Advice needed on Manchester/Cheshire area

[Sneakymeezer]

I am in NZ and my husband is interviewing for a position in Manchester. If he gets it we'll relocate. Ideally we'd like somewhere rural near woods/fields etc, not urban if poss, something suitable for the 3 and 5 yr old boys and not too busy- for the siamese. Does anyone have any suggestions for nice quiet places to live in Cheshire? It would need to be biking distance from a train station so DH can get into Manchester, preferable one that goes straight into Manchester with no connections.

Cheers

Nantwich is perfect, 20 minute cycle to Crewe station and slap bang on the edge of lovely Cheshire countryside, Chester 30 minutes away, great schools, excellent transport links.

Lovely little town, always something going on (annual Jazz and Blues festival, annual food and wine show, annual triathlon and half marathon, Holy Holly Day annual battle reenactment)

I've been here 3 years and I love it.

Oh and we have a lovely duck pond :-)

Does it have to be Cheshire particularly? You could look at Derbyshire (New Mills, Hadfield, Glossop) or Lancashire (Ramsbottom) or West Yorks (Todmorden, Hebden Bridge).

As others have said, Manchester is very well connected for tram / train lines etc so although you'd have to be a good distance outside of Manchester City Centre to have a rural feel / be close to woods etc, you could literally go in any direction out of Manchester if those are your only prerequisites!

I'm guessing however that with 3yr old and 5yr old boys, schools etc will be important. Depending on whether you want to privately educate, or go state, that could have quite an impact on where you choose. Some parts of Manchester / Cheshire are fabulous for education but you need to do your research!

Depends how long your DH is wiling to travel to work as to how far from manchester you want to look and of course your budget and size of house you want.

Yes, lots of options based on your initial post. Helpful extras would be: does the direction out of Manchester matter? How long is your husband willing to travel for? What do you mean by rural?

Wow, thanks for all the advice - really appreciate it. Ok it would be a 2 year position so we would rent. Looking at 700 pounds p/m as on a single income. We would need a 3 bedroom house, or a 2 bedroom with lots of living space. I am not sure I can work as here in NZ we get 20 free hours for kindy and don't know if I can get that in UK. So may be at home wrangling the 3yo while the 5yo is at school.
Cheshire is flexible. As long as DH can get into Manch Uni at no more than an hour we are happy :)

Oh yes and education is important to us but State schools would be what we are looking at. Speaking of, I see some schools start from 3years. Is this setup a kindy attached to a school rather than proper school? Also, what is the earliest that a child starts school in the UK - here it is 5.
Thanks again everyone!!

Good luck with your move - am very jealous as it is a wonderful area, - we have just left Cheshire for a move SE, we worked at Manc Uni and used to commute in - we lived in the Macclesfield area, its fab - some very good primary schools ( kids begin school in the year they turn 5 here) - our village was at the edge of the Pennines and we loved it there. Your budget might be a tad restrictive in some areas tho', particularly S Mancs area, so you might need to start there first - looking at properties and schools. IF you want a small village experience there are lots to choose from - it is about an hours drive to central Manc from where we were, try to get on a trainline if at all possible to save commute - suggest Wilmslow or Alderley Edge areas, but they are pricey.
(very pricey!!)

Nantwich is nice, (I'm a dabber) so of course its beautiful lovely tudor Mansions, if they're still there, but wouldn't want to bike to Crewe station.

If you want woodland and rural, Delamere is lovely but a bit further away, as is Tarvin, but again more towards Chester.

Middlewich and Northwich have lovely little villages nearby. Hartford is nice and has rail links.

Just to help with your questions - there are pre-schools attached to some primary school where children can go to school in the September after they turn 3. Mostly however the child attends every morning OR every afternoon (not both) - usually for free or at a very small charge, but some pre-schools allow the child to attend for the full day but you have to pay for the extra time. The places get taken quite quickly though so you need to be organised. If you cant get a place at a pre-school you can send your 3yr old to a nursery where you can use 15 free hours (equivalent to the pre-school sessions) but the days / sessiins (and any extra cost) is down to the nursery.

The earliest a child can start school (rather than a pre-school) is the September after the child's 4th birthday.

This is a lovely village About 3 miles to the nearest station with trains to Manchester.

Or this one?

Agree with the others as well though regarding Nantwich, it is a lovely town with gorgeous outlying villages.

We live in congleton, which is commutable by car or train to Manchester. It's a lovely market town, with a train station that's easy to get to. You would definitely get what you wanted for your money here, and the schools are good, loads to do with littlies. Google 'beartown' for the town website x

You will struggle to find a decent 3 bed rental for £700 in an area like Wilmslow, and any quaint villages or fashionable areas with good transport. Try looking at Cheadle Hulme, Poynton.
Some state Primary Schools have nursery classes starting term after the child turns 3. There are some Pre schools starting from 2 eg attached to Methodist Churches which can be really good.

this thread may be worth a read through

I live in Cheshire and absolutely love it here, it's beautiful. Also I'm not sure if you're aware but there is a metrolink system which runs from the surrounding areas into Victoria and Picadilly which may be useful for your DH. Good luck with your move.

You are all fab- thank you so much for this info :) I must away to do some research :)

I'm in Nantwich too! Woo hoo!!. We have a great variety of pubs and supermarkets :o

Tarporley is nice too but maybe a bit expensive

Holmes chapel, congleton, Somerford, Brereton, macclesfield, wilmslow

Hi Guys
Thanks for all the assistance. We are also looking at Todmorden - is this a nice place to live? And more importantly, does it have a library? :)
Cheers

Nice area but floods! Don't know about a library

Don't forget that some parts of Manchester Uni aren't in the city centre, and that can add on travel time considerably.

Well I think we have settled on glossop - now for my next question... How does yr chook selection work? In NZ if you live in the school zone yr child has automatic entry into that school. Is it the same in England?