So the keyboard warriors were out, on Christmas day too - thought they would have had better things to do! The majority of these posts dont actually help the OP, I will try and do that!
Ive lived on the outskirts of Winsford for over five years. Prior to this I lived in the Knights Grange area and actually grew up five minutes walk from Lytham Drive.
When we moved house 5 years ago we looked at many surrounding areas and came to the conclusion that Winsford was the best value for money coupled with acceptable local amenities. There are numerous gym's, a large leisure centre (which is being revamped in 2017, although completely fine how it is) and plenty of green space. There are numerous primary schools, and agree with a previous poster regarding High Street CP School. Whilst its a large primary school it has excellent leadership and teaches the children a solid set of morals. Class sizes are generally also smaller than average. It also embraces the arts, so is all encompassing for those children that flourish at art and crafts but not maths and science! I don't know anyone that sends their child out of the town for primary education. There are also numerous day nurseries, my personal choice was Littler Grange as it has great outside space and the staff are excellent. Both of my girls have been there, the same people run Kiddiecare day nursery which we use for school holiday clubs etc.
There are numerous supermarkets and you can travel to Northwich for M&S Food/Waitrose or Nantwich for M&S Food with the added bonus of a huge Sainsburys. Nantwich is my preferred option as it is easier to get to and far easier to park. The town centre is also pretty but note that it has as many charity shops as any other town centre in the UK, including Northwich, Crewe, Sandbach, Hartford and any other areas that people have mentioned; I'm sure Devon too!
The era of the town centre has died, they dont work anymore. Work is actually starting on Winsford town centre early in 2017 with part of it being demolished, this work will continue throughout the year but we await final plans.
You are five minutes from The Hollies which is an amazing farm shop with butchers (although its the same Butcher that runs the shop in the town centre) and grocers, if you want local fruit and veg. They also have a nice restaurant. Two minutes from The Hollies is Cabbage Hall (part of the Pesto chain) which is also great dining.
I rarely visit Northwich, whilst the Baron's Quay development is good for the area (although I haven't visited TBH) the town centre is nearly as empty as Winsford. The traffic is also a nightmare, and I just hate traffic. Crewe has a bit more choice in terms of retail chains BUT again, the traffic is dire and everywhere you go you get stuck in a traffic jam (i used to work there). It quicker and easier to drive into Chester! Thats another bonus, you are close enough to visit regularly without paying the premium of City living. Also good commuter links for Chester/Liverpool/Manchester - although Manchester has a lot of roadworks at the moment and can be problematic. If you have to commute down to London its only 1:40 on the fast train from Crewe so even that's made easy. If you are on the 7am train like me, then you can get to the station in 20 minutes from Winsford.
The local main hospital is Leighton which is on the outskirts of Crewe, nowhere near the traffic :) I've had reason to visit a lot and have always had a good experience. But again, with hospitals there are good and bad stories about them all, I can only vouch for my experiences.
Lytham Drive is perfectly fine, in fact we considered purchasing one of the houses when they were originally being built 15 years ago! There was a bit of a bidding war for them! You are 5 minutes walk from the Whitegate way which provides amazing walks and countryside; if you follow the paths correctly you can get all the way to Delamere Forest, which again is an amazing green space for walking and cycling. I'm not sure you would get that so close, anywhere else. You are also five minutes from the golf course and open fields which have a covenant on them and cannot be built on for a long time. Teams from all over Cheshire play there on a weekend both junior and adult teams. Not sure how active you are but there are a few local cycle clubs and running clubs that meet regularly.
In terms of High School, there is now only one choice - the Academy. Not sure how old (or indeed if you do) have children, I think schooling is a personal choice. I can tell you that a parent I know sent her child out of the town to a High School in Northwich and she was bullied terribly, with little intervention or support from the school. She moved her daughter to the Academy in Year 8 and never regretted it. Her daughter got 12 A grade GCSE's was a school ambassador and chair of the student council. They rebuilt her damaged confidence and she flourished - she is now studying her A-Levels at a great sixth form in Northwich called Sir John Dene's. I'm sure people could tell you a contradictory story but these exist for every school in every area. Your best option is to simply visit them and go with your gut instinct. If you dont like the academy then there are other options; being St Nicholas RC, Hartford, Sandbach and Tarporley (which is ten minutes away and also has some great places to dine).
My sister worked as a Child Protection Officer for Cheshire East (the other half of Cheshire where Knutsford, Wilmslow etc are located), and I can guarantee that there were some horror stories - no more or less than any other area of the County.
Are there issues with parts of Winsford........yes, but they are generally contained to certain areas and don't spread throughout the rest of the town. I feel perfectly safe walking my dog in the dark down country lanes. In fact, I don't remember the last time I heard of crime from any of my friends or colleagues. My neighbours relocated from an affluent area in the midlands around 15 years ago and have nothing bad to say, in fact they moved here from Northwich as they liked the increased green space. The lady at the end of our lane moved into her house two years ago having relocated from the South for her husbands work, again she loves it.
When we were looking to move five years ago we were considering local villages called Whitegate/Sandiway but after consideration decided it was purely for snob value; we would still have to travel into Winsford (or Northwich) to do our shopping, visit the doctor or the dentist so there really wasn't much point to paying a premium for a smaller house. Now if our pot was unlimited that would be a different story - I would want a farm house with some land :)
I do hope this helps you a little more than some of the other posts, if you have any more specific questions do let me know!
xx