UKC

To live? Considering changing job and there's an opportunity there.

I know about the mountain biking and road biking. House prices seem reasonable, at least compared to where I am now. Transport links seem ok, I'm aware of the state of the M6 on a Friday night.

Any opinions.

In reply to Swirly:

Dogging in the chase!

In reply to Swirly:

It's a depressing dump of a place. Makes Wolverhampton look positively exotic.

In reply to Swirly:

Its a dump of a place surrounded by some quite nice places. beware of pig man and the ghost child.
http://paranormalcannock.blogspot.co.uk/

In reply to Swirly:

there's a great truck stop called "Hollies"
and no there aren't any red dwarf computers there

In reply to Swirly:

have a look at penkridge or rugeley ,but basically they are still all either old mining towns or on the edge of the black country, when we moved back from abroad I chose to move back to Wolverhampton area ,20 min from the chase , 1.5 hr from north wales and 1hr or so to the peak ,plus you get a better house for your money

In reply to Swirly:

I lived in Cannock for 5 years when I first started teaching. Its like most places - some areas rougher than others. But for me the ability to get to places quickly meant that it was worth living there. Of course you have got the mountain biking on the Chase, but you could be at the Roaches within 45minutes, Llangollen in 1 hour, Lakes in 2-3 hours.

In reply to Wulfrunian:


Now you're really scaring me.

In reply to squirrel00:

Thanks for not being entirely negative! I would have some leeway in terms of distance to commute either by car or bike so wouldn't have to live in Cannock itself if it's as bad as everyone says.

In reply to Swirly:

Cannock is as others have said, a former mining town and it has some good bits and some mankey bits. there are some nicer places to live in the wider area and you might be surprised bythe cost of houses in some of the villages around the Chase - very expensive.

Lichfield and Rugeley are ok, further to the west I would avoid Brownhills - if the earth had piles...

Aldridge and around there is ok, close to the M6 and A38 for the M1 and Peak.

In reply to Nevis-the-cat:
Lichfield has a Waitrose. The only one in Staffordshire.

In reply to Philip:


Nope. There's one in Leek. A much nicer place to live

In reply to Skol:

Ah yes, the converted co-op. Not sure I'd want to live in either Leek or Litchfield. My nearest town is Ashbourne and that has one.

In reply to Swirly:
My Better half comes from this neck of the woods, Great Wyrley to be precise near the A5.

The Area is pretty good (much better than where we live 'The Black Country') and the access to everywhere is brilliant. I have to say if I had the choice of moving to somewhere without completely changing my life it would be somewhere in that general area (Start of the M54 corridor).

Her Brother regularly bikes from their house to the chase and blasts around for a couple of hours after work and its only about 45minutes to matlock on a good run or 2hrs to Llanberis.

I do hear horror stories about Cannock itself though but that could be said about anywhere.

In reply to Swirly:

better off in stoke-on-trent or newcastle-under-lyme, 30/40 mins to cannock less for the roaches, llandegla only an hr away, north wales little bit more, M6 right next to u.

In reply to Swirly:

best thing to do is have a ride about on the outskirts ,ive always lived in industrial towns and inner city areas ,so I don't really notice all the problems ,where I live now was years ago right ropy but in 7 yrs never a break in and all the kids play together and are very polite ,yet people look down on the area , my aunt lives in what is a upper class side of Wolverhampton /south staffs is constantly having problems with kids and break-ins ,have a look around some of the new estates and speak to a few people before you decide ,would have to agree with staying away from Brownhills its been turned in to a ghost town and has all the problems that go with it ,

In reply to Swirly:

Cannock is a bit of a shithole to be honest, the nightlife is terrible, the shopping and options for actually doing anything is poor and the driver's seem to have no concept of how to drive with cyclists around. Cannock Chase is okay, pretty enough but nothing spectacular. It does have some good mountain biking. If you can commute I'd probably move to Stafford, its about 15-20 min north in the car and has more options for doing things. Also, it cuts out a bit of time getting to the Roaches, the Peak and you can easily jump on the M6 north to Awesome Walls Stoke or South to Boulder Central.

Lichfield is hellishly expensive and seems to be where old people go to die. Walsall is a dump as is Wolverhampton. I say this having moved back to Great Wyrley where my soul is slowly dying.

In reply to all: Remember, Swirly used to live in Liverpool, so may have low expectations

In reply to Swirly:

It's horrid. I'd just bypass that entire area and either move to Shropshire or, er, don't. But not Cannock. Cannock, yes, does make Wolverhampton look like Manhattan

In reply to Swirly:

Lots of negative folk on here! I lived in Cannock for two years and had a nice experience. Lived near Cannock chase and found that I was a stone throw from some awesome trails for running and riding. You can move more towards Lichfield and you will find a tidier area with generally more well behaved people but higher housing prices.

Cannock as others have said is next to the M6 and offers fast routes to many climbing areas (Wales, Roaches etc). Don't be put off by some of the numpty comments on here. Cannock is a nice place but like every area it has its dumps. Research the areas you wish to move and make a visit to the area. Cannock folk aint that bad!

In reply to omerta:


Bit of a harsh thing to say!! Doubt the hard working people of Cannock would appreciate you calling their home Horrid!!

In reply to Swirly:

As someone proud to have been born and bred in the Black Country, and still living here, I'd ignore the miserable comments on here and have a look for yourself. Cannock is a typical Midlands industrial town, with the mixture of better and worse areas you'd expect. Places like Wolverhampton and Walsall certainly aren't intrinsically depressing and my soul is perfectly healthy, thanks, despite my proximity to Great Wyrley. But then, I do plan to be buried wrapped in my Black Country flag.

In reply to Philip:
Leek is a nice town?

In reply to Matt300:

You're right, I doubt that they would. But it's still horrid

In reply to Swirly:

Did my first ever bivvy on Cannock Chase one autumn day, when about 12, with my mate who was in the scouts, and woke up to look into the face of a giant stag staring me in the face. Well he seemed big to a 12 year old! I found it a great place to explore but it might have changed quite bit in that time. I seem to recall a German war cemetery with the grave of a german general who died when a prisioner over here.

In reply to Matt300:

Numpty comments? I was brought up in Cannock and lived there for 14 years and have just had to return after uni. It has won "worst town in the UK" multiple times. Cannock Chase area is nice but not at all representative of the rest of the area.

In reply to llamaglama:

I was brought up in Cannock...It has won "worst town in the UK" multiple times.

Things must be on the up! It no longer features in the 2014 top ten of Crap Towns or the 'I Live Here' list (which appears to be compiled mostly by people who regard chavs as the greatest threat to western civilisation since the barbarians were ringing Rome's doorbell). York however achieves a high position and London comes out top, which I guess suggests places can be whatever you make of them.

In reply to Swirly:

Lived in Wolves and Stafford for a while, and to be honest Cannock did not look appealing. However anywhere with an (almost) goml free forest on its doorstep has to have something going for it.

I don't know about Cannock, but I found the crime bagging (ie seeing how many crimes against you could be ticked off) tedious in Wolverhampton. One gets tired of being robbed and assaulted. I was glad to get out.

If you do end up there - check out Wolverhampton Mountaineering Club - definitely one good reason for living near Wolverhampton.