Pros and cons of living in Pocklington?

[DadManners]

Well it seems since we decided we might want to live in York that half of the rest of the country (London especially) decided the same thing, and the already red hot property market is even more challenging for buyers in York. So prices and availability are both a big challenge.

We're therefore wondering if we should look a little further out and it seems you get more for your money and more chance of a detached property somewhere like Pocklington (or maybe Wilberfoss), although obviously others are coming to the same conclusion so I expect prices there will be on the up too.

On paper it looks great - reasonable-sized town, surrounded by nice countryside, just down the road from York. But I'm guessing the reality is a lot different when you factor in the traffic. So I'm wondering - is there anyone on here who commutes from Pock to York and can comment on how bearable (or not) that is - either by car or by bus?

It would also be great to get some feedback on life in the town in general. All I've been able to turn up on here so far is some brief and not entirely encouraging references such as "They invented the game soggy biscuits in Pocklington" (where's the vomit emoji when you need one... in any case, not interested in the private school), "Places you have visited with a strange vibe" (whatever that means) and "Pocklington has a fairly significant drug problem though, doesn't it?" (does it??).

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, whether on Pocklington, Wilberfoss or other places to consider.

Hello, I live in Wilberfoss and have done for the last 23 years. DH pre covid commuted to Leeds on a daily basis - takes around 45 minutes. It can be a bit nose to tail so it is a matter of leaving probably around 7.15/7.30 ish.

There is a local fb community page for Pocklington - they will be able to answer your questions. It is a lovely market town and we are hoping to downsize in a couple of years and move to Pock.

Let me get you the link for the fb page.

www.facebook.com/groups/442486809116965/?ref=share

Thank you @BellaVita, I didn't think to try FB so that's a good tip! Also useful to know the commute to Leeds as that may be required at some point (though hopefully not every day).

I drove through Pock today and thought how lovely and tidy it looked, it was bustling and just looked a nice place. Not particularly helpful to you I know 🤣

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109106774#/?channel=RES_NEW

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/106539383#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111471491#/?channel=RES_NEW

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77506149#/?channel=RES_BUY

There are a couple of houses in our village that have just come up for sale.

Have you thought about Full Sutton?

@Cheerleader are you localish? 😊

@BellaVita thanks for those, not quite in our range but interesting to see what there is in the area! We won't be moving until next year anyway so really just sounding out areas at the moment. Hadn't considered Full Sutton - I must admit I wasn't aware there was much to it apart from Her Majesty's large accommodation block there, but perhaps we should have a look!

I imagine Stamford Bridge to be quite nice too but do worry about flooding. Really we'd go for Dunnington if we could but there never seems much available, and what there is is unsurprisingly pricey.

@Cheermonger, thanks - I would say your comment is still helpful, first impressions are important! We hope to visit next month.

[quote BellaVita]@Cheerleader are you localish? 😊[/quote]
Hi about 40 mins away but our dd1 lives somewhere which means we travel home that way sometimes as it’s very scenic and beautiful to drive back over the wolds

@Cheermonger - so sorry I got your name wrong 😵.

@DadManners Dunnington is very desirable. Oh god yes, flooding in Stamford Bridge 😫 I think I would be very wary.

First thing whatever area you are looking at do you want/need village or town location. So schools, activities, shops etc. Pock offers a lot without having to travel, the village's not so much. Have you children, what ages, what do they need etc. It is a beautiful area and I would love to be back there.

I’ve never heard of any of these places but I vote for Pocklington just for the name.

I have lived in York all my life except for a few year on the east side, half way between pocklington and York. Pocklington is a nice market town which is expanding and house prices like you say are increasing. The a1079 is very busy on a morning and there are often delays.

I would stay away from full Sutton, Stamford bridge is lovely, not sure about the flooding situation now as I believe work was done there a while back. It is nearer to york than pock so an easier commute.

I am from Pocklington and I live here currently. I don't think it has a drug problem?? I mean, I'm sure there are drugs around, but I guess it's not my scene.

I don't particularly like Pocklington, but that's because I don't like living in a small town and don't personally feel like I fit in. Might be a great choice for other people. I can see that, if you want to live in the countryside but not in a very isolated village, and you also want to be near a city, it must have an appeal.

Main pro: near York, I love York. I like the Buddhist centre nearby, and the farms.
Main cons: not great if you're young and single. Having a car is essential.

@Roystonv Ideally, we'd be on the edge of York or just outside, i.e. within easy reach (without a painful commute) but also with easy access to countryside, as we do like our country walks and are more comfortable in a suburban or semi-rural setting than being in a really busy urban environment. So that's what we'd like, but not necessarily what we expect to be able to get, given property prices and limited supply.

That's why we're starting to think about a town or village within commuting distance, also perhaps to get more space for our money, but we do have to think about practicalities, so we'd prefer not to be absolutely in the sticks with no facilities, and being on a decent bus route is probably a priority. We're looking along the A166 and A1079 because DD will be starting Year 6 after we move if all goes to plan, and we're working on the assumption for the time being that our preferred secondary would be Archbishop Holgate's, hence wanting to be on that side of town and with one of the bus routes that goes along Hull Road. Not sure how many kids live in Pock and go to Archie's, but the bus journey might be a bit of a put-off if the traffic tends to be bad along the A1079 during peak hours.

Thanks @Fhdfjiggvfhg and @Mono1990 for your comments too, this is all helping us to build a picture of the pros and cons.

Woldgate is the school for pocklington. Archies is a very good school, you might want to check how easy it is to get a place living out of the area. A lot of kids in Stamford bridge go to archies. Have you looked at Elvington? A bit nearer to york and is a good size, not too big and not too small.

Pocklington definitely has plenty of facilities (for a small town): there's a cinema, sports centre, doctor and dentist surgeries, library, etc. There's various shops and cafes, and a market on Tuesdays. It's quite nice for young children, there have been three different 'family fun days' at different places here this summer. I think the buses between York and Pocklington are about every 30 minutes (?? I'm not actually sure about this as I've not taken the bus on a regular basis for a while.) It usually takes about 40 minutes on the bus to get into the centre of York, but lese in the car. There are also buses between Pocklington and Hull, and a Park and Ride into York too.

The vast majority of children who live in Pocklington will go to Woldgate School (or the private school if their family has money). I'm sure there are also children who live in Pocklington but go to a York school, but not many. I have no idea how easy or difficult it is to get a place in a popular York school whilst living in Pocklington, so can't comment on that.

• less in the car

Used to live in Barmby Moor, dh worked at the university which was an easy commute.

You might not find it easy to get a place at Holgates. Our friends did for their kids but only because there were special issues that bumped them up the list. I would only move to Pock if you are happy with Woldgate.

If you don’t mind small towns Pock is is nice and in a decent location with plenty of places you can get to as well as York (Beverley, Hull, Bridlington). Like many Yorkshire towns it has some good independent shops and the arts centre is excellent for a town that size.

Dunnington is a great village for families.
There isn't much variety in the housing stock though and it isn't the prettiest type.

But local primary school is good and you move onto the best secondary school in York.

Living in Pocklington you wouldn't probably have that much to do with York but we knew people who happily raised families there.

Stamford Bridge gets very clogged with traffic and floods.
Parts of Elvington flood so check that, also check what secondary schools they are linked to, I'm not sure if it is Fulford.

Not really sure about Woldgate as we had been focusing on the York schools, and 'on paper' we really like the look of Archie's but haven't visited yet - we hope to go to some open evenings in Sept/Oct, all being well. I'm assured that we would qualify for one of the foundation places there so it should be a fairly safe bet. Catchment does come into it if the foundation places are oversubscribed but I'm told that doesn't usually happen (I've spoken to the school and also the council admissions team). I know Fulford has a superb reputation too so we're keeping an open mind until we've been able to visit and get a proper feel for each school.

As for primaries, some appeal more than others (e.g. Dunnington would be great) but I know it may be that we don't have much option there as it will depend where we can get a place - bearing in mind wherever we can find a house and the fact that it would be effectively an in-year transfer with us moving from out of area (even if we can time our move for the summer hols, which is what we're hoping to do).

It sounds like basing ourselves in Pock but applying for a York school would be do-able but really not ideal, so we need to have a think about that. I quite like the sound of the town, good size and facilities, in a nice setting, and being on the road between York and Hull is a bonus. Just a bit more detached from York than we had planned but still near enough in the grand scheme of things. Lots to think about really.

Oh and regarding the flooding, I spoke to an estate agent recently who said we have to be prepared for flood risk wherever we go in York, and "if you don't want the risk of flooding, York's not for you"! Well I know it's generally low-lying with several rivers around, but it seems clear from the gov.uk maps that some areas area clearly at higher risk than others (e.g. won't be buying a house at Germany Beck) so I think we'll take his comment with a pinch of salt and just do our research on the relevant areas.

Not sure I'd trust the estate agent on that one- there are plenty of places that won't flood. We lived in the centre of town during the awful floods a few years ago. There were news crews at the bottom of our street and David Cameron came to watch the devastation. Honestly, 100m up the road, the pavements were bone dry. It's always a good idea to check the DEFRA flood maps, though, when you are viewing.
I second the previous poster who mentioned elvington - it's in the catchment for brilliant schools and isn't so rural that you will be cut off from York, which your daughter will probs approve of once she is older!
Friends of ours moved into York from Stamford bridge when their daughters went to high school and they've loved having access to all the opportunities and facilities. It's great! Good luck with it all.

Oh, and I would have a go at driving on the big a roads into York and back - the a64 is not for the faint of heart; the road to pocklington isn't so bad but the traffic in and out of York is famously catastrophic.

@paddlingon We saw a couple of nice 3/4 bed detached houses for sale in Dunnington a while back, on Kerver Lane if I remember correctly, looked like they might be our sort of thing but sadly we're not ready to buy yet. I haven't seen anything similar come up since - mostly bungalows (semi or detached), and pricey ones at that - not sure if that reflects the house itself or just house prices continuing to rise. We're just keeping everything crossed that by the time we are ready next year, something we like might come up, but still seems a long shot if prices and competition stay high, and if availability remains as sparse as it seems to be just now.

Also, even though we are used to a detached house and would really like to keep it that way, it seems there just aren't that many around York and of course the ones there are command a big price premium. We were also thinking about Osbaldwick and Heworth where the vast majority of houses seem to be semi-detached of a very similar design (going by what we've seen coming up for sale). So despite misgivings about potential for noise, disputes or whatever, I think we just can't afford to be too fussy... I just hope the housing stock is reasonably well-built/insulated. I realise this is very much a first-world problem ... I'm just a very light sleeper!

Yes, the estate agent is talking nonsense about flood risk. Luckily the information is fairly easily available.

@AngelicaElizaAndPeggy you make a very good point about when DD is older, people say York is great for teenagers (one of our considerations for choosing York) so that's another reason we're hesitant about basing ourselves somewhere further out unless getting back and forth is OK. Elvington is quite appealing although I think the bus route is good for Fulford, not so good for getting to Hull Rd if we got a place at AHS. As for the traffic in general, if there's one thing I've picked up on various threads and from family and others, it's that the traffic in York is awful, especially the ring roads and obviously the routes into the centre - it is a worry, but then the city has so much else in its favour and I guess this is why so many people seem to favour cycling and walking as well as public transport (pretty decent buses from what I can gather). Anyway we will certainly be doing some driving around soon to get a better feel for things and we'll see how we feel about it after that.

What is it about Archie's you like? Fulford, Manor and Tadcaster Grammar, All Saints are all excellent too and would expand your search area significantly and into nicer places than Pock. Copmanthorpe and Bishopthorpe are very popular and you get the pick of the best York schools. They are expensive though.

Archie's is strongly faith based so if that's the lure for you then the only other option is Manor and so Poppleton might meet your criteria.