Great Steeping / Horncastle

[Mellowrabbit]

Hey. We are looking at moving our family (4 kids ages 16,13,11 and 10) to Lincolnshire. We have found a few houses we like in Great Steeping and Horncastle but would love to know a bit more about the areas (we currently live about 4 hours away). In particular, where do kids go to college / sixth form because I’m not finding much when I google! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi, there's a sixth form at the local grammar school in Horncastle.

College would most likely be Boston or Lincoln.

Ah yes looked there but seemed limited choices? Will look in Lincoln and Boston. What are the areas like Horncastle and Great Steeping please?

Just remembered, there's a Sixth Form at King Edward VI Academy no idea what it's like though.

Great Steeping is rural, no shop, it has a primary school. Nearest town would be Spilsby, I think.
Horncastle has lots of new housing going up, market town with a primary school & 2 secondary schools (one is the grammar, with the sixth form I mentioned). Buses run to Lincoln from there.
Not sure on bus route to Boston from Horncastle.

Sorry, didn't say - King Edward VI is in Spilsby.

Never even heard of great steeping and I’m fairly local. Horncastle is nice to visit, not sure about schooling. It’s right next to RAF Coningsby so I hope you like loud planes

I like Horncastle as a place to visit on market days (Thursday and Saturday, I think) and it has some independent shops artisan stuff and so on.
There is a fabulous witchcraft shop, if you like that sort of thing.
It used to be the antiques centre of the Wolds, but I think many of those shops have closed now, post 2008.
Villages around Horncastle are mostly very nice, the Wolds are an area of outstanding natural beauty but my teens would definitely have not appreciated any of that and found it all very quiet. I'm not sure about things like schools, youth clubs or buses and I think it’s inevitable that rural parents become a bit of a taxi service.
I would gravitate more towards Lincoln than Boston for shopping, schools and culture, what with it being a University town and a tourist spot, although there are some brilliant East European restaurants and shops in Boston.

@Mellowrabbit have you considered Woodhall Spa?
Very nice place to live. 🙂

It’s right next to RAF Coningsby so I hope you like loud planes

DH family live in Horncastle so I have been visiting multiple times a year for over 30yrs, and never been bothered by a loud plane! In fact I can’t ever remember hearing one.

Op, what do you mean by
Ah yes looked there but seemed limited choices?

The grammar school in Horncastle (and others in Lincs) have their own sixth form and will do the normal range of A levels, but not vocational courses. But I am sure Lincoln will have colleges for vocational courses.

I wouldn’t want to live in horncastle (very nice for a day out though), if I was choosing a small town in the area I would pick Louth.

I meant the a level choices. Should have clarified he has just started so he will be transferring but neither option had all 3 he’s doing, unless I guess he could consider doing photography as an online course maybe? So many things to think about! We are prepared to be taxis, our children want to be more rural though as they love wildlife and the great outdoors x

I’ll look there thank you! We have quite a list of requirements for a property though which we will need to negotiate

How is the search going @Mellowrabbit? I'm very local to this area if you still have any questions.

Hey!! We are visiting this weekend to have a snoop and look at some properties! I have so many questions. Are there any good Facebook groups I can join? My children are 16,13,11,9 the youngest has a few issues potentially autistic.. he’s currently being assessed. So any information about that, youth groups, general area info.. best / places to avoid would really help. Thank you

Hi OP
I hope you enjoy your visit.
B
e prepared to maybe spend a bit of time driving your kids to places if you're living in the sticks - public transport is variable... 🙂

Enjoy your visit op. Somewhat random, but I have a young relative who does this Saturday club and loves it. Might be something to consider for your younger ones. Earns a bit of pocket moneys, some education included, sometimes opportunities for apprenticeships going forward. There’s a waiting list though, so put their names down early if you move and they are interested. The estate is lovely to walk round too, and often has lots going on. It’s an interesting project all round.
https://www.southormsbyestate.co.uk/saturday-club/

It might be a bit too early in the season, but Donna nook nature reserve is well worth a visit in November and December, as hundreds of seals come onto the beach and sand dunes to pup. It’s really amazing. The births don’t usually start until the very end of October though, so won’t be any yet. Just mentioning it in case you visit there again soon.