Moving - opinions on living in some areas

[c91286]

Hi,

We are looking at moving from Berkshire to somewhere in the East Midlands(ish). We don't really know the areas so wondered what people think of living in these places:

1. Sleaford (and villages outside)
2. Lincoln
3. Bourne
4. Newark on Trent
5. Downham Market
6. Villages around Peterborough (but want to know what Peterborough itself is like).

We will be looking for primary schools but will need secondary eventually. We would love to know about parks, leisure centres (daughter does gymnastics), things to do etc.

I have read a few that have turned up in Google searches and some say the schools aren't great in some areas but it was written 8 years ago and a lot can change in that time!

Would be great to see what people think about the areas and what they are like for little kids (1.5 and 3)

Thanks :)

Your areas are miles apart.
I live relatively near Downham market. I like it as a place, it’s pretty quiet and had a nice little market until COVID times.
The town centre is nothing to write home about and I can’t think of a pub I would want to visit. There are some nice villages on the outskirts and it does have a railway station. It’s pretty much surrounded by fens and is a little remote.
I can’t say I’ve heard anything about it anti social behaviour, although my DD is now 20, and although she used to go to Wetherspoon there regularly to meet her friends, doesn’t now.
One other thing, it’s not terribly multicultural and the population seems to be an aging one

@Mydogisagentleman

Your areas are miles apart. I live relatively near Downham market. I like it as a place, it’s pretty quiet and had a nice little market until COVID times. The town centre is nothing to write home about and I can’t think of a pub I would want to visit. There are some nice villages on the outskirts and it does have a railway station. It’s pretty much surrounded by fens and is a little remote. I can’t say I’ve heard anything about it anti social behaviour, although my DD is now 20, and although she used to go to Wetherspoon there regularly to meet her friends, doesn’t now. One other thing, it’s not terribly multicultural and the population seems to be an aging one

Yes they are far apart, we are trying to work out the best place to go!

Another Downham Market response:

We live in a village fairly close by and it’s our nearest town. There aren’t really any good parks, the Howdale is probably the closest to a park but it’s not that big. There’s a local leisure centre with a pool and some children’s activities but you would have to go to King’s Lynn for gymnastics, although I think that Lynnsport there is well regarded for that. There are also Brownies, Cubs, children’s football teams, etc. in Downham Market.

Primary schools in Downham Market are generally good - one of them was historically considered to be better but I think that they’re about the same now and it’s really just a case of which one suits your child best; there are also some good primaries in the surrounding villages, which some parents from the town use as they prefer a smaller school. The secondary school in Downham Market has had problems but in the past few years has been taken over by a high performing academy chain and claims to be much better, although there hasn’t been an Ofsted report since, so unless you have personal experience, it’s difficult to judge.

As the PP said, the pubs aren’t great and we were a bit disappointed by that when we moved here (pre-children) but there’s now a Weatherspoons if that appeals. There’s also a few new restaurants that have opened up recently, which look good but I haven’t had the opportunity to try yet.

Demographics, I have been surprised by the mix at my DC’s primary, as I didn’t view it as a multicultural area, mainly Eastern Europeans but from a mix of different countries and well integrated. There is a large elderly population but that seems to be changing as more family-type houses have been built.

We like living here and think that it’s a good place for our DC to grow up but it is different to living in the south east, and we have yet to hit the teenage years. It is relatively remote but there’s a direct train line to London and day trips are doable, plus Cambridge and Norwich are quite close.

Sorry for typos, posted too soon!

Me and my partner paid a little bit more to live in a nicer area, it just feels a lot safer, cleaner and it's closer to a lot more stuff. Just need to weigh up the options!

I live in Newark and love it . I live close to the East Coast mainline station and find it so useful for getting to London or up to York or Leeds . I'm afraid my DC are past school age but in general it's a nice town . There are dodgy areas and people wherever you go IMO . Surrounding villages are all lovely too . Slap bang on the A1 for road travel . Pretty castle and riverside. Some nice parks too . Lots of events in the marketplace in summer . Book festival. Food too . They often have music there too . Lots of independent shops though some have gone since Covid. A Waitrose and due to have an M&S Foodhall this Autumn. Close enough to Lincoln and Nottingham for shopping and frequent trains to both . Not a great hospital just minor injury centre. Doctors have been dreadful during Covid but that seems to be universal. I moved from Nottingham and I love it here .

@DaniellaDavis

Me and my partner paid a little bit more to live in a nicer area, it just feels a lot safer, cleaner and it's closer to a lot more stuff. Just need to weigh up the options!

Which areas would they be?

Takes hours to get anywhere in Lincolnshire.

I can't talk about schools but I'd say on a more 'general' idea:

Sleaford is crap, avoid. I literally cannot think of anything nice to say.

Lincoln is lovely, although always used to suffer a bit being 'inaccessible' but new bypass and more trains to London has really opened things up. Plus near the beauitful Wolds, and some nice parts of the coast.

Bourne is nice enough but just... small. Bourne Woods is lovely for a walk around, really nice leisure centre nearby, but A15 up to Lincoln or down to Peterborough if you want a city or Stamford not too far.

Newark is okay, but not really that much there. But it does have great road and rail links (A1/ECML).

Downham Market is miles from all those others as other PPs point out. It's alright from the few times I've visited but can't really comment much more.

Peterborough has some lively villages around it, but then so do some of the bigger places (Newark, Grantham, Oakham). But again it's what you are used to - do you want a small village with nothing much and constantly relying on car or a bigger city with a bus that is more than once an hour ?

Peterborough itself has some really awful areas but also some lovely areas . But it's a big commuter town given trains to London are less than an hour. The City Centre has had a bit of money spent on developing it, there is a nice big Waitrose right next to the station.

Have you looked at Grantham, Stamford, Oakham as other options?

Op
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We live in Peterborough (DH is from there. It suits us).

The centre to gradually getting nicer but even now you see plenty of dodgy people.

It has good facilities- 3 pools plus a lido, a big hospital, new university building going up, a few sports pitches, a market which varies but has good lunch stalls, theatres, great train links.

Look carefully at secondary school catchment areas if you pick one of the villages- Castor children go to Jack Hunt school for example and it’s not very good. Glinton is technically part of Peterborough but it feels a bit like a village and has Arthur Mellows which is currently the best state secondary.

Stamford schools are good for primary but not so good after that as so many people go private.

Newark is lovely. I had a friend who lived in Stamford and that is lovely but expensive.