Where to live in Lancashire

[Southerngirl123]

Hey, my husband, myself and our 8 year old daughter live down on the South Coast. Last summer we travelled upto the Lake District and fell in love and loved Kendal also.
We have friends who live in Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire so we will be back up this summer to investigate more.
We are toying with the idea of a possible move and financially housewise we are so outpriced here to move on from our flat and could afford a stunning 3 bed house up North and would like to know the real truths on some places. At present we live in a decent size town with amenities nearby and the beach a 10 min drive away. I don't drive so good public transport is a must, good schools, amenities etc etc. Thinking we should then also only be about an hour away from the Lakes as we love walking/hiking with the dog & paddleboarding and half an hour ish from good size cities and the coast.
I work in retail & hospitality so I'm guessing I will be able to pick up work in most places? And my husband is an electronics engineer.
Thoughts and truths please on
Lancaster
Preston (& suburbs)
Oswaldtwistle
Padiham
Clitheroe
Ramsbottom
Southport

Obviously everywhere has there good and bad areas but please also feel free to add anymore good ones to the list for us to look at.
Look forward to some answers 😁😊

Yes to Lancaster and Clitheroe. No to Preston and Southport.

Don't know the other areas well enough.

Lancaster has the grammar system which may influence your decision.

Clitheroe quite a trek to the coast.

Garstang worth considering. What hobbies does your DD have?

Clitheroe also has grammar school system.

The places you've mentioned are lovely, I live in Lancashire myself but on the Greater Manchester border, planning on moving more rural in the next few years.

We absolutely love Barnoldswick. Have lived in Lancaster for 3 years (uni) and it's a lovely place, though very busy during term time and quite dead outside it, lots of the bars etc shut down.

Clitheroe would be my top choice but it's v expensive to someone who lives in a town where the price of a 3 bed house is £130k

Southport isn't in Lancashire anymore, the locals have never got over it!! I live in a nice part of Southport, not sure why a previous poster says no. The Sefton coast is miles long and has won awards it's just had a £37 million town deal fund awarded which will be used to build a massive theatre and events space with a light show on the marine lake. On the back of this there's a lot of upcoming investments from other private sectors. Preston has nothing going for it at all, and Kendal whilst being in the Lake District is a bit rough at night. From Southport you can get to Manchester or Liverpool which are both excellent for shopping

Lytham would be my choice. Lovely town centre with independent boutiques, wine bars, green grocers, fish mongers etc. It’s got two Booths 😳 On coast. Has an amazing music festival (pandemic allowing)
But not cheap in comparison to other north west areas

Thoughts and truths please on:
Lancaster - University town so can be busy,
Preston (& suburbs) - City and has large University, lived there as a student but wouldn't want too now, Chorley would be ok though
Oswaldtwistle - no offence to your friends but avoid if like the plague. Hyndburn is hugely deprived and I've worked their in a public facing role for 15 years, covering Accrington and Oswaldtwistle. Just no. No.
Padiham - so/so, not much going on there, better than Hyndburn
Clitheroe - lovely, but £££££££££££££££ to buy,
Ramsbottom - see Clitheroe, lovely though
Southport - nice enough but many old buildings are HMO/Flats and traditionally an older demographic

Have a look at the Rossendale Valley (Helmshore, Rawtenstall, Crawshawbooth areas) it's between Clitheroe/Padiham/Hyndburn/Ramsbottom with direct link into Manchester, on the edge of the countryside, but I would avoid Bacup....

Just to warn you it rains, A LOT. More than you think, but Lancashire is a great friendly place to live!

We just moved back up North to OH’s family in Southport, and we are loving it. It’s right on the coast, transport links around town and for work (Preston/Manchester) and paddle boarding on the marine lake (10 min walk), sea swimming groups 20min away in Formby. Churchtown/Birkdale/Hillside are lovely areas with beautiful houses. Schools are generally good, decent private school in Scarisbrick. Lots of opportunities in retail/hospitality, not just seasonal. Definitely don’t discount it! Good luck with your search

Lancaster, definitely! Lots of great schools. 10 minutes to the beach. Beautiful park and half hour to Kendal!
I went to uni here and never left. Have 4 children and we all love it!

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Preston and to say it has ‘nothing going for it’ is complete bollocks.

North Preston around Fulwood and Broughton area is lovely and parts of South Ribble like Penwortham and Longton are gorgeous, with really fantastic schools.

The sixth form colleges are some of the best in the country, the motorway links are fantastic, there’s absolutely loads of surrounding countryside, it’s close to the coast and the greatest football team in the world.

I’d also consider the whole of the South Ribble to East Lancs corridor. Some wonderful villages.

In fact, there are very few places in Lancashire I wouldn’t live. Not massively keen on Leyland or Accrington but that’s through personal preference.

Also YY to it raining a lot.

Have friends up that way - Padiham would be a no but there are other villages around e.g. Fence or Higham. Public transport isn’t great though. Clitheroe is nice/posh. I like Preston as a city as it’s well connected.

Whittle le Woods near the canal is lovely as is Wheelton. Coppull, Chorley, south ribble and Garstang

Rainford is nice as is Lathom

Lancaster
Preston (& suburbs)
Oswaldtwistle
Padiham
Clitheroe
Ramsbottom
Southport

^

Only Clitheroe out of these personally. As a pp said, Lytham is lovely. As is the Ribble Valley and the Forest of Bowland.

Lancaster is ok, good university city
Avoid Preston, especially central.
Fylde coast has some nice places, poulton-le-fylde, Kirkham, lytham, Wrea green.
Garstang is nice
Blackpool has some nice suburbs on the outskirts.
The whole Forrest of Bowland area is nice, lots of nice villages, a lot pricier than other areas. Lots of outdoor activities for kids.

Lytham would be my favourite definitely.

Only Clitheroe. I used to live in Oswaldtwistle and it's dull as hell.

I'm also in Southport.

I really like it here as there's plenty to do both here and not too far away either. You can't get to the north on a direct train, but there's a pressure group pushing to reopen the Burscough curves to allow this again (Dr Beeching removed the Preston line).

Churchtown is nice, but if you don't drive and will be working in retail / hospitality, you'd maybe want to be closer to the centre or the train line, so Hillside / Birkdale would suit you better as you don't drive.

I'm equidistant between the two stations and, although I drive, walk almost everywhere, or get the train back from town sometimes.

I live in South Ribble just outside Preston which Sarah Beaney once said was the best place to live in the U.K!
Lovely semi rural areas such as Hutton, Longton, New Longton,, Penwortham. Really on the up. Fantastic schools.
Ten minutes into Preston (centre is a bit grim these days but lots of gorgeous parks, the dock area, top performing college, Uni) half an hour from the coast and an hour to Liverpool, Manchester and the Lakes.
I wouldn't live in central Preston again but South Ribble is very desirable.

I am from padiham originally, now live in barrow which is a village next to clitheroe. Don’t know Southport but out of all those I’d say Clitheroe and surrounding villages. Outstanding ofsted primary schools and Clitheroe has a grammar school.

Clitheroe or Ramsbottom and their surrounding areas. Both have Grammar schools nearby, and both near lovely amenities.

Booths are around too!

Barrowford way is a good place to look too

No to Oswaldtwistle!

I love Clitheroe and Ramsbottom. Maybe Clitheroe with a small family is better - it has a great park, good shops, things to do. It has a very happy vibe to it whenever i go there.

I am southport, and love it. Schools are great, some beautiful parks and beaches nearby!! Lots more young families than there used to be, and it’s a nice small town. As previous posters have said, churchtown birkdale Ainsdale hillside are all lovely 😊

I would say Kirkham/Wesham would be good, as would Poulton-le-Flyde. Both of these are close the Fylde coast for dog walks but have the train line to go into Preston, Blackpool, Lytham.
Lytham is lovely but it is very expensive.
I would say Garstang is nice but it doesn’t have a trainline so isn’t as easy if you don’t drive, haven tried the buses, you end up driving everywhere. Closer to Lancaster though, which is handy.

Those commenting favourably on the grammar school system presumably have children they are confident would get in.

Always check that you are happy with the non-grammar option in a grammar school area.

Following with interest, we relocated to the North West, panic bought as needed to move quickly due to work, now have DD and considering a less panicked more well thought out move!!

I didn't comment favourably on the Grammar system just stated fact. All the schools in Lancaster are decent but one is a church school so you need school points, some bus it out to Garstang and Carnforth.

When we looked at Preston the biggest issue seems to be secondary schools with a bit of a bun don't as to where to buy as to where to get a place but our DC were a bit older.

Nice to read so many positive reviews of Southport!