Moving to Marple - Advice please!!

[marplefan]

Marple has many more facilities then other suburbs; where else you will find a cinema, a theatre, a swimming pool, climbing wall, canals, river and lakes, several golf courses, football playing fields etc on your doorstep?
i have commuted to central Manchester for years from Marple Bridge and then from Rose Hill stations and it was a luxury comparing to usual commuter routes in the South of the country. Especially from Rose Hill if you are a walking distance from it. I totally recommend Marple!

[BidingTime]

James..... go for it 

I moved here over 10 yrs ago and you would be very hard pressed to find anywhere within Stockport/close to Manchester that still retains a friendly "community" feel......it has got nearly all the shops you could possibly want ( i find the Co-op is fine for me although they do run out of some things if you are going in after work ie 5pm or later)......anything you cannot get locally get the train into Manchester or bus into Stockport,not that big of a deal.......or drive to Morrisons in Bredbury,Sainsburys Hazel Grove.

Train links to Manchester are great although as others have mentioned the trains are packed out at peak times but that goes for any peak time commuter train (we do seem to have the oldest trains on the network but thats another story.at least they do run !!)

If you are getting the train from Marple every day try and get a property close to the station.....the drag walking up the hill can be a killer esp end of a long working day (mind you that depends how young/fit you are  )..........the car parks fill up as well workdays approx by 8-8.15am.

The MAJOR downside to living in Marple (as others have said) is rush hour traffic going down to the direction of Stockport,very unpredictable ( except during School Holidays when its much better)....can be very frustrating being stuck for 20 mins or longer just to get to the bottom of Dan Bank ( you have to leave massively earlier than you would for a straight run to be on the safe side you get anywhere on time)If it snows you do not know if you are going to be able to get out of Marple,let alone taking a risk driving down Dan bank........if you do not have to drive into/out of  Stockport rush hour then i can't think of any downsides to Marple worth mentioning.

Good Luck with your search 

[My login is Henrietta]

Hi there,

My girlfriend and I are seriously thinking of buying a house in Marple and I was hoping for a little bit of advice from local residents.

It seems that Marple is a really good place to live, community spirit (confirmed by this website!), proximity to Peak District, Manchester not far on the train and pretty good schools. We've been looking around houses for the last couple of months but was really hoping for a little insider knowledge on what areas are nice / what areas should be avoided / anything that may not be obvious to an outsider or any other comments that you have about living in Marple.

Thanks v much in advance

Council tax rates are frightening compared with where I used to live!

[Bevplayle]

James, I think this is meant to be! I have a beautiful house for sale at this very moment , in Marple Bridge, which is even MORE gorgeous than Marple itself and has the advantage of having bus link to Glossop too, as well as buses to Stockport every 15 mins and train station 5 mins walk from the house you really need to buy (currently owned by moi!) - and I know you'd be very happy living here!! We have been - for the past 19 years, and are only moving as hubby has landed a posh job in Yorkshire - but we will be back one day!! Have had a brilliant life here.

Seriously, James, hope you find somewhere that suits you - and as regards the shops - it's brilliant we haven't got a major supermarket nearby - sick of seeing them trying to take over the world, making shareholders rich instead of the local communities. Local shops here are excellent, individual and interesting - and our high street doesn't look 'plastic' like so many others sadly do these days! And there are some brilliant churches, social groups, our own theatre, an independent Cinema - I could go on and on...... enjoy the search!!

[Heritage]

James - don't be put off by Rotten John's labelling of 'posh' people who use Waitrose or Sainsbury's. There's room for everyone in Marple, Rotten John is an element of our community but not all of it!! And you can shop where you like - labelling someone 'posh' or not isn't what most of us would recognise in this community. Marple has large areas of affluence and we aren't bitter about that!! Cheers 

[jamesc]

Thanks again for all the helpful information everyone. Just got to find the right house now! James

[rotten john]

james
an honest oppinion from a outsider.
 marples great in the whole i moved here 15 years ago,we were told to not buy a house on sutch a rd or sutch an area as they were scruffy council houses,but as im from levenshulme absolutely nothing worried me about so called bad areas of marple, we couldnt turn down the offer of a 3 bed semi with big gardens great veiws etc for such a low price of 70k the same house in bramhall would cost nearer 300k so we baught our house,best thing we ever did 99% of our nieghbours are fab!,dont bother with the posh waitrose/sainsburys deliver gang, marples got all the shops you need if youll take a look.also the pubs are that good (friendly)round marple it dosnt even kick off on derby day lol,yeh its got its little small time gangsta drug dealers like everywhere else but most of them come from the more affluent areas (if only mumsy and daddy knew)and the cops sort them out every now n then,so thats good.3 or 4 great chippys up here,cinema,great pubs,restaurants,greggs,costa etc etc...
we have ducks visit us in the garden,and one day few years back a stag was outside on our rd a stag!! now where else can you see wildlife like that at your front door!,i belive it had jumped the fence from the deer farm in disley or lyme park and made its way down the canal.
go for it i dont think youll regret it

[Duke Fame]

Good for you buying a house now, it's a Market that is very stagnant with few buyers and whilst sellers may seem short in the ground they are desparate. House prices will fall a little before recovering in 2014 so drive the price down andforce a bargain.

[amazon]

Post removed by Howard. Please remember that gratuitous mentions of the supermarket debate should be saved for the dedicated thread.

[Ali Bee]

I moved from the very nearby Marple Bridge just over four years ago, though I was naturally already familiar with Marple for very many years.  Of the two I prefer Marple, the people, the shops, the scenery well I live nearby the canal, great places to walk the dogs if you have or will get some (I recommend Greyhounds or other Sighthounds, but then I am biased).  As has already been mentioned the commuter connections, rail and road, are brilliant.  The Primary Schools, well Rose Hill Primary School is currently undergoing a developing new construction alongside the existing school but is an excellent place for children as is All Saints, High Lane and Brookside Primaries.  As for senior schools well there is Marple Hall or the nearishby Harrytown or Werneth.  Oh and we are a friendly lot, we smile if you smile back and especially should you stop to admire our dogs or our children, we will stop and chat, though for some of us talking just comes naturally to all that we meet.   

[Dave]

Lots of good advice above, James, and I can't add much to it except to say that I agree.  If you are commuting to Manchester there's something to be said for being within walking distance of one of the stations.  Marple station has a better service than Rose Hill, and a bigger car park, but it does fill up by about 8.15 am.  Driving to Manchester or Stockport in the rush hours is no joke, though 

We moved here from Cheadle Hulme about 28 years ago, and our only regret is that we didn't make the move earlier.  Compared with some other commuter areas south of Greater Manchester, Marple is a bit different: it has more character and feels less suburban.  The average age of its population is older than many other areas, ethnically predominantly white, and more socially mixed that some areas - it's definitely  not a middle class (or any other class) ghetto!   One great attraction is being so close to attractive countryside.  And it's also accessible countryside, thanks to the canals and the network of old footpaths and bridleways which thread the Goyt and Etherow Valleys.  There's sport, culture, decent pubs, and a wonderful little cinema! Welcome! 

[jamesc]

Thanks again for the all the replies everyone You've been really helpful and have confirmed that Marple is a friendly place to live.

James

[Marplemum]

James, I can only echo a lot of what has already been said.  Although I've lived in Marple Bridge for nearly 30 years, Marple is a nice place to live.  There are good and not so good areas - I'm sure you can work that out for yourself.  The main downside is the dreadful traffic in a morning from Marple to Stockport which is completely unpredictable.  However, I noticed you mentioned travelling to Manchester so you should have no problems.  Trains are usually pretty good to Manchester but packed (like most commuter trains).  Like I said, it's a good place to live and a good place to bring up children if you have any.  Schools are excellent (particularly Ludworth and Marple Hall).  Lots of lovely walks and countryside within a few minutes.

[Pink Panther]

I have mailed you James .. Good luck , I hope you find the house you really love soon

[Come on Nick, get real!]

and the buses to Stockport are poor

Your kidding right............there is a bus to Stockport every 15 minutes from both sides of Stockport Road, the 358 and the little 375 that also goes to Stockport but the very long way round. What more do you want.