Dh thinking of working for rolls - where would we live?

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

Dh is thinking of applying for a job with rolls Royce derby.
We live in Bristol and have 2 dc (3 and 1).
Where are the good places to live? That we could afford? Probably £35k salary for dh and I'd have to give up work for a bit at least.

Any ideas? :)

Mickleover, Littleover, Oakwood all nice areas. Rolls Royce has quite a few sites over derby so depends on how far he would like to travel. Some of the villages outside derby are nice too, Etwall, Hilton etc.

I hadn't realised they had multiple sites! I'm not sure dh did either!

We used to live in Sheffield but never went nearer derby than the peak district.
Is there anywhere peak-district-like that would be suitable?

Thanks! :)

It depends. There's a site in Sinfin. I wouldn't live there though. Are you looking for schools?? Ashbourne is very nice, I'm not sure of the commute though. Littleover is nice, the secondary school is 'outstanding'. Allestree is also very nice.

Dc are 3 and 1 so will need schools but not immediately. Thank goodness! :)
This is all useful info!

Ashbourne is lovely (I don't live there so not biased), I'd look into toddler groups though as the last thing you want is to be stuck in the house with nothing to do. It's a bit of a treck into Derby and you may not want to do this once/twice a week. There's a toddler group in Mickelover, schools are good and there's shops, including Twatsco. It's easier to get to the city centre from there and there's a swimming pool, it's also not too far to a very large park (Markeaton Park).
Littleover is nice also, just smaller. I'd look at the crime reports for here though, it has some lovely houses but there's been a few break ins in the local newspaper.
Darley Abbey is lovely but there's nothing there, only a shop which isn't open all the time and a pub. It's on the river and next to the rugby club though. They have an open aired concert there at the start of September which is lovely. It does attract most of Derby though but it has a nice atmosphere.
There are other areas, I tend to stick to this side of the city though.

The city centre is OK. There's a cinema, swimming pool etc. Shop wise, it's a bit of a clone town (it shouldn't be a city, it's too small), M&S, Next etc are all in the Westfield shopping centre. There's a few independent shops a little further out towards the Cathedral and some lovely cafes.

I used to work for RR, what area is he applying in, I might be able to help with potential site location? We live in Alvaston, we've not found it too bad although it doesn't have a good reputation. It's very close to the main "RR city" which is Sinfin, Moor Lane, Victory Road. HR and finance are at Jubilee House in Pride Park (there is a brand new housing development still being built on Pride Park). Ashbourne is lovely area but v busy in the summer, should take 30 minutes to get to Derby but you can queue 30 minutes to get into Ashbourne off the main road in summer with all the tourists. (I used to work in Ashbourne and commute from Mickleover, so reverse of what you are planning.)

Villages around the area are nice, Repton, Willington are just down the A38 into Derby. Hilton has good links (A50, 3 lane new dual carriage way) but has recently doubled (at least) in size from all the development. There's also Rolleston and Tutbury, which are down the A38 from Derby, towards Burton, also quite a reasonable commute and quite countrified! (But not as touristy as Ashbourne so not as heaving in the summer.)

Feel free to PM me if you want a chat! I grew up in Repton, rented in Mickleover and now own in Alvaston. I also have a DD (4) and DS (1) so know the soft plays, parks, good National Trust places, farms etc to go to.

Thanks arion! Thats loads of useful info!
May well PM you if he gets as far as interview. :)
He's an engineer - looking at technical lead jobs. (other than that I zone out on the details) does that help narrow down to which site he might be on?

I got way over excited last night looking at rightmove and how much more you get for your money up north!
I'm an ex Geordie and have always hoped of getting back to the north one day.

We're not North, we're East Midlands!

Compared to Bristol you are! Although I do agree technically the north stops after Sheffield for me.

Is it aerospace? Just being nosey as that's what my DP does in Leics, not far from there. They make lots of parts for RR. Good luck to you

Have PM'd you.

It's planes. He does similar here in Bristol.
It's all a wait and see game now. Closing date is in 10 days so will find out soon ish hopefully. :)

A lot of the engineers were grouped in Moor Lane building (on Moor Lane surprisingly enough). I used to work in HR and we were all moved to Jubilee House and more engineers moved into Moor Lane in our place.

Of course it's more complicated by the fact that you have RR split into 4 main areas (although there are really more) Civil, Defence, Nuclear and Energy (and then there's another that works alongside that I can't remember off the top of my head!)

Good luck to your husband, if you come up to the area to visit feel free to contact me. If I've nt got anything on we could meet for coffee with a map of the area and I can talk you through some areas/ places to go if that helps? (We relocated abroad for 18 months pre-kids so I now what it's like to up sticks and try and sort out somewhere new!)

Thanks everyone!

He's now decided that actually those jobs aren't quite right do isn't going to apply. rather miffed about the sleepless nights thinking about moving has caused me!!

Will keep all this in mind just in case tho...

It's back on the cards again as a job he wants has come up.

Any more words of wisdom? :)

I've just moved to Stapleford, it's just across the boarder in Nottingham. It's quite nice here.

Belle - does your dh work at rolls?
Dh currently walks to work so having a commute in the car will be a big change.
How much of a commute is it?

Thanks! :)

Ah, no. Sorry. I do have a pal who's DH works there, they live in Littleover. It's not a bad commute from there, the secondary is very popular though.

Hello! I live in Littleover (Heatherton village- not really a village). It's very nice. Littleover community school is the one everyone tries to get in the catchment area of. Griffield primary school just got outstanding at ofsted too.
I have a 2.5yr old and a 3 month old so can help you out with local Childrens stuff if you need it.
Good luck!

Eeeeek!

Dh was offered a job!
He hasn't officially accepted yet as they need to talk £ but we've decided to go!
We can offer the dc a bigger house in a better area. Which obviously has a knock on effect of better schools. Much more than we can afford down here. So we're going to do it. :)

Little over is currently my favourite of the places suggested. Any other ideas? We're looking at about £200k.

Littleover, Allestree, Chellaston if you want city areas with good schools - congrats. Just check if buy in Littleover that the house is actually in Littleover's Secondary School catchment area - as not all houses are! Feel free to ask lots of questions!

Thanks keziah! :)
We've pretty much decided on littleover as

• we can afford 1 more room than now
• the schools sound great! Better than what we have here
• its a fairly quick commute for dh - he's used to a 15 min walk!
• it looks like a pretty good area - current area is not so good.

Anything else you can tell me?
Dc are 3 and 1 so will need plenty of preschooler things to do.

Also ds will be getting his free hours from September so will need a preschool/ nursery. Any recommendations?

I am on a quest for knowledge!
it stops me panicking!

Hi, I don't know the individual schools (primary level) in Littleover, but many Derby primary schools have nurseries attached to them, so might be worth either finding your house first and then applying for a place or choosing your primary school then finding your house if you see what I mean. As long as you check your home and primary is in the Littleover Community School catchment (primary) which is the school to get into at Secondary level in that area. Some parts of Littleover feed into other Secondary Schools. If you are wanting day care in private nursery there is a wide range but I don't know Littleover ones particularly - are you wanting one attached to a school or day care provision?

Lots of preschool things to do in Derby - baby and toddler groups galore (will you have a car?), lots of swimming pools for toddlers, the usual Tiny Talk, Baby Sensory, Baby Yoga, Baby Gymnastic, Music Time type of things. Advantage of Littleover is you can easily get to other areas for what you want! There is a really useful publication (free in Libraries) called "Lots for Tots" that tells you what is on in each area of city... will find mine and can post what is on in Littleover for you if you want.

Happy house hunting!

Oh keziah that's fab! :)

As I'm not working once we move ds will just be having his free pre school hours.
The houses I've like so far (rightmove is ace!) are within spitting distance of littlover community school so that should be ok.

The lots for tots leaflet thing sound really useful! I'm used to working 2 days a week so being a sahm will be quite a change! I'll need plenty of cheap things to do with the dc!

I'm really excite but terrified too!

Ok in lots for tots, under Littleover section it has:
3 Parent & Toddler groups held in church halls (ie very cheap!)
Baby Sensory
Playgroup - held in Littleover Methodist Church
Water Babies
Puddle Ducks (but can just go to the much cheaper swimming sessions instead)
Heatherton Babies group
Activities at local sure start centre
Library sessions

But Littleover is near many other areas and if you can get to the City or Allestree or Micklover you then have:
Boogie Woogie Babies
NCT group
Little Tykes
Jo Jingles
Music Time
Tiny Talk (baby sign language - can take whole family for same charge)
Lots of Parent and Toddler Groups - 2 I know of in very large churches (but not religious) with fantastic toys and craft facilities for £1 charge on 3 days a week.
Soft play centres in several places out of town.

In the City there are as above, also baby gymnastics and Deda Dance and Movement - movers and shakers type things. Plus the swimming pool which is easy to get to by bus.

To encourage you that you will not be isolated and have lots of things to do
www.lotsfortots.co.uk