Didsbury or Wilmslow? Or some other recommendations...

[k4mi]

DH, DD and I are looking to relocate from SE London to Manchester shortly which we are excited about. Priorities are:

Good primary schools

Not feeling like our life is over because we have left the big smoke...ie would like to be near some cafes, bars, restaurants, cinema, exercise classes etc but but obviously would be happy to drive a short distance to some of these things.

Garden/outdoor space for kids

Easy ish to commute into Manchester and get train to London (happy to commute up to 30 mins or so/drive that to train station)

We ideally need a 3/4 bed for approx £330-350k. From research looks like this should be do-able if we are happy to go for a more modern semi in Didsbury particularly (which we would be).

I would like to hear opinions on what differs between these two areas? is one more 'family' than the other? Also are there any other (perhaps smaller) areas / villages that would be easily accessible to either of the above / central Manchester that we should also look at? We don't know the areas that well so would value some local advice.

Thanks very much.

at Poynton Double roundabout... probably the most confusing road layout (sorry - shared space) in the country.

Actually it's OK now, as everyone apart from locals avoid it, so Poynton traffic is much easier. I drive through it most days and am so far both me and my car are unscathed. There is a Waitrose to compensate.

I live in Knutsford, LOVE IT. Children at both primary and secondary school, DH goes to London lots for work from here, easy peasy. We moved back here after 15 years in Londn. We don't live ina bling mansion or council estate, somewhere inbetween. Message me if you want to know more, going to bed now.

PS: Knutsford Academy is brilliant, amazing Studio School opening 2014, it has an excellent reputation!

More trains to London from Crewe, 25 MN's drive from Knutsford, massive car park, 1hr 30 to Euston. It takes DH less time to get back here from a meeting in London than it used to take to get from London to home in Putney when it was crap service!

Agree Knutsford great school- large contingents of kids travel some way to go there- excellent value added scores given that a lot of local kids go to the Trafford Grammars.

Grants/Diddled, why do you say Knutsford is a great school? If I look at the results from last year it's (at best) middle of the road. Preceding years show it as average long term.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but rather would like to understand why you are positive about it. Not least that we may be buying a house in the area!

I'd say Chorlton/Didsbury are the most east Dulwich like place in these parts. I know ED well.

My niece went there for a time and there were swathes of kids travelling to go there. She settled and was doing well. I believe they had a great 'value added score' in past few years which is as good an indicator as any. I think you have to take into account the grammar drain ( which I am not slagging off as my son goes out of area to a grammar- it's a free country) plus I expect a good number of Knutsford children go to indies as they have the requisite funds to do so.

I have at least 4 friends from Trafford sending their children next year as opposed to local schools.

All you can do is check it out yourself and see what you think.

As someone who came from South Manchester and moved to London I do have to warn you of one thing that no one appears to have addressed and that is the weather. There are 3 types

it is raining,

It has just rained,

It is going to rain.

Thanks Diddled.

Re the weather. Very true! There are differences within the area though. You get a gradual reduction in rain and general greyness as you head south even locally, e.g north Manchester vs south of Alderley. Similarly you get more variable weather as you get closer to the peaks, Macc and east or mellor area further north

Well the weather is a factor....! I know it's going to rain A LOT more but what areas are better then RCheshire in your opinion for less rain?!

In Cheshire east the further south and west the better.

I don't think Didsbury is too young for you at all! I think it's quite similar to East Dulwich actually. Lots of young families, toddler groups, art classes etc. I wouldn't rule it out. I personally would prefer to be with easy access to the city centre for the galleries, museums, theatres so wouldn't want to go too far out.

Most BBC relocator I know are in Sale, Hale & Timperley. Actually there was a big thread started by topsmart (I think?) that it would be worth you looking at as it discussed lots of areas.

K4mi I don't think you can appreciate when you say you know it is going to rain a lot more just how bad it is. No words can describe how happy I was when we sold our 3 bed semi with big bay windows in sth Manchester and moved to a tiny studio flat in London. Nothing would make me even consider going back.

Another thing to consider is because of the damp after 20 years you will have a form of rheumatism. I have it in one of my knuckles on my hand, a df who left when she was 25 has it in her knees and another df who didn't leave till she was in her 30's has it in her knees and hips.
Dm was virtually crippled with pain towards the end with it, she had spent her whole life around Sth Manchester.

Funny I would agree usually- but it has hardly rained here for weeks!!! Weird!!

All my family,and DH's too,have lived in and around Manchester all their lives,and not one of them has any rheumatic problems,and neither did the previous generation! Probably down to genes and nothing to do with rain....

I also grew up in Cheadle Hulme. It's pleasant and very good for trains in and out of Manchester. Bramhall is also quite lively, and with pleasant countryside not far off.

I loathe and detest the bland, consumer, boringness of Wilmslow. (Though also quite good in terms of transport, and probably better facilities than small Cheshire villages.

If you are going to be commuting back to London you have to add in the cost of travel. Whilst it seems easy to jump on a train the travel costs will be like a second mortgage or more.

I know I am very negative about the area but I lived there for 20 years and hated every minute.

"Manchester experiences a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with warm summers and cold winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The city's average annual rainfall is 806.6 millimetres (31.76 in) compared to the UK average of 1,125.0 millimetres (44.29 in), and its mean rain days are 140.4 per annum, compared to the UK average of 154.4."

From Wikipedia. The statistics are from the Met Office.

Oh and, "The term "rheumatism" is still used in colloquial speech and historical contexts, but is no longer frequently used in medical or technical literature; there is no longer any recognized disorder simply called "rheumatism."

My own family - South Manchester based - seem to be miraculously free from disease.

Frau moose you are not getting the fact that it is permanently damp and dreary. Just because Wiki says its rainfall is less than the rest of the British Isles doesn't mean anything. The reason the cotton industry flourished there was because they needed damp in the air so the cotton did not stick together.
Having left along with everyone else I have met who comes from that area the thought of us going back is depressing.
As a df said when she gets on the M1 to go north to visit parents she gets depressed. As she said the grey clouds come down as soon as you get north of Stafford and they don't lift till you get south of Stafford on the way back.

Goodness! Lots of us from Heaton Moor! I had no idea
Cool place to live

The only thing thats about is attitude not the weather I'm afraid.

I know plenty of people who have moved north and love it and wouldn't move back. We have friends who visit and would love to move here but can't for whatever reason.

I personally don't need sunshine to keep me happy. I find that idea depressing in itself.

I'm in west didsbury but soon to be enjoying the shared space of Poynton.
No kids though, so can't comment on schooling. Anything else I'm happy to help with!

Well,it would be a bit tedious to get into a North vs South argument. But in Manchester you have access to wonderful countryside, and can see hills on the horizon almost wherever you are. The air quality is better than in London. The cost of living is lower. You have trams in the Centre, not the cattle trucks of the Underground. There are orchestras, art galleries etc. but the choices aren't so overwhelming that you get paralysed and can't decide what to do. London may have an addictive quality, but it is becoming very obviously a city of the rich and poor - though the Government are doing what they can to drive the poor out to the margins. That same division is there in provincial citis, but the gulf isn't quite so uncomfortably great.

Easy ish to commute into Manchester and get train to London (happy to commute up to 30 mins or so/drive that to train station

It doesn't matter what Manchester has the OP still needs to get into London.