Good areas to move to for hacking (and dog walking and cycling)

[Muddy unicorn]

We're looking for a new house pretty much anywhere in the UK (apart from the far extremities as I need to get back to London once a month-ish). Having looked at a few places I've realised that wherever we go needs to have good hacking and dog walking routes (and good cycling to keep my husband happy).

We're in the outskirts of London at the moment within easy reach of the Surrey hills where hacking, dog walking and cycling are all fantastic but can't afford to buy anywhere nice there and still help our young adult children take their first steps into business/property.

So we're looking further afield... we've seen a couple of lovely houses with a bit of land so horse plus companion could live at home, but they had very limited, mostly road hacking and if we wanted to take the dogs and/or horse somewhere more interesting it would mean getting in the car/lorry every time which would not be ideal.

In order to minimise Rightmove trawling time I thought I'd concentrate on good hacking/cycling areas first and then try to find somewhere in budget (£825K max). Ideally it would have enough land to keep 2/3 horses but if not then have good livery options nearby. I would get bonus brownie points if I could find somewhere near the sea and/or with a view. Any ideas would be great - we've accepted an offer on our house and our buyers are champing at the bit ...

 

[HorseMaid]

I'm in North Devon, there aren't loads of properties for sale here but we have some excellent riding (beaches and exmoor) however I think you'll be joining the back of an incredibly long queue of people wanting to buy a house with land here!

 

[iknowmyvalue]

I don’t know about cycling particularly, but Lincolnshire generally has pretty good hacking and walking (especially the Wolds) or you’ve got the coastal areas (most of the beaches are horse/dog friendly!)

 

[j1ffy]

I'm North Wessex Downs (Oxon / West Berks border, also v close to Wiltshire and Glocs) and the hacking and cycling around here is amazing. Also very good connections to London by train (Didcot / Hungerford / Newbury / Gt Bedwyn depending on which part of the Downs) or car (M4). Closer to Didcot will be pricier as it's very much commuter belt but if you head west and south from Wantage the prices start to drop, but I've no idea if there'd be anything in your range with land I'm afraid as I've not been looking!

 

[Miszeemare]

Sussex by the Sea! Excellent hacking and cycling on the downs, close enough to London but doubt you would get land with your budget unfortunately.

 

[ester]

I think the trouble is it can be so area specific
Wiltshire was amazing for me, and I still go back to cycle now.
our bit of Somerset is poor but elsewhere some good options

 

[MereChristmas]

The Welsh Marches

 

[Roxylola]

Honestly, North West - property is cheaper, I'm just inside the m60 and we've got canals and cycle routes aplenty, Manchester is well served by trains to that London and easy to get in on public transport too. I've been on a few yards and while they've all needed a little bit of road work you can be off pretty quickly. We're an easy drive to Somerford, Kelsall etc, motorway is easy and links to all over

 

[cold_feet]

West Suffolk/South Norfolk pretty good, but no hills!

 

[Orangehorse]

Its tricky because if you really want decent hacking, then it will be specific to one particular property. Three miles up the road might mean having to ride along a horrible busy road. I live in Worcestershire, which probably wouldn't meet your requirements as it is as far from the sea as possible - but in some areas of the county there are really quite good bridlepath networks, even in built up and busy areas, and the riding can better than in what you might think of as more rural, as the narrow roads can be busy with little off road riding in the immediate area.

I have spoken to people living in the far more rural counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire and although in some places the riding is good, in others it is horrible and hardly any pleasant hacking at all and it certainly isn't the rural, quiet lanes they were expecting.

 

[blitznbobs]

North wales — you’ll get all that and easy access to london on the train … tKe you about 2,30 hrs via crewe.

Loads of walking / riding / dogging (sorry) ?

And if you want to compete / do farm rides youre less than an hour in a lorry from the like of kelsall and its just a but further to somerford park..

 

[Fraggle bells rock]

New forest?
https://www.onthemarket.com/details/11443031/

 

[Sprogladite01]

I'm on the outskirts of Ely in Cambridgeshire - the fens are fantastic for hacking and dog walking, got both my boys at home with me - literally the only downside is, its so flat out here that when it's windy you have to tie everything down otherwise it gets swept away

 

[PeterNatt]

North Hertfordshire. Excellent hacking.

 

[scats]

North Wales? The Wirral? No-one ever considers the Wirral, but we have some excellent country parks, many beaches, the Wirral way and are close enough to Liverpool and Manchester. Train to London from Liverpool Lime Street is about 2.5 hours. There’s not a huge amount of equestrian property for sale and it’s usually in south wirral, but your budget would get you something decent.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

Honestly, North West - property is cheaper, I'm just inside the m60 and we've got canals and cycle routes aplenty, Manchester is well served by trains to that London and easy to get in on public transport too. I've been on a few yards and while they've all needed a little bit of road work you can be off pretty quickly. We're an easy drive to Somerford, Kelsall etc, motorway is easy and links to all over

Absolutely NOT to the North West. It's not cheaper for a start, unless you're talking about Wigan or Urmston for instance. There are a couple of ok places for riding (Delamere being one, Daresbury is ok in parts) but other than that, it's all flat and roads. Better by miles is Shropshire and in particular the Long Mynd. Now that is truly hacking/walking/cycling heaven.

 

[Roxylola]

Absolutely NOT to the North West. It's not cheaper for a start, unless you're talking about Wigan or Urmston for instance. There are a couple of ok places for riding (Delamere being one, Daresbury is ok in parts) but other than that, it's all flat and roads. Better by miles is Shropshire and in particular the Long Mynd. Now that is truly hacking/walking/cycling heaven.

? unless you wanted an M1 postcode or possibly the lake district it's all considerably cheaper than London. Cheshire is largely flat but there's a whole lot more north (and west) that's got plenty of hills and hacking - pretty much all Lancashire for a start

 

[BatHorse]

How about the north York Moors? Fantastic hacking, and easy access to London from Thirsk. Agree with PA, not the north west. I live there now, it's not that cheap (Cheshire) and the hacking is rubbish

 

[Cloball]

Another vote for North Wales however I do agree the hacking is very property specific. The place I used to live had fantastic views but the hacking/cycling was busy rat run country roads however 10mmims up the road in a car and you could be in open access forestry or in the Clwyds. Where I am now the hacking is ok, much quieter lanes and the odd bridleway but the other side of the river and you'd be able to hack through the entirety of Snowdonia without ever hitting a road. OH has really gotten into his cycling since we moved lots of coastal paths and mountain biking tracts.

 

[VRIN]

Iy looks like you won't be able to limit your search as there seems to be lots of ideas here! I would reappear what somewhere has said above as sometimes its specific to a small area .. eg Lancashire may have some good hacking in places but not everywhere. Kelsall and Somerford are probably your nearest venues if you enjoy farm rides and XC which are both in Cheshire and would require boxing up. Remember in Greater Manchester the Clean Air Zone is set to come into force in the not too distant future - Rivington which is a great place for working/hacking etc.... is in the zone so you need to keep that in mind too.

 

[Birker2020]

Warwickshire is good hacking on the whole. Lots of leafy lanes and 100's of bridle paths. Shipston on Stour is good for hacking.
The BHS do books about hacking routes, you may be able to see them free or cheaply on Kindle save you buying the books.

Here is some info from the BHS https://www.bhs.org.uk/advice-and-information/planning-a-ride/finding-a-route
There used to be loads of fun rides around Stratford/Shipston areas so the hacking is very good there too.

 

[Cocorules]

New Forest has miles of unlimited riding, is close to the coast and both are good for walking and cycling.

I live on the far side of the forest from London. It isn't horrendous for travel to London and I could cope with going up every few weeks, but on days I did that, I couldn't fit in riding. I wouldn't want to do it as a regular commute though plenty did.

 

[SO1]

Suffolk

https://www.uklandandfarms.co.uk/rural-property-for-sale/east-anglia/suffolk/lowestoft-39764_431425/

 

[Ruftysdad]

Honestly, North West - property is cheaper, I'm just inside the m60 and we've got canals and cycle routes aplenty, Manchester is well served by trains to that London and easy to get in on public transport too. I've been on a few yards and while they've all needed a little bit of road work you can be off pretty quickly. We're an easy drive to Somerford, Kelsall etc, motorway is easy and links to all over

I live in East Cheshire where we have good hacking and cycling routes.We are also on the main line train line for London.As a bonus we are 15 minutes from the airport. We also have a very active bridleways group which organises many horsey activities

 

[RachelFerd]

I think its incredibly property specific. You can be in a great geographical area for hacking, but still have rubbish hacking because you don't have access to those routes without needing to ride along a main road. It also depends on how much you want to prioritise getting into London easily - do you want to me within reach of a mainline train station?? Or do you not mind having an epic cross country trek, because its only once a month?

Do you want access to facilities and show centres, or is hacking the main priority?

For what its worth, I think Macclesfield is a good shout to look for properties near. It's just under 2hrs on a direct train, but property is definitely in the Northern price categories, rather than expensive south. You've got decent hacking if you're in the right property, great walking in the Peak District and nice cycling around Cheshire. Good access to Somerford and Kelsall for all your competitive needs too.

You've also got fab hacking around Thetford in Suffolk if you don't mind being out in the land of flatness (and more detached from transport networks).

I was going to recommend Surrey Hills and Cotswolds before you posted - but of course, you don't get much for your money in those locations!!

 

[Hepsibah]

https://www.selwynhedgley.com/prope...moorsholm-saltburn-by-the-sea-pi-shea2314.htm
Just outside the moors in North Yorkshire. Enjoyed by many for riding, cycling and walking. Also only a few miles to the sea and a couple of excellent stretches of beach for riding.

 

[RachelFerd]

This is South of Macc, just north of Stoke on Trent - https://www.primelocation.com/for-s...h_identifier=a98b60b6e3952a7689359b78633f1f26 - hacking looks fairly OK from the house itself, and not far to journey to more adventurous stuff

 

[RachelFerd]

Or another area that I love if you don't mind being less attached to London (although well connected for the Northern cities) is the area around Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Halifax etc.

This is gorgeous and definitely well connected to bridleways - https://www.primelocation.com/for-s...h_identifier=cc7371a268c1b484e645b2cc5424162a

https://www.primelocation.com/for-s...h_identifier=cc7371a268c1b484e645b2cc5424162a

https://www.primelocation.com/for-s...h_identifier=cc7371a268c1b484e645b2cc5424162a

https://www.primelocation.com/for-s...h_identifier=cc7371a268c1b484e645b2cc5424162a

 

[j1ffy]

Or another area that I love if you don't mind being less attached to London (although well connected for the Northern cities) is the area around Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Halifax etc.

This is gorgeous and definitely well connected to bridleways - https://www.primelocation.com/for-s...h_identifier=cc7371a268c1b484e645b2cc5424162a

I'm now tempted to quit my job and move there ?.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Thanks everyone - I realise it is property-specific but it’s good to have an idea of general areas to look at or avoid. My OH is dead set against very flat bits of the country which rules out much of East Anglia/Lincolnshire. I’ve got this week off work so I’m going to spend a lot of it Rightmove-trawling (and viewing if possible..)