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A pleasant market town with great rail links
What's going for it? Retford saved me. Or rather "Retford's splendid rail links saved me". I am about to move nearby for a few months (long story), while Mrs D tos and fros to London for work. Our love shall be suspended across the East Coast main line. Retford station shall be the set for our re-enactments of Brief Encounter; sweet nothings over rubbery croissants in the station caff. This is not a peculiar tale. I have met many a commuter to London on its platform. There are marriages stretched thinly along train lines all over the country, wherever (comparatively) fleet service causes couples to think the unthinkable: "90-minute commute? No problem." Incredible what high property prices and job scarcity will do. Property prices are so alluring in Retford, and it is really rather pleasant: a market town from central casting, with a bricky old centre, a nice enough market square, the Peak District and the Dukeries a short drive away, and a rather energetic young mayor in his early 20s. Plus the bus station was "highly commended" in the UK Bus Awards in 2008. Am I getting desperate?
The case against "A singularly unattractive town," wrote Nikolaus Pevsner. But what did he know about architecture? Train links have let the town put on weight; bulked out with suburbs filled with commuters.
Well connected? The 89-minutes-to-London trains run hourly, with others in between a little longer; one or two an hour to Sheffield (37-49 mins) and hourly to Lincoln (42ish mins). The glorious A1 runs past, too, and Robin Hood airport isn't far.
Schools Primaries: St Joseph's Catholic, Bracken Lane, Carr Hill, Ordsall are "good", says Ofsted. Secondaries: Retford Oaks High is "satisfactory", while the Elizabethan High is "good".
Hang out at… The pubs are fine, but the area lacks standouts. A drive to Welbeck Farm Shop and the Lime House (20 mins away) is worth it.
Where to buy The town centre has some imposing, good-value Georgians around the church at Chapelgate and Churchgate, and lovely Victorians around Babworth Road and Queen Street. Look out east around Grove Road and Bracken Lane and off London Road. It's nice and villagey around All Hallows Street in Ordsall, and there are posh burbs north-east around Tiln Lane, too.
Market values Large detacheds, £125,000-£575,000. Semis, £80,000-£250,000. Terraces, £70,000-£180,000.
Bargain of the week Glorious, refurbished six-bed Georgian town house by the church, £295,950, with Newton Fallowell.
From the streets
Rob White "An air of rural tranquillity. From where I live, 10 minutes' walk in one direction brings you to the Market Square, five the other way and you're in fields. The Britalia restaurant on Grove Street is an institution. I once heard Retford described as 'the sort of place where you can still buy a good-quality mint imperial'."
Ryan Hibbard "Great little market town – all the shops you need, albeit on a small scale."
Andrew Kenrick "Cheery locals and brilliant transport links."
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Tom Dyckhoff
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