Pete Owens
Well-Known Member
When I first moved to Warrington 30 years ago (long before IKEA existed) I lived in Great Sankey, but moved to Stockton Heath to reduce the length of the commute.
I would recommend it to anyone - but it is probably not for the OP. It a densely developed traditional neighbourhood. So easy walking distance to shops, schools, leisure centre, cubs, brownies, churches, village halls, restaurants, pubs, medical centre etc and a very frequent bus service to the town centre. It is easy to walk out along the Bridgewater Canal to the park at Walton Gardens or into open countryside and very good access for cycling into the Cheshire country lanes. So it makes for a very good place to live if you don't want to rely on a car or act as a perpetual taxi service for the kids. Another plus (from my POV) is that there is not a single cycle lane in Stockton Heath. The ride to IKEA would be about 6 miles.
However, if are going to work on NW Warrington then the obvious place to look for a house is .... NW Warrington. The low density new-town developments have linear parks with cycleways threading through the area - so plenty of open space. If you want to minimise your exposure to traffic danger then the simplest strategy is to minimise the length of the commute - with the added bonus that you get to see more of your family. As others have pointed out, house prices are cheaper north of the Ship Canal which used to be the boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire.
Most of NW Warrington (West of the Sankey Valley) is identikit new town. If you transported me to a random location there I would be hard pressed to tel whether I was in Kingswood or Barrow Hall rather than Sandymoor or Appleton. Chapleford is a bit different as they tried to build an "urban village" there centred around people rather than cars - but they were thwarted by the Warrington planners. Finally if you are looking for a school to cycle to then you will certainly have no problem parking at Barrowhall Primary School: https://www.cyclestreets.net/location/85705/
I would recommend it to anyone - but it is probably not for the OP. It a densely developed traditional neighbourhood. So easy walking distance to shops, schools, leisure centre, cubs, brownies, churches, village halls, restaurants, pubs, medical centre etc and a very frequent bus service to the town centre. It is easy to walk out along the Bridgewater Canal to the park at Walton Gardens or into open countryside and very good access for cycling into the Cheshire country lanes. So it makes for a very good place to live if you don't want to rely on a car or act as a perpetual taxi service for the kids. Another plus (from my POV) is that there is not a single cycle lane in Stockton Heath. The ride to IKEA would be about 6 miles.
However, if are going to work on NW Warrington then the obvious place to look for a house is .... NW Warrington. The low density new-town developments have linear parks with cycleways threading through the area - so plenty of open space. If you want to minimise your exposure to traffic danger then the simplest strategy is to minimise the length of the commute - with the added bonus that you get to see more of your family. As others have pointed out, house prices are cheaper north of the Ship Canal which used to be the boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire.
Most of NW Warrington (West of the Sankey Valley) is identikit new town. If you transported me to a random location there I would be hard pressed to tel whether I was in Kingswood or Barrow Hall rather than Sandymoor or Appleton. Chapleford is a bit different as they tried to build an "urban village" there centred around people rather than cars - but they were thwarted by the Warrington planners. Finally if you are looking for a school to cycle to then you will certainly have no problem parking at Barrowhall Primary School: https://www.cyclestreets.net/location/85705/
