Stunning Cheshire commuting village to Manchester hailed as ‘perfect place to live’

A quaint Cheshire village hailed as the ‘perfect place to live’ is an ideal commuting distance to Manchester, according to locals.

Lymm, in Warrington, is home to the scenic Bridgewater Canal and the tranquil Lymm Dam.

The village is steeped in history, with buildings dating back to the 1600s scattered throughout, along with large Victorian houses – which were once the homes of wealthy merchants from Manchester.

The Canal, which reached Lymm in 1766, meant that the village became a hive for local produce, such as agriculture and cotton cutting, CheshireLive reports.

READ MORE: Drama as 30ft Christmas tree crashes down in ‘UK’s most festive village’ hours after light switch on

In the village centre, the historic architecture remains, but the buildings are now home to businesses such as hairdressers, pubs, estate agents, and shops.

Georgina Solam, letting manager of Ridgeway Residential estate agents, says Lymm is one of the most sought after places to live in Warrington due to its picturesque centre, ideal location and highly-rated schools.

She said: “Lymm is very popular. It’s the most desirable place to live in Warrington.

“I think the attractions come from having all the outstanding primary schools, a really good high school so lots of people move into the area for to get the children into the local schools.

“It’s one of the closest places to live for the commute to Manchester, you’re obviously on top of the M56 and M62 which then in turn becomes M6.

“The commute is ideal if you work in either Manchester or Liverpool.

“It is one of the most expensive places for purchasing property, but it is a nicer place to live.”

According to Rightmove, average house prices in Lymm range from £326,000 for a two-bedroom house and £822,000 for a five-bedroom house.

Alongside the Bridgewater Canal and Lymm Dam, village highlights include the St Mary’s Church, the picturesque Trans Pennine Trail for walkers and cyclists, and independent businesses.

When walking through the village, you’ll be drawn to the smell of freshly baked bread coming out of Sexton’s Village bakery.

The listed building used to be a mill, said Nick Harrison, general manager of Sextons Bakery and Delicatessen.

He said: “It’s just a lovely village, it’s got so much community strength. It’s a pretty village, it’s got really good selection of shops, brilliant pubs, lots of restaurants.

“It’s just like the perfect place to live.”

The village celebrates the Lymm Dickensian Christmas Festival every year, as well as the May Queen at Easter – and there is an incredibly strong sense of community spirit with these events.

Georgina Solam said: “Even though you’re in a small village, you still feel as though you’re a little bit on the outskirts, you’ve still got that more rural feel to it.

“Everybody is so friendly. Just a lovely place to live really.”

Boaters that travel along the canal bring business to the local retailers and restaurants.

Through the coronavirus pandemic, some businesses benefited from residents staying around the local area.

Hopkinson’s butchers has been in Lymm village for 25 years.

Mel Booth, who has worked there for 18 years, said: “We’ve got good local customers, who use the business regularly.

“Covid was very good for us actually, because people were working from home so that meant they were staying in the village.

“So we met a lot of customers and people that we didn’t know.

“People realise that buying from local butchers is better than going to the supermarket”

However, some businesses are concerned about the drop in footfall in the village.

And Nick Harrison says the run-up to Christmas can be particularly quiet.

He said: “Up to Christmas, they’ll all be at the Trafford Centre, they won’t be staying in the village because we don’t have that sort of shop.”

He said that more “diversity” in the village might be needed, but there is a lack of empty buildings in the village for this to happen.

Paula Evans, branch manager at Ridgeway Residential, said: “There’s been lots of changes.

“Over the road there used to be a hairdressers, the chicken shop has been an electrical shop and it’s also been an opticians.

“It’s quite an affluent area… everybody seems to want to be here.

“However the footfall has dropped off recently in the village and it needs to be brought back.

“It was dropping off before [Covid] because the parking caused a lot of problems.

“It was always free parking, that changed and the footfall tailed off.

“We do need more businesses coming back into the village.

“Restaurants are doing really really well, but at the moment, it’s mainly offices.”

Angela Davies, who has lived in the village all her life, believes there is a lack of retailers for consumer’s general shopping needs.

She said: “There used to be clothes shops here and electricians, you could come into the village years ago and you could shop and get everything you wanted.

“I think when we lost the banks, because we used to have NatWest next door, Lloyds on the corner, there was Barclays.

“I think once those went, I think it was from them, all the footfall.”

Mel agrees, saying: “There was a lot of local shops which everyone could use, but now it’s a lot of coffee shops and takeaways.

“So a lot of people are eating out more.

“But we still got a good trade from local customers as well.”

He said he would like more small shops in the area, such as fishmongers or fruit and vegetable vendors.

“But other than that,” he said, “you can still get anything you want from Lymm.”

Sign up to the MEN email newsletters to get the latest on sport, news, what’s on and more by following this link