Relocating to Chester / Wirral

[Hmmm14]

Hi there,

I hope you can help? I'm looking for insider info on chester /the wirral as we will soon be relocating there and I don't know the area.

We had a fleeting visit the other day and quite liked what we saw of Upton in Chester and Bromborough / Spital in the wirral. We did plan to have a quick look around Higher Bebington too but ran out of time.

Could anyone tell me more about these areas? Where's best to look / avoid? Are there any other areas we should look at too? We need good public transport links as I don't drive and we would quite like to be able to get to Liverpool and Chester by train too to make life easier for our older children. If there were some local shops that would be handy too.

Lastly what is commuting like around these areas? My husband will be commuting by car or public transport to the wirral hospitals (mainly Arrowe Park). If the traffic is known to be horrendous we might have to count out Upton in Chester out of our search (we are not sure we can afford to live there but it was very nice).

Thanks so... much for all your help and wonderful insight.

[BossyEye]

I think you've made a great choice! I worked in Port Sunlight for several years and am always bowled over by its beauty.

Best of luck with the move.

[Hmmm14]

Hi all,

Sorry not been on for a while, been busy putting our house on the market and whizzing around the wirral again. West Kirby and Heswall are lovely and the transport links are good, but really out of our price bracket. We could only find one we could afford in Heswall - it was a lovely house but kitchen was tiny.

I thought I would leave my thoughts on what we explored of the East side for anyone else in my situation:

I know you guys aren't keen but we have found Bromborough by the Train station is lovely and we could possibly afford a detached. Nice local pub, lovely parade of shops, brillant transport links for kids to be independent and for future employment.

Spital is similar, close to Train station, very green and leafy with access to the Brotherton Park & Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve. We again will have the possibility of a detached house and there is a lovely pub and tea rooms with easy access to the shops in bebington, just a short walk up Church road and another little parade of shops on Cross Lane (just south of the Grammar schools) - we walked through the park to the left of Wirral Gardens as it was a nice day - a lovely 10 minute walk. There is also Claremont Farm with the Coffee Shop, Farm Shop and various cooking classes etc: //www.claremontfarm.co.uk

Both Bromborough (where we looked by train station) and Spital have easy access to the shops at Bromborough Cross too and the Croft Leisure and Retail Park (where there is also a cinema / bowling etc).

Parts of Bebbington and Higher Bebbington really nice too. Following finding this article about CH63:

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/11-reasons-love-living-bebington-8905096

We have found it a really useful tool for house hunting and have gone on to just type in CH63 into rightmove!

We did also look around the Prenton & Oxton areas and again they were lovely, but harder to work out (being new to the area) as one street would be nice and the next not so much, so we will probably stick to Bromborough and Spital as we loved it there.

Thanks for all your help. Looking forward to joining you all soon on the Wirral.

[millymae]

Sadly the butcher in Lower Heswall is long gone and I have a feeling that the butcher in Neston is not the one you think it is Wanttobe.

I've lived in Neston all my life and my grandparents and their parents before me. Yes there is a biggish privately built estate down by the marsh and another where the brick factory used to be on the way into the centre of Neston but there is no way that either of these could be described as ghettos. They are far from that.

You certainly don't need a car to live in Neston day to day, most residential areas are within walking distance of the shops and the bus services to Liverpool and Chester are conveniently routed. I wouldn't choose to travel by bus to Arrowe Park because travelling by car is quicker and cheaper, but it would be possible to use the bus providing the times were convenient.

Not sure where your information about the increase in crime and people being moved into Neston from Birkenhead has come from, but I would hate the OP to think that Neston is full of those struggling to make ends meet and is a crime hotspot when nothing could be further from the truth. It's definitely not a bad place to live, although as I said in an earlier post I would move to West Kirby like a shot if I could

[Want2bSupermum]

What puts me off Neston is that they built a huge estate 10-15 years ago and moved a lot of people in from the Birkenhead area. On paper it was a great idea but the local area just didn't have enough jobs to support the incoming population. The end result was somewhat of a ghetto of sorts forming with well to areas seeing a large increase in crime as people were struggling to put food on the table so resorted to crime.

I've always liked Neston (plus that butcher is very good as well as the one in the lower village in heswall) and I have quite a few friends who live there today but it is a town that is just that little bit out of the way. If the OP was a driver I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

[millymae]

I wouldn't disagree with you Want2b - I'd move to West Kirby if I could. Similarly your views about nightlife in Chester - Liverpool is definitely the place to go even though Chester is a university city.

I haven't quite worked out what OPs budget is but if it won't stretch to Heswall/ West Kirby, Neston wouldn't be a bad option for someone who doesn't have access to a car during the day. Yes it's a bit further from Liverpool, but when I lived there I never found getting there and back a problem at night. It's on the more rural side of the Wirral, has a wide range of housing stock and is close to the Wirral Way and Parkgate for walks etc.

[Want2bSupermum]

Another thing to consider is that your DC will want to go to Liverpool for a night out not Chester. There is absolutely nothing going on in Chester compared to 10+ years ago in terms of nightlife.

Both Heswall and west Kirby are great options but I think west kirby would eek past heswall in terms of ranking.

[millymae]

Having lived on Wirral all my life and worked at Arrowe Park I would definitely be looking at Heswall for the simple reason that it has a good shopping centre for day to day needs, a very short commute to Arrowe Park by car and bus, plus good public transport to Liverpool by bus and a bus to Chester every hour. That said, the Chester bus finishes at about 6.00pm so no use to your children for a night out.

West Kirby has direct train access to Liverpool, plus a direct bus. There is also an interesting selection of shops and of course the beach and boating lake.

Have you considered Neston ? The day to day shopping is not as interesting as either Heswall or West Kirby - there is a Sainsburys, an Aldi and a Tesco Express plus an independent butchers and. Good market on a Friday. There is a direct bus service to Liverpool every 30 minutes and the same hourly bus to Chester that goes through Heswall. The commute to Arrowe Park would take no more than 25 minutes door to door and to Clatterbridge no more than 15 minutes.

I am not a lover of the Bromborough/Eastham side of the Wirral at all, and view Spital as just a large housing estate. Similarly Little Sutton - I don't think I would want to be stuck on the new housing estate there without a car.

OH was born in Higher Bebington, went to school in Oxton and knows the area in between like the back of his hand. He would move back like a shot but I've never been convinced, mainly because I prefer places that have a real centre to them. I think you would find day to day shopping difficult without the use of car in any of those areas.

You said you like Upton by Chester - the commute to Arrowe Park would be perfectly do-able in a car, but time consuming if using public transport. Nice and handy for Chester too or for work at the Countess of Chester hospital

[BrightandBeautifulChester]

Oops
I asked for my post to be deleted as I don't own the above mentioned business anymore - need to change it x

[fuckoffdailysnail]

Some parts of Wallasey village are nice but very busy as there are a few secondary schools there so traffic can build up easily. Have you looked at new Brighton? You say you're more of a country park person than a beach person but new Brighton is lovely with lots of transport links. Can you tell us your budget?
I'm loving this thread as I grew up living in the Wirral (Wallasey, moreton then prenton) and will be relocating back there in a couple of years I can't wait

[fuckoffdailysnail]

Sorry just re read that you've looked at heswall

[fuckoffdailysnail]

My mum lives in prenton she loves it. My friend from school lived in little Sutton, I always thought her family was very posh as it's a very nice area, very quiet. What about heswall? Lovely area and a nice little run of shops along the high street and an M&S food and a Tesco

[Hmmm14]

Hi all,

Just back from a trip all round the wirral. It was good to explore all the areas you had been telling me about. West Kirby and Heswall and parts of Prenton were lovely as were and Bromborough and Spital (very leafy). We also visited the new housing estate at Little Sutton. Has anyone any insider info on Little Sutton? It looked quite nice from our drive around and visiting show homes is always fun, but any local info would be greatly appreciated.

I think a lot of our decisions on area will be made on what is available when we have sold ours - there isn't a huge amount for sale and the lovely houses seem to sell v. quickly.

Thanks for all your help

[Want2bSupermum]

Thingwall (pronounced Thinwall) is nice but yes there are very few shops plus public transportation was never great around there (might have changed but probably not likely). Prenton is ok but not great because of the football. There are some good shops there including a big Sainsburys. Asda is the other side of the M56 junction and it is a good one. It is also super close to Arrowe Park.

[Hmmm14]

Thanks all for the info. Oxton looks good but the ones we liked didn't seem to have garages (a hubby requirement).

It's a bit tricky at the moment - as soon as I think about going to see stuff it goes under offer - arghh. Had my heart set on a house in Bromborough but that has now gone too. Bromborough / Spital got a good write up on mumsnets sister site gransnet so still quite like it there (More of a country park person than a beach person).

Anyway have actually managed to make a booking to view a property in Prenton so hoping it is nice there (not driven around there yet). Is Thingwall nice too? Nice house there but didn't seem to be too many shops. hmmm....

[BossyEye]

I'd definitely stay up the Talbot Road end and not the Slatey Road end of Oxton Village!

[fuckoffdailysnail]

Meols not meals

[fuckoffdailysnail]

What about prenton or greasby? Hoylake maybe? Meals is also nice i would avoid Birkenhead north and seacombe
I went to school in Upton in the Wirral and that's quite a nice area

[Want2bSupermum]

When I say safe I mean they aren't mugging you. They would never attack you personally however if it isn't nailed down it's up for grabs according to my family.

[Want2bSupermum]

Oxton is lovely but family who live there are always broken into. It's frustrating because you are safe, apparently family tell me the break ins are by people from Birkenhead north. West Kirby is more expensive but much less of an issue with that. Hoylake also now has a slightly higher number of break ins according to family who moved there from oxton 10 years ago. They just moved to west Kirby.

[BossyEye]

Hi Hmmm,
Here's the train map from Merseyrail. There are three separate lines into Liverpool, starting at West Kirby, New Brighton and Chester/Ellsemere Port. Trains every 15 minutes on each line. Less frequent trains on the Bidston/Shotton Line.

I don't know the buses, unfortunately, as I've always taken the train. Want2b is right in that West Kirby is lovely, with its Marine Lake and Seaside (and Hilbre Island!). I did think of it as quite far away, when I was a child, but I lived close to Hamilton Square, where all of the trains go through.

For Arrowe Park you could consider Oxton Village, which is really lovely. It's only a 5-10 minute drive from the hospital. There will be buses (not sure how frequent, perhaps 3 an hour?) into Hamilton Square, then trains every 5 minutes to Liverpool from there.

Here are a few Oxton/Oxton Village properties from Rightmove:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65733887.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65436011.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42869904.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47745813.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47478618.html

[Hmmm14]

Thanks Want2bSupermum,
Hopefully a good drive round will give us a feel for all these places, I'll let you know how I get on

[Want2bSupermum]

With that budget West Kirby and Heswall are definite options for you. 3 bed homes in Heswall, close to the center of town, start at about GBP190k (terrace or semi). West Kirby is more expensive, starting at about GBP200k for a three bed.

The reason I recommend both of those towns is because you don't drive. It is very common on the Wirral to drive and not doing so could hold you back. Heswall has fantastic bus connections to Liverpool and Chester. West Kirby is a quick commute for your DH and you have excellent bus and train connections to Liverpool plus chester. If I were you West Kirby would be my first choice of town because it has everything from supermarkets, a good leisure center, transport links and a quick commute for your DH.

Bromborough and Eastham are nice but you don't have as much of a town. Most people have a car to get them around.

[Hmmm14]

Hi all

Thanks for all the great info. I just realised the bit of Bromborough I looked at might actually be in Eastham - not quite sure where the boundary lies.

I'm looking for 3 bedrooms and my budget will be around the 250-260 mark depending on what mine is valued/sold at. I looked on rightmove and all these places seem to be doable - that's how we worked out where to drive around.

I'm glad the M53 is quiet that increases my options. We have mainly lived in the burbs of large cities. We did once live in a rural area but I felt really isolated due to lack of transport. I think that is why I started looking at Chester but then realised I could probably get to parts of the wirral on the train as quickly as I could get to places like Upton on the bus from the city centre.

Thanks for all your help. We hope to pop along that way again in a week or so, so this is helping to plan our itinerary.

[CheshireSplat]

Where would you like to live? The M53 is a pretty quiet motorway, so you could live in Chester or Liverpool. Would you prefer a large city, small city, small town, countryside?

Merseyrail is good in that it is cheap and has lots of stops. But is very slow if you're going all the way along the route.