To ask you if this place exists?

[montepulcianos]

I would really like to move house, somewhere we can get more house for our money as we would like a lot more space (currently live in the Home Counties in a lovely area with very good schools and great links into London, so housing is crazy expensive) and to escape the 11 plus/grammar system and the associated pressure and competitive attitudes.

We need to be within relatively easy reach of an airport as DH works overseas part of the week. I'd say maximum 45mins-1 hour by car to an airport. Need good schools for DC and would like to be in pleasant surroundings, in or near countryside and open space. Love the idea of the Cotswolds but seems too far from either Heathrow or Birmingham airports?

Have family up north and also more centrally. Would be great to be nearer to them too. Also decent train links to London (but not for daily commute, more occasional work trips).

Any brainwaves?! Does such a place exist?!

Nottinghamshire or the peak district or somewhere in between. EMA 30 minutes away from me (i am SW notts) and there are some lovely little villages and places around that feel rural but aren't if you know what i mean 😊

Hampshire? Great schools, no grammars and easy journey to LHR. Prices vary massively though, Winchester is very expensive but other areas are a great deal cheaper than London.

Im outside Middlesbrough - don't come here, mn hates it.
However cities, York, Newcastle and Leeds are all not bad!

I'd start researching flights for where you need and go from there. The presence of an airport isn't enough to guarantee that a) there are flights to the destination you want b) those flights are at times that are convenient c) the flights are at a price you can afford/company is willing to pay etc

^^ This. London gets far far more flights than regional airports, even Manchester.

Colleague and I went to a conference in a European capital city. I had choice of 2 flights a day from Manchester, and nothing from other northern England airports, one of those flights arrive very late at night, so effectively useless. Colleague had choice of 5 flights a day from Heathrow alone, and probably others from Gatwick, Luton, Stansted etc.

Having said that, there are lots of flights to Dublin from Manchester, and outside rush hour, an hour away covers a huge area, from the west coast, Manchester and surrounding countryside as far as west side of Leeds. Probably a decent service from Liverpool too, Leeds less so - timings of flights seem to be set up for day business trips, so early start, lateish finish.

Great quality of life in northern England too, with everything that large cities and close access to beautiful countryside has to offer.

However, west of the Pennines is noticably wetter than the east, which may be a downside, if you're used to London weather. I live in Leeds but worked in London for an extended period and the weather was noticeably better.

Warwickshire would be fab, lots of gorgeous villages plus towns like Warwick, Stratford and Leamington. All very handy for the airport, good state and private schooling options and you would get lots of house for your money.

What would you hope to get for 800K?

I think we live in one of the nicest villages around for convenient, friendly, outdoorsy, but well connected family life. Goring on Thames. Drive to Heathrow in 45 -50 mins if traffic is OK. Rarely more than an hour.

www.visitgoringandstreatley.co.uk/

For 800K you get can get a perfectly nice 4 bed family house, but nothing out of the ordinary. Definitely at the cheaper end for 4 beds round here.

And you get to go to the gym with Lenny Henry - what more could you want?!

Broadway - The Cotswolds. Under an hour to Bham airport.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62509648.html

What about Edinburgh . Plenty of excellent schools and a busy airport .loads of trains to London too. Very easy to get out into the countryside .

Villages around Stokesley, North Yorks have good/outstanding primary schools. Secondary school in Stokesley good, or private options. 1hr to Leeds Bradford or Newcastle airport. 30min to Northallerton or Thirsk for trains to a kings cross. My mum is from Lancashire and she has adjusted quite well 😁

Cambridgeshire, North hertfordshire and Bedfordshire all have lovely parts. I love South Cambridgeshire and you will get a lovely house there for that but you will get more for your money in bedfordshire. Stansted is a major airport and no worries about the London travel.

Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire villages and EMA.

Round about Swindon. On M4, rail into London and an hour to Bristol and Heathrow airports. Lots of nice towns and villages nearby if the thought of Swindon horrifies you.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67360297.html

Bristol. Airport nearby, couple of hours up to Birmingham if need be and some lovely countryside nearby.
The locals are lovely too

Herefordshire/ Worcestershire is wonderful- less than an hour to Birmingham airport, beautiful unspoilt countryside and £800k would buy you an incredible property with lots of land.
Good luck.

If it's a toss up between Yorkshire and Lancashire, you could go somewhere on the border, that's been in both counties over the years and is accessible to Leeds and Manchester, but probably best for Manchester airport:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73389710.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65320465.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73332107.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71900534.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65666957.html

But in reality, there's literally hundreds of properties around here like this. I've been walking in the footpaths around the villages south of Wakefield today. Many many, utterly jaw dropping properties in rural idyls, not far outside civilisation.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68273063.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73058504.html

Just found a couple of examples, why is it so much fun looking for houses in this price range?

700k near Bristol.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54819666.html

We're 45 minutes from Stansted and an hour on the train to London, on the A1/A14 axis in Cambs. Our house is on the market ... 😉

Ponteland is walking distance from Newcastle airport, Northumberland has beautiful countryside and some lovely villages e.g. corbridge, Alnwick

Kendal in Cumbria.

Direct train links to Manchester Airport, or about an hours drive to Carlisle Airport which now flies to Dublin. Close to the M6 for all other commuting. Two good comprehensive secondaries and no grammar school.

Right on the edge of the lake district but you would get a lot for your money there.

Nice area to live and plenty to do.

Bath
Harrogate
Hale / Cheshire
Edinburgh

All would meet what your looking for.

Northumberland, particularly Ponteland.
It's a 5 mins drive to Newcastle Airport, 20 mins drive to Newcastle City Centre & Central Station. Lots of decent schools & not a long drive to either countryside or coastal days out.

I am definitely biased because I've lived here all my life, but it's beautiful

i lived for a while on the north wales/cheshre border and whilst i could fly to dublin easily enough from liverpool or manchester i actually ended up using the HSS.
at the time they were building the tram from the airport to dublin and traffic was horrendous and unpredictable such that the door to door time was equivalent.
Add to that the lack of luggage restrictions, free parking at holyhead, (though i"d often use the train) and the space onboard - much easier to work + laptop power then it was an altogether better commute.

however i trust youre going to wait until after march before committing to anything.

Would suggest NOT ‘Notts or Leicestershire villages’ if you are thinking of relying on East Mids airport. Bugger all flights to anywhere useful.

I would agree with previous posters that you need to start with finding an airport that has the right flights and work back from there.