Retford, Notts - does anyone know it?

[CatAndHisKit]

Considering Retford along with couple of other places in East Mids, which have a good train link

But what's it like? I've been to Mansfield not too far and it's not my thing, too sleepy (no station so maybe that's the reason). Also like the look of the park n REtford, but is it nice of gets antisocial behaviour etc? I'd need to be close to the station.
How about amenities, supermarkets - I don't think many in town but is there a good connection to any good retail centres?
TIA!

East Midlands parkway station has all mainline London train links

Southwell is lovely, but is reflected in the house prices, so it all depends on your budget. Have you looked at places around Newark such as Kelham, Farndon, Collingham, Sutton/Carlton on Trent?

You could consider Bawtry/ Doncaster (it,s only just outside EMids) and like Newark the trains are more numerous/regular. I'd stick to Bawtry, Bessacarr, Sprotborough, Arksey (my preferences).

I agree with the pp.. look at villages around Doncaster as they're some lovely self contained villages and easy to get to Doncaster for the train links to London. Not fair from Meadowhall and other main shopping areas so loads of amenities..

We've lived in hamlet just outside Bawtry - Bawtry is nice, but we lived just off the A1 and had a lot of problems with crime, especially joyriding. Also lived in a village just outside of Newark. I'd recommend Newark over Retford. Collingham is near Newark and is lovely if you want a village, although it's pricey.

Was it you who had the thread on Boston? I don't think I've ever seen Mumsnet so united before 😆.

No, the Boston thread wasn't me Callar - I did read it and saw how unanimous it was on there! not that I ever considered it.
Will have alok on rightmove for Collingham.
Hexagon such names! a challenge to pronounce grin. NOt sure re Doncaster itself as that would be the main town for shopping. Never been but has a neg reputation.

meant to be !

East Coast Main Line to Kings Cross is faster than whatever they call the line through Sheffield/Nottingham (Doncaster, Retford, Newark, Grantham are on the East Coast main line).

You’ll probably has worked out already that what you can afford in those areas are poles apart from what you would afford in South West Sheffield.

Lincoln does have some London services but just check out how many and what times of day compared to say Sheffield. And that's before all the other issues of living in the middle of a large and sparsely populated county. Lincoln is a lovely small city. It needs to be, It's the only place for miles! Whereas in the Nottingham/Newark/Sheffield zone, some of the towns are underwhelming but you're in easy reach of good countryside, nice places to shop and visit, and facilities by train or motorway.

I was going to mention East Midlands parkway station too although obviously you do have to drive there.

To be honest we used to live near Tamworth/Nuneaton the fast and cheap train connections to Euston knock the spots off the East Midlands.

NOtMe I thought Nuneaton was still E.Mids
How about Worksop? Nice houses there and train to Sheffield looks good (as is to Lincoln). I want to be in that area betwen Sheffield and Lincoln as it's great for my vintage-related business.

MrsFezziwig yes (sigh) wish I could afford SW Sheffield - I could but only a tiny 2-bed with a yard. Yes that's my point - why not improve the line to the East towards Lincoln - so slow! YOu'd think it's not even such a huge distance to cover so less expensive than many other routes.

Worksop is meh, I wouldn't.
We ended up living just outside Bawtry as I had to commute to Leeds and OH had to commute into Linc's.
Blyth is OK, but a small village, although all of the A1 has been reorganised at that junction since we lived there.
Lincoln is lovely, my daughter was born there, so I've always got a soft spot for it.
If I had to move back, I'd plump for Newark. I really miss the nearby big parks, Clumber Park and Rufford Park.

I think you should give Retford a visit. You are right it has unique transport connections. It's in lovely countryside and I expect being not an ex Colliery town, a bit less gritty than Worksop etc.
The outlet village at Mansfield is pretty useful if you don't want to go all the way to Sheffield.

Well unique apart from Newark!

're Nuneaton I think of it as a satellite of Coventry, it is in Warwickshire after all.

Don't do Worksop. The number of times I've heard "... at least it's not Worksop!" is ridiculous. I'm sure it does have nice areas but the centre feels very run down.

For lincoln trains check out the timetable to see if they would actually work for you, including the number of stops. At one point the was a train down about 6am and one back late and that was it. I think it improved abit but still not great.

I like Retford. It's a quiet little down but has a good feel to it, people care. It's not far from the A1 and it has trains for reasonable links. Twice weekly market etc. But it isn't a city so it may not have what you are looking for for entertainment.

unanimous 'no to Worksop then!
But two votes for Retford, may do a visit.
Callar - interesting, are these parks in/on edges of town? I do always look for a good park or two - important to me!

I think Lincoln has a couple of good parks to the South.

Lincoln has west and south common, both fairly meadowy and unstructured. It has a fairly formal but fun arbouretum in town a, disused quarry yo the north (watch for glass!) and Hartholme park which is a mix, small but friendly. There is also Skellingthorpe Woods nearby but the Woodland Trust are getting heavy handed there so not been in awhile. For parks and entertainment Lincoln beats Retford, for transport and general feel (in my opinion) Retford wins.

Wherever you go there are good and bad areas - talk to locals first!

Bingle I know of Boultham park too which apparently had recently been regenerated with lottery funds!
Ooh that's surprising - you aer the only one rating Retford higher than Lincoln, so far!
I do like the feel of Lincoln (not that I've been much but first impressions count!) - though I thought it was ridiculously quiet on a Monday on my latest visit, I'm sure the whole covid thing makes it more quiet - lack of tourists, students). I'm curious though why do you prefer Retford in the 'feel'.

Hartholme looks huge on the map!

Clumber Park is just South of Worksop.

Rufford Park is just South of Ollerton (Ollerton isn't a recommendation btw!).

I'd rate Lincoln over Retford any day. Lots of nice houses, in and around Retford but the centre is a bit meh, but it is fine. We went back recently after a quite a few years away and it felt a bit...less nice. Although far and away better than Worksop. I used to just go in for the Morrisons. Council tax is often cheaper in Linc's, although that's a minor detail! But when we moved down to Newark, the village we lived in was half Linc's/half Notts, we were in the Notts half and had to pay quite a lot more council tax, than the other half 🤔

Lincoln is lovely. I would go there on holiday even if my family weren't there. But I would not go there to start a business unless it was either online involving no travelling or very locally based. Rightly or wrongly it has not got good transport links. The only dual carriageway is to Newark and the trains to London are so infrequent you will probably drive to Newark to catch one instead. That's why it's cheap.

DH lived in Retford between the ages of 9 and 21.
I mentioned this thread to him and he said “tell her to find somewhere else” . Very insular and definitely Brexit land.
It’s not too bad when we go and visit the inlaws for a day or so but we would never want to live there. Virtually all of DH friends left for Uni and never went back, the ones who stayed aren’t the ones who have made great successes of their lives to be honest. There is some money around but it tends to be old farming money if that makes sense?

No station in Mansfield? What a strange thing to say? Of course it’s got a train station.

Sleepy wouldn’t have been my choice of words though.