My vote would be for York or Knaresborough. I've been lucky enough to visit a few times and really liked both places. Will be interested to hear where you end up should you decide to move.
Lots of really nice places mentioned- but again, for us, too far from London and other places we love. Forgot to mention that fast trains go to St Pancras in 1 hour, where we can pick up TGV to Switzerland and other European cities without having to change stations. Brilliant. And also the price of housing isvery high in most areas mentioned, apart from parts of Yorkshire.
Biased, well perhaps- as after a few years in London (Isleworth, Putney and Roehampton) and a few years in Staffs, I lived 35 years in East Leicestershire. Happy days.
You cannot believe how pretty the East Leics/Rutland towns and villages are- mellow stone and Collyweston or Swithland slate, as lovely as the Cotswolds but without the tourists and souvenir shops, and great butchers, grocers, ironmongers, etc.
How about the Wirral? We lived there for 6 years before we moved to Switzerland. Bought a house just outside Ellesmere Port so was very easy to get to Chester, Liverpool and Manchester as well as plenty of countryside (Cheshire Plain and nearby Wales). People seemed more friendly and not such a hectic lifestyle as you get down in the south.
Thank you everyone who replied with their suggestions, I would have individually thanked people but i don't seem to have the "thanks" button at the moment.
I have been looking at a lot of them, and the links provided and it has certainly introduced me to some places I would not have thought of!
It's interesting how alot of people would go back to places they come from or have previously lived.
I realise that I didn't really give enough info to start with, and as a lot of you pointed out, everyone likes different things and Hirzel is not for everyone (how did you remember I had lived there Glendyn?!!) I know a lot of people love the country (including some of my family) but I would be the first volunteer if the BBC ever make a programme called "Escape from the country"!
So still internet looking for houses with schools not too far away, I'm leaning towards south Manchester/Cheshire, maybe as far south as Crewe - so if anyone has any opinions on anywhere in these areas and would like to share them I would be grateful.
Thanks again everyone, appreciate you all taking the time to answer.
Thanks for the response, and the offer to answer questions. Which places have you lived in?
Here's my first question, after the "Crewe is a dump" tip!
What about south of Crewe, just from rightmove.com there seem to be some nice houses, and not too expensive, but I don't know that area, and I'm not sure if it's small villages, and I don't particularly like small villages!
I've been looking at most of the other places you mentioned, except I forgot about Congleton. I'll check that out later!
My Sister lives to the South West of Crewe, near Nantwich, that's quite nice. To the East of Crewe, Haslington is ok and Alsager is nice. Just stay out of Crewe itself, also if you have kids, make sure you are not in the catchment area for Crewe schools. It's all small villages around there, even the towns Nantwich and Sandbach aren't very big.
Edit: I grew up and went to school in Sandbach. After that I've lived in Mobberley, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Congleton.
Lived in Brentford, Isleworth, Roehampton and Putney, in West London. Then Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-u-Lyme, later East Leicestershire in 3 separate locations, latterly in Market Harborough. I'd happily go back there- as said, not far from London, Peak District, Norfolk, Cotwolds- great Mway and rail connections- and fabulous shopping and eating in Leicester. And relatively reasonable prices.
Family mostly in Surrey, Devon and Norfolk (but mostly all over the world).