What is it like to live in Knutsford, Cheshire?

If you mention Knutsford to someone who has visited the town but hasn’t worked or lived in the town they generally say it’s a nice town.  On the other hand if you mention Knutsford to someone who does live or work in the town (or has in the past) they are likely to have something negative to say about the town centre whether it’s the pavements in the town centre being too narrow, inconsiderate parking, a lack of a range of shops or unaffordable housing.  In itself I suppose that doesn’t make Knutsford different to most places.

Knutsford does have a lack of affordable housing, more so than other towns in the area.  If you’re a recent graduate and have been offered a job in the area then don’t expect to find somewhere to live in the town.  Properties available for rent usually require a monthly rent which is higher than the net pay which a graduate would be expected to receive, while the cheapest flat available to buy in the town will cost £135,000 and the second cheapest is £150,000 (as of January 2016.) 

There is, however, a large former council estate on the outskirts of the town called Longridge (no properties on Longridge were up for sale on Longridge at the time of writing.)  Longridge originally built as an overspill estate for Manchester, is a stark contrast to roads like Legh Road and Leycester Road where all the houses would sell for seven figure sums.  There is also a lack of understanding from people living on the likes of Legh Road and Leycester Road about where Longridge is, some wrongly presume Longridge is much larger than it actually is and includes a considerable number of terrace houses in the Over Ward area which have never been council or housing association houses.

Unlike most of the town Over Ward residents aren’t mainly supporters of the Conservative Party.  At the most recent Town Council election every non-Conservative Party candidate who stood for Over Ward got elected, with one Independent candidate Andrew Malloy getting more votes than any other councillor who stood in the election.  Knutsford’s only ever Labour Party mayor to date, Bill Davies, was elected to represent the Over Ward and he was a firm favourite who got re-elected every time he stood.

One of the biggest issues for local politics in Knutsford is what to do about King Street.  King Street is a one way street in the town centre which has very narrow pavements and parking bays.  Many of the cars using the parking bays are too large for them and the drivers driving them endanger pedestrians by using them.  The narrow pavements make it difficult for disabled and elderly people, which Knutsford has a considerable number of. Pedestrianisation if favoured by most residents but opposed by most business owners.  An alternative ‘Pedestrian Priority’ scheme has also been opposed by business owners.  Some Knutsford residents are actively boycotting King Street businesses as a result of that.  Some opponents of pedestrainisation and pedestrian priority state they don’t want to spoil the character of the town.  However, surely the traditional character of the town has been spoiled by allowing motor vehicles to take the place of horse and carts and bicycles in the town centre many years ago and a car ban would actually be reinstating the traditional character of the town.

Some will praise the number of local independent businesses in the town centre.  Others will bemoan the lack of items sold in the town centre.  For instance, there’s not many shops selling men’s clothing and the ones which do are pricey – we have a Jaeger in the town but none of the more everyday chains like Next, H&M, Matalan or M&S.  If you want one of those businesses a shopping trip to another town is required, unless you choose to shop online.

If you try to reach the town by bus you may find there are less bus routes than you would expect.  Warrington (population 206,000) is around 15 miles away yet if you try to get from Warrington to Knutsford (or vice versa) using public transport you’ll find there is no direct bus or train and not a straight forward way involving a change either.  There is a bus to nearby Macclesfield but it’s not that frequent and doesn’t run in the evenings, on Sundays or Bank Holidays.   Other towns nearby which don’t have a direct public transport link to Knutsford include Middlewich, Winsford and Congleton.

While there is a well used train service it isn’t as attractive as train services in other areas – old trains running to an hourly frequency for most of the day.  If you get to Knutsford from Manchester/Stockport/Altrincham for 9am you have to get a train which arrives in Knutsford just after 8am.  That is supposed to change as part of the next rail franchise which has recently been awarded to Arriva.

I don’t think what I’ve said above will exactly encourage people to relocate to Knutsford.  However, I have saved the best bit until last – Tatton Park.  Not many towns have a 1,000 acre deer park just a few minutes walk from the town centre.  Many first time visitors to Tatton Park are surprised at how big it is, it’s a lot more than just a stately home and gardens.