Kimberley in Nottingham

[Lou333]

Hi all,
Anybody living or knowing of Kimberley in Nottingham? What are the schools like?
Primary and secondary? The house prices seems good and there seems to be a big Sainsbury's and all. But just want the opinion from the locals.. We are moving from Gloucestershire

Mapperly park is probably the second poshest area in Nottingham city after The Park. But yes you would really need to send your kids private and most do.
Alexandra Park isn’t regarded as a nice area (although there are some beautiful buildings)

You want to look at:
Mapperley
Sherwood
Wollaton
Bramcote
Beeston
Woodthorpe
Wilford - more expensive
West bridgford - more expensive
Edwalton - more expensive
Mapperley park (but schools issue)
The park (schools issue)

Then look at the villages but you have to be careful there. You can have a very desirable village very close to a very undesirable village eg Ravenshead and Blidworth or Radcliffe and cotgrave or Ruddington and Clifton.

In very generally terms villages to the east and south of Nottingham are nicer than those to the north and west (but there are some exceptions such as Ravenshead, papplewick and linby which are north but very nice villages)

but there are some exceptions such as Ravenshead, papplewick and linby which are north but very nice villages)

And then you get the new estates that market themselves as technically Linby but are really Hucknall :-)

Well yes, “Papplewick green” is most definitely in Hucknall..

Hi @AquaticLicence, just happened to see a lovely house in Kimberley and asked about the area. Glad I did!
My other considerations are what @HasaDigaEebowai has mentioned mostly plus Woodthorpe.
Thanks @HasaDigaEebowai for the list.

Ah! Just noticed that @HasaDigaEebowai list has Woodthorpe as well

I would just add Attenborough to the list but I guess that's covered under Beeston

Can I please ask for some village names like Ruddington? Which are nice, closer to the City with good reputed schools?

Yeah, with half a mil budget, I wouldn't be looking at Arnold or Carlton! They would be my £100-£150k budget areas.

With half a mil I'd be looking at west Bridgford (which is very naice and has its own bars and restaurants, great school, but also very close to Nottingham for all the shopping and social life there. If you like it more town centre bustle, west Bridgford is where I'd recommend. Park and mapperley park (which isn't the same as mapperley top) lovely and posh but state schools lacking so close to town (notts county schools tend to be better than Nottingham city schools - need to look on an individual basis, but the statistics are that city schools don't perform as well).
Beeston is also quite naice, and again close to town.
There are some lovely villages to the north and east if you like village vibes. Lots already mentioned in this thread. Don't think anyone has mentioned Southwell - it's further out, beautiful, outstanding schools, but a trek into Nottingham.

What other things are important to you? Ease of access to city, countryside, shops etc?

I personally think West Bridgford is over rated, but I probably have different priorities.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=891&la-name=nottinghamshire&geographic=la&for=secondary

If you look at a map of Nottinghamshire, start at west Bridgford just south of Nottingham and follow the river Trent east (rushcliffe, lowdham, east Bridgford, caythorpe, bleasby, Southwell) they're all lovely places.

With a budget of 550k I'd look elsewhere. Kimberly is not great.
I wouldn't live in Arnold or Carlton but close by is Woodthorpe and Mapperly which are both nice areas.

PPs have suggested lots of good places OP but I'd also consider Wollaton, it's close to the city, it has good schools, there are some lovely houses in your budget, Wollaton Park is beautiful and it's quite a multicultural area (and a choice of Sainsbury's - Beeston and Castle Marina - fairly close by! )

Most of these places won't tick the multi cultural box. That's not to say you'd be unwelcome but you may find you stand out more than you would like.

Wollaton would probably be better in that respect, with the park on your doorstep although sadly the Waitrose was replaced by a Lidl. I'm still mourning the loss of my free coffee.

Thanks all for your responses 

@AquaticLicence We are from a cotswold village so we love the village setting. We are moving to Nottingham to be close to Family who live in the city centre. So we would ideally like a blend between a lovely village but closer to city. But as we have a little one, main focus really should be his school and then the distance to the city and then village setting and then of course having a good size house with a nice garden.
I know it's a lot to ask for!!! But that's the ideal situation

A lot of the villages will have excellent primaries but then not great secondary options. The north villages are like this, great primaries but often Mansfield secondary school catchment areas.

Nottingham is a great city. For your budget you could easily get a house south of the river in West Bridgford/Wilford/Lady Bay.
The schools in WB are good but oversubscribed, there is currently a consultation for a new secondary school south of Lady Bay.
Don't get too hung up on tiny areas - it's a quick city to get around, although if you have work/family reasons to be north of the city it can get boring going round the bypass, you might be better looking at other areas like Sherwood.
Are you particularly looking for a village?

Personally I'd look east of the city centre for a village feel. So Lowdham, Bingham and the villages surrounding, e.g. Epperstone, Lambley. Bingham and Lowdham both have train and bus connections into the city.

Beeston, Attenborough are much more surburban and probably not what you are looking for. Traffic used to be a nightmare in that direction too, not sure if the tram has improved matters.

What's your reason for moving to Nottingham? Is there a workplace you need to be able to get to easily? Other parts of the country you want to be accessible to? That and schools are what I'd start with.

Then, do you want shops and cafes in walking distance? Or happy to have to travel? Public transport is very good.

e.g. Attenborough is a lovely village, edge of huge nature reserve, easy journey into Nottingham centre but you'd need to go into Beeston for local shops and cafes. Walkable but not right on your doorstep, as it would be if you lived in Beeston itself.

Ok just read your update. Ruddington is a popular village.
Wilford is cheaper than West Bridgford due to City postcode and historic school catchments (recently changed I think.)
West Bridgford is not Knightsbridge more like East Dulwich.

South of the river, if you look at a map, you are much closer to countryside even if living quite near the centre.

e.g. Attenborough is a lovely village

See, I wouldn't describe Attenborough as a village at all, it's part of the surbuban sprawl to the west - Beeston, Chilwell, Toton, Long Eaton. Nothing wrong with these areas but I dare say someone coming from a Cotswold village would not see them as village locations.

@Silenenutans We are moving to be close to family. I work from home. My husband needs to go to London once a week by car for work.
I know we can't get the whole village feel so was kind of hoping for something in between a village and a town/city. I quite like Woodthorpe because of it. We lost out on a house there, I was gutted!

I think the main issue at the moment is the lack of houses on the market. Normally, with your budget you'd have lots of choice but there's not much for sale at all.

Oh, cross post. Ok, if you can be anywhere and happy to travel for 30-40 mins into the centre of town, then take a look at the villages south of Nottingham, in the Vale of Belvoir (pronounced beaver, really!). Like Wysall, Willoughby, Widmerpool. Closer in there's Bunny and Tollerton.

The Wolds School in Keyworth looks pretty good, you'd need to check the catchment area. Keyworth itself is a very large village, more like a town. Ruddington is similar. Has its own schools.

Villages around Nottingham are very contrasting. Agricultural villages that are very pretty, mostly to the south and east. Ex-colliery villages, not as pretty, more insular, some with social problems, mostly to the west and north. In places the two are very close to each other. Visit and it's obvious.

Oh, if your DH needs to be able to drive to London regularly, you want to be south of the city, not having to drive slowly across town, before getting on his way. West Bridgford is perfect for you.

West, by the M1 also good. Beeston and Chilwell. It is all a bit of a sprawling conurbation between Nottingham and Derby but Beeston is a proper town with its own centre and identity.

Out to Grantham and on to the A1 from villages to the East of Nottingham far more pleasant than getting onto the M1. Depends what side of London you need to be. Despite living less than 2 miles from the M1 I try and avoid it as much as possible. Agree that you don't want to have to fight your way across Nottingham first though