to think it's grim up North?

[threefeethighandrising]

We are going to relocate in the next few years, and Manchester is a serious contender for DP for jobs.

If DP was to get work there then we would live somewhere semi-rural and commutable.

But ... the only experiences I have of Manchester and the surrounding areas are though my ex. He was an arsehole of the highest order, and the many people he introduced me to (his family and friends, in Manchester & Glossop) were the most painfully dysfunctional, damaged people I have ever had the misfortune to meet.

My opinion of the area is that it's the last place on earth I'd want to live, and my skin crawls when I think of the time I spent there.

But it can't all be like this can it? Surely IABU and my experiences with my ex are clouding my judgement? Surely there's a good (great?) side that I've just not seen?

Can you sell it to me?

i love yorkshire but i have yet to go when it is warm. the sun might be shining and feel hot and apparently there is a heatwave but the wind oh my lord i have never been so cold as when i went to Whitby, and in the winter it is so so cold but is beautiful

Funny - no. We don't really know where the 'East Midlands' is TBH. As a region, its a nonentity.

get ye to the moors!
You should see my tan

They do say the wind in Yorkshire comes straight from the Urals. And that its lazy - doesn't bother going round you, goes straight through instead.

West of the pennines is milder.

You should see my tan
and if not, healthy windburn.

ah well Grimma the EM is far enough north to be called Northen by those in the South, but it is certainly a non entity. Nottingham ring any bells?

we have a beach in Glossop! In a sort of bend in the River Ethrow, where sediment has built up (soon to be an ox-bow lake if you remeber from your 'O' level Geography). No palm trees and ice cream. But a beach of sorts. about 4 feet long.

not pretty.

but a beach in every sense.

My mum and dads house in the EM gets it's wind straight from the Urals according to my Dad and it is fucking freezing.

I'm a southerner in the north, it's fine. I don't know anything about Manchester, though, I'm in Newcastle. It would be a bit like living in London and claiming that you know what it's like in Exeter.

Ramsbottom is great. It's amazing countryside is fab for walking and cycling.
The schools are all very good. The people are lovely.

It has lots of lovely shops and lots of festivals (chocolate festival, steam trains, music, black pudding throwing!).

And when you want to go to the city, it's dead easy, only 20 minutes away.

The only possible response to those delights is, 'Eeh bah gum, ecky thump'

The water is softer so you get a better cuppa. And I'm not a northerner

Agree about the water. Hair much silkier and no limescale in the kettle.

That's true. I've never had to descale a kettle or an iron. (though TBH I prefer the taste of hard water)

Well if you want somewhere with a plethora of excellent state schools to choose from you should look at,
1)The southern bit of Stockport such as Marple, Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme.
2)Trafford esp Hale, Sale and Altrincham or maybe Timperley.

Of these, Bramhall and Hale are probably the nicest and both have nice village centres from what I remember with cafes and independent resturants etc. Both have a clutch of outstanding primaries. As for secondary, Trafford have the grammar system but catchment is tight for some and Stockport have the comp system. The secondary schools in that part of Stockport aren't bad (or they weren't a couple of years ago) but they do suffer from the fact that that area is awash with independent schools.

When we lived in Wilmslow which is about 10mins further south than Bramhall, DH occassionally had to drive to Middleton near Rochdale so NE of city. It took him about an hour so imagine about 50mins from places like B and CH. Not sure what the commute would be like from places like Hale.

HTH I sometimes wonder if I'd have been happier if we had chosen somewhere like Hale or Bramhall rather than Wilmslow.

Oh yes, the first thing you notice is how much nicer tea tastes and how much less shampoo and bubble bath you need!

I agree with those who have suggested Ramsbottom or Hebden Bridge.
Commuting by car would quicker from Ramsbottom, although rush hour traffic in Manchester is always tricky once you're inside the M60.
Ramsbottom has your delis and bunting-cupcake emporia (and The Shoulder of Mutton, which is the best pub ever) just like the south manchester suburbs, good schools, a villagey feel, but is better placed and cheaper.
I'd live in Rammy were it not for the fact that DH and i both need to commute to MCR and that would make the school run tricky.

I think you must have been to Gamesley, which is on the outskirts more and is a massive council estate that was built to take in people from Bradford in Manchester when they'd cleared the slum houses. Venture into the high street and you'll see a very different town.

YABU

Don't know if anyone has suggested this yet but Ramsbottom is lovely and Bury Market is to die for if you love cooking. (I haven't read the whole thread - I'm sneaking time at work!) It's a hop to the moterway network but is in the middle of nowhere and has lost of lovely property.

Also, if you move and want to meet a local, I'll glady volunteer!

Ginnybag, I went to Bury Market today. I fucking love it there. Easily the best Market I've ever been to and it's 15 minutes away.
It's cheap and the people are lovely. There is a greengrocer there that always gives DS a banana for free.
One if the butchers gives me a free sausage if it's going to be the last one on the tray.
The people generally know all about the food and can tell you where it came from/the best way to cook it etc. You don't get that kind of service with Tesco.

i,m a bury girl born and bred know ramsbottom and surrounding areas very well wish i could afford to move back there live in bolton now ramsbottom is a beautiful area what with holcolmbe hill and reddisher woods nearby all the schools that side of bury very good too

Yeah, it's very grim indeed. Just ask the people of Ribble Valley, Wyre, Lytham St Annes or Alderly Edge.

How did it go OP? I assume you couldn't take the grimness and had to move back down south or abroad?

Well I don't know about Manchester but some parts of Wigan are ok. I live in west lancashire in a place most people haven't heard of haha. Lots of lovely places not far from here, market towns, countryside etc