Moving to Mansfield

[RobinHoodLand]

My husband has a new job at Kingsmill hospital, and so we are house hunting- and completely lost on where we should live. We want somewhere nice for our girls to grow up, decent schools, without too much of a commute. Ideally spending no more than 300k.
Any ideas? Had decided on Ravenshead- but last 2 houses we loved haven’t had our (asking price) offers accepted. Getting completely confused- anybody know the area and know where is nice/ where to avoid?

I'm local OP. What are you looking for (village / town / rural?), what length of commute, what type of property? £300k in this area gives you lots of choice!

Edwinstowe is lovely. Not a bad commute to the Hospital. Lovely town centre. Good schools. Near Sherwood Forest. Worth a look and for £300k in that area, you should have a lot of choice!

Papplewick
Linby
Hucknall
Arnold

I think larger village/small town- although fairly flexible. Nothing so small that you are the new people if your family haven’t lived there for 100 years. Would like nice walks within reasonable distance, and somewhere with toddler groups/ things to do with young children.

A commute ideally of no more than 30 minutes ish- although likely to travel out of peak times. My MIL has just moved to Kirkby and will help with childcare, if we live within a 20 minute drive from her.

Housewise, not bothered by age/style of property, just a decent size family home, 4 bed, and hoping for downstairs playroom To store the toys etc, and a nice garden.

We seem to have so much choice, absolutely no idea what direction is best, and now running out of time with school application deadlines, to try get a sale pushed through, adding to the stress- so all help is most welcome!

Edwinstowe is in a really good position with loads on its doorstep for walking and outdoor activities.
You have Sherwood Forest on the edge of the village and Rufford Country Park just outside. There is also a small public swimming pool.
Should be around 30 minute commute but Kirkby would take longer.

Avoid Hucknall, Arnold and anywhere around Kirkby, Sutton or anywhere in Ashfield. Also Eastwood, shitholes the lot

If you need to be within 20 mins of Kirkby then you're best looking Ravenshead/Papplewick/Linby direction. Schools better in that area than Edwinstowe. Mapperley plains going into Nottm is fab and would still be within your 20 mins to Kirkby commute but KM would be further away.

Edwinstowe, while nice enough is about to become very built up. Some of the people can be very cliquey (sp). We have been here 5 years and still get looked at as though I have two heads. The two primary schools are ok. One big, one small. The little high street is cute enough. The RSPB has just taken over Sherwood Forest and is trying to make it more appealing (not everyone agrees). There is plenty of new builds and the old coal pit is going to be built on at some point. It won't be what it is now, it will be larger and busier. If I had £300k I would be looking elsewhere as I want more opportunities for my daughter as she grows. However, that is my opinion while living in the village. I would move closer to Nottingham for more diversity. But again, that is me.... Good luck in your search.

To be honest I'd look at schools y9u want then choose the place. For example Ravenshead is very nice but the secondary school in Rainworth wasn't very good at the time so many Ravenshead kids came to mind instead. Things have changed in 20 years so that might not be the case now. Berry Hill in Mansfield itself is a very nice area but i.dont know about the schools. If you go for Linby and Papplewick which are lovely you'll constantly be driving to get milk etc. When I last looked at Linby school the Ofsted wasn't great essentially as it's a small school of 4 classes. You may also want to consider your husband's future career options into the move as Kings mill has had many problems over the years and it is not very well regarded compared to City/QMC. Things can change if course but you may consider being nearer to these hospitals than you initially considered for future career development and minimal disruption later on.

Parts of Mansfield are fine, but depending on the age of your children you might struggle to get a place. Most schools are pretty full, especially in KS1 and Reception. Southwell is within reach but prices are high. Edwinstowe is good as people have said. It is a very mixed area both in and around Mansfield. You could try Burton Joyce and Lowdam but that would be longer to Kirkby.

I’m local too, or I was before I moved 20 miles away to get out of the dump that is Mansfield centre!

Avoid Mansfield, Woodhouse, Sutton, Kirkby, Hucknall and Arnold.

Edwinstowe as mentioned is nice, but secondary school catchment isn’t great, depends if you can be lucky enough to get into Southwell Minster or Tuxford.

I would go for Southwell or any of the villages around there. Newark is probably a bit too far (45 minutes to Kings Mill) so anywhere between Farnsfield and Southwell area probably best bet.

If you want any schools advice then feel free to pm me. I teach in the area so know most of them.

As others have said there are “some” nicer areas is Mansfield. But they are just nice streets in a dump of a town. Honestly you would drive off your street everyday and have to pass through loads of traffic in a rubbish place.

If you don’t know the area well yourself I recommend you walk through Mansfield town centre shopping area around 2pm on a Friday afternoon. You won’t want to return!

Berry Hill is lovely, not far from town centre & close to Kings Mill, a good mix of house types, goodprimary school that feeds to good secondary schools, Nottingham road area is nice, Southwell Road West has some lovely houses as well. The good thing about Mansfield is housing is fairly cheap compared to living further out, if you are looking at renting at first you can rent a 3/4 bed new build for around £650 a month, there are lots of new or nearly new properties for sale as there are quite a few new estates being built at the moment. I lived in Mansfield for nearly 5 years & loved it.

Just seen you have up to £300k to buy a property, you would have no problem finding somewhere, lots of very nice 4 bed detached houses in Berry Hill area for £220k - £270k or older bungalows in nice areas for same price range, avoid Oak Tree area, the roads off Southwell Road West from Big Barn lane upwards are lovely, Jenny Beckett's on the opposite side leads on to Berry Hill & has some beautiful older type houses, The Quarry is a newer estate built in Berry Hill, very nice with a small parade of shops, hairdressers & small restaurant/wine bar.

Hello, can you advice!
We are planing to move to Nottingham and someone suggest Mansfield.
we are a family of 5 , 3 kids age 8,5 and a new baby pls can you advice the best area with good school view pls.

hiya,i just come across your response to a post concerning schools around Mansfield and Edwinstowe , i will also need your help.
we are a family of 5 we currently lived in luton bedfordshire and we are plaining to move to Nottingham or any nearby city or town
we plan to rent for 6months to a year to bebal eot know the best place to buy , pls can you advice the best area or town to rent before we buy pls... here is my email incase you have any advice pla
[email protected]

I was told that most people up north,in Mansfield area especially, are “racist” is this true? We are Asian(Filipino) who plans to move soon.. I hope this is a wrong assumption.. thoughts pls?

No definitely not!! What a massive assumption to make!! Don't believe ill informed gossip.

People are generally friendly tolerant and kind

Ps this thread was last posted on in aug 2019

Hello
I’m looking for a decent secondary school for my son. My move to Notts fell through and only have 10 days to put my form in? Can anyone help? I was think Southwell minster? If I get in then I can look to move towards there or Nottingham? Any help appreciated
Thank you

I can get to kingsmill in 30 mins I’m in ripley , Derbyshire not sure about the schools here as we have only been here a couple of years and daughter is at uni.

It’s right on the Peak District and good links to a38/ m1
Maybe worth a look see what you can get ?

In my opinion Mansfield and surrounding areas are a bit rough 😮

Yeah I’m a bit late on this one 😀

What's happened to Hucknall and Arnold? They both seemed ok when I used to cover that area as a sales rep...

Mind you that was 15 years ago