To ask for advice on relocating to Chester?

[devadreams]

We are considering relocating to Chester. I have historic family connections to the city but limited recent/current experience and would appreciate any tips on any areas in and around Chester you'd particularly recommend (or avoid!), as well as any insights re schools.

When I was a child I knew Chester was generally very good for schools, is this still the case? DCs are all at primary currently but secondary is imminent for DS1 so we need to consider both.

We'd be open to living fairly centrally as we love the city itself but also interested in the surrounding villages. DH would need access to the train station but not every day so fine to be a drive/taxi ride away.

I've been on Rightmove and seen nice houses in our budget in places like Hoole, Pulford, Littleton, Dee Banks, Lache Lane, Poulton and Balderton. What are these areas like?

Try local forums and Facebook pages maybe. I'm sure MN has (or used to have?) regional boards which might be more useful.

Super schools at both primary and secondary and loads of choice- state, private and grammar ion the Wirral (Chester kids can get in if they pass the 11+).

Lots of nice areas- near town and quite expensive (for Chester!)- hoole, handBridge, dee banks, Westminster Park. Also nice but a bit more residential and further out- Upton, Newton, Boughton. Nice villages still near to Chester- mollington, backford, Mickle Trafford, christleton, Waverton, pullford. Or cross the border into wales and Hawarden is lovely. Not so nice areas that I would avoid- not cos they are dangerous or anything but just cos there's far nicer places to live- lache, Blacon, saltney.

I guess you need to work our whether you want to live in/ near the city or in a village though? Personally I love living near enough to town to walk in along the canal to have a mooch round and would not like to have to get in my car every time I needed to get anywhere. But then I'm a real townie!

The area around Upton-by-Chester golf club looks lovely, close enough to the centre but still leafy.

I'm originally from Chester, I have great memories being brought up there.

I lived in a council house in Handbridge with my parents which they ended up buying, very close to the river dee and about 15 minute walk into the city centre. Handbridge has its posh parts, when I told people that was the area I lived people would seem surprised - its known as a posh area. The part I lived had many characters but I enjoyed it and felt like a real community.

Overleigh is a great primary school. There are 2 big high schools - Catholic High and Queens Park. I went to Queens Park didn't have the best of times but that was just my experience.

When I moved out I private rented in Hoole which was a lovely area, it has some lovely restaurants and bars also not that far from the city centre.

Many of my friends were brought up in Blacon, it is a huge estate near Sealand Road shopping area. I have to say although it has a bad name all my friends enjoy living there and have no trouble. It does unfortunately have a stigma around it as does the Lache area.

For me the price of living in Chester was too much so when it came to buying a house I moved to Ellesmere Port as its still close to my work and you get more for your money. I'm happy living in this area and still pop into Chester.

There are lots of good places in Chester and as it's on the border you are close to Flintshire areas and the Wirral - some lovely areas to consider also.

Good luck

It's a beautiful city and a great place to live. I live in one of the surrounding villages with train links to chester and it's fab.
Hoole, Dee Banks and Handbridge would be my choices. Hoole is a buzzing little Suburb with some good pubs.

What's your budget for a house?

DD did some cricket training in Handbridge last year. It was great to be so close to a Chester.

Thanks so much for all the tips and insight, really useful! Bagga we would have a fairly healthy budget, up to around £950k, as moving from a particularly expensive part of the south east.

I think we both really like the idea of being nearer the centre, walking distance would be amazing. So am particularly intrigued by Hoole, Handbridge, Curzon Park etc. Not ruling out the villages just yet though, we need to do a bit of a reccy I think. We are currently in a lovely village in Buckinghamshire and we love the outdoors and countryside but DH in particular is not that much of a village person if that makes any sense! Just having easy access to countryside eg the Welsh mountains would be great, whilst also easy access to the amenities of the city centre. I suspect a shorter journey to the train station would also be better for DH (he'd be using it to get to London so good to reduce any added journey time).

I’m in Hoole, we love it here. It’s a ten minute walk into town, and there’s plenty of leafy walks too down the canal that the dog loves!
It’s a very close community, we have lovely neighbours and lots of local shops.
I grew up in Chester and was at Catholic High, however theres plenty of schools closer to Hoole (Bishops Heber, Christleton High, Upton High) that I’ve heard good stories about.

Thanks Peach, it does sound wonderful! All of this is making me quite excited about the potential move. We've only just started considering it, but because of my past family connections with Chester it is a really special place for me and I feel quite emotional at the thought of maybe living there!

Hoole is great, so is Handbridge which is walking distance from the city centre but has a villagey feel to it. Pulford is lovely, a bit further out but there's a bus to the city every ten minutes, and it's got a really friendly community there - you'd be made welcome I'm sure. There's also Huntington, which might be a bit suburban now but used to have beautiful woodlands and access to the countryside.
I'd probably avoid Blacon, the Lache and Saltney. Westminster Park is nice and handy for the two local independent schools if that's what you're looking for.

You could move further into the Wirral - I grew up on the Dee side of the Wirral in Little Neston but also Parkgate, Heswall, Lower Heswall, West Kirby - all that Deeside of the Wirral overlooking the Welsh Hills is gorgeous and the schools are great. Still with easy access to Chester. It was a dream growing up there. Lovely people and a great community.

Thank you withahey. We'd prefer state schools but would consider independent if we couldn't get places in year at state schools. I know this might be a challenge with 3 DCs when the state schools are generally well regarded. Would need to reduce the house budget if we were looking at private schools fees though.

Chester is lovely, we're into Wales but know lots of people in Chester and schools are ridiculously oversubscribed. I'd ring round some of the schools and see if any have spaces for transferring to. There are a couple of private schools that you may need to consider for primary and then hope for a secondary space during normal application.

Hoole I think has one of the best community feels to it, and although expensive is within walking distance of town centre, but with local shops too. It is expensive, but you'd find something lovely in your budget.

Wirral is a good alternative if you're interested in grammar schools, lots of houses in your budget all over the Wirral area.

Thanks onemorecup, will definitely keep an open mind and look at the areas you suggest, sounds lovely! I don't know the Wirral well. I suspect being in or nearer to Chester would be most suitable for us though as DH will need to access an airport regularly (I'm guessing liverpool and manchester airports would be similar travel time by car?) as well as train links to London.

Thanks sindragosan! One thing I'd actually be glad to escape from if we do relocate is the grammar system here (Bucks), I don't know if there is the quite same pressure, competition and divisiveness in the Wirral that there is here though? I think we will need to investigate schools further in terms of in year places, and be open to considering private, although we would both favour state education if at all possible (especially when the state schools in the area are so good!)

The schools are very good, 10 years ago you could have had any school you wanted, not so much now.

It may be worth considering the smaller village schools - equally good but not quite as oversubscribed. Ecclestone, Guilden Sutton, Mickle Trafford, Mollington, Saughall etc. St Martin's academy is the popular choice in Hoole, but runs a waiting list as its almost impossible to get into.

Welsh schools are good too, but not great for commuting, especially if you're on the A55.

Really helpful advice, thanks sindragonsan

With your budget for a house you will be absolutely spoilt for choice! Lucky you, how exciting!

With schools just be aware that if there is a 'feeder school ' thing here where you get a slightly higher priority for getting into in the high school your primary feeds into - so most of the C of E primaries are feeder schools for Bishops High school etc.

It doesn't mean you have to go to the feeder high school or you won't get into any others but it's something to bear in mind if there's a particular high school you are aiming to get your kids into.

My kids just go to our nearest high school which wasn't the feeder for their primary nor is it our catchment area school!

That's good to know Bagga. We don't have anything like feeder primaries into secondaries here (only feeder infants into combined/junior schools). I will bear that in mind when I do my research. The Catholic High school - forgive me if a silly question but do you need to be catholic to go there/have a chance of getting in?

Chester is a beautiful city, and it's very pleasant in the daytime, but would you be wanting to go out in the city much in the evening, OP? Every time I've been to Chester at night, it's been absolutely awful - heaving with people, lots of drunks, lots of police, police vans parked on the streets, people being stopped by the police, people being sick on the streets, people having public rows. I've been in some rough and busy places at night, but I've never seen anything like the nightlife of Chester. If it wasn't for that, I'd be tempted to live in Chester myself!

@devadreams I’m not catholic and got in, nor is my younger sister who is there now! It is a very religious school though, with RE being mandatory for GCSE and things like regular mass. They offer a free school bus pass to catchment areas if you’ve been christened, I had to pay as I hadn’t.

Time chester is like any city at night - there are good parts and bad parts. I avoid like the plague on race nights. These days I am an early doors person though and tend to be home by 9!

The new theatre and rejuvenation is that end of town is great. Even the market now has a couple of bars and great food!