Villages around lincoln

[clairehills]

Hi, OH and I just started work at Lincoln uni and looking for areas to buy in. Love stamford but feel that may be too far away and would rather not live in Lincoln itself. Can anyone tell me what Fulbeck, Hough on Hill, grantham are like ? We are mid 30s and want to be close to a town with a bit of life and cafe culture. Thanks :-)

Hi, I've lived in the area a long time and yes Stamford is lovely but I'd say it's too far to commute to Lincoln. The "cliff" villages of Fulbeck, Caythorpe, Welbourn and especially Navenby (which has a bit more in the way of shops and local services) are all gorgeous, with a real Cotswoldy feel. I went to school in Grantham and I'd say avoid it: it has a few nice areas but many horrible ones and has gone downhill in recent years. It only takes a drive down the fast food joint-packed high street to get a feel for the place. If you're after café culture the best places in Lincs for this are a Lincoln itself, Stamford, Louth and perhaps Horncastle and W

Oops...Woodhall Spa, however all these are still a sizeable distance from Lincoln. If you envisage wanting a good range of job opportunities in future then to be honest my best advice would be to live in Newark/ Balderton (have heard it's nice) and commute to Lincoln. That way if you and/or family wanted a change of job you'd have access not only to Lincoln but also to Nottingham, which is bigger with more opportunities. Hope that helps!

And the A46 Newark-Widmerpool east of Nottingham has just been widened, improving journey times no end!- so 2 cities within easy reach of Newark for job opportunities. Newark is pretty.

Thanks Bessie for your response. We visited fulbeck on Sunday and loved it, very much like the Cotswolds. Navenby had a little more in the way of amenities. I love woodhall spa but on the wrong side for us. Not looked at Balderton, will have to chek that out. I do love southwell. Do you know anything about west bridgfrord in Notts ? Would you say it is over an hour to Stanford ? Best wishes Claire

Caythorpe is lovely. I used to live there. Equidistant from Lincoln, Grantham, Sleaford and Newark, so lots of options for shops etc. Brant Broughton was also really nice and had a lovely little nursery and school.

I don't know West Bridgford I'm afraid, but have just been looking at the map (and thinking about my own job prospects!) and Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield form a rough triangle in the (approx) centre of which you have places like Tuxford (which I don't know but it sounds nice!)- this would be 3 major places for jobs and outings, shopping etc. Think if we were looking at houses again I'd be keen to try and find somewhere there. Although just read a v dire description of Edwinstowe but that could be wrong I suppose! It just takes such a long time to get anywhere from central/ eastern Lincs. On the other hand, I think it's a well-kept secret as a county, with lots of pretty areas and villages resembling the Cotswolds but for half the price! And the "flat" label is completely untrue: only the south eastern corner is flat. Lots of it is rolling and the Wolds are big hills! Anyway, will stop rambling..you've got me thinking now, too! :-)

Oh yes and Stamford-Lincoln prob more like an hour and a half, at a guess? AA Route Planner tells you journey times between places.

Ps if you want a stunning drive take the Bluestone Heath Road between the A157 and the A16. And also the Market Rasen- Louth road. Lincs at its best :-)

Bessie you are fantastic, thank you...oh yes and equally as mad as I am :) . Anyway, where do you live ? I like uphill Lincoln also but once we stretch ourselves financially it leaves nothing for doing the place up, lots of the houses around bailgate are very old inside ! Have you been to the Hare and Hounds in Fulbeck ? I must look at tuxford. Do you work at the university ?

A pleasure: I don't know much but I do know about Lincolnshire! Yes I always think the historic houses around there must absolutely eat money maintenance-wise as well. I've never been to the Hare and Hounds. I live in a village near Lincoln and work in local government.

The hare and hounds is lovely, we stop there regularly during the summer, but like Bessie, if I were choosing one of the cliff villages, then I would go for navenby.
Tuxford is lovely as is Southwell. West Bridgeford is very nice, but it has become very expensive as it has grown in desirability. My brother lives on the outskirts of WB so know the area fairly well.

Thanks mrslegume ;-). Do you know how long it would take to get from wb to lincoln ? Maybe 50 mins out of rush hour ? Would you pick navenby because of amenities ? At the moment west bridgford and Southwell are top of the list , however we are Los contemplating Stamford as have been told that is lovely and can be done in an hour. Any thoughts ? Thanks :)

I'd allow a good hour for WB to lincoln, but it does depend on what time you are commuting. The a46 gets snarled up regularly especially around Newark. You'd have the same problem coming in from Southwell.
Stamford is beautiful but it would take me well over an hour to get to Lincoln.
Navenby has a lovely community feel to it, the pubs are great, especially the Kings Head. The cafe and Macy's are both really good. I live in one of the other cliff villages and I visit navenby a lot.

Thanks, yes I know what you mean, we had our first experience of rush hour traffic yesterday coming into Newark. However it normally only takes up 20minutes or so to get from lincoln to Newark out onto the A46 as we usually pass through at about 7.40am before the traffic has had a chance to build up. I liked Navenby but feel that i would rather live somewhere with more shops, restaurants , cafe culture etc, I think possibly west b and stamford could provide that, although we would have to try the stamford route to see how close to an hour we could get it. I currently live in kenilworth near leamington spa so am looking for something similar :-)

Thanks, yes I know what you mean, we had our first experience of rush hour traffic yesterday coming into Newark. However it normally only takes up 20minutes or so to get from lincoln to Newark out onto the A46 as we usually pass through at about 7.40am before the traffic has had a chance to build up. I liked Navenby but feel that i would rather live somewhere with more shops, restaurants , cafe culture etc, I think possibly west b and stamford could provide that, although we would have to try the stamford route to see how close to an hour we could get it. I currently live in kenilworth near leamington spa so am looking for something similar :-)

What about North of Lincoln? There are some beautiful wolds villages around there and it is listed officially as an area of outstanding natural beauty. Villages Lincoln side of Brigg and the villages between Kirton Lindsey and Lincoln are also lovely, you'd probably have 30-45 minute commutes depending how far you went