fatcat65

I was going to head to Bournemouth next, however, we had some news yesterday that my OH employer has spat his dummy out and thrown his toys out of his pram due to my OH not staying until the end of his visa 26th May and coming home on the 1st May, his boss said he was not renewing his contract for the last month so as of today he's out of a job! He's also stuck in Canada until his passport is renewed and returns back from Washington. So to save money we are heading home tomorrow, that's if my son stops being sick...been up all night with him throwing up so can't even go and look around Dawlish/Teignmouth as he's so ill.
Have to say i was quite impressed with the doctor and service down here and the chemist was really helpful! I love the area too, all these quaint little fishermans cottages and narrow streets and passageways, boats in the harbour, friendly local people. May have to come back down for another visit when OH lands home! We are staying in Shaldon and i think its so beautiful.
thanks for all the suggestions though.

Bevm

Sorry to hear all that. I hope your son recovers quickly.

Shaldon is nice. We thought about it, but it's a bit cut off. No fun walking across that bridge to get into Teignmouth and we don't like to be driving everywhere. The ferry's under threat, and it can only work at some times.

Hope you get back down here to look around more, and that everything works out.

Bev

nwtrucker

Have you tried Southport? It's not far from where you are now and looks like it might tick a few boxes. House prices are dropping too!!

Beedubya

I was in West Kirby last Friday, it was just lovely, that whole area is just gorgeous, quite a few footballers live in the vicinity, the Wirral used to be classed as Cheshire, but when the county changes came it became Merseyside which didn't go down too well with the locals.

d1gger

Ulverston is a lovely town. Also Grange over Sands. Both in Cumbria fringes of the Lake District but with fairly reasonable house prices and good links/shopping/social life.

Hope you find somewhere nice to live.

Pistolpete2

Have a son just finished at Glasgow Uni and spent a little time in the Fairlie and Largs area and thought it a reasonable place to BUY but was concerned about the neds spilling over from Glasgow. Actually encountered some in Greenock a little while back. I thought the locals were indeed for the most part friendly and there are areas around Gogo Street (and south) which are reasonable and attractive, being on open green land close by the sea. Glasgow takes about an hour on the train from Largs 54 mins from Fairlie as it loops round the hills behind Largs and heads north through Dalry. Just not sure about those neds though

Would Largs be blighted somewhat now by its proximity to the nuclear power station at Hunterston?

Pistolpete2

Hi Beedubya,

Took the train out of Liverpool on the West Kirby Line to Hoylake to check the area around the golf course. Beautiful views as far as the Welsh mountains from there and some very attractive, some affluent, neighbourhoods close to the water and Hoylake itself (shopping, pubs etc.) is nice enough. Was definitely worth another look. Train to Liverpool Central takes 34 mins from West Kirby and 31 mins from Hoylake.

sallysimmons

Interesting - I'm visiting both these towns when we go home for a reccy in September because the prices are good. It's nice to hear positive things about them

d1gger

If you are a foodie, Grange has one of the country's best bakeries, one of Rick Stein's Food Heros. I love it, much to the detriment of my waist line. It is a handy little town because you are close ish to the M6 ( close for Cumbria) it has a railway station and a good selection of shops, although not a supermarket, nearest would be Ulverston and Barrow. But it is not too busy, unlike Windermere or Coniston. Neither does it have the house prices or traffic of those 2 places. I love Grange and have a few friends who live there, they would not live anywhere else.

http://www.english-lakes.com/grange_over_sands.html

Ulverston has everything you need and is a nice, friendly little town. It is called the festival town because it has all sorts of festivals and fetes, from poetry to Dickensian ( really good) It has a good selection of restaurants and has a cinema and theatre.

http://www.english-lakes.com/ulverston.htm

If you want a nice Lakeland town, Broughton is lovely, has an excellent set of small, traditional shops and good food restaurants and a fantastic real ale pub. Cheaper than other parts of the Lake district it is quite close to Coniston and the lake.
http://www.lakedistrictinformation.com/
http://www.english-lakes.com/coniston_village.html

Keswick is a great town, with loads to do and some fantastic shopping and restaurants. However it is often a base for tourists and gets very busy.
http://www.english-lakes.com/keswick.html

Cockermouth is a bit further north and is a lovely town with an excellent range of shops and a small supermarket. It has a good range of restaurants and easy access to all the nearby lakeland villages such as Buttermere
http://www.english-lakes.com/buttermere_village.html
http://www.english-lakes.com/cockermouth.html

Villages are harder, depending on what you want. Cartmel is gorgeous but very busy. Michellin starred restaurant and some excellent walks from there.
http://www.english-lakes.com/cartmel.html

Ennerdale is a lovely lake land village, near the Ennerdale water and Loweswater. Good pub, but no shop. The nearest town is Cleator Moor, somewhere to be avoided. However, Cockermouth is close and is a really lovely little town.
http://www.english-lakes.com/ennerdale_water.html

Ravenglass is a gorgeous little village, the only seaside village in the NP.Not a lot in the way of shops.

http://www.english-lakes.com/ravenglass.htm

Levens is a nice little village with a lovely good quality farm shop at Sizergh.

http://www.english-lakes.com/levens.htm

St Bees in a nice village with shops and a couple of good pubs. Can be expensive property wise but many have lovely sea views.

http://www.english-lakes.com/stbees.htm

Haverigg is a nice seaside village, with 2 pubs, a post office and a general store. It is cheaper than the others because it is a couple of miles outside the national park. But it has miles of clean sandy beaches and a lot going on.
http://www.english-lakes.com/haverigg.htm

If you want any other info. please let me know.
D1gger

Pistolpete2

I'm a foodie so based my property search in the area up there on Cartmel where that Michelin restaurant you speak of is (L'Enclume)

Great detail here. Thanks!

sallysimmons

Wow thanks for all that d1gger.

We really loved Kendal when we were there last - like the vibe of the town, the brewery arts center, and the proximity to both the Lakes and the Dales. We also like that it's on mainline trains because our friends are all in the Manchester or Leeds areas.

But period properties there don't seem to come up for sale very often, and also I'd prefer somewhere a bit smaller (although hubby doesn't agree). There is a nice house for sale in Endmoor right now. Also one in Levens, which you mentioned. I also really liked Kirkby Lonsdale of the places we saw last time.

I think we'll probably avoid towns like Keswick just because of the tourists.

I'm going to print out your list and we can visit some of these places when we're back. Thanks!

Beedubya

Get yourselves to Cheshire, oh sigh.............round Altrincham, Hale, Hale Barns Wilmslow.......oh my, what an eye opener today.

fatcat65

no sea though!!

fatcat65

landlocked too!!

sallysimmons

The sea is just a few miles away from Cartmel. The Cumbrian coast is pretty awesome - but untamed and definitely not for the faint-hearted.

L'Enclume was featured in that brilliant comedy 'The Trip' - here's the scene