Where to live round Liverpool or west Manchester

[Jackie02]

My husband starts a new job in Liverpool soon and we are looking at relocating up that way from down south. We've got 2 little ones who will be staring school soon, and a dog who we love getting out on decent walks with. We love hills (big or small) for dog walks, we want nice community and decent schools....the holy trinity I'm sure!

To (finally!) be a bit closer to family we want to be to the north or east of Liverpool, probably within about 50 minutes of the city centre.
Any thoughts of where might fit the bill? Endless Google searches and a few weekend trips and we've seen some nice areas but we are very undecided and the constant wondering about what to do, where to look and where we could end up is driving us mad!

Budget will be a big consideration, West of Manchester (Cheshire) is generally pretty expensive. The prices drop a bit as you get closer to Liverpool.
Would you like to share some of the areas you are considering and I can comment more specifically.
I actually do this for a living but am happy to offer some free advice

Have you considered Eccleston, Windle, Ormskirk, Rainford, Standish, Orrel
good transport links, close to countryside and not far to coast

Thank you!
We have a fairly comfortable budget. We were looking at Altrincham and the surrounding area (currently live in a village but thought we might like being on the edge of a city for the amenities and hobbies for us and the kids).

We were trying to stay further east to be closer to family but tbh I think we need to consider Liverpool and surrounds too.....and so I am open to village or edge of city.

Ideally I would really love to be near some hills - folk suggested clithero, or even a lot further north but the commute is too big. The whole reason we are relocating is so that my husband doesn't miss seeing our kids midweek, so a big commute is pointless - hence the 50 minutes.
We definitely need some footpaths/open spaces for dog walks.

Thanks @Iwasneverafan. Ive been looking around ormskirk today so great to have some other places to look at too

Altrincham is nice, maybe Sale, Wilmslow, Lym,Alderly Edge if you have the budget.
I have placed clients working in Liverpool in all of those

@Hoppinggreenthanks. These are all the areas we looked at, Alderley edge was pushing the commute times ...but it did have a hill!

Im now keen to look at places north or nw of Liverpool as we haven't really considered that yet.

You could try Heswall, St Helens (Newton le Willows) Formby or Southport

Ormskirk has lots of surrounding countryside, esp around Latham, Burscough etc. Rainford is a lovely village that’s generally considered the nicest suburb of St Helens. Lots of people move to Rainford for the secondary school (I did). It’s best one in St Helens. Ormskirk schools are good.
South Warrington / Daresbury is close to lots of countryside and again has good schools.
Feel free to pm for more info.

I used to live in Altrincham. Avoid like the plague - it’s gone seriously down hill.

Warrington? On the Great Sankey, Penketh Westbrook side. Good links to the M62

I went to Rainford 🤓

Parbold, Dalton, Upholland, aghton are all quite nice and decent value.

Ormskirk is ok, but full of student accommodation.

Burscough is quite nice, especially for walking down the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Parbold is also nice, prob 20 miles to Liverpool. Will your DH be going by car or train?

Frodsham has a big hill .

Daresbury?
Wirral - the side facing the Dee.
My first thought was Formby.

Crosby and Formby are two lovely towns north of Liverpool. Both have very nice houses, decent schools (including private options) and direct access to beaches.

Crosby is a little more suburban, and extremely popular with families. It’s really the far north edge of Liverpool (only 15 or so minutes from the city centre by train) so open countryside might not be quite so accessible, but the beach more than makes up for it, in my opinion.

Formby is a further ten minutes north up the train track. Its beach really is stunning and it has a forest and massive sand dunes between the town and the coast. It’s a little more rural than Crosby but still very much a town with all the amenities. Not quite as young feeling as Crosby, maybe. The beach can be a bit overwhelmed in the height of summer but generally it’s quiet and perfect for very long dog walks.

A healthy budget would definitely be useful in both of these places. They are two of the most popular towns in Merseyside. Both have a lot of development due to the popularity, which may be a bit of a turnoff.

Merseyside is not renowned for hills generally I’m afraid, aside from the sand dunes!

Aughton/Ormskirk.

Warrington- Stretton, Appleton, Stockton Heath
Altrincham
Lymm
Knutsford
Wilmslow

Woolton, Liverpool. East of the city, about 20 minutes to the city centre but also just minutes from the M62/M56. This year it was voted The Sunday Times best place to live (North West).

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/village-liverpool-officially-best-place-31240112.amp

Altrincham is great. Lovely cafe culture, superb schools, green spaces, transport links, refurbished leisure centre and community feel.

Timperley and Sale nearby are both great options.

About 50 min drive to Liverpool without traffic but admittedly will tip over an hour at peak times, so possibly too far out for you?

You could always go for somewhere like Formby or Ormskirk, you won't be that far from places like Rivington for hills.

Also what about the Wirral/Chester? Then you've an easy route into North Wales' hills as well (Wepre at Connah's Quay is a very hilly parkrun ;) ) but I don't know if it's too far to commute.

An elderly relative of mine lived in Woolton until he died - he was very happy there.

I've no idea about schools though.

I live in Altrincham and although it’s great I would think very carefully if you have young kids. The grammar system is brutal and getting much harder.
My fourth dc is about to sit and it’s a lot worse than when my eldest did it.
It I had my time again I wouldn’t live here for that reason.

Ooh interesting about Altrincham schools.

What years were you there ? I started there in 1984.

Ormskirk. It's quite a nice little town.