Moving to Slaithwaite area Yorkshire

[Kitty1996]

Hello !
DH and I are very keen to move to a village on the Trans Pennine train route between Manchester and Leeds to run our little house sitting and dog day care business now that we've retired from the commercial rat race that we were part of for 25 years !

We had a mini break with the doggies in Marsden last week and fell in love with the area -amazing scenery and so well connected to either Manchester or Leeds for a bit of culture and retail therapy!

We are veering towards Slaithwaite over Marsden because of the converted mill that will be a new retail /office space .Anyone know through the grapevine when phase 1 of this due to open please and any local feedback on the good or bad side of moving to Slaithwaite or Marsden would be wonderful please??

I'd move to Slawit rather than Marsden. Both are lovely but Slawit is more up and coming if all my friends raving is anything to go by. Also, Marsden is just that bit more further out. When it snows, up to Slawit is normally ok, Marsden can be hard work.
Not sure on the mill, I'll see what I can find out

That's really helpful thankyou and any inside info on when the mill is likely to open would be great it will make such a huge difference to Slawit .

I wouldn't have thought the whole mill will be totally open for years , it's a massive space to fill. If I were looking to move out that way I'd go look at somewhere up the hill like scapegoat hill. Great views for miles.

I agree views from Scapegate were wonderful and we would be looking for a view since we have one in our current house but nothing that compares with Scapegoat!!

The mill is huge but I read in an old edition of one of the local newspapers that there were two phases planned -first phase to be a doctors surgery ,nursery space for Huddersfield Uni -just wondered if anyone had heard when phase 1 would be happening -they were putting up a new fence when we were there last week.

I heard locals have been really bothered by the loutish behaviour by some using the Ale Train going through Marsden and Slawit ...has there been any intervention by the police to help residents?

More of an issue in Marsden but it has calmed down a fair bit from its worst.

there's a nice gin bar in Slaithwaite, i'd move there on that basis alone.

Scape does have good views but there’s not much there
Slawit is nice, some nice shops and bars

We saw it too -a very good edition!

And an Aldi too ! any more shops planned ? the mens shop had closed any info on whats going to be in that space ?

Ahh that's good news ..we read in local paper that there will be major improvements to Trans Pennine train over next 5 years BUT service would be significantly affected for the villages -there will be buses etc which could put Ale Train clientele, off but any news on how it will affect getting to Leeds or Manchester, since the service is one of hte big pluses for us if we move there ??

You're right about Scape -we heard one side of valley gets more rain than other …?? -I'm from North originally so I know all about rain but would be great to know if this is true and which side gets less rain!!

We are not too far from slawit and I always drive to Leeds and Manchester. It’s cheaper (especially if there are a few of you) and easier
However, I hate public transport anyway and don’t drink much so I realise some people prefer the train.
Apparently they are doing work on the line over the next few years and I know there’s been disruption already on the Manchester route but it’s a major commuter line so they have to keep it going as well as possible

Our friends live at Scape and they have a great view with an upside down house and huge picture windows, but when it’s windy and wet it’s like being on the deck of the titanic!
They also get cut off due to snow more often than we do lower down

Thanks for your response -we are definately planning a return trip -ideally in the really bad weather cos if you love a place when its pouting with rain chances are you'll love it when the suns shinning !

That's really good to know -we haven't really explored Upper Mill area yet apart from a quick coffee on the main street there on our way home .I know its a different train line to Manchester from there and just generally much busier/pricier?? than Marsden and Slawit -any feedback on community spirit there.

DH has been looking into crime figures for surrounding area -is it worse than anywhere else .We live in a village and have been so blessed over the years ...left our house unattended every week for years when we we used to work away and no problems ??

Not too keen on Uppermill.
Nice for a visit but I had a lot of friends there growing up so spent some time there.
Saddleworth as a whole attracts a certain type who aren’t my cuppa - which is fine as I’m probably not theirs either! Plenty of keeping up with the Jones/ golf club types.

Do be aware that a lot of the regular trains don't stop in Slaithwaite - I grew up in Linthwaite and had to drive to Huddersfield to get the train to Leeds or Manchester Piccadilly.

Otherwise I'd go for Slaithwaite as it's less cut off in bad weather.

Thanks for your feedback we were going to take a look at the surrounding villages like Delph, Diggle, Mossley, Greenfield to see what the community feel was like on our next trip up in January since we really want to input into the local community and the village we've lived for years doesn't really have that.

That's great info on the trains thanks.
we won't need to use them for work since we are dog sitters and house minders but love the chance to be able to use the train since we don't have one in our village.
Coming up again in January -are there any estate agents who are particularly good on local property knowledge who you would recommend that we could meet with to pick their brains ?
We plan to put ours on the market in spring if not before.

I would HIGhLY recommend Jane Stocks at WM Sykes in Slaithwaite. She has really excellent local knowledge, was an independent EA in Marsden for some years. We’ve used her with great success, knows her houses and the market.

that's just what we need thankyou SO much!

I second the Jane Stocks recommendation. We bought our house through her previous independent agency.