Moving to Manchester - and I have no idea where to go. HELP ME PLEEEEAAAASE

[Ohforfoxsake]

So, we are going to Manchester, DP has a job in Salford.

So far I have investigated Altrincham but the LEA have told us that its highly unlikely the children would get into the same school. Its really important to me that they do as they are upping sticks and leaving all their friends behind. I don't mind home educating until places come up, but not as a long term solution.

Or, we could move further out and move out from the city (currently in London so that appeals). If DP can do a maximum one hours commute, its possible.

We have 4 DCs so want to base our search around good schools - they are in primary at the moment, but will soon be in Secondary and we don't really want to move twice, so we'd like to get it right first time round.

I am stumped and have no idea where to look. Any suggestions, words of wisdom or pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

OH the rain!

Thanks Martha, that's really helpful.

How did you find out where you wanted to be? I mean, there's such a massive choice of good areas up there. I think I have a shortlist, but then it changes. How many times did you visit before you moved? Do you have friends and family up there beforehand? In short, how is relocating done?!

Sorry, so many questions!

We are going up to have another look in August and view some properties. I will be looking in Sale/Hale/Chorlton/Didsbury/Bramhall/Cheadle/Lymm.

I loved Ramsbottom, but commute too tricky.

I also love this thread. It has been a huge help, and I am very grateful to everyone

For us a big deciding factor was the journey into town. moving from London, we didn't want to be too far out, as cheshire/lancashire proper seems more suburban than London fringe IMVHO. I suppose your first decision would be whether to move to Manchester (sale, didsbury, chorlton) or Cheshire proper (wilmslow, bramhall, lymm), as the two really do have a different feel.

We really wanted to continue living in the city. We didn't have a London budget , so our choice of areas was much more limited.

I guess if you are to be a SAHM, and your partner doesn't mind a long commute, then the world is your oyster.

Schools up here are much, much less of an issue than in London in terms of oversubscription. I would avoid Manchester LEA, but all of the outlying boroughs seem to have plenty of good options. I'm sure you already know about the Trafford Grammars, if that's your thing.

Schools are the deciding factor for us I think, and DPs commute - seems that he could be home from work in 20 minutes if we live in Didsbury .

Interesting you said you moved from Peckham, I lived around those parts (Camberwell, East Dulwich) for a fair while, and know it well

Home in 20mins? off-peak, maybe, but the rush hour traffic must be endured to be believed. even the motorways clog up here. I am more up to date on current affairs than I thought possible due to lengthy exposure to the Today programme (no CD player in car).

I don't know detailed information about Didsbury schools, but Manchester LEA is generally a bit . But if you like Didsbury, then Heaton Moor is just a few minutes down the road, but over the border into Stockport borough, where the schools are better. Priestnall in particular is very good, and sends plenty of students to Oxbridge (DH being one of them many moons ago). Heaton Moor has a nice village feel, and if you liked East Dulwich, I'm sure you'd like Heaton Moor. There's also a train station there taking you into Piccadilly in about 15mins.

That's interesting Martha. Have been looking at houses and you get a lot for the money there.

There are a few 'Heatons' are they all much the same, or do they differ at all? Heaton Moor, Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey - much of a muchness?

No, the Heatons are not all the same. Avoid Heaton Norris on the "wrong" side of the A6. Heaton Moor = the nicest

Thanks Tinker, I suspected as much.

Its a minefield!!!

Confusingly, some of Heaton Norris is nice (the bit on Heaton Moor border)

phwoar

or here

I KNOW!!!

AND the OFSTED reports of the local schools look good.

[excited emoticon]

Ooh, no - the house on Tatton Road North is facing the railway.

Surely you need this one:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25779590.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCO DE^2369&minBedrooms=4&maxPrice=700000&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&inclu deSSTC=true&includeSSTC=on&pageNumber=1&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationId entifier%3DOUTCODE%255E2369%26minBedrooms%3D4%26maxPrice%3D700000%26displayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26o ldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26includeSSTC%3Dtrue%26includeSSTC%3Don

Hayfield in the Peak District is about 45 minutes from Manchester City Centre. Nice little village out in the sticks if you are looking for a more rural area - good primary school, but secondary schools are a bit hit and miss.

Aww, that link didn't work!

hello - we are also considering relocating to Manchester. But still worrying about the decision - not yet got as far as houses! Stayed with friends outside Didsbury in Stockport recently which was a great location. Walked to Didsbury high st & a large park with river & cycle tracks. All idylic & sunny - but the reality of leaving here tough. How long did you take to make your decision?

It was really made for us, Smallerclanger, with DPs work. The turning point for me was studying the OFSTED reports for here and there. There's a lot more choice up there. Then, when I started to look for what we would get for our money after selling our flat, it started to look like a really attractive proposition!

There's been a lot of really good advice on this thread Smallerclanger. My email is down there somewhere, do feel free to get in touch if you want to.

Hello again, you still looking?
Haven't been tempted towards a proper village yet?

The schools around Northwich are very good;
The Grange and Cransley are independent and the sixth form, Sir John Deanes is excellent.

There's no way one can get from Northwich to Salford in an hour in the mornings. Not after 7am anyway.

foxy, I know a lovely MNer in Didsbury who I'm sure would love to show you around

When are you moving?

oh yes we are still in London and waiting, waiting, waiting for DPs work to confirm a date. In the meantime, I continue to go round in circles...

Hi Ohforfoxsake - I posted a while ago saying that we were also looking to move to Manchester and then couldn't find the thread again. We went up to have a look around and I liked Hale best of the places we looked at. However things have changed for dh's job and I don't think we'll go now, certainly not in the near future anyway. Good luck.

Hi Magnacarta, yes I saw your post and stalked you for a while, but couldn't find you I liked Hale too. Hope all goes well with you.

Daisy, I would love to talk to her! Yes please!

Just to let you know, if you are looking at the Heatons and Disbury area, my parents put their house on the market last weekend, had 5 viewings in the first weekend, and have now had an offer in from one of those. So it does seem that in popular parts of Manchester, good houses are going quite fast. (The interesting thing was that three out of the families viewing were Heaton Moor dwellers who didn't want to move out of Heaton Moor, and one family was from Didsbury).

Ohforfoxsake - you've got a friend in Hale now! I'm still voting for Hale, Bowden or Altrincham which all border each other anyway. I think that you need to shortlist the schools in the area and then househunt for properties within catchment of your 1st choice. Academic standards are high and if this is a priority (certainly so in my case), then you need to be in Trafford which has excellent/numerous state grammars. Good Luck.

Is it lovely, Selby?

Oh please come and talk to me in RL!

laineyjbe at hotmail dot co dot uk

I would love to hear all about your move and what you think about it