Living in Curbar

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 ChrisBrooke 23 Jul 2020

A few weeks ago, I was asking about living in Darley Dale. We decided against that, but have seen a lovely house in Curbar and are thinking of moving there from Sheffield (S7 - Millhouses). Pluses: it's a nice house with a nice view down the hill, and Curbar edge up the hill. Living that close to one of my favourite crags would be a dream. The primary school looks really good for my young kids. Secondaries, not so sure - Lady Manners looks OK. 

Anyone live there? What's life like in Curbar? Community spirit/balance of country life with proximity to Sheffield etc etc. Any beta gratefully received.

Thanks. Chris

 ClimberEd 23 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Following this. Am looking in the area.

OP ChrisBrooke 23 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Bump. 

 rogersavery 23 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

I know people who live in Curbar and haven’t heard anything bad.

One of my children goes to Lady Manners and the other left last year for an apprenticeship - they both did/doing well and the school seems ok, I have no real concerns (only a few minor ones that you would get in any school)

Post edited at 19:54
OP ChrisBrooke 23 Jul 2020
In reply to rogersavery:

Ok, thanks Roger. 

 Jon Read 23 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Do it. Why wouldn't you? I know one committed climber who lives there, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm!

OP ChrisBrooke 23 Jul 2020
In reply to Jon Read:

Thanks Jon. I am a committed punter, but there are (dare I say it) more aspects to home choice than proximity to the Trackside boulder...

 UKB Shark 23 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Doubt there is much in the way of community spirit given (AFAIK) there’s no village shop, village hall, post office, pub etc. But a dream location for climbers and walkers. 

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

I live near Froggatt, so Curbar is the next village, and on the daily dog walks. We moved out from Millhouses around 7 years ago. Curbar was top of the list and we looked at a couple of really nice houses, which didn’t complete the critical tick list. However the village is lovely.

Here’s the thing though, it’s really nice to be able to walk to a shop/post office in a village and also have a few pubs in the same kind of radius. The Bridge Inn at the bottom of the hill has closed following lockdown, and that’s pretty well it unless you go to Baslow or Calver.
From a climbing and walking perspective it can’t be beaten, and some of the properties up on the hill are tremendous. 30 mins in to the ClimbingWorks, and there’s now a bouldering centre near Hope which is 15 mins. 

OP ChrisBrooke 24 Jul 2020
In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Thanks Paul. Very useful. 

I don't climb indoors these days so less worried about that, but the lack of any sort of community facilities/centre in Curbar sounds like a definite mark against it.

p.s. Outstanding home wall, by the way! Very nice.

Post edited at 09:48
 Richard J 24 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

I've lived in Stoney for more than 20 years so I know a few people in Curbar and have some perceptions of the place - it's smaller than Stoney, a bit more upmarket (though not quite to the extent of Baslow, where being a consultant seems to be the entry-level qualification for residence).  I believe the school is pretty good (quite a few Stoney children go there rather than to the very small Stoney school).  Lady Manners is very good (one child of mine still there, one left last year);  a little bit conservative, quite academic, very good for music.  For local amenities you'll rely on the Calver Spar/Post Office & the Baslow co-op, with shopping in Bakewell immeasurably improved by the opening of an Aldi.  For community activities, I guess it revolves around the school if you have children, the church if you do that sort of thing (for the pub you'll have to go to Calver).  The scout hut at the bottom of the hill is having a major refurbishment at the moment so I'd imagine they'll be opening that up for community events, otherwise the Calver village hall is very close, where they do film nights, exercise classes, that sort of thing.  The proximity to countryside for walking and climbing is marvellous, but you'll probably spend more time driving around than if you live in Sheffield.

 blurty 24 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

I live further south, so no special knowledge, I would suggest though that it's a school that binds a community together, allows new comers to meet the community etc. No school in Curbar? It has a local rep as being a place people retire to - not sure if that's true.

I'd be cautious.

OP ChrisBrooke 24 Jul 2020
In reply to blurty:

There's an 'outstanding' primary school which is good for us at the moment - kids 3 and 5. The catchment secondary seems to be Lady Manners, which evidently gets good reports.

OP ChrisBrooke 24 Jul 2020
In reply to Richard J:

Thanks Richard. Very useful. Neither of us are consultants, but can manage one of the 'houses on the hill' in Curbar

Good to hear about the music at LM. I work in music production, so I hope my kids can benefit from the sorts of musical things that I enjoyed growing up. 

 Richard J 24 Jul 2020
In reply to blurty:

To be clear, there is a primary school in Curbar.  It's small, with about 60 children I believe, "outstanding" at the last Ofsted inspection, if you take that sort of thing seriously.  

 Richard J 24 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Music has been a really big thing for both my children.  Lady Manners works with the primary schools in its catchment, so my son started learning the trombone through LMS while still at Stoney school.  In addition to many school groups, Peak District Music Centre runs a whole bunch of youth bands and orchestras at different levels, then the county youth orchestra operates at a pretty high standard, getting in conductors and tutors from the Royal Northern College of Music.  I think this is something this bit of Derbyshire does well.

OP ChrisBrooke 24 Jul 2020
In reply to Richard J:

Good to know all that stuff goes on. Music making was a big part of my childhood, so of course I want to force my children to do the same...

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

> Thanks Paul. Very useful. 

> I don't climb indoors these days so less worried about that, but the lack of any sort of community facilities/centre in Curbar sounds like a definite mark against it.

> p.s. Outstanding home wall, by the way! Very nice.

I think Shark mentioned community above. Calver and Stoney are great, as are villages like Litton which have a pub and general store and a school. Grindleford is similarly good in this respect and obviously makes trips to Sheff, Hope Valley and Manchester easy. Our neighbour’s kids go to School in Sheffield on the bus from Calver.

The climbing walls is part of the essential buying tick list. Number 4: a two storey garage or outbuilding/barn is essential.

 mattck 24 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Beautiful spot, but I'd be concerned about community. Spent a few years living as a couple in Calver, and it felt fairly isolated at home. That's not to say there isn't stuff going on in the Peak, you're a short drive from other villages, we had friends and things to do in Hathersage and Bakewell etc, so I guess it depends on how intent you are on having things on your doorstep - Curbar seems to be a very quiet place.

OP ChrisBrooke 24 Jul 2020
In reply to mattck:

Thanks Matt.

 Timmd 25 Jul 2020
In reply to ChrisBrooke:

It's nearly 20 years ago, but driving to and from Curbar with a brother we noticed Conservative signs outside many of the houses around the area, somebody further up saying 'It can be conservative' reminded me of that. It might depend on what store you place by something nearly 20 years ago, or whether that's particularly important. 

My parents always managed to deal with a good friend being a Tory - nothing to be inferred from deal with, and I seem to mind my Dad's new partner being one less than a sis in law (she's pretty decent), sometimes other things can outweigh that kind of thing.

Post edited at 16:21
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In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Grindleford has a strong outdoor community and you'd not be far from that if it's found lacking in Curbar.

Fwiw I've worked in education in the High Peak for 10 years and would consider Lady Manners a good school - I'd happily send my kids there. 

 BnB 25 Jul 2020
In reply to Timmd:

> It's nearly 20 years ago, but driving to and from Curbar with a brother we noticed Conservative signs outside many of the houses around the area, somebody further up saying 'It can be conservative' reminded me of that. It might depend on what store you place by something nearly 20 years ago, or whether that's particularly important. 

> My parents always managed to deal with a good friend being a Tory - nothing to be inferred from deal with, and I seem to mind my Dad's new partner being one less than a sis in law (she's pretty decent), sometimes other things can outweigh that kind of thing.

What has UKC become when even mild-mannered forum nice guy Timmd unloads his instinctual, or is it hereditary, hatred of conservative voters? Not even the politicians, but the voters themselves.

I’m rationing visits to UKC to weekends only, not that I expect anyone to have noticed, let alone wondered why. But you have the reason right here. And I’m not even a Tory voter.

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 Timmd 25 Jul 2020
In reply to BnB:

> What has UKC become when even mild-mannered forum nice guy Timmd unloads his instinctual, or is it hereditary, hatred of conservative voters? Not even the politicians, but the voters themselves.

> I’m rationing visits to UKC to weekends only, not that I expect anyone to have noticed, let alone wondered why. But you have the reason right here. And I’m not even a Tory voter.

I think you may have misconstrued my talking about 'minding less' and mentioning it, said sister in law as been heard to refer to her as 'that woman' while visiting them, which I think is rude and shit, where I'm liking to get to know her.  That the OP might think of it is as being important is why I brought it up, for some people it would be.

''My parents always managed to deal with a good friend being a Tory - nothing to be inferred from deal with, and I seem to mind my Dad's new partner being one less than a sis in law (she's pretty decent), sometimes other things can outweigh that kind of thing.''

Edit: To be fair, you could have picked up on the 'nothing to be inferred from deal with'  in talking about their good friend, and 'sometimes other things can outweigh that kind of thing', and born that in mind, too, rather than seeming to go for the worst of interpretations.

Edit 2:  and where I did I mention having a hatred? You can't (partially) blame me for visiting less if you decide I have a hatred where none is expressed.  That's your own mind that's doing that, it could seem to be 

Post edited at 17:34
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 Timmd 25 Jul 2020
In reply to BnB: PS, You have posted in the past about going to a dinner, and a very rich man raising his hand to give a lot to a charity, and commented 'I bet he was a Tory' quite a long time ago, so I feel you're being potentially misleading. I have a decent memory and random things can stick. I only mentioned the Conservative voters in case that was relevant to the OP, apologies to him for any potential derailing of his thread.

Post edited at 18:13
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 BnB 26 Jul 2020
In reply to Timmd:

There’s no need to delve into the past to see what I’ve highlighted, nor to feel I’m singling you out. You wouldn’t have posted as you did if the forum consensus didn’t embolden and validate your statement.

But if you can’t see the unpleasant bias in your post, try substituting the name of any religious or ethnic minority for each instance of Conservative or Tory.

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 ClimberEd 26 Jul 2020
In reply to BnB:

> There’s no need to delve into the past to see what I’ve highlighted, nor to feel I’m singling you out. You wouldn’t have posted as you did if the forum consensus didn’t embolden and validate your statement.

> But if you can’t see the unpleasant bias in your post, try substituting the name of any religious or ethnic minority for each instance of Conservative or Tory.

I've been following this for the location advice, not the politics. 

However, may I add, it speaks volumes that someone even feels it's necessary to mention it. Since when did someone decide to buy a house depending on whether the neighbours vote tory or labour?!?!

In reply to ClimberEd:

Back to the thread regarding climbing...

I started exploring with the dog during lockdown, and discovered I could easily leave the car at home. So from a base somewhere around Calver/Froggatt/Stoney, it’s an easy walk off road with a pad to go bouldering on the Froggatt/Curbar/Baslow edges, bolt clipping around Stoney is super accessible and there’s even an easy walk over the top to clip the bolts in Deep Rake if you like that sort of thing. Add in the trains from Grindleford, and it works pretty well.

Alyson30 26 Jul 2020
In reply to BnB:

> But if you can’t see the unpleasant bias in your post, try substituting the name of any religious or ethnic minority for each instance of Conservative or Tory.

There is nothing wrong with having a weak preference to live around people who have similar values and culture as oneself. Whether it’s political, cultural or religious.

Post edited at 15:34
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 Timmd 26 Jul 2020
In reply to ClimberEd:

> I've been following this for the location advice, not the politics. 

> However, may I add, it speaks volumes that someone even feels it's necessary to mention it. Since when did someone decide to buy a house depending on whether the neighbours vote tory or labour?!?!

Some friends moved to near Skipton, bohemian lefty types, and have found that they've not made any friends who they have things in common with around where they live (and haven't really made any real friends), though they might have done if they'd moved to Skipton.

I did say that sometimes other things are more important, and 'nothing to be inferred from dealing with' a difference in political point of view. People can keep deciding that I've been unspeakably narrow minded and intolerant if they wish, but the qualifiers are there, I know that I don't mind differences in political view points, or I wouldn't love a Tory family friend in the way that  I do, and I've not delved into anybody's past, I just have a good memory, so there. Chunter away, or don't, peeps, I don't mind.

Post edited at 17:31
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