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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU- really worried about moving to Northampton

214 replies

up1978 · 03/12/2018 09:50

we are looking to move to Northampton (Weston Favell area) or maybe somewhere else still not 100% sure from London. I have 2 children one going into high school in September and i am really worried that he wont do as well in school as he will be an in year transfer and I wouldnt really get a choice on where he gets a place as most good schools are oversubscribed. Just really anxious about it all. If any of you live in the area please let me know what its like living there with kids.

OP posts:
up1978 · 07/12/2018 17:32

Oliversmumsarmy kids are really excited. Went to see a school today and they loved it (Quinton Hall). So now my thoughts seem to be go for a village around Northampton and not town itself. The reason why Northamptonshire is due to fact we will have friends not too far away and family. So have the support network when we need it. Makes the move easier. If we moved to Oxfordshire/Bath/anywhere else then we would be by ourselves and further away from family.

OP posts:
Oliversmumsarmy · 08/12/2018 10:45

Do they realise the difference in their lives or are they just looking at a big house and a change that looks exciting.

With mine the freedom that they had growing up was something that made their childhoods great.
Dd especially who has friends from all over the country couldn’t get over the amount of parental input just to go to her friends local shopping centre. Her friends who stayed here couldn’t believe the freedom to do what ever they wanted without time limits because of bus time tables or just a parent picking them up at a certain time.

Neither dc I think will want to move out of London because they would want to give their dc the same sort of childhood.

CatherineofTaragon · 08/12/2018 11:21

OP, this is one of those threads where you ask our advice, we give it to you and your are choosing to ignore it. That's fine, your life.

If you are determined then Quinton House and Pitsford Sch are both very good private schs.

Areas to look at to live that I think may suit you best are :

The Brampton's
The Bringtons
East Haddon
Ravensthorpe
West Haddon
Hollowell
Creaton
Yelvertoft
Cold Ashby
Clipston

Have a look on Rightmove. Properties in these locations are not always available and don't often come up but keep looking and then you will be first in queue to view and act quickly to secure the house you want.

I live in one of the villages above and you may find that your £800k doesn't go as far as you may like to think so bear that in mind if you are planning to use some equity to fund sch fees.

I agree with some of the posters who suggest you may not see your family and friends as often as you think you might. You must keep that in mind and be prepared to throw yourself into village life. Be also prepared to do this but for little back. In terms of neighbours etc I have seen a grand total of 0 this year, despite the fact they live mere feet away from me. In fairness to them when we all happen to be leaving our houses at the same time , getting into our cars. You do get a friendly wave though that is about as much as they muster as they have their own, families, friends, lives etc and basically no time for me. If you like drinking tea and coffee with people you live near as a social pastime , put that to the back of your mind as it just doesn't happen! Unless of course you make the drinks at yours and people come largely to see what works you done to the house. Obviously you have said you already have friends and family here and I sincerely hope they do make time for you. I'm not sure how much social interaction you like ( I like loads and that's why I struggle here as there is none) but if like me you enjoy the company of others I hope your network up here make the time for you on a regular basis as they have said. If they work, have kids, clubs,hobbies, retired with new interests etc you may find they simply don't have have as much time for you as initially thought. If you are moving here to be closer to them and will rely on them on occasion for childcare/ support/friendship it may be advantageous for you to have that chat with them now to be clear in all your minds about what the others expectations are. I personally am busy but always make time for my friends and family, involving lots of driving and effort including hosting dinners etc but sadly many others don't so it all ends up a bit one sided. Just something to think about.

My kids were excited too when we moved here. In hindsight they were too young to really understand ( 6 & 12 ) However the reality soon hit them. My oldest has now just left as in his words 'this place is a dead ting' He has gone to university in Manchester and I doubt he will ever set foot back here again as we are moving anyway. I'm fairly sure he will build his life up there now as again in his own words "Manchester is brilliant"!

As others have said be prepared to drive everywhere as the bus network is non existent. That will include sch runs each day . If you are not in catchment or going privately there will be no other way to get your kids to sch. This becomes important if you are ill ,or Jct 15 of the M1 is closed as it is most days and you have been out somewhere more interesting than here and struggle to get back into the county. They still need to get to and from sch and I personally found this element the most restricting. Be prepared to get ur kids driving as soon as they can and factor in financing and funding their lessons and cars.

Also, the rubbish is only collected every 3 weeks but there is tip in Brixworth. I usually make a trip there once a month with my overflowing black bags as the one bin we are given is simply not enough for a families rubbish over a 3 week period.
However, if you leave your car windows open for a while the stink soon leaves your car. There is also a very good valet service up near Sixfields.

On a practical level place a chest freezer in an outbuilding as we have. Fill it with milk, bread and food etc. The roads are not gritted in the villages and you struggle to get anywhere. I understand due to cuts this year even more of the roads will not be gritted ( there is a full list on county website).

In the villages the electricity cables and water pipes are all very old and prone to failure. Stock up on candles!

WiFi is poor so if you need a good signal for work / kids games you will have to keep this in mind. Some villages do have Gigaclear but again the jury is still out on that one as to any improvement in service and it is quite expensive.

As far as I can see some of the villages have no virgin media etc at all,mine being one of them as companies can not justify the cost of laying cables given the small number of occupants. The only way to receive receive sat tv is via Sky. Alternatively Freeview with an Ariel.

Mobile signal is non existent so if you want to make mobile calls from home you will need to use a WIFi calling enabled phone. A land line here is also a necessity.

Most of the properties in these villages are oil based heating as no gas lines ever laid or connected. We have 4 oil delivery's a year and this is fine, no problem heating works in exact same way.

Hospitals poor and waiting lists long. They are also quite far in terms of distance from the villages. Although the above could be said for anywhere in the country. Private healthcare a must if you enjoy being alive and want to stay that way. There is a particularly good private hospital in Northampton I think it is called Three Shires but have a google yourself. I have used it and no complaints at all.

I hope your experience will be better than mine. As I said previously I know at least 10 other families who have moved up here over a period of 40 yrs, some with family and some without. All of them unhappy and in particular the older generation seem to struggle the most making new connections. If you will have all the friends and family you need up here, will see them often and be happy in that ,then this county will be a like a home from home and you should be ok.

Anyway, I am going to hide this thread now OP and won't be returning to it. Every time I come across it, it quite literally turns my stomach and reminds me what a total waste of my life the almost last decade has been. I'm moving forward now and looking to the future so I'm filling my head with those happy positive thoughts now.

All the very best to you and I am sincere in my wish for you and your family.

WitchesHatRim · 08/12/2018 13:05

OP, this is one of those threads where you ask our advice, we give it to you and your are choosing to ignore it. That's fine, your life.

Wow you really think you are the fountain of all knowledge. Hmm

Anyway, I am going to hide this thread now OP and won't be returning to it

Good because you attack anyone who doesn't agree with you. You are blatently projecting which doesn't help OP at all.

I'm fairly sure he will build his life up there now as again in his own words "Manchester is brilliant"!

And I'm pretty certain if you started a thread saying all of Manchester is brilliant there will be posters say that not all of it is. Woukd you attack then the way you have posters on here? No where is all brilliant or all bad.

Oliversmumsarmy · 08/12/2018 13:35

If you are moving here to be closer to them and will rely on them on occasion for childcare/ support/friendship it may be advantageous for you to have that chat with them now to be clear in all your minds about what the others expectations are

I just want to reiterate this.

Although I do know a few of my friends asked and asked and confirmed that parents would be up for babysitting or just to help out occasionally if something came up at work.

Yes Yes Yes absolutely. Was the reply.

Till they actually moved and first thing out of one of friends parents mouth when they came round to their new home the first time was
I hope you are not expecting us to baby sit.

Turned out they didn’t think they were going to move so promising the Earth when they didn’t think they were ever going to be in the position that they had to follow through was easy.

morethanaword · 08/12/2018 14:05

What about Bedfordshire OP? Has some beautiful villages and is near to Milton Keynes that has a great shopping centre but I believe Beds isn’t that cheap anymore, it’s quite desirable as the house prices have rocketed.

EverardDigby · 08/12/2018 15:19

With mine the freedom that they had growing up was something that made their childhoods great.

Good news, there is freedom outside London! Yes it can be difficult in villages but towns and cities have buses, trains and trams. And plenty of entertainment. We have wi-fi too!

GoodHeavensNoImAChicken · 08/12/2018 15:51

I would avoid Quinton personally. It’s not very academic but is a nice little school. If I was paying for a private school I’d need to know my children would reach their potential and I know a good 15 children educated at QHS and none of them exceeded expectations.

But that’s just my opinion, I appreciate it’s a lovely environment to grow up in

Alwayscheerful · 08/12/2018 16:01

I agree absolutely with Catherine's list of villages, all good villages.
The PP comments about Quinton School are correct. Nice school, happy children but not academic. Bilton Grange School at Dunchurch, is a feeder school for public Schools such as Rugby and Oundle and Uppingham etc for less academic children. Not sure of your budget for private school but Bilton Grange have network of mini buses to collect children in the morning and return them at night.

Oliversmumsarmy · 08/12/2018 16:15

Good news, there is freedom outside London

But then you go on to say

Yes it can be difficult in villages but towns and cities have buses, trains and trams. And plenty of entertainment. We have wi-fi too

The op isn’t moving to a town. They are looking at villages and whilst the towns have all this entertainment as you have said their is no transport to get to and from it short of getting a car out and being an unpaid taxi service

I think you just proved my point

Riversguidebook · 08/12/2018 16:17

Speaking as an outsider to the area, Northampton town centre has a thriving economy, cultural arts quarter, streets and streets of independent shops, fantastic night life, restaurants, Bugaboos on every pavement, as well as the usual shopping arcades.
Northampton has Abington Park at it’s centre which is like a mini Hyde Park with lakes, chapel, tree lined avenues.

You only have to google earth Northampton and drop in on random town centre streets to see how it looks.

However I’ve never lived there, but I’m familiar with it and Weston Favell which is not really a suburb it’s quite a few miles outside of Northampton.
Weston Favell has a cruddy 80s shopping mall and miles of endless soul less housing estates.
It has tiny pockets of very expensive garden village style posher estates.

You’re better off moving to Earls Barton a large village a couple of miles near Weston Favell. I lived there and hated the village life, but locals rave about it and all seem to have ambitions to live there.

It has better secondary school catchment to Wellingborough schools (Hatton, Weavers, Wrenn plus the established private school Wellingborough School), and even Wellingborough itself which has more green spaces and parklands than any other town in Northamptonshire.

Wellingborough has a rich history with some grand old buildings, the river Nene runs through it, easy transport access hub.

It’s slated by locals but as an outsider I see it as a pretty market town, whereas people on here recommending Corby ... blimey, it’s an ex steel workers town and the place is like one of those cities you see on Russian dash cam videos, all grey cement blocks and miserable ring roads.

A new billion pound shopping complex called Rushden Lakes opened to coincide with the building of Stanton Cross in Wellingborough, which is the largest new build estate in Europe or something like that, so money is going into the area.

But honestly, google earth is your friend. Walk around virtual Northampton and then try Earls Barton down the road, or even Wellingborough if you want more house for your money.
Weston Favell isn’t part of Northampton town, it’s not even a suburb. It’s like Milton Keynes newbuilds in micro, but with small pockets of garden village style estates.

JohnMcCainsDeathStare · 14/12/2018 17:15

Thing is Northampton could be awesome me. There's plenty of natural resources and countryside. There could be inland beaches and more nature parks to complement the ones that are present. There could be skate park and bike tracks for year round activity. I'd you are a landlocked County you've got to think of ways to draw people and visitors in. But I do think see this. I hope I'm wrong and this short temism will eventually doe off for something g more sustainable.

3luckystars · 14/12/2018 17:26

Move to Ireland. You would be loaded here and the schools are brilliant and stress free and actually free too. No Brexit. Great craic.

Go on go on go on go on.

Concernedmamab · 01/01/2019 13:59

I followed this thread with interest! What did you decide to do in the end, OP?

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