Stamford / Market Deeping, S Lincs

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

There's a chance we may need to move to the Peterborough area for work. We wouldn't want to live in the city itself. We live in a gorgeous Herts market town at the moment and want to find something similar. Stamford looks perfect but pricey! We also like the look of The Deepings. Primary schools are important. Anyone know these two towns / areas? Thank you!

Stamford is lovely, but yes is expensive. Have you thought about Bourne, property is cheaper and has an outstanding primary as well as a secondary school and a grammar school.

www.bournewestfield.lincs.sch.uk/page/default.asp?title=Home&pid=1

Yes, my DH liked the look of it but i read somewhere that the town centre isn't as nice as Stamford. But I'm guessing nowhere is as lovely as Stamford. We have up to £260k to spend. Not a huge budget. Is it crazy to think we'll get three beds in a good part of town in Stamford? Do you know what the Deepings are like? Housing looks lovely but I'm worried it's too quiet around there.

Have you considered Oundle?
The primary school system is a bit off at the moment (just switched from 3 to 2-tier this year) but will get better very quickly (within a year).

Stamford is really lovely, my Mum lives there but previously lived in the village Langtoft just outside Market Deeping. Market Deeping is smaller and quieter but I believe still has quite a bit going on. My sister lives in a village just outside Bourne. Bourne seems to be improving a lot with more for shops,etc. They also have a lido, sports centre, gym Sainsburys, lidl coming soon as a decent health centre, etc It is quite pretty but just not Stamford!

www.visitlincolnshire.com/sites/default/files/master_page_related_downloads/2015/Apr/deepings_town_brochure.pdf

Excuse typos!

Thanks for the info. I think we'll have a day driving around all these places. We liked the look of Oundle too but it seemed pretty pricey. I like the sound of the schools in Bourne and it seems as though it's growing as a town.

IMO you should think very very carefully before you commit yourself to this area. Does it have to be P'town? (Peterborough slang, 'Mudtown' also suffices)

The places you are talking about will seem just dull after Herts, don't be seduced by lower house prices, they are like that for a reason. The land is very flat east of Stamford, which can mess with your head if you're not used to hundreds of square miles of drained fenland.

Stamford is more expensive but small and can't expand because of the topography and the Burghley estate who still own large tracts of the town - I'll leave you to google all the reasons for that rather than go on here.

Kings School in Peterborough is ok, so is Bourne Grammar. MD has a very large secondary and there is also the Manning in Bourne if your DC don't get into/want to attend the Grammar.

If you must be near a mainline station why not look at Grantham, which IMO is a little less mind-numbing.

I second what has been said about having a really good look. Deepings/Bourne/anywhere fennish can be quite parochial. We live on the Northants/Cambs border and did, some years ago, cross the A1 and loved briefly in a fen town, much more house for the money. We stayed only 2 years.
I'd buy something a bit smaller in Stamford or Oundle or one of the villages rather than risk the fens again.
To add: I have worked with some lovely people from the area and my opinion is based on the reception of outsiders and the ease/lack of it to come to the area from outside rather than a judgement on those who have been raised on the fens.

Thank you for your honesty. This was actually my next question! We love our current home town because it's very cosmopolitan and culturally diverse. Aside from Stamford, are we unlikely to find that sort of environment up there? I'm from Yorkshire originally and assumed that it would have a similar feel up there but perhaps I'm being naive. The job is Peterborough so we'd want to live nearby. The problem with our current town is that we can't afford more than a tiny two bed house. With two children, we're fast running out of space. The houses in S Lincs look so lovely and roomy, it's hard not to be tempted!

Cities and towns become cosmopolitan if there is something to bring new people in...to diversify the population.
I also come from Yorkshire and then moved further south for university many years ago but I had never experienced a city without a reason for people to move there before Peterborough. No University, no major industry. Cambridge isn't far away and is wonderfully culturally diverse. Leicester is less than an hour's drive and is very ethnically diverse...somehow Peterborough manages to import people for fruit and veg picking and factory jobs but not the people who would make a city feel cosmopolitan if that makes sense. I've lived nearby for over 20 years now and I just think it's the lack of university and dynamic youth that makes it seem like a very big small town rather than a city.

Yes, that makes sense. DH and I both work in the media and there is potential for jobs for us both there, which was the appeal. Hhmm. Lots of food for thought!

On the topic of diversity Peterborough has an interesting history, and I hope you find this relevant, OP.

During the middle of the last century there was a group of Italians who emigrated from a particular town to work in the brick making industry, similarly some Polish people moved there and more settled after WW2. There is still a couple of very nice delis there run by second and third generations.

In the 1970s P was designated a New Town and there was rampant house building on vast estates to house workers, many of whom came from London and the South East. Also a significant amount of people came from Kashmir at about the same time.

More recently people have come from eastern Europe, some are migrant workers who get short term work in the produce factories and others who have stayed longer term and whose babies are born in P. Like many towns in England there are also migrants and refugees from other parts of the world.

In general, and this is not a hard and fast rule, more of an observable trend, ethnic groups in P tend to find housing in similar areas to each other.

Thanks. That's really interesting. I know next to nothing about the area in all honesty. I've only ever been to Peterborough station to change for trains up to Leeds. I really wish that we could move back to Yorkshire but there's no work for us there. This felt like a good move as we'd be a tiny bit closer to family.

It can be a bit of a shock after the cosmopolitan life down south! I used to live in Berkshire and moved to Lincolnshire. It was a shock, but things have progressed in the 15 years I've been up here! Bourne is a great town, small and very friendly. There is even a Costas and now a Subway! Stamford is very pricey, it is pretty, but also VERY busy. Its a nightmare to park.

I hate parking at the best of times so that would be a drawback for me! We have a similar problem in our current town. Bourne sounds most suited to our needs on paper. Are there lots of people who have moved from London / south east? Not because I think southerners are more sophisticated (I'm a very sophisticated northerner 😁). I just don't want to move somewhere where everyone has lived there for generations and there are hardly any incomers.

I don't know, to be honest. I haven't really found it an issue, but I have been up here for so long now, I think I have been assimilated anyway!

It's great that you're happy there, toria. I showed my DH this thread and he reckoned we would get to know people because we're friendly types (and I'll talk to anyone - northern genes!)

I do like the look of Oundle now too. It's definitely pricier than Bourne though.

Oh dear - I am now posting under two usernames for some reason...

We moved up from Surrey about 6 months ago. My in laws live very near Market Deeping and we wanted somewhere close, but like previous posters mentioned we struggled with the 'flatness'.
We spent several years (on and off over weekend trips) looking around the area. Market Deeping and Bourne both seemed to be options for us, but we didn't like the feel of the towns personally.
We ended up in Oakham (35 mins from P'boro and a direct train). So glad we did it - it's a lovely town with loads of character and lots going on - a lot like Stamford but smaller and lower house prices.
And lots of people who have only moved here in the last few years - schools/facilities are great so a bit of a drawcard I think.
Good luck with your search 😀

TKs zebracath, I really like the look of Oakham! Is there lots going on there? Do you think it's doable to drive in to Peterborough each day? The job would be on the outskirts of the city on the west side. It says it's a 30 minute drive from Oakham but I imagine that traffic is pretty full on.

That should say 'thanks ' not 'TKs'!

If you're looking at Bauer in Orton I think you would find the parkways busy during the rush hour but once you are west of the A1 it would not be so bad. You may need to find a route from Oakham away from Stamford which is a traffic bottleneck at the best of times! Btw Oakham itself gets busy too.

Oakham is lovely, has some nice restaurants but can also be a bit pricey.

I live in Holbeach. I don't think it is the right area for you but I originally come from Hampshire (and Berkshire) and I originally found the slower pace of life painful but 3 years in and I love it. It's quiet. Peaceful. Traffic can be a nightmare, especially the crossing between Stamford and Deeping but other than that it's a lovely place with lots of southern migrants.

Is Oundle a better bet for commuting in to the west side then? Or is Stamford the best place for getting into Peterborough? The problem is I don't think we can afford Stamford. Hhmm...

It is great to hear you have settled in financialwizard!