Moving to Derby- where?

[CrackOn]

We're looking to relocate to the middle/west of Derby but we don't know the area well. We have a baby so we'd want a place near good schools, both primary and secondary, in a nice area, with good links to the A50 for commuting.

Any ideas? Where should we be looking?

TIA

Why Derby? Is it for work?
I think Dovedale is meant to be nice, Ashbourne too - but do you want closer to Derby city itself?

Sorry, Doveridge

Yeah, a combination of reasons, family and work etc. but it's got to be further south than Ashbourne. We like the amenities of living near a city but could be persuaded to go further out for the right place, I think.

Dove ridge is pretty but there's sod all there.

I live in Derbyshire and have covered the district through work so know many of the areas you're looking for including the smaller villages.

What sort of amenities/travel time/commute do you need to take into consideration @CrackOn ?

For the A50, I’d look at mickleover, some part s of littleover, Hilton and the surrounding villages such as etwall.

Chelleston too.

Also, what type of property are you looking for and what sort of budget?

For south of Ashbourne, away from Derby you're going to be looking relatively expensive and not particularly large for the budget unless you head further towards uttoxeter/Rocester

Schools are the main one, tbh. With having a young kid, parks and swimming pools, soft play places etc would also be really useful. We'd need to be able to access the A50 pretty quickly.

Further west along the A50 would be better in general.

Its relative @CrackOn. Derbyshire has some great schools so really it depends on what else you're looking for and how far you're prepared to travel.

Access to the a50 is usually pretty decent. It snarls up around Toyota junction on the a38 at rush hour and also on the a38 at markeaton.

The further out you live, the more likely you'll need the bus for the secondary school and that's pretty normal here.

The larger towns/suburbs in Derbyshire/Staffordshire with good access to shops and the a50 are

Mickleover
Chellaston
Ashbourne
Rocester
Uttoxeter
Littleover
Hilton
Also consider Leek if you're willing to go a bit further. It's got decent road links and a good town.

Then you have the smaller villages which may or may not have decent amenities so you would have to drive:

I suppose it really depends on what your commute is and where your family are as to how far you want to be from them. If your family live in stoke then it'll take you 40mins or so from the places I've listed above, with the exception of leek which is 20/25mins. If you were to go more north of derby and use the a38 then you would add another 10 mins to that journey except at peak times when it could be half an hour.

There are lots of lovely places in this county - schooling shouldn't be a concern really for you. It's the distances that will dictate your areas

Thanks for the nods to places, everyone. It's proving quite tricky! I'm researching the areas, particularly secondary as there seem to be lots of good/outstanding primaries. You're right @QueenEnid, there are some good schools but also some really bad ones, but the look of it! (Unhelpfully, the bad seem to be really close to the good and they're all oversubscribed, which makes me nervous given how much of a lottery school places are these days). What's Littleover like? It seems to have a higher crime rate than the others- is it ok to live in? Also, what's the likelihood of living in Chellaston but not getting into the local secondaryschool (the other two nearby are RI/inadequate).

Littleover is mixed. Some parts are lovely but the end near Sunnynill isn’t as desirable and I’d avoid.

Littleover is fine on the whole. I wouldn't say there was anywhere in most areas that should be avoided like the plague. There will be parts that suit you better than others though. Generally those areas bordering sinfin/normanton will not be as desirable but you'd need to look at the streets really to know what it's like.

Once you move out of the city boundaries the schooling gets easier to get places I think as not as oversubscribed. There's some lovely village schools x

I live in Derby. Littleover (the Sunnyhill/Normanton side isn't as nice), Mickleover, Allestree, Alvaston, Duffield, Darley Abbey, Ockbrook, Borrowwash are all great areas. Chellaston is quite nice too. Chaddesden is ok. AVOID Normanton, Sunny Hill, Pear Tree, Sinfin, Allenton unless you want to be murdered.
If your willing to go a bit further out there are lots of nice villages within a 20 min drive. Etwall (really good secondary school!), Willington, Findern, Weston-on-Trent, Melbourne, Rolleston (closer to Burton but really nice!).

I don't know why someone suggested Leek. It's 50 minutes away from Derby!

What's your budget and requirements in terms of what you want house wise?

@PannacottaLotta I suggested Leek as an option only because the OP said she was looking to the west of derby and good links to the A50 for commuting. I lived in derby for 18 years and know the county very well. Depending on where she needs to commute to would depend on the area she lived in plus commute time across derby can be as long, if not longer than going a bit further out.

@CrackOn Chellaston has a highly sought after school which is oversubscribed as far as I know. The traffic can be a pain there so it's something to consider when thinking about your commute. The link to the a50 is good.