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?

(too long on twitter today - didn't mean to bold that)

Well, if he comes from Glossop I an not suprised that he was a knob. All that in-breeding.

Look at Altrincham / Hale / Bowden / Sale - easy to get into Manchester on the tram but basically in the countryside with lots of posh and/or rich people.

The schools are excellent, the area has a low crime rate and believe it or believe it not, Manchester has things like theatres, art galleries, National Trust parks and properties, world famous sporting and entertainment facilities and ... Michelin Star Restuarants!

I know - you're shocked now aren't you?

I've lived all over the UK, and believe me, there are plenty worse things to do than having to live in or around Manchester. Just choose the area carefully, South Manchester/Cheshire border is generally good.

I lived in Hale and would move back there like a shot given the chance.

My sister lives in Todmorden - she works in Manchester. Todmorden is a beautiful spot (as is Hebden Bridge 4 miles up the road). Both are on the TransPennine route between Leeds and Manchester. As I recall from Tod you can be in Manchester in as little as 20 minutes and in Leeds in 50 minutes. Both places are pretty unusual, Hebden has a reputation for being a little more poncy and it does get jammed up with tourists at weekends.

I love visiting her and would sell up and move there in New York minute - just need to persuade dh.

It's completly shit up North, stay where you are - please.

If you don't fancy Cheshire (which is a place invented by God so that Northerners don't have to bother moving down south) I'd seriously look at either Didsbury (lots of nice Victorian houses, great cafes, culture, schools) or Bolton, in particular Heaton.

Another vote for Clitheroe and the Ribble Valley. Gorgeous countryside, semi rural, but with decent communication to N E Manchester, plus an excellent grammar school (co-ed). Property not cheap, but cheaper than Cheshire.

What about the Ribble Valley

searcht2.aol.co.uk/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=ribble+valley&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.olddadsfarm.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fphoto_3_large.jpg&v_t=sb_uk&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.olddadsfarm.co.uk%2Fsurroundingarea.htm&width=143&height=95&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcQpsBn-kAkUc8HYiT1nWd5tSeE3rGAuiJFQk2mRDUVjMlBneYUN2vpw2Rlw%3Awww.olddadsfarm.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fphoto_3_large.jpg&b=image%3Fv_t%3Dsb_uk%26q%3Dribble%2Bvalley%26page%3D2%26oreq%3D2520b962285e454d97e0da56b346bfe9%26count_override%3D20%26oreq%3De0fff01cb0f242ffb137fe9f1663f061&imgHeight=533&imgWidth=800&imgTitle=and+the+Ribble+Valley+are&imgSize=135493&hostName=www.olddadsfarm.co.uk

Xposted when I mentioned Ribble valley!!

Ribble Valley is lovely but if you a city type you will hate it. Don;t expect to move from an urban area with lots of facilities and expect rural Lancashire to give you the same sort of lifestyle!

Orlando - I'm wondering if we live in the same place

Why do you have such a downer on Glossop? In the 80's it was pretty much a hole, the old town is lovely and the rest has really improved.

WondersWhyEveryoneHatesGlossopUnlessIt'sTheTrafficTiggaxx

Ooh, leftblank - give me a clue. A clue so cunning I will be able to ascertain your location without either of us betraying our whereabouts to The World At Large...

Is there a new, expanded supersize supermarket on the edge of the town?

YES!!! I love it! But that is beside the point.

Have lived here for the last two years. Definitely not grim :)

Glossop and Altrincham are out for me. Ex's family live there, and even if it's only perceived I wouldn't be able to relax, I'd be forever worried about bumping into one of his (large) family.

They could be the most beautiful spots on Earth, with the friendliest people and the best state schools and I still wouldn't live there, sorry.

The other places people have mentioned sound great. DP and I often drive from the South to Scotland (to visit ILs), reckon we should do some exploring on the way up next time.

Incidentally DP says Manchester is the South for him anyway

I love it too! And town itself, in which - apart from a brief forays into the wider world for uni and after - I have lived all my life. Is rural but not isolated. London a mere hour and a half on yon Virgin trains these days, and Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham all just 40ish mins.

"'Glossop a rundown council estate in the middle of nowhere?'" see the Glossop the rest of you are talking about sounds great, but the bit I visited certainly felt exactly like a rundown council estate in the middle of nowhere.

I don't know if maybe if was a nearby town I was in or another part of Glossop, but it wasn't great. Pretty surroundings, but not a nice place.

I shall wear a red carnation next time i am shopping there!

I have lived in both Tarporley and Chester for several years but feel so at home now. Exactly the right mix. I have good friends who live in London and takes no time at all!

well if you can't be arsed knowing where you were before handing out ignorant criticism, we jolly well don't want you here thank you very much.

so fuck off and live somewhere else.

I thank you.

Do you have dc, leftbank, and if so are they secondary/primary/pre-school age? Two of mine are secondary and whenever I talk to friends dahn sahf about schools I can't get over how lucky we are having such great state provision here.

(I too will wear a red carnation, though I might have to pluck one from the flower display on the way in.) (I'll be the woman being escorted out by security, then)

AwesomePan that's uncalled for.

I was there for a funeral. I was told it was Glossop. However my weekend there doesn't match up to the nice place people have described here.

(I have spend more than a weekend in other parts of Manchester)

When have I handed out ignorant criticism? I'm not rubbishing a place I've never been to based on sterotypes etc. I'm saying I've had some bad experiences there and I know it's these which are putting me off.

I know it can't all be like that, which is why I asked.

Will give them something to do - i mentioned to dp last time we were there that they must not get much action!

One Ds but he is just a baby so hopefully the schools will remain decent!

It isn't grim up North,its LOVELY:)

ah! A weekend at a funeral? I seee.

to be fair, I suspect you were in either places called Gamesley, which is part of Glossop, or Hattersley which is/was a M/c council 'overspill' estate just outside of Glossop. Neither is representative of god's own town. Or the beautiful North in general.

sorry ifyou were offened. I thought the grinning smile and the self-deprecation of 'northern friendliness exposed' was humour enough to show I wasn't being entirely serious.......

I love living in Glossop, so to see it being so-described was a bit . and a bit and made be a tad .

enough emocions already!

as you were.