Calling all York-folk!

[Dottoressa]

I've posted before that we're moving to York; however, we are now getting to the looking-at-houses stage. We are seeing this house tomorrow - but would love opinions, good or bad, on the general area/road/anything at all! On the face of it, there is nothing not to like - but we don't know York well, so there may be all kinds of things wrong with it that we know nothing about (like the nearest children are ten miles away, or there are students in the back garden...)

Any advice would be very gratefully received!

Bishopthorpe?

Oooh that's lovely!

That Bishopthorpe one is fabulous - that's the first one I fell for, but it's out of our price range. I like the Heslington one because I just love that kind of house. I am very big on gardens, which is proving a bit tricky within central York; off-street parking is another tricky point!

The Tadcaster Road one with the big garden is the other one I'd quite like to look at. It is a semi, but it's big, and the garden looks lovely. Plus it would, I imagine, be quite easy to get to the Mount school on a bike or on foot (we'd walk up to a mile to school, possibly a bit more) - but I may be wrong!

All our plans for tomorrow may, of course, be scuppered by DD, who has in the last couple of hours developed a temp of 104 degrees and a horrible cough!

The mount is straight down the road - very easy to cycle and I would recommend a bike for central York! We all cycle and I love it. Tadcaster road is on one of the few good bus routes as well. be sure to report back progress - assuming your poor dd revives a bit!

NL - thanks for that. We all love cycling, and haven't been able to do much of it where we live at the moment, so we're looking forward to that. I will certainly report back, assuming we get there (in fact, I'll report back even if we don't!)

Dottoressa - the house looks gorgeous. However, I went to York University and I would not want to live in Heslington as a "grown-up" with children. I graduated in 1992 so I am somewhat out of touch but I remember Heslington as a very pretty village but full of students on pub crawls!

I also went to York (although am an older vintage than MrsB). I have very fond memories of the Charles XII (is that right or was I seeing double?) on pub crawls.

I also have memories of screaming down the main street in Heslington at various friends for various very important reasons at about 11.30 at night.

We also had an almost permanent boycotting demo in front of the Barclays in Heslington, although I presume that would have stopped by now.

Oh God I loved York.

Is that lovely deli/grocers still on the main street in Heslington? I just spent one year in York doing my PGCE and DH still talks about the sandwiches from there!!!

I think it was Lloyds we were boycotting when I was there? I am a slightly younger vintage than the two of you

Ooh northener, I have the agency stuff for one of the houses you linked to sat right next to me, am viewing it this week.

Don't know Heslington very well I'm afraid Dotto, no reason to visit. We've always been centre of York and now the countryside for past decade. You've picked good schools though, know loads of very happy children who went through those. DDs school was meant to merge with the Mount but it never came about.

Just don't get into a bidding war with the op!

Well, we did go (despite DD's illness) - and it is very nice. It needs a lot of work, but we are quite happy with that (it would keep DH busy). However, we'd have to re-visit it during term-time, and would probably have to hang around on a Friday/Saturday evening just to see what it's really like. It's a bit of a trek to town and the Mount, but maybe that's a sacrifice we have to make in order to get the space we want. I'd also like to do a bit of investigating re. local families - the houses next door appear to be old people's houses. The back of the house has a lovely view of the University mail-room, but lots of scope to grow veggies whilst spying on the university staff.

We also looked at a new development near Tadcaster Road Tesco and ran a mile - not our thing at all. Then we looked at the big one on Tadcaster Road, which is surely at least 100K over-priced. It's big, but not very nice at all (and also very smelly).

Househousehouse - thanks for the comment about the schools! It's nice to know that there are happy children at both. We loved both schools when we looked round them...

{{http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-19398166.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCODE%5E2 901&minBedrooms=4&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&pageNumber=2&backToListUR L=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DOUTCODE%255E2901%26minBedrooms%3D4%26displ ayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26index%3D10]] what about this one??

Hpolgate a fab area and its right next to the mount school. Easy access to the Minster school and St peters.

Also v near some good state primaries for us mere mortals!!

Sory, try again.. here

tis a beast of a commute from Heslington to the Mount by car...you will have to do half the inner ring road at peak time. You could do it by bike though, tis still a bit of a trek. I think you are better off on Bishopthorpe rd...scarcroft hill is fab too.

Heworth also a lovely area...look for houses on Stockton rd for big gardens.

Oooh - smelly is not good! It's been on the market for a while - which just bears out what you say about the rpice. I think the new houses near Tesco are awful and horribly expensive! I wonder if there's anything for sale in Fulford - near the river....will have to have a look later.

We like Fulford; DH's daughter had a flat in one of the older converted houses off Fulford Road, and used to walk in to work every day... I have found a hotel for sale on Fulford Road, but it's £695,000, and I'm not sure we want to run a hotel!

Looks a lovely house, but there are so many beautiful houses in that area, so don't worry if that one isn't right. I grew up in the York area and actually went to the Mount school myself!

the hairybabysmum that is a GORGEOUS house

So, Kettlechip... is the Mount as nice as it seems? DD will love the dining room (she likes her food!!)

York is covered by Google Earth if you want to snoop up and down the roads....

I meant Street view

ooh the Mail room.

We used to occupy the mail room whenever we went on strike (militant early 80s students). I have no idea why we occupied the mail room because all it meant was that we got no mail for days on end.

Anyway, I expect that the current lot of students are not militant in the slightest...

Oh that Heslington house is achingly gorgeous
Would you really be driving your dd to school anyway? It would be 2 short bus rides to the Mount from Hes - easily doable by a secondary school child, I would have thought.

Oooh that Bishopthorpe one is lovely, I used to live just down the road from it. Bish is a fantastic village and I would move back in a heartbeat.

It is a nice school, very good facilities and lovely grounds, the library is beautiful. I remember that dining hall in the days where we all had to sit and eat together quite formally, no cafeteria style dining in those days! And those silent assemblies where I used to spend the entire time trying to suppress giggles..

Only thing for me - I'm assuming your dd won't be boarding, I didn't either, and found that the boarders had formed very close friendships and day girls could be a little left out of some things. I think the split between boarding and day has evened out a bit recently though, so that might not be the issue it was.

I hope your dd likes it there!