Manchester

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Emu

New Member
Location
Croydon
I'm contemplating applying for a job at BBC Manchester and wondered whether any of you knew Manchester well enough to tell me where it would be nice to live, what the schools are like and how far it would be to cycle from said nice area? Thanks
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
south manchester is your best bet, but very pricy. good schools (and plenty of private ones if more money than sense is involved) for the most part. anywhere as far south as congleton is commutable by car (simon galgut, a native of this parish, rides this daily!!), for an average cyclist bramhall/cheadle hulme are a reasonable distance to commute daily by bike. and the cheshire plains and the peak district (great places to ride a bike) are on your doorstep.

if you're from croydon you'll probably find that property prices are slightly cheaper than you're used to, but don't expect to sell a flat down there and buy a mansion up here, those days are long gone.

as for manchester itself, it is a vibrant, modern city (thanks, in some measure, to the bomb of '96) which has all the facilities of london minus a few obvious tourist traps. bbc manchester is not quite in the fanciest of locations, so make sure there's somewhere out of the way for your bike.

hope this is useful to you.
 

SimonGalgut

New Member
alecstilleyedye said:
anywhere as far south as congleton is commutable by car (simon galgut, a native of this parish, rides this daily!!),

Yebbut, he's a nutter :biggrin:

South, as Alecsti.......... said, is the way to go. Possibly Didsbury, Heaton Moor, Gatley, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge (££££), Prestbury (£££££££££££££££), Macclesfield, Bollington, Congleton.
 

Smeggers

New Member
Nice Superbs of Manc...

Didsbury
Withington
Wilmslow (obviously)
Cheadle
Cheadle Hulme
Altrincham
Sale

Not so Nice:

Moss Side
Longsight
Ardwick (or anywhere just off central)
Salford
Stretford

I'm not a local so please no flamings off monkey-type Liam Gallagher look-a-likes please!
 

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
I was unfortunate enough to have to visit Stockport a few times, I wouldnt recommend it. Dunno about manchester 'proper' though, the town centre seemed ok to me, lots going on.
 

asterix

Comrade Member
Location
Limoges or York
In the late 80's I was in Manchester for 3 years as a student. Year 1 was spent in Fallowfield, year 2 in Whalley Range and in year 3 I bought a house in Edgley (Stockport).

I've also lived in Surrey, not far from Croydon. Given the choice and leaving house prices out of it, I'd rather live in/near Manchester as it is a much more lively place with more character (not that difficult WRT Croydon). Nevertheless, I certainly wouldn't recommend any of the places I lived in as they were definitely the low end of the social scale and high up the crime scale.

The previous posters have pretty much got it right IMO, altho' I'd definitely want to avoid car-commuting. I found Machester quite a good place to cycle-commute, even through Moss Side (except for one dog).
 

SamNichols

New Member
Location
Colne, Lancs
I'm moving there next week. I'll tell you all about it then.
 

monnet

Guru
Depends what you're after/ what your budget is but i'd say get yourself to Chorlton. Best part of Manchester without a doubt. Well connected, I know there are a couple of decent primary schools there (Badly Drawn Boy sends his kids to one). That said, I think half of BBC Manchester live around there. It's got some great shops and facilities - independent butchers, bakers, a fishmonger, nice pubs bars and restaurants, Chorlton water park and the Mersey trail. It is a bit pricy, though I suppose that depends on your definition of pricy and what kind of place you want. It takes about 15 minutes to the BBC by bike, 20-30mins by bus or 15mins by car.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Sadly, working at the BBC you're stuck with south Manchester and Cheshire.

To the north of Manchester are miles of superb countryside and, if you're into MTBing, some of Britain's best trails in Rossendale, Calderdale, the West Pennines, Pennines, Bowland Fells, Lakes, Dales.... and so on.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
Rigid Raider said:
Sadly, working at the BBC you're stuck with south Manchester and Cheshire.

To the north of Manchester are miles of superb countryside and, if you're into MTBing, some of Britain's best trails in Rossendale, Calderdale, the West Pennines, Pennines, Bowland Fells, Lakes, Dales.... and so on.

and that's a bad thing is it :biggrin:
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Yes, in my opinion!

You've got the airport noise, flat countryside with no views as everything's hemmed in by trees, narrow twisty roads, appalling traffic congestion, expensive houses, snotty WAGs in 4x4s, the A6, the M6 to Birmingham..... need I go on?
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
I'm in Heald Green myself (for the time being, house is up for sale) lived in Gatley before that, Baguley (between Altrincham and Wythenshawe) prior to that, and Timperley (near Altrincham) before that.

Heald Green, Cheadle, Gatley and Altrincham were all pretty pleasant, Baguley less so (the people in the house opposite burnt it down the day we moved into our house there - coincidentally though). A pal of mine lives in Sale (between Altrincham and Manchester) and likes it there

I didn't have kids of school age until we moved to Heald Green, but our local primary (Etchells) is excellent - Ofsted report should be on the web somewhere. There's fee paying schools around too, I think, I'm fairly sure one of the posher people on our street sends her nippers to one).

My commute from Heald Green (via Cheadle village/Parrs Wood Lane/Wilmslow and Oxford Road) takes me 35 mins or so, but I'm stupidly unfit so you might cover the 8 miles quicker. Between Cheadle Village and Parrs Wood lane is fairly high traffic w/ no cycle path, the first bit of Parrs Wood lane's cycle path is nasty and potholey - after that it's ok, apart from various vehicles parked in it. From Wilmslow Road onwards you have either separate cycle path or shared cyclepath/bus lane all the way up Oxford Road.

Chorlton and Didsbury are, as other posters have said, trendier, but they're pricier too.

Are you going to be at the BBC on Oxford Road, and aren't they meant to be moving to Salford Quays at some point, btw?
 
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