Hi guys
My partner and I are Londoners moving to the Sheffield area due to a job transfer.
We love the north, and having lived in the smoke for a while, we would like to live in a fairly pretty smallish outlying town or village, with nice countryside around us. From the map, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Dronfield, Barnsley look within striking distance - anyone know what it's like actually living there?
Also, any other recommendations?
Cheers!

Stocksbridge or Penistone, may be worthy of consideration.

I dunno whether 'pretty' is the first word people would associate with Chesterfield, Mansfield and Barnsley...

they may be small compared to London or even Sheffield, but there a long way from being a village as well.

You probably need to narrow down what area you want as those options cover virtually every direction from Sheffield.
Then set a budget and see what you can come up with in the villages.
Better still, go for a drive around and see if any of the villages take your fancy, or if you prefer to be slightly more cosmopolitan and go for one of the towns.

Some of the towns/villages on the A57 East of Sheffield may fit the bill for you.

We picked Woodhouse due to it's proximity to Sheffield (15mins by car), it's open countryside (Shirebrook Valley, Trans-Pennine Way +more), access to M1 (J31 or J33, depending on direction of travel), distance from Meadowhall (20 mins) and convenience of Crystal Peaks (3 mins).

The number of sandstone buildings still standing give it that villagey feel (in places), and it's big enough not to feel like the Styx :thumbsup:

(Oh, and the train gets you to town in 10mins)

I think Dronfield has some nice areas.

A lot of the suburbs, particularly in the SW of Sheffield have a "villagey feel" to them anyway without moving to a nearby town.

Thanks guys! Really helpful. I am going to visit soon (and probably rent for a while when I move to check areas out properly), but it's great to get the benefit of your local knowledge.
I'll check out Woodhouse - thanks! But I've been put off Stocksbridge by a posting on here that said the air there was so dirty that you couldn't hang washing out to dry without it going black. Is this true, or is it a malicious falsehood by some Penistoner (if that's the right term)?

I've never hung washing out in Stocksbridge but whenever I've driven past it on the bypass the air looks perfectly clean to me!

The downside from my point of view is that the 'village' (it's a heck of a big 'village'!) is strung out along a long valley, and all along the valley bottom are steel works/associated buildings. It's the industry that was the life blood of the community, but if it's not your life blood than you wouldn't necessarily want to sit in your garden and look at it.

On the other hand, you are literally on the edge of moorland and reservoirs etc, and very easy access to the M1 and to the main road (Woodhead) to Manchester, and quite possibly the price of property is lower than other places. Horses for courses! Get in your car....tis the only way.

I'm sure you know by now, but Sheffield Telegraph (out on a Fri morning) has Property Pages which will give you a very good general idea of prices etc. Needless to say, the higher the price, the more desirable the area.... that'll give you a clue as to which areas you could take a look at.

Welcome to the Shefield! :thumbsup:

hi have a look at Todwick near jnc 31 m1 its a lovely village nice houses and is near to all south yorks. if your moving try using Arrow removals and storage 08001979397 ask for sue, we used them and there very good. and they cover the country.

Have you thought about Ridgeway (S12)? It's close to shops (Crystal Peaks etc), 15/20 minutes drive to the City centre and 15 minutes from the M1, has decent places to eat (both cheap and expensive), is close to the tram and still has a village feel.

The property is varied in the village from stone terraced cottages to more modern properties. Prices vary from between £140K - £500K. (Don't be deceived by the exteriors of some of the older houses - they are like a tardis inside). Halifax, Blundells, ELR and Saxton Mee are the main agents covering Ridgeway so worth a look on their sites.

The school is good by the way and there are various clubs if you like sport such as footie, tennis, cricket. (A couple of golf clubs if that's your bag, are nearby - one private and one municipal).

Happy hunting!

Wizard

You could always try - www.rightmove.co.uk its nationwide and a great site for house hunting.

I lived in Chesterfield until last year and think it is a good place to live. I’ve always lived on the Sheffield side and quite near the town centre. It has busy town centre good market (excellent flea market on a Thursday) all the things that you would expect in a market town and is so near the countryside.

I’ve lived in Stocksbridge for the past year and already I am getting fed up with peoples downers on it! I don’t get your problems! I live in a modern three bed semi which cost a fraction of what one down the road in Hillsborough would have cost. Stocksbridge village has all the basic shops and several banks and supermarkets, it has fantastic views from almost everywhere, the industrial bit is hidden in a dip so is practically unnoticeable. My washing has never had anything deposited on it while drying in my garden. Ok so the busses are not great, but outside of Sheffield city centre where are they?!

Originally posted by d1zzyw1zzy
But I've been put off Stocksbridge by a posting on here that said the air there was so dirty that you couldn't hang washing out to dry without it going black. Is this true, or is it a malicious falsehood by some Penistoner (if that's the right term)?

You couldn't get much further from the truth, it is on the edge of the Peak District, do you really think the environment agency would let that happen ;)

My advice is check it out for yourself including all the other areas. The best journey into Stocksbridge is from the opposite end to Deepcar, it is just gorgeous dropping down the hill seeing the reserviour and fields laid out ahead, even more fantastic when their is snow laid across the fields. In my opinion it is Sheffields best kept secret, where else can you get fantastic views, 5 min walk from breathtaking moorland, basic facilities for a fraction of the house price of say totley or fulwood.

Beighton is very similar to Woodhouse, but nearer to Crystal Peaks

Thanks once again!
Stocksbridge sounds great - I'll check it out.

I've noticed that the topic of different areas/villages gets people really impassioned on this forum. It's all good though - nice to know that people care about where they live. In London, I don't think you see the same kind of deep loyalty to a particular place, and that's a real shame.

I'm also from London nut now live in Totley on the outskirts of Sheffield, which provides the best of both worlds. It only takes 20 minutes to get into town but you can see the countryside and moors from your window!

If you want to be a bit further out, and can afford it, look to the west of Sheffield which has immediate access to the Peak Disctrict. Hathersage, Baslow, Bamford etc.

The south west of Sheffield is also convenient if you are going to be travelling back to London to visit those you left behind (or them visit you!). It could add an hour to the journey if you go north of Sheffield e.g. Penistone.

Good luck!

I live in Dronfield, it's really nice, definitely glad my family moved here.

Avoid most of Chesterfield though!

It really depends what your budget is and what size of house you want for that budget.

Sheffield as a whole is a lovely city and most of the suburbs have their own attractions.

I have to say that the Woodhouse, Beighton, Mosborough, Halfway side of Sheffield is probably where you will find best value for money. These areas are all served by Crystal Peaks shopping centre, local Asda, good rail/bus/road links to the centre of Sheffield whilst still being easily accessible to the M1.

There is lots of countryside and places to visit, including Rother Valley Country Park.

The 'posher' side of town - Eccleshall, Totley, Whirlow is equaly lovely and has access to the town centre and a large Tesco's and Sainsbury's but tends to be more expensive.

For property, you will need to get the Sheffield Telegraph (out every Friday), but I am sure you will find somewhere to suit your requirements - whatever they may be!

Best thing is be open minded and don't rule any area in or out. Like every city there are areas which are predominantly upper class, middle class, working class etc. But every area has it's own attractions. Many of the suburbs are 'village like' even though they may be quite spread out.

The areas I mentioned above all have a 'village' feel to them with local shops etc.

that village feel (at least for some of them) is due to being outlying villages and not suburbs :D Beighton, halfway and mosborough for example.
Treeton, catcliffe, ulley, aston, swallownest, tankersley and i'm sure some others are in the directions you missed off.

hi, north anston,south anston and todwick are pretty green villages 20 mins to sheff center in car, low crime rate, nice people, mainly three bed semis, pretty cheap house prices 120,000 average or around 400 a month rent. its a peacefull up and comming area. good luck

in what way are they up and coming?

new housing and new business' opening creating more jobs:D

Originally posted by rich5315
new housing and new business' opening creating more jobs:D

new housing eating up all the green space, although they are nice houses.

They are nice villages, but apart from new housing (which is happening everywhere all the time) i'd say that not much has really changed in the last 20 years.

hi cyclone, yes i agree it is wrong to eat up the little green space we have left but the new housing here is being built on an old housing site and the business area is on the old pit site(some of which has been conserved for wildlife). the surrounding area to where we live is greenbelt anyway. All new housing seems to be very small like shoe boxes?!

there's also new housing off church lane (a few years old now I suppose {okay, maybe 10}, and new housing down by the wells, and new housing where Phil the barbers was (bottom of the baulk) and new housing behind the aphrodite chip shop, and housing off penny piece lane that wasn't there in my memory, although it's probably about 15 years old now.

well yes thats true, but aint it the same where ever you go?:)

Originally posted by rich5315
well yes thats true, but aint it the same where ever you go?:)

I expect it is, didn't grow up anywhere else though, so you don't notice it in the same way.

[edit]I have a niece (reason addition to family), looking forwards to one day going "this was all fields when I was a lad". :thumbsup:

I moved up here from the London area when I was 18 and never looked back. Wild horses couldn't drag me. My brother lives in Clapham & especially following Thursday's events is now speeding up his move to the Sheffield area.

I live in Deepcar, less than 100yds from beautiful moorland and less than 25mins from the centre of Sheffield. My kids have grown up in a safe adventureland of campmaking & tree climbing and one's now at uni. Sheffield Uni! Why move away he said when it's all here.

The steelworks are our history & I for one have never noticed 'bad'air. This place is steeped in history. People have lived here since before the bronze age & I count myself lucky to be one of them.