Moving to Cheshire

[indiat]

Hello all, I post infrequently on this forum but some may remember that we were looking for an equestrian property in Bath last year. Well, we have given up as they are rare and incredibly expensive in this part of the world. We have now decided to move to Cheshire as the type of property we are looking for comes up more frequently in our budget. I would love to move to Tarporley or Malpas but a lot of more affordable properties are coming up in Nantwich. I have fallen in love with a place in Blakenhall, Nantwich. Could any of you lovely, experienced horsey peeps give me any advice about the best areas for riding? I have a semi-feral Highland who prefers hacking and has to be cajoled to school (although he has to do it a couple of times a week!) and two little girls who are desperate to hoon about the countryside on their very own ponies. I know we can get a permit to ride in Doddington park and there seems to be a couple of small bridlepaths near Blakenhall. The lanes seem to be very quiet. Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[LovesCobs]

What size house/land etc do you want?

 

[indiat]

We're looking for a four bedroom/ three reception room house as we both work from home. Turnout would need to be a minimum of two acres but ideally I would like around five, as the kids will no doubt want ponies of their own. We've got a budget of £650,000 which doesn't seem to go far in Tarporley!

 

[Asha]

Welcome to Nantwich ! Blakenhall is lovely. The best place to hack around that part of Nantwich is definitely Doddington. Great location, as you will be close to Southview, Reaseheath, somerford and Kelsall, to name but a few. Lots f horsey things to do.

 

[indiat]

Hi Asha, that is such a relief to hear! part of the reason for getting our own place is that we all want to get into competing, which we cannot afford to do on livery. I am hoping to find a safe route to hack to Doddington from Blakenhall, IF we get the house we are after, which I am praying we will.

 

[LovesCobs]

We're looking for a four bedroom/ three reception room house as we both work from home. Turnout would need to be a minimum of two acres but ideally I would like around five, as the kids will no doubt want ponies of their own. We've got a budget of £650,000 which doesn't seem to go far in Tarporley!

Ok, I just know of somewhere in malpas but the house is too small for you. 3 acres, manège, 4 stables. But small house, you'd have to risk planning permission to extend it. It's not on the market yet.
£650k is a reasonable budget. Shame youve not seen anything. However Nantwich way is great for horses I can't see you going wrong

 

[Asha]

I'm not sure if there is a totally safe route to hack from Blakenhall to Doddington, as you will have cross the A51 at some point, that's a very busy road, we used to have a stable yard on it, so know what it's like ! There may be a back route that takes you into Wybunbury, which then leads you onto a bridle path through the quarry. From there you can get across the A51 onto a nearby livery yard called Ballaglass. They may let you pass through and use the access. Very nice people who own it, worth asking !

 

[Marchogaeth]

Welcome to Nantwich ! Blakenhall is lovely. The best place to hack around that part of Nantwich is definitely Doddington. Great location, as you will be close to Southview, Reaseheath, somerford and Kelsall, to name but a few. Lots f horsey things to do.

This^ Theres endless horse things to do!
Welcome! It's a lovely area, I'm in Tarporley at the minute but I was living in Nantwich until and there are plenty of great places to hack! Doddington is fabulous though!
Facility's are second to none up here too so you've got your pick there and if you have transport Delemere forest makes a truely stunning ride! As does the beautiful North Wales countryside only an hour away! Reaseheath, kellsall and somerford have fantastic facility's there's a few wonderful local pony clubs for the girls to join too if they're interested, Cheshire Hunt PC and the like, also the PC national championships are held over four days every summer less than 1/2 and hour from you! Great horsey area with lots or great horsey people!😊

 

[Asha]

Forgot to mention the best bits ! Some great pubs nearby. The hand and trumpet in Betley do great food, yum yum��

 

[indiat]

This is so great! I must confess to being nervous as we will be very new to the area - it's great to hear there is so much going on. It would be great not to be dependent on Doddington for some off road riding as we don't have transport yet and it might be some time before we could afford anything. Both the ponies we own are bombproof in traffic and I would be happy to ride them around quiet lanes to access bridleways. The estate agent did mention a livery yard that had access to Doddington, Asha, Ballaglass must be it. I would be more than happy to pay for safe access. Myself and the girls are looking forward to joining PC and riding clubs. I don't want to be isolated, as a I work from home the yard is currently my only social life. I would LOVE to live near Delamere Forest but even if we can't find a place in Tarporley, I am looking forward to driving the dogs over for some lovely walks. The one thing i really liked is that every house we viewed had horsey neighbours. It's good that so many other people are living the same lifestyle as I was nervous about arguments with non-horsey folk about noise, etc. I just wish we could get a decent offer on our own house so we can get up there!

 

[indiat]

Pubs! Yes, the pubs are going to VERY important! I am so looking forward to long country walks, a lovely lunch and then home again with the dogs. I am heartily sick of living in the centre of Bath.

 

[webble]

Cheshire is lovely but it is expensive. If you arent too dependant on the Tarporley area it might be worth looking south too into North Shropshire area. My friend has just moved from Nantwich to that area and got a LOT more house for her money.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Cheshire is lovely but it is expensive. If you arent too dependant on the Tarporley area it might be worth looking south too into North Shropshire area. My friend has just moved from Nantwich to that area and got a LOT more house for her money.

I would agree with this, you would certainly get more for your money over the border in North Shropshire and it is still a very horsey area.

This is probably a bit over the top for private use but gives you an idea

http://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/17542117#f7SyUoLkmsTrQXzl.97

 

[ROMANY 1959]

Well you will have first class vets on your doorstep...nantwich vets are brilliant .

 

[Tiddlypom]

You wouldn't have to venture very far from Tarporley to be able to get a very decent house with land for that budget, and in a good location. I wish our (fairly small) 4 bed/3 recep/4 stables/7acres + CB arena property was worth 650k! We're in S.Cheshire.

Agree with looking into N.Shropshire, too.

 

[Emmahi]

It's amazing how many people on here live so close to each other! We are just outside Nantwich, hacking from our house is pretty boring. Just very quiet lanes with wide verges, nowhere to just relax on bridleways.
We have a permit to ride on bickerton hill, which is brilliant, that's between Nantwich and malpas. Delamere forest good- as is harthill farm ride, the gallops and kelsall hill. All great farm rides.
Definitely will get more for your money towards malpas and north Shropshire- Tarporley is lovely but very expensive.
Great schools if that's important and pubs are fabulous! Recommend yew tree, dysart, Cholmondeley arms!!!

 

[KautoStar1]

Well you will have first class vets on your doorstep...nantwich vets are brilliant .

agree totally about the vets

 

[KautoStar1]

sorry, don't mean to thread hijack, but how do you get permits to ride around Doddington Park and Bickerton Hill ?

 

[indiat]

We really are keen to stay in Cheshire as we have two young children and there is a lot of good schools in the area. They have other interests as well - eldest is in the RAF cadets, while the youngest is seriously into Warhammer, I don't want to be too far away from these interests. I write children's books and need to travel to festivals and schools and being close to Crewe is great - it seems you can get anywhere from Crewe. OH is a journalist and still needs to get to London for the odd meeting. But that you for the recommendation anyway. Tiddlypom, your house sounds lovely, are you moving, by any chance?! Could I also ask what type of soil there is in these areas? I am going blind trying to figure out how much land I can get away with for our native ponies, one is fructose intolerant and one is a very good doer, a Highland who puts weight on looking at grass. I'm going on an acre a pony as a rough guide.

 

[indiat]

KautoStar1, I emailed Doddington Park and there is a lady there called Moira Jonhston who is the farm ride manager, she can send you all the relevant information.

 

[KautoStar1]

would that be the same place as Doddington Hall Estate ?

 

[indiat]

That is the one! I emailed Chris Clayton, the estate manager, who passed my details onto Moira.

 

[KautoStar1]

found him, thanks I will email. Always looking for new places to hack off road. Best of luck with your move. Nice area

 

[LovesCobs]

sorry, don't mean to thread hijack, but how do you get permits to ride around Doddington Park and Bickerton Hill ?

bickerton hill is national trust so it's the local office. there's a number on the boards on the hill if you are ever there having a walk. It can be quite narrow with a drop in places so if you don't like that you might want to walk it without a horse first. I took the dog on most routes to see which I was happy with.
it's about £30 a year, september to september

 

[indiat]

Hmmm, I take it back, North Shropshire does look fab and is not too far from cadets/Warhammer. I need options in case the dream place in Blakenhall falls through!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Tiddlypom, your house sounds lovely, are you moving, by any chance?! .

Ha, I'm afraid we're fairly firmly rooted here (been since '86). It's cosy and it suits us well.

OH was threatened with an enforced job relocation to Oxfordshire around year 2000. We got a valuation on our property (think it was 175k then) and went down to see what we could get for our money down there.

The Oxfordshire estate agents all laughed us out of their premises, they thought we must be deluded to have a detached 4 beds/7acres in a nice location for that. OH stuck it out (resigned/got taken back on by a different department) and we stayed on here.

Soil wise, we are on good loam soil, but there is clay not far away.

Good luck with the house search!

 

[LovesCobs]

It's amazing how many people on here live so close to each other! We are just outside Nantwich, hacking from our house is pretty boring. Just very quiet lanes with wide verges, nowhere to just relax on bridleways.
We have a permit to ride on bickerton hill, which is brilliant, that's between Nantwich and malpas. Delamere forest good- as is harthill farm ride, the gallops and kelsall hill. All great farm rides.
Definitely will get more for your money towards malpas and north Shropshire- Tarporley is lovely but very expensive.
Great schools if that's important and pubs are fabulous! Recommend yew tree, dysart, Cholmondeley arms!!!

have you been on bickerton hill since the tree felling? i haven't put my brave pants on to go as my lad doesn't like tree stumps!

don't forget The Pheasant pub, you can ride to it and they have tie rings outside so you can have a drink

I'm moving soon but will be staying within 10 miles of malpas. once house I'm looking at is just over the welsh boarder but only 10 min drive into Malpas (my daughter is at school there)

 

[LovesCobs]

We really are keen to stay in Cheshire as we have two young children and there is a lot of good schools in the area. They have other interests as well - eldest is in the RAF cadets, while the youngest is seriously into Warhammer, I don't want to be too far away from these interests. I write children's books and need to travel to festivals and schools and being close to Crewe is great - it seems you can get anywhere from Crewe. OH is a journalist and still needs to get to London for the odd meeting. But that you for the recommendation anyway. Tiddlypom, your house sounds lovely, are you moving, by any chance?! Could I also ask what type of soil there is in these areas? I am going blind trying to figure out how much land I can get away with for our native ponies, one is fructose intolerant and one is a very good doer, a Highland who puts weight on looking at grass. I'm going on an acre a pony as a rough guide.

i have 3 acres with one gypsy cob and 2 ponies, this summer I had to section off half of it and they still got fat! its sandy here but probably depends where you end up. i have also closed an acre of it for winter.
i would manage on 2 acres minimum for good doers like mine but that would mean I'd probably have to bring them in at nights in winter and manage the fields more carefully.
as i think i said in another post i'm looking at a house just over the border in wales 3-4 miles from Whitchurch.
I'm currently right on Bickerton Hill but have to move

 

[Asha]

We moved to Nantwich about 12 years ago, and love it. Such a friendly sociable place. Nantwich RC is fab too, again very friendly. As for schools they are great, Brine Leas has a fab reputation, and in Blakenhall you will be in the catchment. Good luck with your house sale, hope it all works out for you.

The lanes at the back of Blakenhall are quiet as we used to hack around there into the village (Wybunbury)

 

[Maesfen]

bickerton hill is national trust so it's the local office. there's a number on the boards on the hill if you are ever there having a walk. It can be quite narrow with a drop in places so if you don't like that you might want to walk it without a horse first. I took the dog on most routes to see which I was happy with.
it's about £30 a year, september to september

Lol, years ago we used to use it for exercising a lot; many a time we were cantering along and a soldier on manoeuvres got up out of the ditches there, mad for excitement!

Bishop Heber in Malpas has a good Air Cadet group I believe or always used to.

This is nearby, http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33166050.html