If you had a choice would you move to Chester or Clitheroe?

[Dappled]

We may have a family move on the cards soon, due to my OH's work. The possibilities are likely to be Chester or Clitheroe (Ribble Valley, Lancashire) or their surrounding areas.
I have never been to either place, and don't even know the surrounding regions. I've been doing lots of internet research and of course we will be visiting - but the current pandemic situation and the fact that we may have to make a fairly quick decision means it would be really useful to get the thoughts an experiences of people who know either place (and especially those who know both!)
Access to beautiful countryside with plenty of walking possibilities is really important to us. My children have been desperate to move to the countryside for years and we are a family who all need open space and not too much bustle so we are considering locating rurally within those areas as we are all feeling pretty tired of city life (We are currently in the suburbs of a large northern city). However, I also think that we''d do well in a small town or leafy city suburbs as long as we were close to plenty of open space and countryside.
Schools are a big one for us - primaries and we will soon need secondaries too. We will have missed the deadlines for secondary applications for September 2021 start in Year 7 so an area where the schools aren't oversubscribed would be a massive bonus! Would prefer good state schools rather than grammars or private.
We relocated north 6 years ago and know how hard work it is to settle and make friends in a new place. Somewhere with a generally friendly welcoming vibe would be much preferred. It would be good to get involved with a community. We're not small c (or large C) conservative. We're from arts and creative backgrounds and so if we were in a town or city a place that has an arts scene, an alternative vibe or just a bit of a cultural life would be great. If we chose to locate more rurally I do worry about being the "newcomers" forever and so an area that doesn't feel closed minded to outsiders and where you might feel you can contribute to a community would be great.
Also, rain...I'm worried about Lancashire ! (although I haven't looked up the rainfall stats for the Chester area yet) Those who know the Ribble Valley - does it rain ALL the time?!? (I have arthritis which isn't great with damp)
So, on the basis that I know neither place (or region) at all - anyone got any thoughts or advice for me on either (or both) areas? Thank you.

It is difficult to compare the two as they are completely different - Chester is much larger than Clitheroe. Much more going on in Chester, theatres, good shopping, restaurants and very historical. The centre is really busy and it is lovely by the river. Cheshire as a county is fabulous.

Clitheroe is a small market town, also historical with the Castle. Lots of villages with excellent pubs and excellent walking. I am from about 7 miles from Clitheroe and it is definitely a lovely part of the world, with good schools.

It rains up North I am afraid not sure what the difference is in actual rainfall though. I have lived in both Cheshire and Lancashire and love them both, very scenic and welcoming.

Good luck whatever you choose, I now live in NZ but still get that buzz as I get back home to Lancashire

Should have thought to say as well - recommendations of villages/areas of town to look at would be really welcome.

Thanks FiveShelties, great to hear from someone who knows both places! Yes, the size difference is the main thing that has struck me so far - it's really hard to get a sense of size without visiting both places. I hope to do that soon. Even Chester is far smaller than where we are now, so I'm wondering whether, even though it's a city, it might feel less overwhelming. To be honest, almost everything I've heard so far about both places sounds very positive, which is nice!

I prefer Clitheroe but I agree that they do feel quite different. Where are you now?

South ribble was named the best place to live in the UK back in 2017

When your DC are teens is there enough for them in Clitheroe?

What are the train services like?

Clitheroe seems very remote to drive to from my one visit so by default quite insular?

I moved from Chester to Lancashire ( not Clitheroe) but not far from.
It does rain..a lot.
Chester is grim when the races are on and most Cestrians I know try and avoid the city centre at those times.
When we first moved here I found Lancashire quite refreshing as it didn't have the 'Cheshire set' vibe, it's different now though.
Both places are nice but I struggle with the looming greyness of Lancashire that dominates for so many months.

We're in Leeds at the moment myworkingtitle
RandomMess, yes I'm considering heavily what will be best for the DCs once they're in teens. Both always respond so strongly and positively whenever we go to the countryside, to villages, or small market towns, always say "why can't we move here, why do we have to live in a city" However I know that things can change in the teen years. It's interesting because my OH's experience was growing up in a village, having to walk or cycle miles to meet friends, being bullied by local kids because of being an incomer and generally wishing he was living somewhere bigger and livelier. Which, of course, is the prevailing view/stereotype of the teenage experience. My experience was the opposite - grew up in a town until teenage years when we moved to a village and it was the best thing that ever happened to me - I loved nature, loved the space and freedom to roam and never cared for parties anyway. So, I'm very uncertain about that. My children seem so much happier in the countryside at the moment, but I do know that may change as they grow up. I always vowed I would never live in a city and yet have spent most of my adult life in cities. I do have a sense of "it's now or never" if I want to live in the countryside and bring my family up somewhere more rural (I'm in my late forties, OH in his fifties). Having said that, Leeds is hugely bigger than Chester and perhaps a little city would have many of the advantages with less of the disadvantages for us. Also, we have Welsh roots, some family still and always hoped we might live there eventually so edging nearer the border is appealing....

Yes Ihopeyourcakeisshit I'm worried about coping with the "looming greyness" of Lancashire. We had the chance of a move to a different area of Lancashire a while ago and I didn't think I could cope with the narrow valleys, bleak moors, damp and greyness - however from what I've seen (only photos, maps etc) of the Ribble Valley it seems more open, green, less harsh as a landscape(?)
Interesting point about the races, hadn't thought of that.
One thing I'm worried about Cheshire is the "Cheshire set" thing. I don't know how prevalent that actually is. I don't much want to live in an area where we always feel like the poor church mice, we're not well off by any means. I'm presuming there are plenty of normal people around too(!?!)

One other thing, in either location OH would have to do a certain amount of driving in the wider area as part of his job. Not every day and he would mainly be able to avoid rush hours. If we were in Chester he would sometimes need to go up Wigan and Warrington way - how bad is the traffic, is this a reasonable drive or is it going to be a nightmare?

Ihopeyourcakeisshit, when you say "it's different now though" about moving to Lancashire/the Cheshire set vibe do you mean Lancashire has changed now?

I've never been to Clitheroe, but have lived and worked in Chester for years. Despite the sunny uplands on the official tourist website the city is dying. Shops were closing before the Covid struck, the history of the city is being abandoned, and the council are only interested in expensive vanity projects that no one wants. (72 million and counting for their new shopping centre)over £1 million spent on bollards to stop possible terrorist attacks, no one consulted, and no one told who is advising, running, in charge of this - "security reasons" The amphitheatre is run down, the walls are wrecked But - if you like horse racing - then move here. I could weep at the state of the place

I can’t imagine there’s a big difference in climate between Leeds & Clitheroe, or Chester for that matter?

Well Cheshire has always been the home of the pristine 4x4 and a fair bit of keeping up with the Jones'. When we moved to Lancashire it was far less pretentious and noticeably friendlier but I think Lancs is catching up fairly quickly in some respects, certainly regarding flashier cars at least.
That being said, I do think there's probably more opportunity to be a bit more individual and less image conscious in Lancashire?
Everywhere is different though and I guess you fit in with what ever vibe suits you, there's nice people everywhere, there's numptys everywhere.
Regarding driving, I would imagine you could do that journey in about an hour on a good day? But I will check with my dh as he is more familiar with that route than I am.

Last time I looked, Chester ranked about 32 for wettest city in UK, Lancs is number 2.

Clitheroe for sure. Ribble valley seems really nice for outdoorsy life style. Closeish to the lakes. Forest of Bowland, Yorkshire dales.

Though I have no knowLedge of what actually living there is like. I have a friend who grew up in clitheroe though and she speaks very positively about it.

@Steamfan Up until a couple of years ago my dh had a business in Chester, after some race days he'd turn up at work to find human shit on the doorstep.
I used to love it when The Rows had a plethora of independent shops.

@myworkingtitle, I think Lancashire is generally a lot rainier than Yorkshire. When I moved to Leeds and had a gentle grumble about the rain I got told "well at least we're on the right side of the Pennines, it's much rainier in Manchester". Annual rainfall stats for Clitheroe are not that far off double that of Leeds...!
@Steamfan, appreciate your honesty there, I haven't come across much negative said about Chester so far, but that sounds really sad. I'm indifferent to horse racing. Actually no, I'm quite anti any sports that involve animals in generating large amounts of profit...Hmm... Is there anywhere around Chester you have more positive feelings about? We've got family just over the Welsh border so would consider going into Wales, however DH's work will be in Chester plus to the north and east up as far as Wigan, so it probably makes more sense to consider villages/towns on that side rather than Welsh side.

Chester isn’t dying at all! Yes race days are rubbish but most days aren’t rubbish. Pre-lockdown the arts scene was thriving and it’s a lovely place to live with great connections to Liverpool if you want some big city stuff, and easy to get to North wales and the Wirral for countryside. Independent shops are sadly a thing of the past but I suspect that will be the case most places now.

And Cheshire set doesn’t prevail in Chester itself.

Ihopeyourcakeisshit my DH regularly has to clean human shit off the doorstep of his workplace in Leeds - pretty sure he'd like to get away from that!

@tinierclanger, reassuring to know. Can you find villages around Chester that aren't too Cheshire set or is that an impossibility?

Absolutely. Plenty of normal people in the nearby villages .

glad to hear it!!!

Only visited Chester as a tourist but have an old school friend who moved to Clitheroe and lives there with two teens, from her facebook feed she seems to have a very nice but relaxed lifestyle, lots of walking, park run, bike rides, nice scenery and pubs etc. I always think she made a good choice.