What areas of Lincolnshire are nice?

[Lostinspace84]

Hi all,
First post here so hello

We are looking to relocate.

Need access to good schools and a college.

We saw the programme about Boston on TV so would be avoiding that, but what about Spalding? What about Lincoln itself?

Ideally like a more villagey feel but with access to facilities not too far away.

Thanks

Yes avoid Boston itself. Spalding is nicer but I still wouldn't live in Spalding itself. There are lots of nice villages around though. Lincoln is obviously much bigger than Boston and Spalding but is still a small city. It has nice and not so nice areas like everywhere else. Again lots of attractive villages on the outskirts. I recommend going to visit anywhere before committing as places are vastly different.

Avoid the flat bits, basically (the South and East of the county) - the Lincolnshire Wolds is lovely (but can be expensive).

My sil lives in Barton upon Humber which is nice. Also close to Hull for university and college. I like Lincoln too.

Thanks so far everyone.

Why would people avoid Spalding?

Some of the villages I like so far are:
Stamford
Moulton
Holbeach
Long stutton

Lincoln itself looks nice too.

We ideally need to be South of Lincolnshire for access to my family (Norfolk!).

"We ideally need to be South of Lincolnshire for access to my family (Norfolk!)"

Well, I must admit, I was persuaded to move across to this side of teh country because I needed to be closer to business associates in Boston.

The closest place to Boston I could find that I was actually enthusiastic about living was.... Norfolk.

South Lincolnshire is fantastic if you have unbridled enthusiasm for cabbages and cold winds.

South west Lincs is great, Stamford (which is a small town not a village) is absolutely beautiful and quaint, and there are loads of lovely villages between Stamford and Grantham. You're also close to the A1 which is very handy for going up and down the country, and Grantham has a fast train to London Kings Cross (1hr).

And no cabbages in this part (it's not flat, it's rolling hills with woodland and a mix of cattle and wheat/barley mainly).

Yes, agreed, Stamford and area is nice (I was also looking around Oakham and Rutland, over that way, but found somewhere I liked in Norfolk first).

It's not particularly close or quick to get to Norfolk, though (but then where is?). And again, not cheap by Lincolnshire standards.

keep away from the North, lots of deprivation generally... have you considered somewhere like Bourne or Market Deeping? lovely market towns themselves with outstanding schools (Bourne has a grammar school) and lots of local facilities, plus Peterborough is close for any major shopping. Grantham can also be decent, but have to be careful which parts, some really nice villages nearby through, all with affordable house prices :) If you need colleges, both college in Stamford and Peterborough are accessible by bus :)

Lincoln is good, but would avoid Holbeach personally :)

Stamford is nice, Louth seems lovely, and near Lincoln I think Nettleham is quite a nice village.

Lincoln itself is a sort of quiet city, so I personally wouldn't be able to do a village even further out.

Horncastle is a nice small market town, very reasonably priced houses, grammar school and on the edge of the Wolds. Woodhall Spa is lovely, but houses are more expensive. Holbeach and the surrounding areas are ok, as long as you don’t mind very flat countryside. The A17 can be slow for your trips to Norfolk, so depends on how often you plan to visit your family.
Lincoln is very nice - lots to do due to the university. House prices are reasonable, apart from Uphill Lincoln ( around the cathedral). There is at least one good state school in Lincoln.
Good luck with your move!

Yes, the A17 is a nightmare... single carriageway, and nose-to-tail lorries ferrying all the cabbages to supermarket, most of the time.

In the area you have mentioned now I would also think about Stamford, Bourne, Market Deeping and surrounding villages. I think the other places you have mentioned are probably fine but also have their not so nice bits so if you opt for them it's a case of checking the exact area. E.g long Sutton has some nice bits but also some parts I would definitely not live in and it's not that big a place. Outside of Spalding I would consider some parts of pinchbeck and gosberton etc.

Thanks SO much, this is amazingly helpful.

Our daughter already attends a grammar school where we currently live, so it's fab there are grammar schools for her. Our son will need a college and then we have 2 primary school age children too.

A lot of the grammar schools are oversubscribed so you may want to see if any have spaces for your older daughter and take it from there. Are your younger kids likely to pass the 11plus? Because some of the non grammars are dire.

We moved up to Bourne in 2016 from Kent /SE London borders. It's been a big change but we absolutely love it up here. The schools are really good and we have 1 dc who is at Uni over in Leicester and our youngest dc did year 6 at a primary in Bourne and is now year 7 at Bourne Academy. We've all settled in really well, husband is self-employed and has found work up here and I worked in Peterborough for a year before getting a job in Bourne just before Christmas last year. We did look at houses in Stamford, Oakham and Market Deeping during our trips up here sounding out the area (we took about 2 years to take the plunge as we were waiting for eldest dc to finish A levels) but settled for Bourne as we felt it had what we required and the house prices were very reasonable. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions and good luck looking !

Louth is lovely! Good schools, nice feel, friendly.

I would definitely recommend Bourne! It has a lovely town centre and a community feel. There are several parks, plenty of green space, woods, an outdoor pool and some really nice pubs, cafes and restaurants!