Moving up north

[Hockeymumma]

Hi everyone,
Me and my family are looking to move up north and wondered what areas you would recommend.
Are initial thought are Manchester, Lancashire areas?
My children and husband play a lot of hockey and I am a dog groomer, breeder so would be looking for somewhere i could set up a grooming salon but somewhere with areas where we can go on long walks with the dogs.
We are looking to move as we are right down south and as much as we love it life is just so expensive here.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We moved from Kingston upon Thames to Macclesfield, Cheshire in July 2015 and love it! Perfect for reaching Manchester but also feel like we are in the countryside.

We had never been here before we moved and had initially thought we would be closer to Manchester, but we found the house we wanted...

I would recommend some weekend trips to see where you like the look/feel of.

Good luck!

Mellor / Marple. It has a really good Hockey and Lacrosse club and they are on the edge of the Peak District. Train direct to Manchester and (less frequently) Sheffield.

@Framboisier is the area your ok out in the countryside? Or is it still near a town of some sorts?
Having teenagers we're hoping for a town close by for them to get a job, make friends etc

@Unescorted oh great il have a look into that. It's just so hard looking at areas that you know nothing about

Macclesfield is a town, and we live on the outskirts but that is still only a 5 min drive. One thing that is definitely different from living in outer London is public transport - still available but less frequent and more expensive.

I live in Heaton Moor, Stockport. 9mins to Manchester on the train but accessible to lots of green space for dog walks, we have a common and a large vale within a 5 minute drive and lots of parks. Good for the airport and west coast main train line too which is great work wise.

There’s lots of dogs round here but funny enough not many groomers - I think you could find work locally.

Agree Macclesfield and Marple lovely too, just a bit further out, again Macc is a stop on the WC mainline.

Fantastic Thankyou.. Il have a look at your area too @MoorMummy

I think Didsbury Hockey club supposed to be good, it’s just down the road my friend used to play there.

House prices here aren’t particularly cheap for NW, but I’d imagine cheaper than where you are now.

Wirral, lots and lots of beautiful countryside/ beaches. Close to Liverpool and Chester. One area (bebington I think) voted most desirable place in England to live.

Have you thought about moving to the left rather than the north,,maybe over toward Bristol and West?

Bebington is beautiful.

Southport and Chester are nice too with lots of semi rural areas, plenty of dogs (and natural beauty spots to walk them in) and good hockey.

Otherwise Liverpool has quite a few nice areas and might be better for teens as it's a city, with good connections to Manchester and Southport, good schools and multiple universities. Also plenty of hockey and opportunities for dog grooming (but you would have to choose the right area obviously. You'd be better in otterspool than old swan for example)

Sorry I meant roller hockey and ice hockey

I'm interested in this thread as my husband and I have a similar issue. I am from the north east but live in the south. I prefer most things about the north east except for the weather, which prevents me from moving back. We are now expecting our first child, so would prefer to be closer to my family, but not too sure where we should go.

@BillywigSting is that roller or ice hockey?