moving to Liverpool - any advice welcome!

[perapera]

Hi Liverpool Mumsnetters

I'll soon be moving to Liverpool from London with my DP and DD (6m). I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about living there, e.g.:

which are the nice areas to live in?
what kind of mother and baby activities are there?
any suggestions on nurseries?

Thank you very much in advance!

I live in a place called Maghull, which is just on the outskirts of Liverpool. Other nice areas (and obviously this is v. subjective) are Chilwall, Aigburth, Woolton Village, but they are more central.

Dd goes to a nursery in Aughton, which is strictly speaking Lancashire, not Merseyside, but only a stone's throw away from me.

Liverpool is a mahoosive place, so it may be easier to get info on mother and baby groups etc, when you have more of an idea of where you'll be.

Hi Perapera

Crosby/Formby/Freshfield are nice too - all north Liverpool, on the way towards Southport. Take into account where you and your DP work and what sort of transport links you need.

Wooton village is lovely, as is Aigburth and Childwall.

Check out the local schools too. There are lots of good ones in the areas I've mentioned.

There's a north Liverpool NCT which organises activities. Water babies has a Liverpool franchise for baby swimming in lovely warm hydrotherapy pools. There are a few children's centres round here which apparently have lots going on although I haven't been to any of them.

Hello

Thanks for the replies and the recommendations. I'll have a look at the areas you've suggested.

We'll definitely need to be somewhere near a station because I don't drive (probably going to learn but that will take several months I guess).

Baby swimming sounds great!

Thanks again

Hi there

I've just moved from London - Bromley, Kent to be precise. Originally from Crosby, Liverpool and due to separation headed back near to the family after a 5 yr stint in the capital. I was really nervous about the move, I lived in a lovely area with great schools to hand and of course the fantastic Glades shopping centre a 10 min walk away...

You'll probably be really impressed by the slower pace of life and the fact that Scousers are a friendly bunch by nature and often chat to you and coo over the little ones at any opportunity. My dd is 2 1/2, mixed race and has so many admirers already! Don't know about you but as a busy working mum I just used to do so much rushing around and didn't really have that much quality time. Here, the commuting times are much shorter if you live near a station and I think this could have a really positive effect on family life... I've also been impressed by the recent addition to Liverpool city centre's shops --Liverpool 1 seems really good for retail therapy. If you ignore the oh so out of date/fashion tango colour some of the girls still sport here you'll be fine ..you'll see what I mean! Actually some of the lads aren't far off either... sorry-back to the point...

As with anywhere there are areas that aren't that good, I've moved back to Crosby/Blundellsands area(currently sleeping on my mum's living room floor!) as I know the schools are better than some areas. I had good schooling here and you can have nice rural areas nearby for walks etc and Soutport/Liverpool easily accessible by 20 min train rides either way - what a bonus from communiting to work in London for me!

Of course we also have the famous Anthony
Gormly installations at Crosby beach 10 min walk away- my daughter is so happy having the "beachside" as she calls it so close after only having the odd view of the River Thames!

I was a little nervous about leaving the excitement of the museums and other cultural happenings in London, but so far have been impressed by the amount on offer both in Liverpool and Southport. We will no doubt be making regular 2 1\2 hr train trips back to our old haunt so not too far away for a trip down memory lane/to visit the inlaws!

Hope all goes well with the move...

Hi Liz1914

Thanks for the reply - it's good to hear your positive experience. We've just got back from a week's househunting in Liverpool and we saw a few places in Crosby - it seemed like a really nice area. We didn't find anything there in the end though - we've gone for a place in Woolton, although it's not finalised yet.

we also had a walk through Liverpool 1 although didn't have any time to actually shop - will be visiting shortly after we move though I'm sure...

And as you say, London is only 2.5 hrs by train!

I'm in south Liverpool. Let me know when you've moved!

woolton area is lovely I grew up that way and went to both senior schools in the village. Hope your move goes smoothly and keep an eye out on the meet up threads on the main board.

Thanks everyone - will check out the meet up threads and hope to see some of you x