London to Cheshire move (clueless about where)

[MrsLilac]

Hi, I'm moving to Cheshire from London and need advise one good areas for mums. My family live in Lancashire so I want to be preferably within an hour from them so probably north Cheshire but we don't really know! I love knutsford but hubby doesn't want to be in the flight path from Manchester airport. I'm looking for either a nice village or small town that has toddler classes and things to do but don't mind driving to nearby places. We are ttc at the moment so I will hopefully have a baby in tow or will be pregnant so maybe somewhere that I can do a nearby NCT class to meet some other mums. I know that is very vague but we are so clueless and staring at names on a map isn't very productive. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks so much.

Hello!
I'm afraid I'm not much use as I've only just moved myself! I've just moved from Lancaster to Stockport and so far so good!
My DH is from Stockport originally so has always wanted to move back.
We live in Offerton (just on Marple border) and so far it seems lovely.
There seem to be lots of mums and young ones around and everyone seems very friendly. We can see planes heading to and from Man Airport occasionally from our bedroom window but they're in the distance and not obtrusive in any way, in fact, can't even hear them!
Having family in both Lancashire and Yorkshire I can honestly say the motorway links here are fabulous. It's so easy to get to either place. And neither journey takes any longer than 1hr 15mins which I find quite manageable.
We looked at Marple, Woodford, Bollington (all LOVELY!) and all manner of areas but settled with Offerton as its very central for everything and the house we managed to bag is fab with a great big private garden for our little DS and baby who is on the way! Fingers crossed we made the right choice!
Sorry for lack of in depth info but hope this helps a little bit! :)
Good luck with the house hunt!xx

We have just been through this same senario! We moved in November from London to Hale. It seems to have a good amount of things to do for toddlers and babies, has excellent schools and a few independent coffee shops/cafes and restaraunts. It's like a small Highgate or Hampstead or Blackheath if I had to compare to a London equivalent. There are loads of families here as the schools are so good. Can be a bit flashy but there are less flashy parts like aorund Stamford Park area. It's not a country village in that sense but somewhere in between. You're close to Altrincham for bigger shops and have Dunham Massey on your doorstep so the countryside is there for when you need a bit of green space. Hope that helps!

Hello and welcome to the boards!

I am in Knutsford and moved from Putney over 11 years ago and have never looked back! My children are now 13 and 8 and have really benefited from the move. We are in Knutsford and to be honest the planes are not an issue, my Auntie lives in Cheadle as that is under the flight path, so many places are; we were when were in Putney. I like Knutsford for the small village feel with Tatton Park on your doorstep too. So much to do for parents and children of all ages. I came her with a 1 year old know no one with family on the Wirral, now I have great mates and can't reccomend it highly enough. I still like to pop back to London via the train at Crewe!

Please post any other questions, good luck with your search.

Cheshire Editor

Hi,

I moved up from Wandsworth a few years ago and now live in a small village outside Knutsford (Ollerton). Knutsford is definitely a great small town and has loads of activities for kids. If you're used to London then Knutsford planes really won't bother you. Villages just outside of Knutsford (e.g. Mobberley) are lovely but do have loud aircraft noise. Although this largely depends on which side of the runway you are. You may also like Wilmslow (towards Manchester) as a nice sized town with a family feel.

Good luck!

Have a look at Chester. Very close to all the motorway links, near to North Wales and the beautiful scenery there, great shopping in the town, not to mention Manchester and Liverpool very close. I'm from "down South" myself and I like Chester. Also got great schools, outdoor activities, the zoo etc. And almost no aircraft noise :) .

I would recommend sandbach, near Crewe, nice area, schools, playgroups etc but still has little villages and is a small town. Easy to get to London if needed and has good motorway access. It's lovely there.