Villages commutable to Manchester

[ritatherockfairy]

Possible relocation from SE to NW. Looking for suggestions of places to live that are reasonably rural, good schools, and commutable to Manchester (up to an hour from Piccadilly). Very early stages so I'm being deliberately vague and hoping the wisdom of mumsnet might uncover some hidden gems.

Bit out of left field but Slaithwaite or Marsden

I live in alderley edge and love it (there are plenty of flashy arseholes but you will get that in any middle class area) wilmslow, hale and timperley are also nice. This area is known as “the golden triangle” The local schools are great, ours are in private.
Buxton is nice but no way would I live there - very difficult to get to and feels very cut-off.
My relative lives in glossop and loves it but I’ve no idea about schools.

Grew up in Poynton. Nah . Over rated and that stupid round about they have put in needs it's own thread .
Bollington is lovely but public transport limited.
Buxton is lovely and has its own eco system.
Macclesfield is a clone town but good transport links.

I wouldn't say heaton Moor is rural or a village... But it is very very nice with excellent transport links 👍

My parents knew a vicar who moved to Poynton for retirement. He said "it's where people go to die".

I agree about roundabout in Poynton - however there’s a new bypass now which makes it less of a problem!

As long as it doesn't rain 😂

We live in Marple, my commute to Manchester is about an hour door to door. The trains are shitty (due to be replaced) but the service is generally reliably. We’ve got canals, parks, river and are on the edge of the Peak District. We looked at Buxton but the door to door commute was just too long for me. Poynton is lovely but I have a feeling the trains aren’t as frequent as Marple.

Saddleworth (Greenfield or Uppermill for easy access to Greenfield station) are under 25 min to Piccadilly and both very nice. Mossley has an Ofsted Outstanding secondary school and is less than 20 min to Piccadilly on the train. Trains outside rush hours are only hourly though. Lots of community spirit, great walking etc.

I wouldn't live on the outskirts of Manchester south and south east and west trying to get around anywhere during the rush hour is impossible Stockport Macclesfield Cheshire just as ridiculous by car air quality getting bad with traffic . I would personal go more rural north or north east of Manchester . trains are outdated and difficult in winter although they have promised upgraded but they have said that before .

hoppingreen I came to say the same. Marsden and Slaithwaite are lovely and easily computable by train.

Commutable!!

We are looking to do the opposite. We’re in Wilmslow and the whole of south Manchester is fairly gridlocked in rush hour. None of it is particularly rural but there’s lots of green space. In terms of schools, Trafford has the grammar system but also some very good comps. Parts of Stockport have excellent primary schools (Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, The Heatons) The senior schools in both Cheadle Hulme and The Heatons Are outstanding. Ours in Wilmslow was outstanding, now good but nothing has changed. 🙄 Our primaries are also very good. If you want to pay there’s good independent schools in Stockport and very high achieving ones in Manchester. There’s also Bury Grammar to the North and Bolton School.
If you genuinely want rural within 1h commute then look north.

A lot of these places are not villages, they're suburbs of a conurbation. If you want a villagey feel, the Lancashire options could work or places like High Lane, Disley, New Mills to the south. We live near New Mills which has two train stations each on a different line and lots of community events. Beautiful countryside and the Peak District national park on the doorstep.

Poynton is still a commuting nightmare despite the new A555 airport relief road.

For something different also look towards Liverpool? Train line through Widnes takes 45 mins into Piccadilly max.
Penketh, Cronton and north Widnes are all lovely (I am biased) with good schools and if you live outside walking distance to the train stations parking is free. Train also stops at oxford road on the way if new place of work is in between oxford road and Piccadilly plus house prices are a lot cheaper than south Manchester!

Wherever you look, make sure it has a train station, unless you can travel outside of the rush hours, which here are 7.30-9.30 and 4.30--6.30. Manchester traffic is shocking, both in town and on the motorways. If I need to go to the University 6 or 7 miles away I have to allow well over an hour if driving, much less by tram.

Not sure if mentioned but I used to live in Grange over Sands and commute to Manchester daily just over an hour.

But more of a thought would be around Lancaster. You’ve got the two Grammer schools and mainline commute. 56 minutes to Piccadilly. You get a lot for your money house wise and only 1/2 from lakes and Yorkshire Dales.

Victoria links to Piccadilly now. It adds time but does give you more options.

Look at places on the Victoria - Leeds line. Know idea about the schools but definitely rural looking.

I think you should try the Manchester commute from various local villages. People signficantly underestimate traffic - an hour would probably be a typical commute time from within Manchester during rush hour.

I think you might be better off getting a house in a town on the old Virgin (new company now, not sure the name) route to London. Stoke / Chester etc for example might be a much better commute for all of you, especially if your kids go to Manchester’s selective / private schools.

Thanks everyone. lovelyupnorth - that's interesting, I wonder if you could stretch to Kendal? My current commute into London is 90 minutes on a good day so everything's relative.

Loads of people on my street commute into Manchester. Have a look along the Manchester/Southport line. West Lancashire is gorgeous and cheap.

I’d say look at Parbold village and Bishop Rawstorne Schoool.