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Why is Hale so popular with those moving to Manchester?
Hale is a pretty town in Cheshire, known locally as a village, about 9 miles to the south of Manchester City Centre. What does distinguish a town from a village? It seems to have very little to do with what limited amount I can remember from human geography lessons and more to do with how attractive a place is. Using this logic (or non-logic), Hale is most definitely a village. When conducting an orientation tour of towns (and villages!) to the south of Manchester, I sometimes think shall we just go to Hale because more often than not, it ends up as the location of choice in the end anyway. Those relocating are charmed by the pretty village with its independent shops and boutiques and numerous bars and restaurants on Ashley Road. Houses sit on tree lined streets; period terraced and semi-detached houses close to the centre with larger detached, some extremely large, as you move out. Essentially a wide selection of housing is within walking distance of the village and to be close to a centre is often a search criteria for many of those relocating.
Hale is also a good option for those relocating to Manchester with children and in fact, many already living in Manchester look to move to Hale to be within the catchment for Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and Altrincham Grammar School for Girls. Both are ‘state’ schools with entry subject to an entrance examination at age 11 and both are consistently amongst the ‘best’ schools in the U.K.
Hale and the neighbouring Bowdon and Altrincham also have a number of Ofsted outstanding primary schools: The Bollin School, Bowdon Church School; Altrincham Church of England School; Stamford Park (infant school is rated outstanding and the junior school is rated good). Often, due to the pressure on primary school places, those moving internationally seek independent school places and Hale has a number close by: Hale Prep; Altrincham Prep; Bowdon Prep. The independent primary schools are also quite often full with an odd space in a particular year group but the number of schools close by can help keep options open.
Also, all the large independent senior schools closer to Manchester operate bus services to Hale: St Bede’s; Manchester High School for Girls; Withington Girls School; Manchester Grammar School; Cheadle Hulme School.
Hale has good transport links with easy access to the M56 and M6 motorways. It is close to Manchester Airport but is not troubled by aircraft noise and has its own railway station with trains every hour to Manchester and Chester. The journey time to Manchester City Centre is just under 35 minutes. Those choosing to drive to Manchester will experience congestion during peak times.
The National Trust property, Dunham Massey, a grand 18th century hall set amongst 250 acres of woodland including a deer park is a short drive, or a walk or a jog away. Access to the grounds is free and is popular with local dog walkers, runners and small people on scooters and bikes. The Dunham Massey Ice Cream Farm, very popular with small clients who have behaved very well in the car (the wonders of Peppa Pig and an iPad!) is well worth a visit. Personally the Bailey’s ice cream is my favourite!
Hale also benefits from being a neighbour of Altrincham. Hale is actually an area within Altrincham but has developed a distinct identity of its own. Altrincham has a frequent tram service to Manchester with a journey time of 30 minutes to Manchester City Centre. It does, as you would expect, experience the usual public transport problems. Altrincham has many of the major supermarkets, Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose and more ‘chain’ stores as well as its own (increasing) share of bars and restaurants including the extremely popular Market House in the converted Market Hall.
Hale and its other neighbours Bowdon and Hale Barns are popular with ‘celebrities’ and footballers from the local Manchester City and Manchester United, as well as the Merseyside and Midlands teams. The ‘Real Housewives of Cheshire’ are often shown walking through Hale Village and it’s not unusual to spot a Daily Mail photographer lurking about. This gives us a hint at a negative of Hale! Hale, Hale Barns and Bowdon (although located in Cheshire) are expensive suburbs to Manchester and along with ‘The Golden Triangle’ of Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Prestbury, you will find the most expensive roads outside London and in general, properties are well above the national average.
If you want to know more about Hale, just get in touch.
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