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 😁😊

Bit of a sweeping statement but the problem with most of the places on your list are that there are some very nice pockets, but the main town centres are grim. Chorley / Bolton / Preston all just awful right in the city centre but there are some surrounding areas that are perfectly OK. If I had children that would soon be wanting to hang out / go out with their friends to the town centre, I wouldn't be going anywhere near those places. Lived in a couple of those places pre-children and would definitely not want to bring a family up there.

We have family on the Fylde Coast and H wanted to move there at one point - the difficulty is its proximity to Blackpool (see above, it makes Chorley look posh) but its too far from a big city centre for concerts / theatres / good restaurants / going anywhere across the country. You can get some of that in Preston, but you're really looking at Manchester which is a good 1.5 hrs away.

I am also quite surprised at the love of Lancaster and the hatred of Preston. I don't think the city (more like town) centres of either are particularly great. But as others have said, both are great bases.

Preston has Avenham Park in the centre which is lovely, Docks are pleasant for a walk (also have a dragon boat team if that appeals!) and Harris Library, Museum & Art Gallery is worth a visit.

We are in South Ribble, easy to get to the Lakes, Trough of Bowland/Ribble Valley and Rivington areas for countryside and great walks etc. Equally can be in Liverpool or Manchester city centres in under 1 hour (driving or train) for better shopping, more varied restaurants, plenty of theatres etc. On West Coast mainline so about 3 hours on train to London, Edinburgh, Glasgow. Easy to get to the coast - Southport, Lytham, Blackpool, Morecambe Bay. Easy to get to both Liverpool and Manchester airports (& we have even used Leeds to add greater choice to flight times & prices). We are on the motorway network within 15 mins but if there is an incident on the motorway the whole of Preston can grind to a halt.

There have been a lot of new housing estates recently so the house builders must think people will want to live here! Downside we are losing a lot of green spaces and farmland.

I always feel Southport is out on a limb because it is not far away from us but for longer trips it is added time to get to the motorways or hub railway stations.

I will also throw Longridge into the mix, don't know what it is like at night but lovely during the day. Has a Sainsburys, Booths and Co-op and lots of small shops and micro bars and cafes.

Your DH's job and any commute will be a key consideration.

When I am looking at South Ribble, what towns etc would I be looking at? Penwortham??

Sorry and my husband is an Hydraulics Engineer (not electronics, predictive text 🤪)

I live in South Ribble- absolutely love it
Penwortham, Longton , walton le dale ,
All lovely areas in South Ribble

Hutton, Penwortham (higher), New Longton, Longton.

You have to have a dog to live in Lancashire. Think it’s a local by-law!!!

Longridge is nice. As is Lytham and Garstang. Preston has some nice suburbs - Fulwood, Broughton, Cottam.

The landscape gets better the further inland you go. If you like hill walking, Pendle area is fantastic. Over more towards the coast it's flat, I find it boring, but of course, if you like the sea, that's an attraction. And though Pendle has its rough bits, as indeed so does everywhere, people are very friendly here. And we have found that if you're doing work on a property, there are some great local independent builders' merchants and timber merchants and other suppliers. We reckon that we've saved about 1/3 of what we'd have spent even in the Midlands where we were before for the same stuff, and all the staff we have encountered have been very helpful with their advice.
People are also very 'interested' in whatever you're doing (if you're a very private person, read 'nosey ' ). E.g., they'll stop outside the house if they walk past when you're doing work in the garden ( we were clearing out a soakaway at one point) and just up and ask what you're doing - all very friendly and cheerful though. People are just interested in things and not too buttoned up to ask. They'd be very upset if you acted like they were being cheeky. Also, workmen in the Midlands were pleasant, I have no complaints, but would often listen to the radio and not talk much to each other. Here they tend to talk to each other non-stop, and about anything and everything. I like it, but then I'm from these parts.