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[Pumpkin125]

Hi all,
Considering moving to Leicestershire next year. We've been living in Ireland for the last 15 years, partner is from the UK and I'm from France. We have a 1 and half year old boy. Just looking for feedback on life in the Midlands, recommendations on where to live:areas with good amenities and schools AND affordable housing! We'll be renting.
Looking in and around Hinckley. Thanks!

Life in the Midlands is great....we moved here from London 12 years ago and it's surprising how nice and easy it is, compared with some of the other counties further south. You can even still get to work in London if you want to! I don't know much about Hinckley, but a lot about Lutterworth/Market Harborough - would you be looking that far south in the county?

I live in Hinckley. Wasn't sure about it at first because I am not a "towny" but I am definitely feeling more settled and the amenities are great to have in walking distance and more independent shops are opening all the time. There are some nice parks too. (Hollycroft Park, Queens Park) Havent fully looked into schools yet but St Marys Primary has good ofsted reports. I would say Burbage is possibly nicer though (neighbouring Hinckley), great amenities, good schools and a nice feel to the village. Property generally more expensive than Hinckley though. I grew up in Stoney Stanton, a village near Hinckley. Again good amenities and nice primary school. Mum and Baby/Toddler groups are regularly held at the Living Rock Church there (you dont need to be a member of the church), which is a great way to meet new friends. People travel from all around the area, I go there from Hinckley. I don't want to be negative about any areas on here but if you're unsure about specific area/street then just ask and if I know of it I'll try to help.

Do you mind if hop onto this thread?

DH is originally from Leicester, and we are looking to move there from a London commuter belt home counties towns in teh next 2-3 years. He has lots of family in South Leicester, but we'd probably look at Market Harborough area.

What's it like, honestly? It's always seemed like alovely market town, and I am no London devotee, so don't need convincing of the benefits of leaving the smoke. It's just, if I ask DH or any of the In-Laws, they're all pretty biased towards Leicester and tconvinced that the its one of the greatest places on earth, so was looking for an unbiased view!

Are schools good? Does anyone still do the commute into London?

Well, although we moved from London to here, neither of us is originally from either London or Leicestershire, but from much further north. Between us, we've seen a lot of the UK and I couldn't honestly say that Leicestershire was one of the most amazing bits of it! But it still works really, really well for us. It might not score 10/10 in any category that matters to me (ease of access to good work opportunities, cost of living, beauty of countryside, proximity to friends, and so on), but it never scores less than, say 7/10 in any category either. (I don't generally go round 'scoring' my life in this way, you understand, but sometimes I think of it in these terms....!) We have been very happy here. Market Harborough seems lovely every time I'm there - Welland Park is great. I'm sure it has its dodgy areas and dodgy schools like everywhere else, but equally has its lovely bits and good schools. (I haven't actually encountered any bad schools in the years I've been here - and nothing like some of the terrible stories you read on the main Mumsnet site.) And yes, loads and loads of people commute into London every day - some do it from Rugby too. But equally, loads don't, so there is a good sense of community. I have to say, though, that no matter how good it is, it's still nowhere near the sea....sometimes I dream (literally, I mean at night) of going to an undiscovered bit of Leicestershire and finding a great beach and sea....It's not going to happen, is it?!

Thanks Joey - I'm not sure 'Leicestershire, not bad, not exceptional, but above average at every darned thing' is necessarily going to take off as an ad line, but I do know exactly what you mean.

DH obviously is hugely biased but even for me, being from the North West originally, can see it has definite upsides - closer to my family, (worringly?) close to DH's, and cheap - so much cheaper than the commuter belt hell we're currently in. If only it had decent hills and fells

If I had any concern it woul dbe about work. I'm in a pretty London based profession, opportunities outside London exist, but are rare, so it's good to know a commute would be do-able while I looked for something more local.

Yes, how about: 'Leicestershire: it could be so much worse!' as an ad line instead?!

And you know, you can be in the Peak District in an hour or so....