To ask what it’s really like to live in the Peak District?

[Walkingwinnie]

Considering permanently relocating to Derbyshire this summer, looking at the village of Tideswell.

Currently live in Central London but now I can mostly work from home it’s an option to move up there. Husband super commutes but can fly from Manchester.

We don’t have any family ties to the area but we are both very outdoorsy and love walking. As it is we spend most of our weekends (pre-COVID) driving out of London to hike/cycle.

Moving there would also allow us to live mortgage free in our 30s and mean we could have a great lifestyle and also save for a very comfortable retirement.

Has anyone made the move? Loved it? Regretted it? It’s fairly low risk for us as we could always come back (no kids, no plans to have any) but I’m aware I may be romanticising the long winters and the culture shock of leaving London!

Tizda! I work with young people many of whom come from this area and some from areas closer to Manchester like Whaley bridge, chapel and new mills. The areas nearer Manchester with better links seem more like suburbs of Manchester IYKWIM, then you get Tideswell, Chelmorton, Harpurhill, Monyash that are more like village feeling lots of holiday let’s and camp sites. Buxton and the closer to Manchester areas all have links/transport to private Cheshire schools like Kings and Cheadle.

Buxton is a bit bigger, market town feel, it has its issues- fights on a Friday outside the pub, some county lines related drug issues we deal with - but overall people seem to like living there and there are some beautiful houses and incomparable scenery, schools are ok too. Most kids want to leave and move to Sheffield, Manchester or London though, although not all of them actually do. Bakewell is beautiful and packed in summer literally packed to the rafters, lots of jobs due to tourism but most people with officey type jobs commute to Sheffield area or wfh.
If you look at the Peak 11 schools website it gives you an idea of the high schools in the area.

Sorry I went on a bit of a school related bent there but even if no kids I suppose the behaviors of the local youth is relevant somehow haha. To add, there is very real lack of public transport but that’s not much different to many places, you’re looking at about an hour without traffic to Manchester airport in perfect weather but traffic through the Cheshire/ a6 route can be horrific and weather can be absolutely awful, I’d get a 4x4.

What about somewhere like Rainow or Langley? On edge of peaks but near mainline station with fast trains to Manchester?

PMSL at @IstandwithJackieWeaver and the A555 😂

I live on the Sheffield side. Hope Valley which is Tideswell ( l think) has a Sheffield postcode.

The edge of Sheffield is really rural and runs seamlessly into Hope Vally. It’s all really cute and picturesque. The rural suburbs are just stunning. And yet you can catch a bus 5 minutes away into the city.

Loads of climbing and cuteness in the area and fantastic schools.

We have the highest number of graduates in the U.K. in my Sheffield constituency and a lovely Labour MP.😁

Quite cosmopolitan too

Maybe Ashbourne would suit you as it is larger but still close to beautiful countryside. Some friends moved from central London and settled well. It is driveable to Manchester or East Midlands airports.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow tideswell has an SK post code (Stockport)

Moved up from Hertfordshire (worked in London) about 8 years ago.
Main observations:
Rains so much more! Like much much much more.

Takes longer to get anywhere (country roads, poor public transport)

Weekends and Bank Holidays when you want to go out there can be tourists everywhere (not so bad in winter due to previously mentioned rain )

Neighbours actually know each other and talk to each other! After living here 6 months I'd met every family who had ever lived in my house! All still in same village, some just knocked on the door to say hello (be nosey!)

If out in Manchester/Sheffield drinking need to be mindful of last train home (which will be cancelled so get the one before)

Not as easy access to things like cinemas, 24h tesco, gyms etc (obviously depends where you are)

Did I mention the weather?

However I love it! Much nicer pace of life, I really need to be out of the city for my own sanity. I'm used to the traffic and just factor in things taking longer. Never fails to make me smile when I come home as the scenery is so beautiful.

I travel a lot with work and find the airport easy to get to and learnt to commute south (eg London) from Stockport Station rather than try and go into Manchester first and the made things much easier.

Buy some decent waterproofs and a tumble dryer and you'll be fine!

I’d consider Dore if I were you. On the edge of Sheffield which is 2 hours to London on train and is right on edge of Peak District so not as rural for work but still in good place for walks etc

I moved from Sheffield to a Derby’s village, (personal reasons not plans, and sadly not a pretty one!) in my 20s and the culture shock was incredible- I missed easy and wide availability of items and things to do, but it was mainly the very traditional outlook of the place I moved to - had to move my watch 50 years back! This was many years ago and facilities have improved and obviously online is easily available but I think it will be a massive change in every part of your life from London to Tideswell. I returned to Sheffield after about 25 years, and I was still a newcomer there lol - and also asked why I wanted to live in the nasty, big city!
I don’t really know tideswell well but there was always a joke about Buxton, my area office, and snow - even near Chesterfield I could set off from my house in fine weather and within 10 minutes when hitting the tops in the countryside towards Matlock there’d be unexpected mist or snow - and it’s nasty driving and limited transport. I went one lovely winter day for a do at Buxton and snow appeared as I drove there, making dinner worriesome though to be fair more local people were quite chilled about it.
As I said I don’t know tideswell particularly but can guarantee if you want to go out in a pretty Derbyshire village on a lovely day then most of England seem to agree and converge, not just the more well known places.
I hope it can be what you imagine it can, but definitely echo a trial - could you rent your place out and rent there for a while? Good luck anyway.

@Andiwilltrytofixyou

Moved up from Hertfordshire (worked in London) about 8 years ago. Main observations: Rains so much more! Like much much much more.

Takes longer to get anywhere (country roads, poor public transport)

Weekends and Bank Holidays when you want to go out there can be tourists everywhere (not so bad in winter due to previously mentioned rain )

Neighbours actually know each other and talk to each other! After living here 6 months I'd met every family who had ever lived in my house! All still in same village, some just knocked on the door to say hello (be nosey!)

If out in Manchester/Sheffield drinking need to be mindful of last train home (which will be cancelled so get the one before)

Not as easy access to things like cinemas, 24h tesco, gyms etc (obviously depends where you are)

Did I mention the weather?

However I love it! Much nicer pace of life, I really need to be out of the city for my own sanity. I'm used to the traffic and just factor in things taking longer. Never fails to make me smile when I come home as the scenery is so beautiful.

I travel a lot with work and find the airport easy to get to and learnt to commute south (eg London) from Stockport Station rather than try and go into Manchester first and the made things much easier.

Buy some decent waterproofs and a tumble dryer and you'll be fine!

I said to my husband we’ll have to get used to people actually talking to us! I’m shy but he’d talk the hind legs off a donkey. thank you for all that, it’s reassuring to hear from someone who had managed to make it work.

Thank you all so much for the advice and thoughts, am paying close attention to everything and have a list of places to have a nose around when we’re up there again next month.

Buxton is cheap as chips, always bloody freezing cold, overrun with charity shops, cafes and smackheads. Don't be fooled by Buxton having a Waitrose, it is the only thing going for it. Elsewhere in the Peak District
shops etc open 9-5, with Wednesday closing day. If you move up then try to patronize the locals and tell them what they should be doing, it will not be received kindly. Most people are related, so if you upset one, you'll feel the wrath of them all.
Londoners are viewed with extreme suspicion and distaste. Multiculturalism is non existent. I'm happy to elaborate if you want to know more. Anything more exotic than rice is difficult to obtain in local supermarkets.
But it is beautiful, there are mostly lovely people here, dog walks, hill hikes, cycling, horse riding, watersports agogo, so if you are outdoorsy, you'll fit right in!
The Ingleby/Melbourne end of Derbyshire is vair posh. Glossop and Buxton rough as a dogs arse and everywhere else falling between the two. More farmery and no nonsense towards the Buxton end and fancy at the Melbourne end. Plenty of traditional stuff (New Mills Lantern Parade is amazing, as are all our carnivals and seasonal fairs. We are very traditional and backwards, in the best possible way.
There are some weird as fuck places which are just plain old nope. These include Ashborne, Bugsworth and Whaley Bridge.

PP who lives off the A6, New Mills?

Oh and you'll need waterproofs, a waxed jacket and pair of Dublin River boots and you're good to go.

Rainow gets cut off in snow and Macclesfield, the closest town, is nothing to write home about. It's also in Cheshire so property prices tend to be higher.

Could you possibly tent your London house out for a year or so, and have a year or two to try it out. That would allow you to make an informed decision about whether you want to live there and if so, where, without having to get out of the London housing market.

@IstandwithJackieWeaver

Rainow gets cut off in snow and Macclesfield, the closest town, is nothing to write home about. It's also in Cheshire so property prices tend to be higher.

Crikey - that's me told!

Dore and Totley are on the edge of Sheffield and the Oeak District. They are village type suburbs. Dore is one of the most popular places to live in the U.K. It is right next to acres of open moorland and Burbage and Stanage which are major climbing places

They have their own little station which goes directly to Manc Airport

I’m not sure what the weird leaflet I’ve attached is, but it gives you an idea.

dwell.group.shef.ac.uk/DWELL_Dore_visions_2015.pdf

Near New Mills @HomeSliceKnowsBest, but not in it. I don't recognise Whaley as being odd - I like it and go there regularly. Fabulous cafe called the Bridge Bakehouse. A great place to stop for coffee on a walk. We've made friends with people locally over the years we've lived here. I walk regularly and visit Buxworth basin. Chinley seems a nice place and has a railway station.

I would add Furness Vale and Dove Holes to the weird as list. I don't find Bugsworth and WB too bad.

The peak District has plenty of people who commute to Manchester and Sheffield, including plenty of incomers, academics at the universities, medics at the hospitals, etc. It's not parochial in the same way as rural Wales for example. The society can feel very divided between the incomers and the people who've lived there for generations.
Londoners are certainly not "resented" or whatever a pp said. (Although think that poster is from new mills which is the most inbred town in the country, so that could explain their strange attitude!)
That said it's fairly unusual to see a non white face in many of these villages. That may not bother you of course.
I would second the concern about the weather. It rains all the time!
And commuting wise you might be better off somewhere a bit closer in such as Chapel, Whaley, Hayfield, New Mills. Still close to nice areas but could save significant time commuting.
There is not a lot happening in many of these villages, if you like theatre or music there will be amateur offerings but seeing anything at a high standard will probably result in a trip to Manchester or possibly Buxton if you're lucky.
I would say consider what you want your social life to look like. You may find it isolating, or if you are the sort to enjoy joining in with village committees it could be great fun.

Maybe Ashbourne would suit you as it is larger but still close to beautiful countryside

You beat me to it
I'm a Derbyshire lass myself and would definitely recommend Ashbourne above other places for someone moving from London. As you say it's larger, has much better facilities and is less homogenous than some

@HomeSliceKnowsBest

Buxton is cheap as chips, always bloody freezing cold, overrun with charity shops, cafes and smackheads. Don't be fooled by Buxton having a Waitrose, it is the only thing going for it. Elsewhere in the Peak District shops etc open 9-5, with Wednesday closing day. If you move up then try to patronize the locals and tell them what they should be doing, it will not be received kindly. Most people are related, so if you upset one, you'll feel the wrath of them all. Londoners are viewed with extreme suspicion and distaste. Multiculturalism is non existent. I'm happy to elaborate if you want to know more. Anything more exotic than rice is difficult to obtain in local supermarkets. But it is beautiful, there are mostly lovely people here, dog walks, hill hikes, cycling, horse riding, watersports agogo, so if you are outdoorsy, you'll fit right in! The Ingleby/Melbourne end of Derbyshire is vair posh. Glossop and Buxton rough as a dogs arse and everywhere else falling between the two. More farmery and no nonsense towards the Buxton end and fancy at the Melbourne end. Plenty of traditional stuff (New Mills Lantern Parade is amazing, as are all our carnivals and seasonal fairs. We are very traditional and backwards, in the best possible way. There are some weird as fuck places which are just plain old nope. These include Ashborne, Bugsworth and Whaley Bridge.

PP who lives off the A6, New Mills?

I don’t recognise this description of Buxton op so don’t write it off!

I’m not sure what homeslice idea of cheap is but my friend has just sold a two bed bungalow in need of updating for £400k in Buxton so I’d hardly call that cheap as chips!

It has a theatre , pavilion gardens, a lovely park , some lovely shops and is opening up a luxury spa in a building which I being restored through one of the most expensive lottery projects. It’s got a tonne of history to it because of the springs and links with Romans . And some good eateries. So definitely not rough as a dogs arse!

It has a great sense of community and a Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s and Aldi if Waitrose doesn’t take your fancy . No tesco because the community protested against it

I’ve only driven through glossop but it doesn’t have a good reputation. I would avoid that one.

I like Whaley but find Chapel very odd (although I willingly moved to roughasdogsarsetown so what do I know? )

Ashbourne is nice, Hayfield is pretty but too busy at weekends. Hathersage has its pool going for it. I've never been to Tideswell although the food festival is on our to do list for this year if it goes ahead

I live in Disley and I love it. We moved from London to Disley and I think I'll die here