Marehay / Ripley

[smellykellys]

Can anyone advise on living in Marehay / Ripley. We are moving to Derby with a four year old and a one year old in the next few months and have found a house in the area that looks nice. We have been focusing on Littleover, Mickleover and Chellaston as they were nearer the city. My wife doesn't drive so would need public transport to go to work and drop the kids at school. Any advise on this would be great.

Ripley - avoid. Some nice houses around the Dannah Street parts of the town, but also a hell of a lot of areas where social problems have been housed in and is now developing a heck of a drugs problem. Schools not as great as the Ofsted reports would say either.

Don't know your other option much. If you're going out that side - Belper is nice. Chellaston had a lovely school a few years ago when I was last over that side of town... I'd move out to Risley way if I could afford to personally but that's me knowing one side of Derby better than the other. Some nice villages out along the a52 corridor towards Nottingham too that you might not have considered.

Check the hs2 route proposals carefully though - especially over the Long Eaton/M1 side of the city. LE/ Toton / Sandiacre / Stapleford looking to be particularly badly hit by it if it ever goes ahead.

If your wife doesn't drive you need to be on a good bus route into derby. Have you thought about going out east of derby on the A52 to some of the urban villages like Spondon and Borrowash or Draycott? They've good bus services. Also look at Darley abbey, allestree, chellaston, Littleover mickleover. On the A6 are Duffield and Belper both nice towns

anyone know what Marehay is like,

is it rural / a village
is there local shops / supermarkets
things to do with children in the area
does it have a bus into the centre of Derby, if so how long would it take
any good schools in the area

I was looking at belper! visited it last week. nice little town! Be aware that its in a valley bottom so roads are steep in places! parking on some streets was awful! Theres a fb page belper mums or something? they`re lovely. close to the peaks :)

Marehay is basically the main road to Ripley. It's a load of houses, mostly old, but with a weird random new estate. There's a Vauxhall dealer, a miners welfare club, a hairdressers... and that's probably about it. I wouldn't.

What's your budget, and what are you looking for, can we help you look?

And no, closest supermarket is in Ripley.

we have decided uttoxiter for us. worth a look at?

Littleover and Mickleover are nice but either houses are small inside or have small gardens. Chellaston seems good with good with larger houses and good size gardens but not sure as have heard some of it is dodgy.

I may be a bit late to the thread, but I would avoid Ripley due to the problems already listed by a pp. Marehay is a bit run down but has a nice new housing estate. If your wife doesn't drive though it would be a difficult location. There really aren't many buses going through that way.

As with anywhere in the UK, the nicer areas are more expensive. Mickleover and Littleover are good locations, with great buses routes, local shops and good schools. But you don't get as much for your money, so would have to compromise with a smaller house/garden.
Alternatively, have you thought about Spondon or Borrowash? Both villages are on the outskirts of Derby and have great bus links, and shops, especially Spondon. They both have good schools too.
Oakwood is also nice, and again has good transport links. However, you would need to look into school catchment areas as some parts of Oakwood feed into schools such as Breadsall Hilltop which doesn't have a great reputation!