Moving to Chester..........
Discussion
Can anyone with any local knowledge recommend any good areas to live within 15-20 mins drive of Chester or Deeside/Queensferry.
We are relocating to the area from Yorkshire and know very little/nothing about any nice places to live or good schools for our little girl.
My wife doesn't want to be more than 15-20 mins from work (Deeside/Queensferry) and a good school for our daughter who is 4 next Birthday. We are after a big-ish 4 or 5 bed detached house with off road parking/garaging for at least four cars and have a 6-800k budget. I have looked on rightmove and there seems to be some nice houses at Neston, Broughton, in and around Chester and just into Wales as well.
Two nice schools have been mentioned; Queens Girls school in Chester and Helsby School; and some people have mentioned Frodsham and Delamire Forest as nice places to live.
We would be very grateful for any advice at all.
Thanks in advance.
Sharkfan
We are relocating to the area from Yorkshire and know very little/nothing about any nice places to live or good schools for our little girl.
My wife doesn't want to be more than 15-20 mins from work (Deeside/Queensferry) and a good school for our daughter who is 4 next Birthday. We are after a big-ish 4 or 5 bed detached house with off road parking/garaging for at least four cars and have a 6-800k budget. I have looked on rightmove and there seems to be some nice houses at Neston, Broughton, in and around Chester and just into Wales as well.
Two nice schools have been mentioned; Queens Girls school in Chester and Helsby School; and some people have mentioned Frodsham and Delamire Forest as nice places to live.
We would be very grateful for any advice at all.
Thanks in advance.
Sharkfan
I live in Chester and have done all my life, it is generally a very nice place, and with your budget you could buy a very nice house in Chester itself 
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Curzo...
Curzon park is a lovely area, beautiful houses and great access to the town centre.
Good luck
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Curzo...
Curzon park is a lovely area, beautiful houses and great access to the town centre.
Good luck
Heswall/Gayton or Caldy would be a much better bet if you are looking at the Wirral.
Davel said:
You could try around Kingsley, Norley, Mickle Trafford and loads of other nice spots near to Chester and on all sides of it.
Look on Rightmove and see what's within budget.
Near to Oulton Park, Delamere Forest etc.
We live close to Kingsley.
Good road links to Chester from all sides!
Hi Davel, good to see a local PHer, I live on Delamere Park just outside of Norley.Look on Rightmove and see what's within budget.
Near to Oulton Park, Delamere Forest etc.
We live close to Kingsley.
Good road links to Chester from all sides!
As already mentioned, if you want a place that is within walking distance to the city centre and Queens, and golf course Curzon park is the place to be, living outside of Chester, Delamere, Norley, Kingsley, Tarporley and kelsall all have gorgeous properties. I have the misfortune of living on the Chester/ Flintshire border in a lovely converted barn not a week goes by when I wish I could pick it up a move it to one of the above mentioned places.
Check out Tarpoley/Tarvin seem quite nice, not far from Chester nice spots.
Frodsham/Helby seems quite nice but way too near Stanlow and the chemical plants for comfort, i always remember travelling over Kelsall hill and looking at the vista on a cold dark morning and all the 'stuff' from the chimneys rose so high and then just stopped in a big cloudy mass, waiting to come down on the locals i suppose, also they are a bit of a one road towns if they shut the motorway (M56) they are knackered for hours.
Not sure where they are like in that part of Wales just over the border, house prices drop quite a bit for some unknown reason, but further over they are renowned for certain attitudes so may be worth checking out first (call me racist if you want i don't care)
Frodsham/Helby seems quite nice but way too near Stanlow and the chemical plants for comfort, i always remember travelling over Kelsall hill and looking at the vista on a cold dark morning and all the 'stuff' from the chimneys rose so high and then just stopped in a big cloudy mass, waiting to come down on the locals i suppose, also they are a bit of a one road towns if they shut the motorway (M56) they are knackered for hours.
Not sure where they are like in that part of Wales just over the border, house prices drop quite a bit for some unknown reason, but further over they are renowned for certain attitudes so may be worth checking out first (call me racist if you want i don't care
)E24man said:
Queens Girls school in Chester and Helsby School; and some people have mentioned Frodsham and Delamire Forest as nice places to live.
Queens school is private, Helsby is state. There is a Queens Park High School in Chester which is state.If you're looking at private schools and you're thinking of the Delamere area then that's perfect for the well regarded The Grange School in Hartford, Northwich. They take kids from 4 upwards from a wide area.
For state senior schools, Christleton High School is known for being very good but it's extremly over-subscribed so is very hard to get into. Tarporley used to be very good (my kids went there) but is shaded by Christelton now. Helsby is good too. Of course schools' reputations can change over time and your daughter has a fair time to go before she gets to senior level.
I'm not so familiar with Wirral schools, but as a reference point, Calday Grange Grammar (State) is good.
Sweeping generalisation but people tend to avoid N Wales schools - you'll see everything is massively cheaper as you cross the border, and there's a reason for that. However if you are looking at private education then Howell's (girls only) in Denbigh is nationally known.
Your budget gives you massive choice around here - someone suggested Tarvin but there probably isn't a property in Tarvin at £800K. Tarporley wouldn't be a problem! To my mind, if you're going to live in one of the viilages I would want to be in easy walking distance of the centre.
E24man said:
Can anyone with any local knowledge recommend any good areas to live within 15-20 mins drive of Chester or Deeside/Queensferry.
My wife doesn't want to be more than 15-20 mins from work (Deeside/Queensferry)
The problem you will find is all the really nice areas/houses are to the east of Chester or deep in the Welsh countryside. The traffic around Deeside/Queensferry can be horrendous, especially morning rush hour and from 3pm onwards in the afternoon. The centre of Chester can be pretty bad traffic wise too. Besides Deeside, Queensferry, Shotton & Connah's Quay are all a bit of a dump. The locals call the main road from Queensferry through Shotton and to the end of Connah's Quay 'The Strip' after the one in Gaza My wife doesn't want to be more than 15-20 mins from work (Deeside/Queensferry)
We lived in CQ for a year before moving and I can't say I miss it much.Where exactly will your missus be working? If it's in the Deeside industrial estates it's possible to avoid the worse of the traffic. I don't think you'll manage the 15-20 mins commute though. FWIW it takes my hubby 20-25mins to get from Great Barrow to Capenhurst for work and that's nearer then Deeside. BTW the A51/A54 from Tarporley/Tarvin is also bad for rush hour traffic but there are plenty of back roads to avoid it.
Charlie
Deva Link said:
Queens school is private, Helsby is state. There is a Queens Park High School in Chester which is state.
If you're looking at private schools and you're thinking of the Delamere area then that's perfect for the well regarded The Grange School in Hartford, Northwich. They take kids from 4 upwards from a wide area.
For state senior schools, Christleton High School is known for being very good but it's extremly over-subscribed so is very hard to get into. Tarporley used to be very good (my kids went there) but is shaded by Christelton now. Helsby is good too. Of course schools' reputations can change over time and your daughter has a fair time to go before she gets to senior level.
I'm not so familiar with Wirral schools, but as a reference point, Calday Grange Grammar (State) is good.
Sweeping generalisation but people tend to avoid N Wales schools - you'll see everything is massively cheaper as you cross the border, and there's a reason for that. However if you are looking at private education then Howell's (girls only) in Denbigh is nationally known.
Your budget gives you massive choice around here - someone suggested Tarvin but there probably isn't a property in Tarvin at £800K. Tarporley wouldn't be a problem! To my mind, if you're going to live in one of the viilages I would want to be in easy walking distance of the centre.
My school If you're looking at private schools and you're thinking of the Delamere area then that's perfect for the well regarded The Grange School in Hartford, Northwich. They take kids from 4 upwards from a wide area.
For state senior schools, Christleton High School is known for being very good but it's extremly over-subscribed so is very hard to get into. Tarporley used to be very good (my kids went there) but is shaded by Christelton now. Helsby is good too. Of course schools' reputations can change over time and your daughter has a fair time to go before she gets to senior level.
I'm not so familiar with Wirral schools, but as a reference point, Calday Grange Grammar (State) is good.
Sweeping generalisation but people tend to avoid N Wales schools - you'll see everything is massively cheaper as you cross the border, and there's a reason for that. However if you are looking at private education then Howell's (girls only) in Denbigh is nationally known.
Your budget gives you massive choice around here - someone suggested Tarvin but there probably isn't a property in Tarvin at £800K. Tarporley wouldn't be a problem! To my mind, if you're going to live in one of the viilages I would want to be in easy walking distance of the centre.
Deva Link said:
To do that, and not live in Wales then you'd probably have to be looking along the A540 into the Wirral at places like Neston or Willaston. I don't really know that area though.
I know the area, I live in it Some nice areas in Willaston, Burton is also very nice but is tiny and has no shops. Heswall is nicer than Neston, Gayton has some very nice houses too. Caldy Grammar would be the school to go for round these parts. Getting into Wales isn't too far, although the junction between the Welsh Road (A550) and the one leading up to the M56 (A5117) used to be an absolute nightmare at rush hour, they have reorganised it but I imagine it is still poor.
I live on the edge of Christleton which is 3 miles out of chester on the A41 towards Whitchurch. There is an excellent high school and primary school in the heart of the village which all my girls went to and went on to university. Prices this side of Chester go from around £200,000 up to silly money depending how big a house you want. A friend of mine has a stunning house just the other side of rosset with swimming pool and out buildings and massive drive and gardens. On for £495,000 with Town and Country property agents. I was there yesterday and the house is gorgeous. 4 bed detached. immaculate all round.
Which schools would his kids go to?Well it appears I have started a good debate about the various merits and otherwise regarding Chester and its environs. To clear up a couple of things SWMBO will be working on the Deeside Industrial estate right on top of the A550/A548 junction; the half-hour (hour in total) commute requirement comes after more than a decade of 45 min to almost 2 hour commute times that my good lady has had to endure; schools are important; we can afford to go private if necessary and we understand that Queens still has a good reputation and a good school bus system across the area.
So yesterday was a bit of a drawn out day but we managed to see the village of Taporley (very nice but we were warned about the A51 bottle-neck when commuting toward Chester) and also a couple of nice properties in Kingsley (also nice, just on the 30 min limit to work but didn't see much of a village centre).
We also discovered the issues with the areas to the north of, and close to, the M56; places like Dutton etc. We did a drive by through Neston, it seemed quite nice and is about as far North up the Wirral as reasonable commuting time will permit; I know a few have hinted at opinions about this area but I wish you'd say rather than hint. We have some acquaintances who live in Burton and Neston and will tap them for opinions as well. Willaston might be due a visit but I think Ellesmere Port is out of the reckoning.
Today we're off to Curzon Park, Saughall, Great Boughton, and who knows elsewhere! Next week a little bit of Wales may be on the cards.
Please keep the advice and opinions coming - but please say rather than hint or post strange staring eyes - we really don't know the area and want to make a reasonable first landing with renting and then find a nice place to buy.
P.S. When first started looking at Curzon park for rent/sale there seemed very few nice properties but all of a sudden quite a few have popped up - is there an exodus we don't know about......
So yesterday was a bit of a drawn out day but we managed to see the village of Taporley (very nice but we were warned about the A51 bottle-neck when commuting toward Chester) and also a couple of nice properties in Kingsley (also nice, just on the 30 min limit to work but didn't see much of a village centre).
We also discovered the issues with the areas to the north of, and close to, the M56; places like Dutton etc. We did a drive by through Neston, it seemed quite nice and is about as far North up the Wirral as reasonable commuting time will permit; I know a few have hinted at opinions about this area but I wish you'd say rather than hint. We have some acquaintances who live in Burton and Neston and will tap them for opinions as well. Willaston might be due a visit but I think Ellesmere Port is out of the reckoning.
Today we're off to Curzon Park, Saughall, Great Boughton, and who knows elsewhere! Next week a little bit of Wales may be on the cards.
Please keep the advice and opinions coming - but please say rather than hint or post strange staring eyes - we really don't know the area and want to make a reasonable first landing with renting and then find a nice place to buy.
P.S. When first started looking at Curzon park for rent/sale there seemed very few nice properties but all of a sudden quite a few have popped up - is there an exodus we don't know about......
Edited by E24man on Thursday 9th June 08:00
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