Help us decide where to live !!!! All advice welcome [smile]

[noonki]

We live in Manchester and really want to move to a smaller place.

The criteria of the place we want is like this:

A small city or large town
Bit of character
Nice state schools.
Not more than 2 and half hours from Manchester by car/train.
Countryside near by

Any ideas gratefully received!

York and Chester both look quite nice.

Or if you want to go North, how about Kendal (just off M6)

Durham, no contest!

we are going to do a trip about the country to have a look so will put those on our list -thanks !

Durham is lovely, as is York.

Chester as a city is gorgeous but there are many "wag" types in the city centre, if that bothers you.

Matlock? Probably not large enough for you.

southport

house prices not mental , excellent state schools , lots of parks, beach, relatively quiet. one hour from manchester, liverpool , nearer to preston.

near the countryside

lots of regeneration being done with new hotels and it is becoming quite a vibrant place to live, rather than a place to go and retire

Skipton? (Might be a bit small for you, but has very good rail, bus, road links to Bradford and Leeds.) Great countryside. Good schools...

Ilkley or Otley? (similarly smallish, but see above)

what about barnsley some lovely little areas near manchester ie penistone,silkstone and cawthorne very nice

ohhh lots to think about - lots of good ideas
thank you all