Moving from London to Sheffield

[Merriczynska]

Hi folks,

Any advice on where is best to relocate to in Sheffield from London? DH has just secured a new teaching job in Longley, North Sheffield and we have a 3yr old in tow and I'm pregnant with our 2nd due in May so we are on the search for somewhere with good primary schools and where I won't feel lonely on mat leave with a newborn! Need access to toddler and baby friendly spaces and facilities in relative walking distance. As I'll be on mat leave we're looking either to rent or buy somewhere on a smaller budget before I go back to work again in a year or so. Not 100% sure on budget yet but below £300k is probably realistic at this stage. I've heard Totley & Dore are lovely but are they ok in terms of things to do with babies and toddlers? I guess our budget won't go as far in the nicer areas and it would be lovely to have 4 bedrooms to have one for visiting family from the south! Any tips gratefully received x

Yes Notre Dame is very good

Sir Henry Fanshawe is Dronfield. Norton and Greenhill go to Meadowhead don’t they

@Clockbookbeast

I'd also think about Barnsley (nearer to dh work which he will be visiting more than mil but close to m1for travel to matlock). Look at the villages like Silkstone, thurgoland, Oxspring, millhouse green, Thurlestone, hoylandswaine, any where near Market town Penistone. You'll get a 4bed detached for between £3-400000, good or outstanding primarys and excellent secondary schools.

Prices are shooting up in Barnsley too and I honestly think you'd struggle to get a 4 bed in those areas within your budget.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Yes Notre Dame is very good

Sir Henry Fanshawe is Dronfield. Norton and Greenhill go to Meadowhead don’t they

Most, not all. From my area the majority do but some also go to Dronfield, Mercia, All Saints (the other Catholic school) and UTC (from Y9 up).

if you an stretch your budget a little

I honestly wouldn’t want to commute from Dronfield to Longley. Into Sheffield Centre is ok.

I think you need to look whether you want to be near a tram route or a bus route and how much you like walking up and down hills.

The house I’ve posted on Fir Street is a very quiet road, but only 5 mins walk to the bus stop. If you wanted to catch the tram you’d be better off looking round the bottom of Upperthorpe.

The end of Walkley/Crookes has fewer students and is more open, less busy.

I’m not a big fan of Hillsbrorough, and wouldn’t want to live near the Weds ground as parking/traffic can be an issue.

Think you need to work out your main priorities - travel to work, leisure, schools etc.

Upperthorpe is where there are sometimes shootings.

Crookes and Walkley have lots of families and baby/pre school groups, good parks and playgrounds. Very friendly feel, quite professional but "lefty" feel with a bit of a buzz and not too far from the centre. Highly recommend.
Rivelin is also nice.
Hunters Bar/Greystones/Endcliffe park are worth a look too. Good schools, park and family friendly.

I wouldn't consider Grenoside due to the schools. Meersbrook is nice but secondary schools are an issue in my opinion (particularly Mercia).
Millhouses is very nice but significantly above budget.

I definitely wouldn't consider Norton, Woodseats etc, not many families overall, high number of retired people and quite dull despite having Graves Park. The schools aren't great either. Meadowhead is the catchment secondary.

Also I wouldn't recommend any out of Sheffield places like Dronfield (sterile, boring, small town like and quite a commute) and definitely not Barnsley or Rotherham!

Sheffield is a great city but it is very area dependent and a very divided city in terms of nice areas, education, deprivation etc.
The previous posters are right in saying that house prices have really increased recently particularly in the popular areas of S10, S6, S11.

I disagree with all the posters saying don't consider Dronfield. I regularly commute from the south of chesterfield to the northern general (which is not far from Longley) and it's an hour if I need to be there at 9am. Dronfield is a good 15-20 mins closer and has a great park, gymnastics academy, outstanding secondary schools and is generally family friendly.
I do find a lot of my colleagues are used to a 15 min commute because they live in the city and are horrified by the thought of my standard 35 minute drive! I guess it depends what commute you're used to.

Woodseats or Norton, both have excellent transport links, good shops, places to eat & pubs on Woodseats, Graves Park, 10 mins to peak district, 15 mins from M1. Houses sell as soon as they go on sale, excellent schools.

Anyone saying you need to go through city centre from Woodseats/Norton/Dronfield to Longley, you don't, head over Manor towards Sheffield Arena & head up Brightside Lane towards Northern General Hospital, Longley is 2 minutes away.

Woodseats also has Chesterfield Road which is just hideous with traffic all day

@Nat6999
What good places are there to eat in Norton?

@Wonderwoman333

Crookes and Walkley have lots of families and baby/pre school groups, good parks and playgrounds. Very friendly feel, quite professional but "lefty" feel with a bit of a buzz and not too far from the centre. Highly recommend. Rivelin is also nice. Hunters Bar/Greystones/Endcliffe park are worth a look too. Good schools, park and family friendly.

I wouldn't consider Grenoside due to the schools. Meersbrook is nice but secondary schools are an issue in my opinion (particularly Mercia).
Millhouses is very nice but significantly above budget.

I definitely wouldn't consider Norton, Woodseats etc, not many families overall, high number of retired people and quite dull despite having Graves Park. The schools aren't great either. Meadowhead is the catchment secondary.

Also I wouldn't recommend any out of Sheffield places like Dronfield (sterile, boring, small town like and quite a commute) and definitely not Barnsley or Rotherham!

Sheffield is a great city but it is very area dependent and a very divided city in terms of nice areas, education, deprivation etc.
The previous posters are right in saying that house prices have really increased recently particularly in the popular areas of S10, S6, S11.

If you only remember one post from this thread, OP, make it this one!

BTW, I am not remotely a lefty, but still like the 'feel' of Crookes/Walkley. Basically middle-class but not loaded (and a bit lefty ).

[quote Wonderwoman333]@Nat6999
What good places are there to eat in Norton?[/quote]
I do remember being desperate for a pee at Norton Water Tower about a thousand years ago... but I can't think what else there is in Norton. There used to be a good fairground in the school summer holidays.

@Merriczynska

So is Norton & Woodseats not great for young children on the whole then? Or just the pram pushing aspect of the practical nature of lugging young kids around! Crookes is looking more appealing, despite the student factor 🤪

Crooked proper has fewer students these days. A lot of the students stayed put, so it's increasingly more young family and young professionals. The students seem to have been pushed down the hill a bit more. However, this has pushed the house prices up.

I'm not sure why there's all this mention of the M1 to get to Matlock, I wouldn't go anywhere near the M1 to do that journey. Down to Chesterfield and then across.

All I can say is research your areas carefully as traffic really does affect commute times. I can get to SW Sheffield from just north of Nottingham quicker than some friends on the other side of the city at certain times of day.

Ha ha, l remember the water tower in Norton,

Most students have left Crookes. They prefer the city centre purpose built stuff.

And I specially remember the fair in Norton!

The houses in Crookes aren’t what the students want and I think the rise in house prices mean landlords are selling up. You won’t get a 4 bed in Crookes for £300k though plus off road parking is very rare too. This is the reason we moved from Crookes recently.

We’re still in a student area and whilst they aren’t the quietest neighbours, they’re respectful when we’ve asked them to turn the music down and it’s means we have far more shops, take aways and other amenities because in houses which would have a family of 2 adults 2 children there are 4 adults instead with more buying power.

I’m going to be honest. I think you’ll struggle to get a 3 bed in a nice area for £300k.

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119754821

Dronfield is lovely. Not sterile at all and Henry Fanshaw is a lovely school. It would be a commute to Longley but a worthy commute. 35 to 40 minutes.

@Sewaccidentprone has made a very good suggestion with that Rightmove link.

People move to Dronfield to retire/die. Honestly, OP, don't do it.

I’ve just found this.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120287441