Please help us decide where to live

[SpritzH]

Hi,

So currently in the cambs area, but we're all desperate for a fresh start and would like to move further north once dc has finished GCSEs next year, so our 16 year old needs very much need to be taken into account.

Wishlist is:

Large village/small market town.
Plenty of art, indie and coffee shops.
Nice pubs and restaurants.
Pretty countryside views or at least nearby.
Easy links to nearby cities, but don't need to be right next to a train station.
Within an hour (ish) and a half from Nottinghamshire.
Close to good art colleges.

Absolute max budget is 600k, but that may be pushing it after last night's calculations 😬 With that we need somewhere with at least 4 bedrooms, detached and with a large garden. Ideally a bit of land (possible wishful thinking, I know)

Places already considering are Malton North Yorkshire, Stamford, Matlock, Bakewell and Leek.

Anyone with any experience of those areas or new ones I haven't mentioned, please share :)

TIA

Always liked Market Harborough.
Not "north" but significantly cheaper than Cambs.

I’d agree, it seems to meet all your requirements.

We’ve just bought a house in Stamford. It is lovely but you will not get much change out of your £600,000 for your requirements.

Belper lots of arts and creative type things going on, good bars cafes and shops Accessible to Nottingham and derby - both with good art colleges
Leek is great too and the art college is good, I hear

Stamford is very lovely but far from cheap.
Market Harborough would fit your criteria.

Thanks for the replies.

@Dougieowner and @Beebumble2 I hadn't considered Market Harborough. I don't really know anything about it tbh. Would you mind sharing any more info?

@Violinist64 Yes, this is a definite downside it seems.

@crazynell I've been looking at Belper actually. Looks nice, but looks a bit sparse in terms of colleges.

Hi SpritzH,
MH small market town with a direct rail link to London. Not far from the A1 and M1/M6 Birmingham links. It is also 15 miles west of Leicester. The schools are good, with an Outstanding secondary school.
There is a thriving town centre with good supermarkets, high street retailers and a host of independent shops, restaurants and cafes. Also a small theatre.
Directly from the town are many country walks, a canal walk and it has a very good leisure centre with lots of sport opportunities.
The surrounding countryside is beautiful with a great deal of History ( civil war sights). It’s very easy to get to Leicester, Kettering or Corby for cinemas.

I live in a largish village just outside of MH and can only recommend it.

You asked about Art Colleges, Leicestershire has De Montfort University and Loughborough University which do art courses.

@SpritzH what are you looking for from an art college? Foundation courses, degree level, classes and workshops? There's the strutts centre in Belper and fleet arts plus other community type activities. Derby Nottingham Leicester and Loughborough all have good art colleges - going further west Stoke also has a good art college