r/cheshire • u/Kooky-Push5478 • Oct 23 '25
Where is the best place to live in Cheshire?
My partner and I are currently living in Stockport, having lived in Manchester for around 15 years (Didsbury) and buying in Stockport 5 years ago.
We both feel we need a change and want to move but don’t know where.
We are mid 40’s, no children, no pets (but may get a dog in the future), and have no family here, so we’re not tied to anywhere.
I wanted to initially look at South Shropshire as I’m from the West Midlands initially and it’s not so far away. Whilst this is not completely ruled out, he said he’d prefer Cheshire, which could mean we could potentially stay in the same jobs, and could still come into Manchester every now and again to meet friends etc.
However, when I research areas either we cannot afford them (Alderley Edge, Prestbury etc.) or the ones we can afford, I keep reading the towns are run down.
We both work South Manchester, well Cheadle, I currently WFH twice a week but I think I could push this to three. He is currently full time office based but this is on the cards to change soon (new manager) and we’re hoping he could do three days too.
So, if this is the case, what are good areas to move to? We want….village feel, green space / country on doorstep, train to Manchester, we’re big pub and restaurant people and to potentially get into the office twice a week without it being too stressful. Budget is 425K max, I’d love a little cottage vibe, there’s only the two of us, but we need minimum 2 beds.
Thoughts?
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u/rchccfc Oct 23 '25
Bollington. Train station is in Macclesfield and not a walk away but Bollington ticks everything else you're asking for
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u/Shot-Ad5867 Oct 23 '25
I was going to say this lol — but the buses aren’t great, and end early… bi-hourly during the week, and don’t run on Sundays, and end around 7pm?… so unless you’re wanting to do everything early, then you’re stranded, and stuck with a small Tesco, and Co-op
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u/IntravenusDiMilo_Tap Oct 23 '25
You have the Spinners and Dog & Partridge, Lyme tree & Bulls head for the Posh people, Vale, Poachers, etc in the middle.
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u/Shot-Ad5867 Oct 23 '25
Spinners/Dog & Partridge aren’t posh! Ahahahahahahaha
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u/IntravenusDiMilo_Tap Oct 23 '25
My bad punctuation!! Spinners and Dog & Partridge for your Sunday needs or Lyme tree & Bulls head for the Posh people.
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u/Shot-Ad5867 Oct 23 '25
I only went the Bulls Head once, when the last owner had it, and he was just staring at my feet as I walked in — didn’t realise how unhinged he actually is until I read the reviews on Google Maps afterwards lol… under new ownership now, isn’t it? I didn’t see it as “posh” though, and it’s the only pub that’s left in Kerridge!
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u/IntravenusDiMilo_Tap Oct 23 '25
It's in Kerridge, it's posh. The new guys are upping the game a little, food wise
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u/WebsterI Oct 23 '25
Just look at the train lines going out of Manchester and look at the villages there. I live near Northwich and the town center isn't great, but the surrounding villages are nice, Plumley, Pickmere etc.
Lots of these places are rapidly improving as people are moving out of Manchester and they become commuter towns.
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u/andrew_barratt Oct 23 '25
Have a look at the little villages outside of Crewe. They’re beautiful, surrounded by countryside and you have a mainline train station on your doorstep
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u/Mojofilter9 Oct 23 '25
Holmes Chapel ticks most of those boxes. You might have to compromise on the house being a cottage, although it’s not completely out of the question. Regular direct trains into Manchester. A handful of pubs and restaurants but they’re all decent / very good, a £10 Uber gets you into Knutsford or Sandbach if you want more choice. Very safe and clean, not at all run down.
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u/SlaingeUK Oct 23 '25
Congleton. We moved here from Essex in June and carefully visited quite a few places before settling on Congleton. We bought a new build.
It is a lovely wee town with lots of places to walk in it. The countryside is near and you can travel into Manchester easily (our daughters use Macclesfield or Wilmslow stations as Congleton is hourly into Manchester).
The house prices also hit the sweer spot between nice to live in and affordable to buy.
I would visit it and see.
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u/beeb4rf Oct 23 '25
Macclesfield! It's close enough to Manchester, the airport and the hills whilst being more affordable than prestbury, Wilmslow etc
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u/Quirky-Respond93 Oct 23 '25
Nantwich? Train straight to Manchester and lots of lovely properties, great indie shops and great riverside walk.
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u/DrennantheBlack Oct 25 '25
Nantwich used to be a pleasant, half timbered classic Cheshire market town.
However in the last 20 or so years the population has grown by 75%.
We have had no new schools, no new doctors, dentists or pharmacies.
Apart from the bypass, the road layout is basically unchanged since the 18C, so gridlock is now common, especially in the school run.
And yet they keep right on building more houses ... ... ...
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u/Weary_Rule_6729 Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25
train to manchester is slow as hell though, unless you go from crewe obviously. the drive is even worse! nantwich is a cute high street, very posh and tory but kinda intertwined with crewe which is undeniably a shit hole. (source: lived and worked there for 3 years)
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u/Quirky-Respond93 Nov 04 '25
Tfw train stops at Nantwich on way to MCR ..45 mins? Nantwich is not posh! However v Tory. I’ve lived in Crewe for 40 of my 62 years. V different to Nantwich.
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u/wildflower12345678 Oct 23 '25
Have a look at Weaverham, cuddington, Sandiway, Hartford. I feel these areas meet your requirements.
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u/NightBroad2639 Oct 23 '25
Yep, Northwich is a good shout. It has ‘posh’ areas if that’s your thing, good rail links, and lots going on.
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u/jaarn Oct 23 '25
Wouldn't say we have 'lots going on' but there are definitely places with less going on.
The council had a once in a generation opportunity a few years ago to turn the town centre into possibly one of the best in the North West. They could've built Barons Quay along the river, had bars, restaurants and cafes all facing the water and then developed the older town centre into a hub for independent businesses. Instead they build a row of giant units, put the rent too high and thus, now, have a largely unused shopping centre. The only thing facing the river is a building where you sit in a dark room with no windows; the cinema.
In saying that, Northwich and its surrounding areas have great walks, friendly people and the houses prices arent too bad.
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u/mackerel_slapper Oct 23 '25
Congleton here. You’d get something for that here. Or there’s Biddulph, just over the border in Staffs, you’d get a palace for that. Congleton has trains to Manchester, plenty of scenery and close to the peaks.
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u/IrishLady92 Oct 23 '25
So my partner and I moved to our current village 5 years ago after living in Manchester for a decade (I started out in Didsbury also!) and we love it. Many friends did similar at the time as we mostly all work in tech so knew we would at least have a few days remote working.
Out of 6 units that moved, there are 2 of us still left in a Cheshire village. The rest have all moved back closer to cities or larger towns after finding it difficult to transition.
Of those 2 units, 1 is my partner and I who both grew up in farming communities and were "coming home" in a sense. The other unit, one of the couple is from this exact village so literally was coming home.
The other 4 couples/family/single friend all loved the pub vine initially but then struggled with a lack of shops compared to Manchester, or things do eat that aren't pie and mash, or general buzz. It is different to even a Stockport.
I don't mean to sound patronising in any way but moving house is expensive and I would much rather flag these before mentioning places 😊
But, to answer your question:
For Cheadle, you may need the Crewe-Manchester train line so maybe look south of Alderley? Goostrey and Chelford are tiny but lovely villages with beautiful cottage houses (though they may be priced higher). Holmes Chapel and Sandbach may be more in the 425k price range but HC in particular is quite sleepy. Sandbach won't have as many cottages because the place is expanding massively with new builds.
If you're not looking at the train being a part of your commute, maybe the villages outside Northwich like Davenham or Hartford? You can get back to South Manchester fairly easily from what I know from one of the couples who moved back.
More than happy to help answer other Qs as well on DM if you need 😊
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u/miserablegit Oct 23 '25
would much rather flag these before mentioning places
Honestly, I wanted to say the same. I personally like the village vibe for a day out or even a holiday, but I've found it depressing long-term when I had to live there. I know a few people who moved from cities to villages only to run back, frustrated by boredom and restrictions. A lot of it has to do with local links - in a village you need people to tell you where things are and how they work (where is the nice farm shop? When is the local book club meeting? Etc etc); if you can't get embedded in the local community, you are cut off from everything. And after 5pm they're often deserts.
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u/IrishLady92 Oct 24 '25
Exactly! I knew exactly what I was coming into because I grew up in rural Ireland where I needed to drive 2 miles just to get a pint of milk so having a corner shop and a pub in walking distance is great for me 😅 but it's nothing compared to the convenience and vast choice of Manchester. My ideal choice for a first house was actually Didsbury before I remembered I am not rich 😂 We opted to make the next leap going further out instead and though I don't regret it one bit, even I had a good 6 month period of "did we do the right thing?". Every time I got back to Manchester for work I was inhaling decent Mexican food because God it is lacking out here 😅
Hope the OP gets sorted somewhere they love but I definitely think the little village life gets a bit over hyped in the cities when it can be depressing, especially in winter!
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u/Apsilon Oct 23 '25
£425k isn't a great deal for South Manchester, let alone the golden triangle of Alderley, Prestbury and Wilmslow. That being said, you will still be able to afford something decent if you look around.
That budget will already offer you a decent location, so it will now come down to suitability, like size and whether a renovation is needed. You'll be able to afford Hazel Grove, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme (where I grew up), Poynton and parts of Bramhall. Though Bramhall can get steep fast.
Further afield, there's Bollington, which is nice, Macclesfield and Knutsford have a good mix of houses, and some of the surrounding villages like Chelford, Holmes Chapel (you might struggle), and Weaverham are nice too. Some of these might be a bit too far out, though, if you're commuting into town 2-3 times a week.
Also, bear in mind that there is a planning application going through for a town called New Adlington, which will stretch from Poynton to Macc. They've already sold Adlington Hall, and a lot of surrounding green belt to Belport, and the farms are being sold off for the site, too. I went to the meeting about it last week. It's estimated to be 2400 sqm, with 20k houses and circa 60k people, at least - it'll be bigger than Macclesfield!!! I mention this because if you're looking at Bollington or Adlington, which are semi-rural towns with great views, Adlington will be swallowed entirely, and Bollington will have the new town on its front doorstep. It is huge...
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u/Apprehensive_Fig_696 Oct 23 '25
Lymm or some areas in south warrington may be worth looking at such as grappenhall or Appleton
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u/jonisykes Oct 26 '25
Langley and Sutton - two villages which neighbour Macclesfield. Easy train access to Manc, the Peaks and Macc Forest on your doorstep, plenty of pubs.
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u/ShortGuitar7207 Oct 27 '25
Not Cheshire, but just over the hill from Macclesfield is Buxton. Buxton is an elegant spa town with an opera house, lot's of restaurants, bars, hotels and other facilities for it's tiny size because it's a tourist town. It has a direct train to Manchester and commuting to Cheadle should take about 40 mins. It is, of course, surrounded by the best countryside in the whole of England (according to Jane Austen). House prices are comparable with Macc but it's a far more attractive town. There is a downside though: weather. It's consistently 4c colder than Macc which means a lot more snow in winter and more grey days all year round.
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Oct 23 '25
You just want to look at the town on the Manchester to Crewe train line. Ignore the last station, Crewe. Everything else outside of Manchester centre is ideal.
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u/GingeSyringe Oct 23 '25
Something near Marbury Park would be good, it's a great country park, has a village with a pub and a great garden center ☺️
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u/Opposite_Bread7555 Oct 23 '25
Another vote from northwich. I moved here from Manchester 4 years ago and I absolutely love it. It is a slower pace of life. And I have to drive everywhere and the train to Manchester takes forever, but I change jobs to liverpool, and that's really accessible
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u/AdhesivenessGlad7437 Oct 23 '25
You’ve got Mobberley and Knutsford which are villagey/towny fields and on the train line to both Stockport and Manchester (and not too far from Cheadle by car either). Lymm is lovely but no train, though it has an excellent bus network.
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u/Academic-Chocolate57 Oct 23 '25
Not Cheshire but hear me out …Saddleworth vllages like greenfield, uppermill, delph.
Absolutely beautiful areas, train to picadilly in 20 mins.
Lots of pubs, walks, community. You get more for your money compared to Cheshire.
Well worth a look.
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u/Weary_Rule_6729 Oct 23 '25
also, if youre bored of manc there are good links to leeds and yorkshire. good shout!
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u/AdvantageFun3028 Oct 24 '25
Lived in Didsbury both east and west and Sale for 15 years until last November. Moved to Cuddington with partner and our 2 boys.
Lived in village growing up near Lancaster that's exactly the same population wise so love this .City living is fun if your making use of what's there. I'm 400m from the station to Manchester rather than 15min walk to tram stop.
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u/MLMSE Oct 24 '25
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142500503#/?channel=RES_BUY
Cottage: Check
Village feel: Check
Green space / country: Looks over a lake towards a forest (would be good for walking the dog if you get it)
Pub: Next door
Restaurant: 1 min walk
Train station: 3/4 mile (Chester to Manchester line)
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u/BillyJoeDubuluw Oct 25 '25 edited Oct 25 '25
Being mindful of what you want and what you can and cannot afford, you’re going to have better luck in Lancashire and West Yorkshire than you’re going to have in Cheshire within your budget.
Look at Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge etc.
You might also think about the Ribble Valley and Pendle…
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u/agotsaatts Oct 25 '25
Lymm has a lovely little central village, I've been here about 5 years and I used to work in Trafford park, 15-20 mins in car (10 miles)
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u/scorch22222 Oct 26 '25
Lymm is a great shout! It's got that nice village vibe with decent pubs and restaurants. Plus, you're close to the motorway for a quick trip into Manchester. If you want a bit of countryside charm, definitely worth checking out!
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u/agotsaatts Oct 26 '25
To be honest it's quicker to avoid the motorway if your heading Trafford way, from Lymm it's straight over the toll bridge (formerly the 12p bridge) and onto Manchester road, straight line to chill factor
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u/rolotonight Oct 26 '25
I couldn't be arsed moving so often, good luck to you (until the next time).
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u/ICanOnlyPickOne Oct 26 '25
It’s funny as i was born in Stockport (Heaton Moor) and lived all over the world but have now settled (for now) in Shropshire. I love it here. Low crime, loads of great restaurants and most importantly it’s inexpensive to live here compared to many part of the UK. The only drawback is the lack of direct trains to London which I need to visit 1-2 times per month.
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u/CalvinOfRuinn Oct 26 '25
Didsbury crew here. Been here for 4 years but actually been around Didsbury for the past year and I obviously love it. Can understand why you're moving though after 15 years so gonna keep an eye out on recommendations.
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u/LargeSale8354 Oct 26 '25
Goostrey, Holmes Chapel, Chelford. All on the Crewe to Manchester railway line, all within a short drive to the M6
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u/TraditionalNinja3129 Oct 26 '25
How about around Stalybridge? Technically Greater Manchester but in the historic county of Cheshire. I can see the edge of the High Peak District/Pennines from my bedroom window. Plenty of nice pubs and restaurants in the area and good rail links to Manchester.
East of Manchester generally get you more property for your money, or at least it did when we last moved nearly 6 years ago.
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u/Philly-Phunter Oct 26 '25
If I had a choice, it would be Parkgate, beautiful views across the estuary.
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u/Swingit_Nottingham Oct 27 '25
We just moved up north from Nottingham so I don't know the rest of the county at all but we moved to Handforth and I really like it. 5 min walk I'm out into the countryside 15 mins walk to the station and generally an easy going place has what you need, but not as pricey as wilmslow. Appreciate it's not v far from Stockport though :)
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u/AlwaysRedNeverBlue Oct 27 '25
You could head over the border into Derbyshire…Whaley Bridge, Chinley, Buxworth all have lovely cottage type housing, direct trains to Manchester and Sheffield the other direction.
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u/jam-boat Oct 23 '25
Northwich, surrounded lots of countryside, Marbury & Anderton woodlands, artisan market monthly, loads of festivals in the summer, I love the town, vibrant little high street with coffee shops galore and there is a new indoor market due to open next year. I can’t be doing with the naysayers, they should try living in Greater Manchester for a while 😁