Relocating to Mansfield - Help!

[Laurasco87]

My partner has been promoted and we are going to relocate so he’s nearer his new office. His job is going to be in Alfreton but I have read not great things about that area. I am open to Mansfield or Derby or surrounding areas but would still need to visit family in both Leeds and Doncaster so not too far south! I am more concerned with a good/safe location than size of house and our budget is around £230,000.

We like rural areas but still want a social life! Currently have no children but that is in our future, and I am a primary teacher so will be looking for a job in that sector wherever we move to.

Can anyone give me any guidance on where to look at moving? It’s so hard doing everything from a distance!

Thanks in advance :)

Thank you so much everyone! I’m really touched by how many of you have offered your opinions and I will thoroughly look into each and every one of them! It’s good to know we have lots of options and the fact you all seem so friendly is lovely start to relocation :)

It is friendly, my parents are just the other side of j27 and I enjoy going back to visit. Like others has said, if working in alfreton there are more suitable options location wise then Mansfield. Excellent points made about school holidays and traffic!

Not been through all the thread but with your budget - how about Ilkeston (more new estates) I have a few friends who live there - you have everything you need there!

Also there are nicer parts of Sutton in Ashfield and Kirkby in Ashfield and there's also hucknall too.

Mansfield has ok parts too, not all down and out! I've supplied long and short terms in a few schools mansfield and the surrounding areas and they were nice to work in!

Some of Mansfield is very well to do. Berry Hill is generally really nice with some extremely expensive properties. Yes there are very run down areas but thats the same with most large towns. In general south Mansfield is nicer than north.

For Alfreton you would in a perfect world need to live easy reach of the A38 so popular places within that easy reach south to north are:- Derby , Little Eaton, Duffield ,Milford, Coxbench, Holbrook, Bargate, Belper, Ripley, Denby, Kilburn, Horsley, Horsley Woodhouse, Smalley, South Normanton, Broadmeadows then Alfreton.

Ripley & Belper are both towns, the others are villages, Ripley is a cheaper town than Belper although Belper is more affluent than Ripley and won High street of the year last year or the year before as it has some great independent shops and some lovely cafes/bars, neither are huge towns with museums and theatre but Belper does have a small independent cinema and does have a small art culture if you go on social media

Don't move to south Nottingham eg West Bridgford if you've got to commute to Alftreon. Getting through Nottingham in the morning is a nightmare.

Move north of Nottingham, or better, Derbyshire.

Chesterfield has some lovely areas (Wingerworth, Walton, Newbold for example) and is an easy commute to Alfreton. Chesterfield train station has decent links to Leeds too. Towards Derby I'd look at Little Eaton or Duffield, but a bit more expensive.

Smalley, Horsely, Horsely Woodhouse are also lovely, more village-y but easy commuting into Derby or Nottingham.

Areas like Darley Dale (near Matlock) are lovely, but prone to getting snowed in during winter and the transport links are not as good as staying closer to Chesterfield or Derby.

There's nothing in places like Smalley though. I don't know the other places you have mentioned but Smalley hasn't even got a shop has it? I know there is a pub but otherwise it's just houses along a main road.

Surely it depends on what people like? There is a small convenience store (or at least there used to be), a garage, pub and post office. It's also a 5 minute drive from the Co-op in Horsley Woodhouse or the Tesco or Aldi in Heanor. It's on a main bus route into Derby, places at the primary school tend to be sought after and it's only a 35 minute walk to the secondary school in Heanor which is rated outstanding.