What part of Lancashire?

[Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrringles]

We are planning on relocating to Lancashire, but don’t know which part.
We were swaying towards Preston, but after visiting we felt unsure because I didn’t like the city centre layout - it felt too easy to be run over, and it seemed a bit too lively on a Saturday!
We have heard only negative things about Burnley and Blackburn (can anyone confirm or deny?). We considered Chorley, but unsure. Lancaster looks lovely, but the grammar school system there has put us off as our eldest will already be Y7.
Obviously actually living in these places would be very different to visiting though anyway, so it would be good to hear opinions.
Also, if anyone could suggest other places that might be suitable that would be appreciated.

Our criteria is:

budget: 190k max

We need good public transport

somewhere that has a train station.

amenities - hospital vital, things for the DC to do, cinema, parks, supermarkets nearby

WFH so jobs not a problem.

DC in primary and secondary school.

Somewhere friendly - community feel, if that still exists.

Can anyone give me some advice?

Thanks!

@burnleylasses I'm glad somebody is speaking up for the old place! I have such deep roots there, my family were very involved in the civic and industrial life of the town (don't want to be too outing), and now almost all those ties are broken. If you pick your spot, there are far worse places to live and the countryside is wonderful and the water makes the best cup of tea bar none. Great road and rail links too.

How interesting! Would love to know more. You’re not related to the Towneley family are you?

I agree wholeheartedly about the water making the best cup of tea! 🫖

@mateysmum @burnleylasses and @Pipsquiggle Its good to hear a different perspective on Burnley and Blackburn. I haven’t been to either so it’s interesting reading everyone’s opinions. What draws me to Lancashire is that people seem to have a sense of pride about where they live and a sense of community (I’m hoping I’m not wearing rose-tinted specs about that though!), and that really comes out in a lot of the responses on this thread.

Grew up in Darren- got the hell out 40 years ago - the remaining family seem to have all headed for the moors - it's better than Blackburn and Bolton though

@burnleylasses No not to the Towneleys, nothing as posh as that, but they were mill owners and later business owners and magistrates. I doubt anyone remembers now. Pulled themselves up by the bootstraps from being miners and weavers.
@Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrringles You've got it right about the people. I constantly embarrass my softy southern husband and family by being willing to chat to any random stranger. They think I'm mad, but I'm just Lancastrian!
Joking apart, I think you really have to go and explore. There's no doubt that Lancs is a mixed and varied county, from the semi rural small city of Lancaster to gritty post industrial towns, to beautiful villages in Bowland and the flat Fylde coast. It's all according to taste.

I live a bit north of Preston. I think the town is ok... not sure there's actually anywhere better for shopping till you get to Manchester tbh. IME the centre is fine - it seems to operate as the 'Dutch' system where any cars that do go through the middle (and nowadays few do, there's not much need to) are careful and give way. And it's got great parks - avenham/Miller plus the local nature reserve over the river, Haslam park with the canal by it...

In retrospect we'd have probably gone for somewhere nearer Lancaster instead but at the time I needed to be able to travel elsewhere for work. DD went to the GS, there were quite a few joined in-year.

Or Penwortham or perhaps Longton. I believe the schools - Penwortham Girls, Hutton grammar (boys CofE, not actually a GS) are reckoned to be good.

There's a heck of a lot of new builds in the area at the moment. This means that some of the slightly older houses are relatively cheap. But afaik they haven't actually built any new schools yet so I'd be very careful to check catchments and an availability of places.

...though when I said cheap I'm not sure where you can get a decent house for a family with (i assume) 2 or more kids for £190K

was also going to recommend Ormskirk

@ErrolTheDragon My DH said that he noticed that the cars drove slowly through the town and so thought it seemed safe, I think it’s because I was worried the DC would wander out infront of one it worried me. We currently live in a town that has A LOT of boy racer types and e-bikes, so I was applying how they drive here, to how they might drive there.

I’d agree with the sense of pride. You’ve not misread that.

As for Blackburn I have never lived there (though do know it well) but I wouldn’t recommend it to live. People tend to lump the two towns together but they are very different. I’m maybe biased but Burnley is much nicer!

I think a lot of the towns in Lancashire have a very long proud history. Obviously mainly from the Industrial Revolution when these towns were thriving, rich places. Sadly there is a sense we have been forgotten since to an extent. We’ve been promised ‘levelling up’ on many occasions but I don’t think we’ll ever be fully level. We’re too wild and proud up here anyway to be equal to the south. Here in Burnley/Pendle we are descended from witches 😉 Joking aside, in the 17th century Pendle was seen as a dark, wild corner of England hence the witch trials.

Pretty much agree with this. Look at South Ribble, Chorley. But with £190k you will struggle.

I would suggest places like New Longton, Walmer Bridge, Penwortham and Hutton. Really love the Trough of Bowland areas but they are pricey.
Leyland used to be a decent town and there are still some nice areas, and like any town there are also not so nice areas.
There is a hell of a lot of building going on and the traffic reflects that.

@mateysmum a westholme girl ?? Me too

Close. QEGS. I was one of the first girls to go there.

@burnleylasses Ive just spent the last hour down a Pendle Witches rabbit hole after your post 😂. I had heard of the Pendle witches, but didn’t know anything about it. Very fascinating!

Go to Newchurch. Lot's of witchcraft follklore. There was a lovely shop called Witches Galore there. Not been in years but I hope it is still going.

Historically in Lancashire but now definitely in Merseyside - and has high house prices … parts of it are footballer territory, huge houses.

Can only comment on Lancaster - genuinely almost all of the primaries are very good. The two to avoid if possible are St Joseph’s and Castle View - they’ve both recently had poor Ofsteds. From our experiences and those of friends / families, I can recommend St Bernadette’s (Catholic though), Bowerham, Moorside and Dallas Road. Ellel is also great, but in a village on the outskirts rather than in the city itself.

The secondaries - the grammars do take pupils in year, especially if they’re living in the city boundaries. They’re are both excellent schools that strive for academic excellence. Suited one of ours perfectly, the other would have hated it and was very happy at Ripley St Thomas. There are sometimes in year admissions, but I think the church attendance rules still apply.

Central Lancaster is a much better school than it used to be but I think it’s fair to say there’s a more mixed demographic in some ways, more complex SEN perhaps, some more behavioural issues. But this is in contrast to three really exceptionally top notch schools, so I think people in Lancaster have a perception that it’s a worse school than it actually is. It’s not the most academic though, because of the grammars and Ripley. If your DC is academic they might find it doesn’t fit them well.

Our Lady’s is not great from what I’ve heard. But don’t know much about it.

@claphamnative Thank you for taking the time to post about the Lancaster schools, it’s really helpful. My eldest is very academic, which is something I’m trying to consider with schools.

For Chorley primary schools I don't think there are any that are thought of as poor (i researched a lot before we moved here)

For secondary schools, not direct experience but the most sought after seems to be St Michael's (though church attendance pretty much essential to get in). The others all appear to be perfectly fine, the only one I've heard bad things about is Southlands. From people I've spoken to with kids there, the teaching aspect is fine especially if in top sets, but there can be some behaviour/social issues. But that's all second hand info!

Good luck with the search!

Have you a bigger budget @Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrringles or are you trying to move up here mortgage free and that’s limiting it ?
Many of these large post industrial northern towns like Burnley, Blackburn and Bolton are similar in that they have areas of social deprivation but also extremely affluent ones where houses can be well over £500k. The town centres tend to be dire with loads of boarded up shops, homeless etc but there are shoots of regeneration becoming visible lately. Definitely going on in our town with loads of new houses being built actually in the centre. Public transport sadly is laughable and until they sort that out we are never going to be as thriving as parts of the south.
I already live up here and was looking for something in that budget (around £200-250k) but there was very little big enough and not in horrendously depressing areas at that price.

I went to st Michaels (was living in horwich then) and moved from another school due to bullying
Nothing but good things to say about the school, I was a refuser and ended up in a PRU due to the horrific bullying at the other school.
The PRU was full of children that had been suspended for being bullies, drug use etc etc and I was more welcomed there!

St Michaels took me in when I couldn't even get out the car to face going in and I never had any issues there

@spikeandbuffy that's wonderful to hear - yes it does sound like a fab school, sorry if I was unclear, it was Southlands I'd heard mixed things about!

St Michael's would definitely be on our list but we've no chance as non-church-goers

@Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrringles glad it was helpful. When are you hoping to make the move? Might be worth contacting the grammars to see what their procedures are. We are an area that sees more of a churn of people generally than many similar areas because of the universities. There are lots of people who come to Lancaster for their PhDs bringing family who then move away when they’re done, or who come for fixed term research posts etc.

@helly29 Thank you for the information about the Chorley schools, really great to hear all of the primaries are good. Thank you for the luck too 😊.

@Wordsfailmeeverytime Sadly, no bigger budget, and we won’t be mortgage-free.

@spikeandbuffy I’m sorry you had such a horrific experience at your first school. This would be my worst nightmare for my own children. Do you mind sharing the name of the bad school? And is it still bad?