Commuting time from Frodsham to Flint and Cheadle Hulme?

[Sueqozzie]

Hi,

My job has relocated to Cheadle Hulme and potentially my DH could work in Flint. Looking at the AA route planner, Frodsham seems to be about half way between and roughly half an hour drive to each workplace . However, never having driven this route (I live down South) is this accurate or would we each spend many more hours per week in the car? My work has a restriction of no more than 25 miles or 1 hour from the workplace.
Thanks in advance.

Hi There

are you looking for a new area which is commutable to both? (not sure I read you OP correctly). If that's the case I'm not sure whether Frodsham is a good commute to CH really. There'll be a lot of traffic in that direction as well. If your DH is commuting to Flint then I think easy access to the M56 will be needed. Have you considered some of the villages around Warrington way?

Should say I live Wilmslowish so know the routes to CH very well but a bit hazy about flint

Can one of you live in Chester and the other in Bramhall?

Your timings (as I suspect you guess) are way out for any kind of realistic traffic. Have you tried putting the routes into Google Maps at 8am and 5pm (you know how it shows the 'paper timing' and 'in current traffic')?

Do you both work normal working days or would one be travelling outside rush hour? There are lovely areas a short commute from both those locations. If you have to be inbetween then I'd look at Frodsham, Lymm, Appleton, Grappenhall...

Don't know about Frodsham to Cheadle Hulme, but Frodsham to Flint would be closer to an hour in rush-hour traffic. Chester to Flint can be 45 minutes if roads are busy.

Thanks for your messages. I don't really know the area around Frodsham - I just picked it from route planner as looking to be halfway between CH and Flint! I lived in Bramhall for three months last year and that area is nice but while I would have a short commute if we lived around there, my DH would be looking at a much longer one. Both of us would be expected to keep regular office hours but there might be more flexibility with mine, however childcare means I would need to have a consistent commuting time anyway.
Basically I'm just wanting to know what is the more likely commuting time from Frodsham, Lymm etc to CH or Flint and it seems it's going to be at least 45 minutes for each of us.

I think at least 45 mins in each direction. To be honest I think it will be difficult to make it work. The M56 coming into Manchester can be a nightmare and you want a bit of contingency for childcare pickups/dropoffs (rather than regular panics at being late when you're stationary at a MW junction...)

You might be better avoiding the 'point in the middle' but rather accepting that one of you does all dropoffs/pickups whilst the other has a longer commute. It doesn't help that there's no decent train line between the two. You could also consider childcare at a point closer to work than home.

Bramhall's a bit more upmarket than Frodsham. There are some very nice (small) villages south of Frodsham (around Delamere etc) but that would make the work travel even more difficult!

Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. Childcare near work would be feasible in the short term but my oldest is 3 so I would near to find a school and after school care soon enough.

Bramhall is lovely but I was hoping in making the move to be able to afford a bigger home and that would be unlikely in that area!

Can see where you're coming from with that as it's a perfectly doable train journey but the A54/A51 grind to a halt as you hit Chester - I think he'd be looking at 1hr 15 to 1hr 30 (bad days)

I used to commute from junction 10 of the m56 to Wrexham ( leaving at 8.10am ) and it always took me 50 minutes if that helps. All the traffic is going into Manchester.

In your position I would consider Lymm or south Warrington as it will shave 20 mins off the commute into CH.

I looked at possibility of train when I was staying in Bramhall. Unfortunately office is in an Industrial site some miles from the nearest train station so I had to discount train travel, unfortunately.

Not familiar with Lymm or South Warrington so will explore these as possibilities. When we were exploring area last year we looked in area to the east and south rather than to the west.

I've discussed situation with my My DH and he agrees that he needs to be commuting longer and he says that he would potentially only be using the Flint office once or twice a week so it does make sense for us to be as close to CH as we can afford while still being near motorways etc.

Thanks for all your help

Thanks soverylucky. We've been living in a city for the last 7 years and I would like to find something a bit more rural but still with good basics i.e. local library, good primary and affordable housing! Having said that I don't want to have to get in the car every time I want a bottle of milk..

I'm looking at similar areas. We're renting somewhere between Cheadle Hulme and Holmes Chapel now, and would like the good rail travel links of this area, together with access to Manc, but are also looking towards Chester for more green space and we like Chester itself.

Lymm is well positioned if you don't need a train stn on your doorstep and is a small town so has everything you need really.

Knutsford would be another option - nice town, good green space.

I like Tarporley which is fine for Chester, but unfortunately not for CH

Also, I lived in a city centre for 10 years before moving to our current place. We need to get in the car to get a pint of milk! Not what we're looking for long-term (as don't want to ferry kids in car every trip when they're older) but it's not as bad as it sounds from a city-living perspective!

Just had a look at Wikipedia, google images and commuting time for Lymm. Looks like a definite possibility! Knutsford looks a bit too much of a hike to Flint. Now just have to look at RM?.

Lymm's not terribly cheap unfortunately. It's great for road travel/motorway links though and has a pictureque centre.There are popular villagey areas to the West (Appleton, Appleton Thorn, Thelwall, Grappenhall).

We're also trying to get a sense of this area. It's not our ideal (I use the train a lot) but the road links are hard to ignore. Good schools too.

Hi just wanted to add that I commute (not on that particular journey) but in and around Manchester / M62 / M60 /M56 and its notoriously busy. I do a 60 mile journey - all except about 5 miles on the motorway - and even without any accidents / hold ups it can take anything between 1 hr 15 and 2 hours on a standard day just from the sheer volume of traffic. I don't do drop off, but I collect, and its incredibly stressful guestimating whether I'm on time for nursery and then after-school pick ups. If you have to work office hours (i'm guessing until 5pm) and you're using childcare that closes at 6pm, its going to be very tricky for you.

My DH does 34 miles on M56 each way, in about 50 minutes. I do 28 miles each way on M60, also in about 50 minutes. It is easier if you go slightly out of rush hour so DH tends to do drop off and I tend to pick up, so I often leave the house at 7.15.

I wouldn't go for Holmes Chapel. It forces you onto the M6 which is super busy. There is also no real logical way to Cheadle Hulme without the awful A556 link. Much better to go somewhere you can both get on the M56 easily. Lymm is nice and much cheaper than Bramhall.

Flosshilde, what's your DH's journey (roughly if you don't want to be specific)? We're looking at areas and trying to get a sense of various commute times.

Also I may shortly have to do a circuit round the M60 (i.e. A34 to Bury) and haven't got a sense of the timing.

OP - sorry to hijack!

RCheshire I go on the M56 to the M60 past the Bury turn off (although not sure of the route via the A34 you mean). I leave at 6.15am (maybe 5-10 mins later at the mo in school holidays) and it is already busy. I'm guessing that if you left it much later into the rush-hour, say leaving at 7-7.30, you'd be adding at least a third onto the time.

RCheshire - My DH does J6 M56 to J16ish (I'm not actually sure precisely, but I know he got stuck the far side of that overturned tanker).

I do J6 M56 onto M60 to somewhere near Bury. Always go via Stockport (i.e. east side) rather than Trafford Centre as it is much quicker. It is busy, but doable. The A34 is a nightmare in the mornings, don't try and get up it to the M60 anytime after 7am (voice of experience).

Thanks both - very interesting.

Flosshilde, I'd be talking about coming from slightly further down the A34 - so I guess that would mean A34 > Wilmslow > A538 > M56 > M60 Eastbound > Bury? I have to do the A34 as far as Wilmslow.

I was anticipating about an hour. Useful to know eastbound is noticeably quicker, I had wondered.

RCheshire - that is some journey. What takes the time is not the motorway but getting to it. You're looking at journey to Wilmslow, plus 15 minutes to M56 (minimum), plus 35 minutes to Bury junction plus whatever it is from motorway to work. You could easily be racking up 1hr 15 mins on a good day.

For comparison, DH and I looked at a house in Alderley and if we had bought it I wouldn't have taken the N Manchester job I have now as the commute just wouldn't have been manageable.

Sadly I go wherever the work is on a contract basis. Normally that's down south or abroad, so Bury looks relatively attractive. Setting off early I can get to Wilmslow in 10 minutes. The work location (if it happens) is close to the Bury junction, so I guess between 1hr 5 and 1hr 15 on a good day. If I could limit it to 4 days a week it would probably be manageable.