Moving to derby

[flirtygirl]

Hi all, im thinking of moving to either Derby or Solihull. In Derby im thinking of Littleover, Mickleover or Chellaston . My other choices were Allestree or Spondon but i think the first 3 areas were nicer. I have ruled out Darley Abbey as nothing there, Duffield and Borrowash as too expensive unless i find a great bargain. I need to access the M1 as easily as possible, Has anyone got any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.

We chose to live in Spondon when we moved to Derby from down south. I looked at all the schools (primarily secondary as DS1 was in year 7) and the grade 1s were full (no surprise there). Out of the grade 2s West Park in Spondon and Murray Park in Mickleover were available. I looked at the scores in depth and we decided that West Park was slightly better.
Our choice worked out for the best, West Park is now a grade 1 school and offers better added value than all the other schools in the vicinity.
Spondon is very close to the M1, though you will have to consider morning traffic to get out of Spondon. Littleover/Mickleover are actually really far across the city from the motorway and traffic is atrocious. My DM lives in littleover...
It's really easy to get into town from Spondon and is also easy to get to Nottingham for more shopping if required.
I have never regretted our choice, we are close to countryside too and the community is lovely round here.
Good hunting x

Thanks Sam, Spondon sounds nice, i liked its village feel when i drove through. I had no idea Littleover and Mickleover were far across, food for thought, thanks.

If you go for Chellaston make sure you check the school catchment area as not all Chellaston properties are in the catchment for Chellaston Academy! There are some nice villages eg Aston or Weston on Trent which give good access to the M1. Spondon is a nice village with lots going on but some parts of it are nicer than others. Don't know much about Mickleover or littleover except it will be hard work getting to the M1 in rush hour. Don't discount Castle Donington, Breaston or Draycott or even Long Eaton as possible options depending on whether you want to live in a village.

Thanks Everybodykeepcool.

Another one here who's living very happily in Spondon ... for price / convenience / community feel and facilities (especially the brilliant local shops) it really would be hard to beat

The only thing I'd say is to aim for a home close to the village centre where the atmosphere is nicest

Littleover is very handy for town, the main road through the village links up with the inner city ring road. The traffic along Burton road is busy at peak times same as everywhere. My eldest is at university in Leicester and the M1 is accessible via the A50 (as is Chellaston) which isn’t far from Littleover. I’m not doing that journey regularly admittedly. Being close to the A38 and A50 is a bonus.

My children attend Littleover Community and I have friends with children at West Park which is also a very good school

Best secondaries in Derby itself are Allestree Woodlands, Chellaston (exam factory but v successful) West Park (somewhat ditto but just voted best school in Derbyshire) and Littleover.

Wherever you go, make sure you are in catchment for the school (and not, for eg, Derby Moor instead of Littleover).

I agree, Littleover and Mickleover not good for M1. Allestree is good for M1 north, via A38, Spondon better for M1 south. We live in allestree and love it; villages feel, walk to open country, 10 mins to town. You £££ would get you more in Spondon tho.

Thanks alot, im going to look at Allestree and Spondon more on my next visit as i was near to ruling them out but that sounds like a mistake with their proximity to the M1.

Derby has a nice feel like a city made up of villages.

Definitely check out allestree and spondon again as they are much better located and have some really nice parts. Mickleover is ok but a bit out in the sticks. Littleover has some really nice parts but like a PP said, make sure you're in the catchment for littleover school and not Derby moors which is rough. There are quite a few rougher areas of derby very close to littleover too so keep that in mind.
Surprised you weren't keen on Darley abbey. It's my favourite area of the city and I love the big parks next to it and the pubs

I don't know yourbudget obvs but a quick right move search shows you'd get a nice three bed detached in Allestree for £300k; same money wil get you four beds in Spondon (caveat; I don't know Spondon well enough know how nice an area those houses are in).

Catchment not an issue in Allestree or Soondon, if you are in the village you'll get in. HTH

Ok I’ll finally bite on this thread, really you need to tell us more budget, kids and ages, where you need access to daily etc

Allestree is a middle class suberb and historically drew white collar workers at Rolls Royce to it

Mickleover expanded rapidly in the 1970s with the silver hill estate and is also generally middle class

Spondon village centre itself is lovely but surrounded by older council estates

The good school guide should be viewed with caution, there is no way I would rate west park as number 1 in the city plus the head has just announced he is retiring

If you’re considering Allestree there are very specific catchments and schools to consider, portway infant and junior both have a good reputation and Lawn Primary has now improved with is newer head teacher

Parts and only parts of Allestree also fall into catchment at secondary for Ecclesbourne and Woodlands, the rest falls into just Woodlands catchment

If you like this side of derby and want to look further little Eaton is also very nice, cheaper than Duffield but very hand for the A38

Parkfarm is handy for everyday shops, kedleston hall nice NT property and for parks marketon is great for kids

I’m from Derby, grew up in Mickleover and now am in Allestree.

avoid chellaston.avoid chellaston sceniours just a pressure factory of for unhappy stressed kids.
Melbourne Is love in part.

Wow thanks for all replies, loads more to consider.

My budget is a 3 bed for £210k, theres nothing in Darley Abbey and Duffield or Little Eaton so i had ruled these out very early on.

Spondon and Chellaston has more in the budget, some doer uppers in Littleover and Mickleover but not that much and id have to be lucky to find Allestree for my budget.

Schools are important and i need to start considering them more, as i currently home ed but she may choose to go school at some point as its her choice so i need to look more into this.

Generally though most schools looked okay compared to where i am currently.

I'm sure you'll have noticed this one, but here you go anyway:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66609440.html

It's in a lovely part of Spondon, close to the village centre and within easy walking distance of the shops and schools. Best of all it looks as if it needs practically nothing doing to it and has a lovely outlook with plenty of parking space for when the kids start driving

Plenty of others on Rightmove, but for me this one really stood out

Hi Flirtygirl

I am in Allestree and also have a child educated at home as well as one in school

Essentially it’s about what you want/need/desire for your budget, we can all tell you what we think but could give poor advice by not understanding who you are

For example you’re at home educating, then you may want groups for support, library access (that’s a whole other story in Derby) good broadband etc

Your other half may work somewhere specific that harder to access depending on the side of Derby you live eg Mickleover Littleover are handy for the hospital but Chellaston is a nightmare but is good for Rolls Royce

Some areas are more working class, some extremely middle class

If you’re buying straight away
You don’t want to make a costly mistake by not getting the best information before you buy

Oh yes I agree, Allestree difficult for £210 tho thee are a few niceish properties.

But if you home ed, schools may not be vital - and round here (like a lot of places I guess) you do pay a premium for school catchment (hence Duffield being so dear). Which if you don't need school is a bit of a waste. How old is your DD? Which way do you need to go on the M1 btw?

I wouldn't ever put my child trhough going from home ed to chellaston.its bad enough with a bit of experience in school situations¬¬

AH! I went to Spondon Park School in the late 60's/70's, glad to hear it still is considered a good school. Always envied my friends who lived in Spondon, I had to get a bus every day from Alvaston and Spondon always seemed to have a much more friendly village feel about it.
Live down south now, but have fond memories of Spondon.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

Thanks all, my home ed dd is 8 yo. Thanks Puzzled that house is lovely, in fact the houses ive seen even the doer uppers are nice.

Im moving from down south and Derby has lovely areas and houses compared to what I could get here. I need southbound M1 to visit my mum really, and more so for my daughter who is currently at college for next year or so, cant move her as she has Asd and a 1 to 1 support package with the Lea.
She will be lodging with my mum till college is finished (mum will become her primary carer for a while, yay, and give me my first true break in 19 years.) Luckily, she really likes derby on our many visits and seems really happy to move considering she hates change.

Thanks for all the input, on my next trip I will look at Mickleover, Allestree, Spondon, Borrowash and im going to look again at Darley Abbey again but think im priced out really.

Schroedingerscatagain what is the library situation in Derby?

Derby City Council are looking to close the majority of their libraries, make the staff redundant and are hoping that volunteers will take them on (to save paying back lottery funding). The central library will move from its current home, shared with the museum (which is fab), to a smaller space within the council house (which had a recent multi-million pound refurbishment). Derbyshire County Council seem to be committed to libraries at the moment and an SLA means that you can use your library card across both city and county libraries at the moment. It's depressing and the library staff only found out about the plan when it was 'leaked' by the local paper...

Allestree may just be in your budget. It will give you a range of primary schools (if there are spaces and you are prepared to drive) then. People from Allestree go to the Allestree schools, Darley Abbey, Quarndon and some get into Duffield Schools.
South of Derby there is Melbourne, Weston-on-Trent. Feeds into Chellaston.

If you want to go south on the M1 OP, Spondon will get you to j25 at least 15 mins quicker than Allestree.

I guess it depends if that's crucial - for a daily commute yes, for an occasional visit not so much.

Thanks alot. Commute is twice weekly at first for dd, then once a week or fortnightly to visit my mum. Its 1.5 hrs with no traffic.

Ive been on rightmove every evening checking out all the areas mentioned, Little Eaton looks good, Breadsall and Oakwood are shown on rightmove right next to it, are these nice? Prices seem good.

Oakwood is really tricky for schools, esp secondary. Breadsall is ok for schools (bus to Heanor) but a small village. I wouldn't want to be a teen living there.

Oakwood is really tricky for schools, esp secondary

It certainly is, as I know to my cost having lived there It's also very much a dormitory estate, with little of the community atmosphere OP seems to like

Breadsall's pretty, though no good unless you drive as there's absolutely nothing there - also very expensive for anything halfway decent

I agree Little Eaton's attractive, though not very good for the southbound M1 - a bit on the pricy side too, though nothing like Breadsall