Where near Derby?

[Chimichurri]

We're a family of 4 thinking of moving to Derby or somewhere near. Is the area nice for families? Where are the best bits?

Do you want Derby suburbs, or villages around. How old are your children?

Belper is lovely, and still relatively inexpensive.

I liked Sandiacre (between Derby and Nottingham).

Children are 1 and 3. I think we'd prefer suburbs or villages. Somewhere with easy access to the countryside!

Sorry, I meant suburbs or villages rather than the centre of town but we're open minded about which!

Nice suburbs with easy access to the Peaks are Mickleover and Allestree, and a bit further out, Duffield. Decent schools with all of those.

Lots of nice villages within an easy commute into Derby (if that's required). Willington, Hulland Ward, Aston on Trent, Weston on Trent, Ticknall, Repton, Tutbury and lots more. Also some lovely ones further out into North Derbyshire/Peak District or into East Staffordshire, all with good access to both countryside, Derby centre and rail links for further afield.

If you're earmarked any areas in particular, post them here. I'm sure someone will have some knowledge about them.

The suburbs in Derby that I would recommend are: Mickleover and Allestree, the rest of Derby's suburbs aren't that nice if I'm honest, they can be scummy at times.

Derbyshire villages include: Repton, Willington, Hilton, Etwall, Tutbury (these are between Derby and Burton). Other villages that go in the other direction (towards Manchester) are: Belper, Bakewell, Matlock, Buxton.

But if you wanted to live in the Peak District, I recommend Castleton!

I second Mickleover. Bakewell was my favorite when I lived in East Midlands - what a lovely town, shame it was too far for me to commute to work otherwise I would have moved there!

Thanks for all the replies! I'll look at those areas. What is Challeston like? There seem to be plenty of houses for sale there.

I should have given more details in my first post! Yes, we need to be able to commute to the station, preferably by bicycle. My partner is happy to bike a long way though!

Schools are definitely an important consideration too.

Chellaston is ok. Part of the suburb is close to one of the less nice areas of Derby, and much of it is a newish estate bordering the A50. Depends what type of house you are looking for really. If new, there should be plenty of choice on the estate in Chellastonm if an older place then it might be a bit limited. Well rated secondary school.

If cycling to Derby rail station then I'd say Allestree rather than Mickleover. The villages might be a little too far away. Alternatively, where does he need to commute to? East Midlands Parkway station has some nice villages within a short distance, as does Burton on Trent station. Is it definitely Derby/Derby station you need?

He'd be working at Derby station itself so definitely that one we'd need. He'd happily cycle up to 10 miles though!

It depends on what end of Chellaston really, if it's towards Melbourne and Ticknall then yes but other end towards Shelton Lock and Allenton no!

Boulton Moor is nice too!! Now if the post was from 15 years ago, I would have suggested the nicer part of Alvaston (Alvaston is broken up into 3 'areas' - Alvaston, Boulton and Crewton), the first area was lovely and had a really nice infant/junior and secondary school nearby!

Shardlow is nice too, there's a direct bus service (the Skylink - it runs 24/7 and in the day time it runs every 20 minutes) to Derby Station. Weston-on-Trent also has the direct bus service (the 73, less frequent than the skylink - every 30 minutes but doesn't run on a Sunday).

Willington would have the advantage that if he feels like a day off, he could get the train to Derby. So would Burton, which is still cycling distance.

I'd personally stick with the other side though, to be near the peaks. Belper and Duffield are both great.

I agree with a few others that Duffield / Belper would be good options. Both have train stations on Matlock to Nottingham line which go through Derby. Easy and flattish cycle into Derby. Much better for access to Peak District and loads of green space nearby.

Duffield is lovely but very expensive because it has a very good school. Belper has same amenities but is much more affordable. Nice cafés, delis, independent shops, food fayres and arts trails during the year.

Oh, and I don't know Chellaston very well, am sure there are nice bits, but always strikes me as a massive housing estate near a motorway...

Chellaston ... sure there are nice bits, but always strikes me as a massive housing estate near a motorway...

This.

The other way might be Long Eaton, or Shardlow or somewhere like that. He could ride his bike along the canal to work.

Personally, I'd look at belper. It's a small town with lots going on, especially for children. Schools are good. It's also surrounded by beautiful countryside and has very easy access to the Peak District. As someone else says, it has a train station with good links to Derby.