So, STOCKPORT, huh? Do you live there, and what do you think of it?

[Ohforfoxsake]

Following on from my appeal for help for a move to Manchester, I am casting my net a little wider and appealing again to helpful and wise MNers.

I think we have narrowed down to two areas, Trafford and Stockport and after a lot of great advice on her for Manchester, I'd like some opinions on Stockport.

Seems a bit more green, still good schools.

Is it too country? I'm born and bred in the city and am an urban fox (see what I did there? ), although a breath of fresh air appeals.

Four under seven, a DH who works away alot, but will be based in Salford. I have done lots of research on the internet and have been there a couple of times, but only really driven through. On paper it looks pretty good. Is it?

Thanks for your time

Come to Whitefield/Prestwich instead, much nearer to Salford and town

Used to live in Heaton Moor which is only across the boundary from Manchester (chi chi Didsbury next district in...)

Stockport is HUUUUUGE. Inner bits round town centre pretty ordinary urban mix of suburban, council with lots of commuter villages of varying ponciness, wealth or not and amenities (eg Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall and many many more) Lots of nice coffee shops, parks etc.

Good commuting to Salford (on M60) and by train, some local trains still, but also mainline station in Stockport.

Some decent state schools, good access to countryside. None of Stockport towns etc can really be called country. I think the Heatons is the most 'urban' and closest to central Manchester (a bonus, I feel ). May still have its own cinema. But not cheap for 'northern' standards.

Also know Salford reasonably well but also immense place and VERY varied - you will need to narrow things down a bit...

Sorry, you said Trafford. Equally huge. Includes Hale and Altrincham (upmarket) but also Sale (medium and mixed)and Stretford (great transport and next to Chorlton) and loads and loads of outlying areas, some nice, some awful...

I think you lovely pair both contributed to the Manchester thread I started

Trouble is I'm struggling to narrow it down, I thought I had, but then spied a house in Marple which was pretty darned fab and started to explore further.

I have spent today printing out catchment maps for schools in Stockport.

Do you think this would work: go to the secondary school open days, decide forerunners, then look at primaries and houses? I mean, you have to start somewhere don't you? Even if its a few years before DC1 is at secondary school

(Actually I was hoping someone would just tell me what to do! )

We'll be house hunting in earnest after Christmas, so hope to look at schools this October. DH's work gets quiet over Christmas, but we will only have a few pockets of time when we can actually get there, so I want to be as well equipped as I can be with all the theory.

Providing I haven't gone mad in the process!

As far as Trafford goes, Hale is number 1 choice, Sale and Altrincham are in our sights, but I am leaning towards Stockport as its closer to the countryside, without being scarily green. I'd like to dip into country life without actually getting my wellies muddy.

Marple is quite nice IIRC - lots of green woods and walks and river/canal? Think there's a train there but not sure. But further out and less well connected by road than Hale or Altrincham or other bits of Stockport.

Yes, you need people who live there, who will really know about current schools etc. Good luck.

Thanks

Shamelessly bumping for attention.

I live in Hazel Grove now (next to Marple).

I was raised first in Heaton Mersey, Stockport and then went to Timperely, Trafford.

Marple is nice but not urban.

Trafford is full of grammar schools. I went to one of the best. So did cornsilk (another Mnetter).

Huge pluses for both areas.

Main school (secondary) in Marple is called Marple Hall - tis good.

Various other good secondary schools around as well, such as Poynton High, Hazel Grove High and indeed, a number of independent grammars - such as Stockport Grammar School.

Oh - and I'm a regular, long term Mnetter who has changed names because of the Daily Mail! If you're any good at anagrams, you'll figure out who I am!

Other Stockport Mnetters include Mildmanneredjannitor, Gorionine and MumofMonsters.

Cornsilk still lives in Trafford i think.

So ask away - between us, we should ab able to help!

Are you still not decided, woman?

Heaton Moor is where you want.

The only reason I don't live there is because MIL does, but that probably won't bother you too much.

Ahh, thank you OldDoe. There's nothing really wrong with any of the areas on my shortlist as far as I can tell, do you thing that's right - or am I missing something? They all seem really good options.

I've checked out Upmystreet, crime levels, schools, neighbourhoods, who reads what papers, findmyschool, BBC school league tables, Times top 2000. I've been thorough, but its all just theory until we can actually get there and take a long, long walk around.

Fox, honestly, they're all good areas. No Stockwell Gardens type estates hiding around the corners.

Good state schools are both less thin on the ground up here, and much easier to get into.

That's part of the reason we made the move.

Not decided, Martha? NOT DECIDED? NO! AND I AM MORE CONFUSED THAN EVER!!!

Yes, I like Heaton Moor very, very much. Infact I found my dream house. 7 bedrooms, over budget at £530k, but I would have eaten cornflakes for the rest of my life to live there. It was on the market a year to soon unfortunately.

Heaton Moor is good - Heaton Mersey (Mauldeth Road/Mersey road area) is better!

If I had a gun held to my head and someone pulled my judgey pants up into a wedgie, I would say Altrincham and surrounds is, overall, a better area BUT I puposefully moved back to Stockport because the folk are down to earth and ever so slightly uglier than they are in Trafford!

I reckon if you are indeed an urban fox, wherever you choose needs a good, quick train/tram into Manchester itself.

Stockport, whilst perfectly functional, is not exactly a glittering metropolis or cultural hotbed. And up here the suburbs are much quieter.

Ha! LOL at that last comment!

Now, I get confused about the Heatons. Moor, Mersey and Chapel. Is one less des-res than the others (Chapel I'm guessing)?

I was in Stockport a couple of weeks ago, and I just got a better sense of space IYSWIM.

Bramhall I liked too.

Its the grammar schools in Trafford which are drawing us in. Will they really offer a better education than the local state school in the right environment? I think I'm balancing up the green hills I saw in the distance with my association that Trafford is still 'city'. And my number 1 priority is the school they will go to. Am I putting too much emphasis on it?

sorry, thinking outloud!

LOL at the 'more ugly than in Trafford' comment. Took me so long to post, meaning got lost!

Martha might bite me head off now but I'll stick my neck out anyway - Trafford and it's grammar schools piss all over the other areas!

I went to Loreto. Altrincham Grammar for Girls is outstanding (although those beatches cheated at hockey!) and Altrincham Grammar for boys is also very good. North Cestrian is for rich kids who didn't do so well in their 11+ , St Ambrose for boys is fabulous. Sale schools I'm not so sure of.

Stockport boasts Stockport Grammar which is outstanding but costs! Kings in Macclesfield (lots of kids bus in to it) is a bit of a University factory IMO! And you still have to pay.

Trafford is close to some gorgeous countryside - just a quick nip down Dunham road.

Heaton Mersey/Heaton Moor on a par but Heaton Moor I would say, is more trendy (in a good way).
Heaton Chapel not so hot.
Heaton Norris....I keep my own council but put it this way, I wouldn't live there!

If it was me, I'd head for Trafford (schools being a BIG motivating factor in my decision making too), however, if I couldn't find a house in Trafford, then Heaton Moor/Mersey or Marple would all be OK.

We'll have no head-biting on this thread! Leave that to the nutter-thread picking a fight elsewhere on MN!

I'm terrified we'll get there and learn we are one street outside the catchment and we will have compromised on our house and it will all be horrible.... oh my...

Priestnall in Heaton Moor is excellent if you decide against selective schooling. Plenty who go on to Oxbridge after college.

Martha, that's where I grew up! Across the playing field .

Just to add my tuppence worth...and even though I don't live there, my brother lives in Heaton Moor and I really enjoy going to visit him! Places to eat, take kids, close to shops yet a huge house and garden, and easy to get into Manchester with all its interesting places(just voicing thoughts for your guests!!!!)

My nephew goes to Stockport Grammar and they speak highly of it.

Random thoughts of a Friday

OldDoe, you might just know my DH

Although I am a cockney incomer myself