Moving to Sheffield area

[KD227]

Hi!

My husband has been offered a promotion, which means we will have to relocate from Herts to somewhere commutable to Sheffield (up to 45 minutes). Having only travelled to the Peaks a couple of times, I don't really know that area at all and have absolutely no idea where to start looking. Please could anyone offer some suggestions that may be suitable? I have 3 boys, so we are looking for good primaries and secondaries, preferably outside of the big towns (semi rural), 4 beds, with some outside space and have a budget of about £375K.

Thanks so much to anyone that can help! I'm completely lost...

See him on a frequent basis Bikerunski in................Waitrose!

Now you're talking mutton. Penistone is now our nearest town, DH has commuted from here (about 20
Min drive to Penistone) to Sheffield fro several years - under 45 mins to Chapeltown, 50 mins ish to City Centre, all driving, but direct train line. Decent schools and lots of family stuff around Penistone and cheaper housing by far!

See, I am showing my age here. You say Waitrose - I say Safeway.

Jarvis Cocker went to City school as he grew up in Intake.
Not where I would recommend you look.

Ha! I do remember Safeway!

I live in Lodge Moor in S10 in a newer housing area. It's right on the edge if the peaks. We can walk to down the reservoir, down stanage edge and over to Hathersage for overly dry day walk. But we are still only 5 miles from the actual city centre.

I'd say looking around s10/11 or dore area (s17??) though there are sill areas within them you may want to avoid if you can.

The Sheffield Lea website has a good postcode/school
Catchment thing so you can check any address to see which school it is in.

Blyth and bawtry are nice

If you want more rural you could look at Hope Valley (eg Hathersage, Bamford, Eyam) or Bakewell and surrounding villages (Over Haddon, Great Longstone, Baslow, Birchover, Ashford) although it might be pushing your budget a little bit. Lady Manners school in Bakewell is particularly well-regarded. HopeValley College has a v different ethos but also a good school (fierce rivalry between the two!)

Buxton way too far. Some amazing houses but it is freezing (v high up there!)

I think Blythe and Bawtry might be a bit out of the way, and the schools round Rotherham don't have great reputation.

DS has seen Jarvis Cocker in Waitrose! When I was visiting I only saw Richard Hawley in there [disappointed].

this one is lovely!!

If you want a decent secondary school have a look at the catchment area for Wickersley comp in Rotherham. Commute will be about 30 mims at rush hour. School is consistently outstanding and has been for years.

Wickersley is nice. Some lovely properties. And also ravenfield is very villagy. You should get an awful lot more house in Rotherham compared to Sheffield.

depends how rural you want to get

If I had £350000 to spend on a house I would probably buy near Dore station so that I could use the train.

Also that area is in the catchment for King Edgberts which is a secondary school which is newly built and is a good, nice school which is improving.

Tbh that amount of cash will buy a middling house in a nice area. It depends what your priorities are and how long you are intending staying in the property.

Where will your dh and you be working?

Sheffield can be a real pain for traffic, and cars are positively discouraged from the city centre. Even if you live in the outskirts of Sheffield it can take 45 minutes to an hour to travel into the city centre. I would avoid Broomhill really, as although it is a lovely area it is very studenty, and lots of areas (Crosspool, Lodge Moor, Fulwood and Ranmoor) filter the traffic into the city centre through Broomhill.

Despite it's many hills Sheffield has plenty of cyclists. In fact the Tour De France is in Sheffield this year

Penistone Grammar has an extremely good reputation, although as my children are only 5 and 2, I havn't looked into whether it is worth us moving the 2 miles into S Yorks/Barnsley yet.

Thanks to everyone for all your replies! We've just come back from a 2 day whistlestop tour of many of the places you've mentioned - pretty much everywhere from Penistone to Bakewell (including Waitrose but no Jarvis when we were there!)

My hubby says his new office is about 10 mins walk from the main station in Sheffield and that he will be able to travel outside of the main rush hour as they are pretty flexible. That said, we got a good taste of how much traffic there is in the centre, so that may well end up being the deciding factor on where we choose to live.

We liked Penistone but have ruled that out as my parents have decided that if we move in or around the Peak District they will come with us. I think we will either end up in Dore, or some of the other areas in the SW that everyone has recommended or maybe out into Baslow or Bakewell, although it will all depend on finding a house we like. My hubby loved Bakewell but I think it's too far to commute. The good news is that having had our current house valued and seeing our neighbour sell her identical house for the full asking price, our budget may go up to around the £450K mark. It appears we underestimated how much the London house price madness has rippled out to commuterland - no complaints here though!

So now we just have to get our house on the market/sold, find primary school places in Reception and Yr 2, then I can resign and off we go!

Thanks again for all your replies - I'm heading over to the Sheffield forum now for more research...

x

"Penistone Grammar has an extremely good reputation"

And it is getting better and better . Last year's GCSE results were the best they have ever had - 80% of 5 or more A-C including English and maths. They also invest a lot of time with the stragglers to ensure they get at least a C. They have moved up in the ofsted ratings and are hoping to get outstanding at the next ofsted.

BikeRunSki if you are seriously thinking of looking at PGS I suggest you move to within the catchment area but more than 3 miles from the school to benefit from the free bus pass.

Back to the OP - anywhere north of Sheffield is good, especially if you have easy access to the M1. Penistone road gets very clogged up in the mornings so getting on to the M1 is an easier journey.

Also have a look at Howbrook, Wortley, Thurgoland, Hoylandswaine, Silkstone, Silkstone Common as well - they all have excellent primary schools and feed into PGS. Penistone and Silkstone Common are on the railway line with direct links to Sheffield and Huddersfield.

I agree with the poster that said that driving around the centre of Sheffield is awful. When DD has hospital appointments we always use park and ride and use the tram. Also West of Sheffield has awful traffic and it is often quicker for me to drive to work from near Barnsley than workmates who live nearer to the office.

"We liked Penistone but have ruled that out as my parents have decided that if we move in or around the Peak District they will come with us."

Penistone is only a few miles from the Peak District National Park as the boundary is at Langsett. Many people mistakenly think the Peak District National Park is centered around the Hope Valley and Bakewell, but further north it is less busy. The north part is called the Dark Peak.

Just seen this! Bit old but wanted to say we live in a little village a mile from Penistone. It's great - the train takes you to sheffield centre in 48 mins, but there's only 1 an hour.

The primary & secondary schools are good & it's got a lovely feel to it. Also great walks but only 10 mins to M1.

Would 2nd all those saying S11 - near Endcliffe is lovely and anything going out from there towards the peaks. Bawtry/Blyth is a lovely area to live BUT the commute is horrendous (from personal experience). To miss the traffic and not take an hour and a 1/2 in the morning you need to set off around 6.30 - 6.45am

Penistone is as close to the Peak District as Dore! And about half the price.

Secondary school is a long way of at the moment Bunbaker as my eldest is only in Reception, but I do know of people who have moved locally-ish to acess PGS; my boss (Denby Dale, so Kirklees but only just) said that when his dc were at school (15 years ago) cross-boundary applications were common from Denby Dale way.

Having said that, I really like the three tier system we have in SE Kirklees and the school at the top of the pyramid is also getting a good reputation.

I used to commute from just south of Chesterfield on the edge of the peaks to Sheffield and it's about 45 mins depending on whether you can dodge peak time traffic.

We looked at lots of the places already mentioned but found the naice Sheffield suburbs expensive and the offers around system - read offers over- drove us mad. For your budget you could get a fab detached in Wingerworth/Somersall/ Walton where the schools are good and loads of residents commute to Sheffield. Check out some of these. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Wingerworth.html?minPrice=325000&maxPrice=400000&radius=5.0&index=20

Hi all,
I am moving to Sheffield in September and I just wanted to get some feedback on the areas to live. I have two children (3 and 7), so schools are an important factor.
After much reading (previous posts and friends I met in the city) he areas I am looking at are Crookes/Walkeley/Hillborough but also Fulwood/Greystones/Sharrow and Healy (as far as Norfolk park/Seabrook road which is really beside the train station and my work). I also saw a house in Manor Park Crescent, but I heard from somebody that this is an area I should try to avoid.
Any thoughts on the above? if anybody lives n these areas, could you suggest me school I could apply to? I will most probably be assigned any remaining place, but I have to express my preferences regardless.

Many thanks
Barbara