Commuting to Derby

CrowdedBus

Hi

I'm starting a new job in the south of Derby (Chellaston) in a few weeks and looking for a place to live. We want to live somewhere with good schools and local amenities and within reasonable driving time of my new job.

I like the look of Ashbourne and Matlock - would it be stupid trying to commute by car from either of those towns?

Would anybody recommend Quorn/Woodhouse Eaves? How about Duffield?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

CB

gingerdad

Would suggest Duffield/ Allestree or Darley Abbey if you make sure if the primary schools and Ecclesbourne in Duffield are very good, other wise the villages around Ashbourne, Church Broughton very nice.

princeofpounds

I know this area very well, although not the alternative areas you might weigh it up against.

Commuting to derby is pretty straightforward from ashbourne. You are looking at about 30 mins along a pleasant, if single-carriage, road to the edge of derby. now it's not a big city so out of rush hour you would be central in another 5 min, I'm not sure about rush hour. You would probably want to use the kedlestone road rather than the A roads.

Takes longer to get to Matlock because you have to go through belper.

Duffield is closer in of course. I think the school there is quite good, certainly used to be.

And there are a bunch of nice villages all around the area so you could live on the derby side of many of these towns to balance out commute and local shopping.

Quorn - do you mean Quarndon?

dizziblonde

Matlock's possibly pushing it commute-wise (but is a nice place - used to teach at one of the schools out there), I used to do the commute from more of the Nottingham side of Derby to Matlock and it would take me about 45 minutes on a morning, but I quite often got caught up in traffic incidents en-route making it more of a 2 hour+ sit in traffic on the A38fest (don't think it ever gets as bad going the other way through Belper though). Was do-able, and a nice drive on a summer's morning, but it did grind me down a bit over the months (but I hate driving as a general rule to be honest).

Can't help that much since it's the other side of Derby from my general patch really!

CrowdedBus

Thanks for your responses. Very useful.

Princeofpounds - I actually meant Quorn in Leicestershire. Bit further away, but can travel up the M1 and A50 so possibly a bit quicker.

dizziblonde

Derby's pretty good anyway in terms of commuting into it - especially not going to the city centre. I rarely get jammed up anywhere in traffic dotting around the edges of town. I know more of the Nottingham/Long Eaton side of the city if you need anything on that general area, not so much the south of it (don't live in Derby anymore myself - I'm just the other side of the county border).

debdebdeb

We had a similar problem a few years ago as we lived in Leicestershire and my husband works near Derby. The commute was so long and it could take hours to get through the M1 traffic. We moved to a village near Uttoxeter. The commute is good for him now. There are plenty of villages to choose from and even Uttoxeter itself is a nice town with ok shops and not a threatening feeling town iykwim? If I didn't have children who were settled in the village school I would move to the town. We utilise Ashbourne too but it always tends to have a different feel to it which I'm not keen on.

AbbieCadabra

i can only talk about the travel aspect as i don't know anything about schools etc., but i definitely wouldn't like to commute across Derby every day at peak times. i used to know someone who did Matlock to raynesway (Spondon area) every day & the amount of times there was a problem & she'd be late for work & seriously stressed! not good. it only seems to take one tiny incident in Derby & the whole place grinds to a halt very quickly, plus all the ongoing roadworks at the moment.

if i were in your position i'd be looking to live south of Derby, plenty of lovely rural areas that way. good luck

dizziblonde

Yep - I did Chaddesden to Matlock every day (thankfully going the reverse way to the rest of the planet) and it was still pretty grotty on occasions! Mind you - I'm just a supply teacher so I've been sent to that many obscure places that I've learnt so many back roads and ways around the traffic bad spots I'm pretty speedy getting most places in rush hour by now.

Biggest bad point I've found living round here - every blooming member of my family use us as a stop off to avoid paying service station coffee prices on their way up and down the M1 - I know you're not coming round to see how I am you cheapskates!

JC_Derby

Chellaston School is one of the best schools in derby. But is oversubscribed i believe.
some decent small villages round. Aston and Weston, Melbourne, if youwant to live really close.