are completely separate from the roads - good for all ages to walk and cycle away from traffic. You don't really see people walking along the main roads there.

And Woburn Abbey has a big safari park that you can drive round.

From memory, you can get season tickets for Bletchley Park and Woburn and may be one on two other places, so you can use it all year.

Forgot to mention there's a fairly decent theatre. Also an art gallery.

On heritage days every year for about a week in Sept, if you have an Milton Keynes postcode, you can get free entry to the Museum, Bletchley park, MK Gallery, plus other events.

There are other events now and again such as the Dragon Boat festival.

If you like the outdoors, the Parks Trust put on regular family-friendly events, obviously in one of their parks.

Also, Salcey Forest and Emberton Country Park are both only a few miles north - both are very good for walks, bike-rides, picnics, play park and both have a little cafe. You can also barbecue at Emberton (it's quite common to see people having an outdoor get there in the summer)

Olney is a little market town beside Emberton Country Park and has some nice little independent shops, cafes and pubs.

Lots of other little villages with nice pubs and gardens.

It's actually a really good area for families.

I've never really written it all down before but now that I have I feel I could apply for a job at at their tourist board😂

Anyway, good luck with your decision!