Advice needed moving to Leeds in the summer!

[tac10]

Hi all, I know this has been asked before but we will be relocating to Leeds from SE London during the summer. My husband will be working in the Kirkstall area any recommendations about living around there - we are looking around Horsforth, Kirkstall but what about Armley, Bramley? Also does anyone have kids at "Holy Family Primary" we may have secured a place for my son to start in September (year 3) they had a place available 😊 But again not knowing the area any comments/advice would be welcome. Thanks mums

Horsforth, kirkstall, Pudsey are all close by and lovely, also farsley and Rodley. Not sure about Armley. Bramley is okay, not as nice as the others I've mentioned but not terrible!

Will you get a chance to come and have a look around any areas before you move?

Thanks - yes we are coming up next weekend for an initial look around...

I live in Far Headingley which is nice and also close to Kirkstall and in your position is probably be looking at Weetwood (depending on how much you're looking on spending), Adel and Horsforth. Horsforth is lovely and has a really excellent Secondary School. Yeardon, Rawdon and Guiseley might be worthy a look too. I'd probably avoid Armley and Bramley if I could afford to. Are you looking at buying or renting? What are your most important requirements?

Thanks, we are looking to buy if we can and the place, according to my son must have a nice big garden and according to Hubby, a perfect kitchen lol me, I am looking for somewhere which has a nice feel, safe for my son to run around but am happy to move anywhere really....

Even though dp's job is in kirkstall have a good look around before you buy. North Leeds is m expensive but depending what you want you might get a more village-y feel if you looked in other parts of Leeds. I live just about North East Leeds but it is much greener. The villages between wetherby & Leeds are also lovely depending on budget. Travel to work obviously needs to be taken into account but although driving into Leeds in rush hour will be a pain, getting out to kirkstall won't be. Also if you like horsforth I really don't think you'll like Bramley or Armley. Cookridge is another option nearby too. Good luck - Leeds is great

Thanks ladies for your replies - it has been helpful and given us something to think about....

I'm based in Pudsey and I used to live in Bramley, so if you want any specific advice for those areas I'll do my best to oblige. :)

I'd agree that if you have the budget to avoid Bramley, I'd suggest doing so. It's not diabolical by any means, but there are nicer areas. There also seems to have a bit of an arson problem, as last week a former warehouse was set alight and I think it was about seven years ago that the doctors surgery was burned down. Both done by groups of teens.

I like Pudsey, but its not to everyone's tastes. It's got a large OAP population so tends to be on the quiet side, which I prefer but others might not! Good facilities in terms of supermarkets, cinema, leisure centre, library, post office, park, public transport, etc. Easy commute to Leeds; by car Kirkstall would take 15 minutes on a good day and 30 minutes in rush hour.

Horsforth is nice, but be a little wary about skirting too close to Headingley, as there's a huge student population there for the university. Armley has had a lot of investment in it recently so has some shiny new facilities, but parts of it are still quite deprived. It's also where the prison is based.

Calverley might be another place to look at, if you prefer something a bit more green and remote while still within a close commute?

If your budget is reasonable, then the area between Leeds, Harrogate and York is known as the 'golden triangle'. Very nice, but with a price to match.

Hi OP! Welcome to Leeds! I was in your position a few years ago. We chose Headingley. So ignore what Spirael said- yes there are still some students here- though many live in town now but it's also a wonderful diverse community with excellent coffee shops, restaurants, local shops, farmers market transport links and the guarantee of 3 good rated primary schools. It's expensive though. I'd avoid Pudsey (not very happening) and armley/Bramley are a bit rough/down at heel in places. Horsforth is nice and the schools are good- I have several friends who are happy there. Adel is worth a look too. Good luck! X

Hi OP. We live in Leeds and have done for 4 years. We rent so we started in Meanwood, then moved to moor town, then chapel Allerton (would recommend as its lovely) and now we are in Headingley as we like the look of the schools and it's close to town for when I return to work and a tad cheaper. Very studenty in the town but not a problem - it's exciting seeing them all in fancy dress most nights and you're likely to get ID'd in supermarkets which makes you feel young! We love it here. It was tricky for us to find a garden as many houses are back to back terraces but we had a bungalow in moor town with a huge garden and are happy to have one in headingley now - though they always seem to be on a ridiculous slope that aren't too great for kids. Good luck and you'll LOVE Leeds. We love it and the people are so friendly.

Hello!

Leeds lass here, although don't live there at the moment.

Armley is a bit dodgy and some bits of Bramley and Kirkstall are too.

Try Tingley, Horsforth, Farsley, Cookridge, Calverley, Guiseley, Yeadon, Pudsey or Rodley.

Also Apperley Bridge which is actually Bradford but has a train station and is a nice area.

Good luck with the move!

Waves to TheButton and Toddler! MN could stage it's very own Headingley takeover at this rate! Sorry to jump on OPs thread but what are your thoughts on Headingley primary schools? Any tips?

We are hoping to get into the one nearest us - it looks lovely. Can't remember the name but it has a huge garden and is just round the corner from little row of shops on Otley rd near Costa. We saw it when we first moved here and didn't know we were pregnant and I said oh what a gorgeous school! There is another one further along Otley rd that's also supposed to be very good. They both are graded "good" but it's more or less impossible for schools to get outstanding nowadays. Third one away would be Carr manor in moor town but I'm praying we don't get that one as we don't drive so it'll be a right pain. Heard the schools are lovely. The nicest one is in meanwood but it's tiny and catholic so we haven't got a chance. Son will be going not this Sept but next. I just adored the look of the one nearest us. I'd rather get a nice feeling about a school than read an ofsted report / I think most schools round here will be a very high quality.

Thanks all - we will be up next weekend and looking at places in Kirkstall Hill, Burley hill drive, rodley and Horsforth to get an initial idea of areas and what we could get within our price range. Hubby doesn't drive at the moment 😂 You have all put my mind at ease and we are really looking forward to coming up 😊 just throwing it out there but was Armley founded by the Scots or known as little Scotland? Just see a lot of street names with Paisley and Greenock in them. I grew up on the outskirts of Glasgow and used to go clubbing in Paisley 😂

If you're looking at Rodley you may as well look at farsley as well- they are 2 min apart! Check out he mill kitchen in farsley- it's lovely!

Shire Oak Primary is the one near Costa with lovely grounds.

Meanwood C of E is most definitely not Catholic! It is outstanding but oversubscribed, as are most schools in this area.

There are four good schools in Headingley, not three - Weetwood, St Chad's, Share Oak and Spring Bank. They are all v good, especially Spring Bank.

Oh I'm sorry - I must have meant CEO but I don't know how carefully they look at that as we are just non religion.

Depends on their admission policy - it will be on their website. We're not religious either but my ds goes to a C of E school. We ranked as bottom of the admission criteria (non church going, no siblings already in, fairly close, etc) but his was two form entry so it was easier.

Hi op, yes there is an area known as little Scotland in Armley, my bff used to live there...best neighbours she'd ever had so maybe ignore the Arrmley/Bramley/Kirkstall naysayers and look around anyway
I'm in Kirkstall, work in Horsforth, kids have been at Kirkstall primaries and now at Horsforth High.
I think Kirkstall is Leeds' best kept secret in terms of house prices and what you get for your money round here
Burley Hill area is cheaper than the other areas you mentioned, but has its positives (excellent primary schools, very convenient transport links to rest of Leeds). Rodley is lovely and less pricey than Horsforth with the same 'villagey' feel to it but I don't know about schools there.
Traffic is a nightmare round Kirkstall at rush hours with masses of commuter traffic going through and quite possibly the worst traffic light configuration on earth; no proper bus lanes either, so walking or cycling to work might be a better option if dh is working in Kirkstall.

Hope you enjoy your trip up to look around, you never know the sun might even stay around all week

Hi Betty, Toddler and Elizabeth!! I think they're all good. We're in the catchment for Shire Oak and Spring Bank- I've looked around both and like both but slightly prefer Shire Oak as, slightly irrationally, I'm not sure about the no uniform policy with Spring Bank. I love the grounds to Shire Oak too. I've heard slightly negative things about St Chads but good things about Weetwood and Meanwood although we aren't quite close enough to either. We're really happy in Headingley. It drives me nuts when people who know nothing about the area wade into these things with broad brush statements about the area. Happy Headonians it seems!!! Xx

Hi! Good luck with your searching. I can highly recommend The West End House family pub on Kirkstall Road if you will need somewhere to eat. Horsforth is a lovely area as is Calverley but I wouldn't really say Armley has the same feel though I know people who live there and like it well enough. Hope you find something!

The other option of DH doesn't drive is getting the train and living somewhere along that rail line. Headingley train station is actually probably closer to Kirkstall depending on where in Kirkstall he's working and then you could have a look along the train line which goes out of Leeds towards Harrogate. If you were looking in Headingley the area near Becketts Park would be a good bet because you can cut through the park and walk to the bit of Kirkstall near Morrisons in about 20 mins.

It's not a non-profit policy as such - children may choose.

Non-uniform - sorry, autocorrect fail.

The new Kirkstall Forge Station is finally opening this month too. It's between Horsforth & Kirkstall.

Horsforth is lovely though house prices can be expensive. Good school too. Pudsey, Farsley & Rodley are all nice but i don't know what the school are like.

Hi Tac10

We were in a similar situation a couple of years ago, moved from Caterham (after living in Streatham Hill). We live on the Far Headingley/ West Park border and love it. Admittedly I quite fancied Horsforth/Rawdon and Otley at the beginning of our search but my other half pointed out to me that I d want to be in walking distance of shops etc after Streatham and having everything on our doorstep. He was right. Students are present but a lot of families are moving into the area and students are moving towards the city centre. Very family friendly. Library, butchers, monthly farmers market etc. Good schools- my eldest goes to Weetwood primary and loves it. Would definitely recommend it. About 10 min drive to Kirkstall, traffic depending. 15-20 min drive to town and in the opposite directikn? Countryside.
If you can get up to view a few houses in different areas do so. That enabled us to get a feel for different areas and rule out places we didn't like.
Any questions feel free to send me a PM

Xxx