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!

[ZebraCath]

My neighbours both commute to Peterborough from Oakham daily - they say it's generally fine, but they do work slightly staggered hours. Biggest problems round here tend to be the slow tractors! But the A1 can be a problem I guess.
Stamford would be closer by about 15 minutes or so.
And yes, lots going on around Oakham. Various markets, coffee shops, restaurants, we have a theatre (at Oakham school), lots of musical events, food fairs, village events nearby. There's a big leisure centre with a pool, lots of sport facilities and cycle trails, and then of course Rutland Water on our doorstep. Melton Mowbray and Stamford are both 10 miles away for the extra amenities.

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

Oakham sounds lovely. I have had look on right move and there are some lovely houses in our budget. Only issue we have is that DD starts reception in September. We've already applied for a place for her in Herts. I'm quite nervous at the thought of moving and ending up with a random school miles from our house. Are the schools all oversubscribed in Oakham?

[cosmicglittergirl]

What about south of Peterborough?
St Neots for example. Also close to Cambridge and on the train line to King's Cross.
For what's it worth, I'm from Bourne and my family still live there. It's by no means unfriendly, but I would never live there. It's too... 'Out of the way'.

[cosmicglittergirl]

I might add that Stamford is lovely.

[IgnoreMeEveryOtherReindeerDoes]

Deeping is lovely you have deeping St James and market deeping. The only down side is that not a lot for kids to do in town itself. Does have leisure centre/gym, rugby club and great senior school. One good primary school and another meh primary school within close distance of each other.

[Myredcardigan]

We also moved from Herts to Stamford. It's very pretty but I hated it. I found it very insular and twee. The traffic drive me to distraction and there was an issue with secondary schools. It's a grammar school area but the nearest was Bourne and they don't all get s place according to the council. When we were there the council were sending some to Stamford independent school and paying the fees but I think they stopped that. Personally I didn't like Bourne either but that's just my opinion.

We were in StA in Herts which although it also has issues, it still had lots of people from other parts of the country who had settled there and worked in Town. Stamford had a few London commuters who drive to Peterborough but not many. I just didn't find it particularly lively or liberal. But I think I'm a towny at heart so felt much happier after we moved away again.
This was a few years ago though. Traffic can only have got worse however!

[nmg85]

Grew up in Deeping and to be honest it's a nice town but with not a lot to do unless you go to the surrounding area. Bourne is slightly bigger and may work for you. Oakham would be a good back up after Stamford although a slightly longer drive. I second what people say about St Neots it's a lovely small town with lots going on, 25 min direct train to Peterborough or about a 40 min drive if no traffic also reasonable house prices, lots of open spaces and quite a few shops and restaurants.

[Myredcardigan]

Is that strange sex shop cafe thing still on the A1?

[nmg85]

Yes it is, next to the bbq centre

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

Funnily enough, DH has been talking about St Neots for a while. I wasn't convinced but maybe it's worth looking at. I'm worried about moving somewhere too quiet and remote after living in such a buzzy, vibrant town (very close to St Albans actually myredcardigan

[nmg85]

I currently live in St Neots and would say it's as busy / quiet as you make it. Also Cambridge is only a 25min drive away.

[cosmicglittergirl]

St Neots isn't certainly no St Albans, another place I know well, but much, much better than Bourne with its location and much better than the Deepings. My best friend grew up in Market Deeping and used to come out in Bourne! I think the proximity of st Neots to Cambridge and its train service make it desirable. Failing that, look at Huntingdon.

[ginzillas]

The problem we have is that the town where we live is perfect. It's just so flipping expensive. We will never be able to afford to move up to a three bedroom house (we have two DC) so we need to move before DD starts school really. But everywhere we look seems lacking in comparison to our current home town. It's just about commutable to Peterborough but would be a long trek each day.

[cosmicglittergirl]

Bedford? Halfway between St A and Pet.

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

Bedford is another one DH suggested a while back. I think we need a day or two of driving around all these places!

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

Looking at Grantham as it's commutable by train and also much closer to family (in Newark and Yorkshire ). Anyone know Grantham?

[Myredcardigan]

I don't know it very well but both grammar schools are sought after. Newark is prettier than Grantham IMO and lots of children from Newark cross the county border to attend Lincs grammar schools.

[Nodowntime]

I had lived in Oakham for five years, then in Stamford for five+. I have a DC in Bourne Grammar, but I'd never live there. As soon as you cross into the Fens, it's like a different breed of humans (not all of them, but the general feel).
Bourne is also what I call a drive through town, main street is forever choking with lorries! In Stamford the High St. is pedestrianised. Oakham used to be drive thru, but they built a bypass and it got much better.
I don't think you'd have any problems getting into a primary school in Oakham( when we lived there, they were all good/outstanding), but the pace of life is sloooow. If you are not into horse riding or sailing you might find yourself quite restless.

Stamford has good primaries, and I'm sure you can find a 3 bed semi for under 260 easily ( but I'd avoid Kesteven/Edinburgh road and everything nearby).
Secondary schools are a bit of a problem currently, but by the time your DC would get to that age the situation is bound to improve. Casterton College used to be outstanding before it got downgraded since becoming an Academy, but I'm sure they will pull the school up soon. Also there is a possibility of a Free secondary school being set up in Stamford eventually.

I wouldn't look in Grantham, though being much bigger there must be some nice areas. It was never amazing, but now it appears to be a seasonal Eastern European farm workers town, used but not valued or contributed to by a big migrant population :((though Peterborough is a lot like that too, I avoid going there as much as possible).

[Nodowntime]

Myredcardigan,

When did you live in Stamford? Did you move back South?
I never found traffic to be a problem! There's like three streets to drive on! Also you could get anywhere by bike. Admittedly I avoid driving through town during rush hour...

We are actually on the market, relocating to West Midlands for DH's work...the new place seems to have less in terms of town life than Stamford, but countryside is really beautiful and there's loads of interesting towns and cities within easy reach...here it's only Cambridge which is a great city to visit easily (ish) when you want more going on...

My DH is originally from the South, moved here at 17 and never grew to love Stamford, though more due to lack of nature/walks/forests than anything else, he is not a townie.

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

I think we need to come up and look around. By lack of nature, do you mean that there is nowhere to go for walks around Stamford. With two young kids, we would like to be able to take them off to explore countryside. I like the look of Burghley House. I've been quite put off Bourne and the Deepings as we don't want to live somewhere too remote. I think we need somewhere with a train station too.

[Nodowntime]

There are walks, they are just a bit fieldy of course there are Burghley park(everyone's staple, it also has a Sculpture garden/Garden of surprises), Rutland water and Fineshade and Wakerly woods. I suppose our problem is that there's just no forest walking distance away...

[nmg85]

This is where I think St Neots and the surrounding area excels - walks / outdoor space. Within 20min drive you have Paxton Pits Nature Reserve, Hitchinbrooke Country Park, Grafham water, Riverside & Priory Parks and Barford Pocket Park.

[ginzillas]

Just looking at St Neots and I think that it could work for us. DH has been talking about this place for over a year now but I couldn't contemplate moving when I was pregnant (DS is now four months). I think the house prices may have shot up in the last year though (oops). I guess the good thing with it is that it's doable to commute into Peterborough or London. Love the idea of being near Cambridge too.

[nmg85]

I was really unsure when I moved here as I knew nothing about it but I have grown to really like it and can see us staying around here when / if we actually do get to have a family. House prices have risen around here but you can still get a nice house for your budget. We live in a 4 bed townhouse which I think is currently about £280k. For the first 9 months of living here I commuted to Peterborough by train every day and now I go to London probably about 6-8 times a month and both were fine. You have a direct bus to Cambridge and Milton Keynes and a train to Peterborough and London so if you didn't want to drive you have plenty of options. We now have a cinema as well and lots of new shops being built out of town.

[imabeautifulfennelcalledjoan]

That does sound good. £280k for four beds is amazing. Our neighbour sold her two bed terrace for that recently. House prices here (Hitchin ) have gone crazy. We will never be able to afford a three bed here as we'd need an extra £100k at least.