Moving to Lincolnshire

[DontMumble]

Hello
We're thinking of moving to Lincolnshire. We're considering the villages around Lincoln or one of the Market Towns such as Louth, Market Rasen, Horncastle.
Would appreciate advice on what villages are nice and what the Market Towns are like to live in.

We want facilities at hand, such as supermarkets, schools etc, so the really small villages where you need to drive everywhere won't be for us.
The only other thing that would concern us is an area with a flood risk.
Thanks
Mel

If you can find a job in MR then it'd be a great place to live but it is quite a long way from Lincoln and the public transport links aren't brilliant.
We have been to MR quite a few times for various events and sporting fixtures and especially during the winter is difficult to get to.

If there is racing on as well, I think the whole town gets snarled up very easily.

Thanks. I'll go off to the race course website to see how many days racing they have. If it's only a few days it won't be a massive problem, it'd only be a problem if they are too regular.

AA route planner says 28 minutes to Lincoln, which isn't too bad. You can normally beat the AA's estimates too (unless you get stuck behind too many trucks, caravans and tractors! lol)

Friend of mine used to live in MR and was plagued by neighbour troubles, drunken fights in the street, loose dogs roaming the street, etc. Maybe she lived in a rough area but I've always thought of it as been quite run down and a bit rough.

What about Kirton in Lindsey - half an hour north of Lincoln, near the A15, 10 minutes from the M180 and great access to Hull, Leeds and Sheffield - as well as getting to the A1 south via Lincoln. It's a lovely small market town, primary school, secondary school - catchment for the grammar at Gainsborough, has everything you need. We've been here 22 years - still quite can't believe we've never moved away, it's just always ticked all the boxes! The back road in to Lincoln, makes it even quicker - you have to drive further in this area, but it tends to be quicker with a lot less traffic on the roads! Good luck with your move!

Oh dear, that's quite a concern YellowBellyCat. I know all it can take is just one bad family/person, but it doesn't matter if there is only one, if the trouble caused is extensive.

Did your friend live there a long time ago or quite recently?

Funny you should say 'Kirton in Lindsey' as I was looking at it just the other day. Originally we were looking close to Lincoln and the Wolds, but there is an advantage to being further north and west as I have a sister in Yorkshire, so I had started considering throwing the net a bit further, but the places were limited because we don't want anywhere liable to flood and there are a lot of places liable to flood, but KL isn't one of them. It looked nice on street view, but local recommendations are what you need. By back road do you mean the B1398? I'd have thought the A15 would have been quicker to Lincoln, but you'd know better then me.

Yes.. the B1398.... The A15 is great, but you can get caught behind lorries/tractors! The back road is used less and is usually quicker - we normally go part way on the back road and then get on to the A15 for the last stretch, but it depends which part of Lincoln you are going to! KL is lovely - there are a couple of little co-ops, chemist, dentist, opticians, pub/restaurant, indian, Chinese takeaway - the secondary school doesn't seem to be getting such good results in recent years, however all of my three have gone there and done really well! Buses run to other secondary's in the area too though! The primary school was recently "good" in their recent Ofsted report and there's an "outstanding" out of school club. There is a beautifully refurbished Town Hall - with a good range of things that take place there, a great recreational field and pavilion for when the kids are a bit older! There are loads of new houses, but mixed in with the oldser style too! Hope that helps!

Yes.. the B1398.... The A15 is great, but you can get caught behind lorries/tractors! The back road is used less and is usually quicker - we normally go part way on the back road and then get on to the A15 for the last stretch, but it depends which part of Lincoln you are going to! KL is lovely - there are a couple of little co-ops, chemist, dentist, opticians, pub/restaurant, indian, Chinese takeaway - the secondary school doesn't seem to be getting such good results in recent years, however all of my three have gone there and done really well! Buses run to other secondary's in the area too though! The primary school was recently "good" in their recent Ofsted report and there's an "outstanding" out of school club. There is a beautifully refurbished Town Hall - with a good range of things that take place there, a great recreational field and pavilion for when the kids are a bit older! There are loads of new houses, but mixed in with the oldser style too! Hope that helps!

Yes.. the B1398.... The A15 is great, but you can get caught behind lorries/tractors! The back road is used less and is usually quicker - we normally go part way on the back road and then get on to the A15 for the last stretch, but it depends which part of Lincoln you are going to! KL is lovely - there are a couple of little co-ops, chemist, dentist, opticians, pub/restaurant, indian, Chinese takeaway - the secondary school doesn't seem to be getting such good results in recent years, however all of my three have gone there and done really well! Buses run to other secondary's in the area too though! The primary school was recently "good" in their recent Ofsted report and there's an "outstanding" out of school club. There is a beautifully refurbished Town Hall - with a good range of things that take place there, a great recreational field and pavilion for when the kids are a bit older! There are loads of new houses, but mixed in with the oldser style too! Hope that helps!

Yes.. the B1398.... The A15 is great, but you can get caught behind lorries/tractors! The back road is used less and is usually quicker - we normally go part way on the back road and then get on to the A15 for the last stretch, but it depends which part of Lincoln you are going to! KL is lovely - there are a couple of little co-ops, chemist, dentist, opticians, pub/restaurant, indian, Chinese takeaway - the secondary school doesn't seem to be getting such good results in recent years, however all of my three have gone there and done really well! Buses run to other secondary's in the area too though! The primary school was recently "good" in their recent Ofsted report and there's an "outstanding" out of school club. There is a beautifully refurbished Town Hall - with a good range of things that take place there, a great recreational field and pavilion for when the kids are a bit older! There are loads of new houses, but mixed in with the oldser style too! Hope that helps!

Oh no, sorry about the repeated posts... Not great at this!!

Have you considered a little
Further west - we live in a place in Nottingham called west bridgford which is really nice, professionals live here and the high street is full of good restaurants, bars and coffee shops. It's a cycle or bus ride to nottinghsm so good job opportunities. Two huge universities and complex hospital do loads of jobs in the area as well as in the town centre where there are many business and shops etc. It's close To The A46 to Leicester and the A 52 towards lincs too, Derby is 'do able' too in the morning tho the traffic is horrible.
Schools here are excellent and often people move here so they get good schools without having to send to private schools. House prices are quite high but coming from the south east (as I did) you'll find it busy enough to be interesting, loads for the kids to do but on the edge of the countryside - a short cycle or drive and you're in the great outdoors!!

Hi Flumpybear
I know Nottingham a little having worked there for a short while twenty years ago. I've also actually been in West Bridgford, staying with someone, although I didn't see much of the place. We like Lincolnshire though. It not busy and you get a lot of house for your money. It's also easier to have a restricted area to look in, because if you start considering other places where you get a lot of house for your money, then we could be looking in several different parts of the country (e.g. Shropshire, Northumberland, Lancashire) and they'll be so many places to consider, we'll never decide on somewhere. Choosing a place in Lincolnshire is hard enough, even though we can discount many places because of flood risks and perhaps not being nice enough. Thanks for your suggestion anyway.

Any thoughts on Horncastle? It looks nice enough on street view and the flood risk is only near the river, so if you aren't close to it you'll be alright.

Don't worry about Caistor being under the Humberside Airport flightpath. It only has a handful of flights each week (aside from light aircraft giving flying lessons) and definitely no Jumbo Jets. Market Rasen gave the inspiration for Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting when Elton John used to live there. I think it's calmed down a bit since then. Brigg is doing well for itself at the moment and has a thriving town centre but the train station only has a service on a Saturday. It's handy for the M180 though.
Louth house prices are a little higher because the town has retained its 1950's feel. There are no large chain stores in the town centre so it's popular with shoppers who have plenty of time on their hands. It does have a reasonable hospital. If you want more for your money look closer to the coast, but be prepared for a long commute anywhere along narrow and winding roads.

Thanks for your reply BomberCounty.
I thought you were kidding Elton John lived in Market Rasen and that song was about there, so I googled it. Sure enough the song is about Market Rasen apparently, but Wikipedia said it was Bernie Taupin's experience, not Elton's. Based on what I've learned on here, I am going off Market Rasen now. There seems to be better places to choose.
If it's not Jumbos a couple of thousand feet above your house if you live in Caistor that's better and if its not constant then it won't be overly disruptive, as long as one of them doesn't develop a fault and land on Caistor! We have chinooks occasionally flying over our house (no idea why!) so its not going to be much different.

Brigg sounds okay apart from it's flooding risk.

Louth might be a little bit bigger than what we are looking for, but we'll not rule it out just yet.
The coastal plain is too much of a flood risk for us, so the cheaper prices won't tempt us to take the risk.
M

Hi
We've finally moved to Lincolnshire and are now renting there whilst we look for our new place. In the time we've been here not a lot has come onto the market (I know the winter is a quiet time for the property market but it is frustrating) so we're considering other places, because we don't want to be renting too long because of the cost. So can anyone tell me what Bourne and Sleaford are like?

Thanks

Don't know much re Bourne.Live near Sleaford.....geamnar school and decent non grammar there. Shops a bit sad and the high street has lots of cars. But thete seems to be a fair bit going on ie arts and a little theatre.There is a train station.

Grammar!

Saw your orginal post. There is Lidl.Aldi.Sainsburys.Homebase.Co op and Tesco.Good mix of houses.

Hi Doobydoo
Thanks for your reply. Would you say Sleaford is a nice place to live though? Would there be areas to avoid and better areas to look at?

I don't know Sleaford, have only driven around the ugly outskirts on my way elsewhere!

I like Bourne, although the number of new houses being built around it is surprising. I have to assume they have plans to ensure the infrastructure keeps up with demand... Town centre is nice enough. Primary schools have a good reputation, as do the grammar school and high school. Decent sized tesco and sainsburys, and a new big Lidl.

I think there are nice villages round Sleaford but I don't think that's what you are after. I think there are areas to avoid ....but there are some nice parts I think.

The town itself is depressing and the traffic ruins it.

I live in Sleaford- it's benefits outweigh the downsides IMO. We live In quarrington, which is a lovely area of Sleaford. Can walk to two primaries, boys and girls grammars and comprehensive. Plus the station too. Also a farm shop and deli within walking distance. 4 supermarkets within 10 minutes in the car. The traffic can be bad due to the level crossing- I avoid the town centre around the time that the schools start and kick out because the grammars have a big catchment and lots of people drive to pick kids up/drop them off. The town centre is ok (although the high street has struggled over the last decade- but so have all the markets towns in Lincs that I have visited. )There two or three genuinely nice restaurants plus plenty of cafes during the day. The Hub is an arts centre that does lots of exhibitions and courses, plus there is a new leisure centre/pool that is set on river and is a lovely walk or cycle to get to.