manchester UK area
 

We want to stay in a quiet country village near Oldham and Rochdale while visiting family, and are considering the Greenfield and Delph area, or farther south, Glossop? Any advice would be appreciated.

What sort of accommodation are you looking for? Delph has the Saddleworth Hotel (quite expensive) or the Old Bell Inn, pub with rooms. The hotel is a little way out of Delph up the hill whilst the pub is in the village.

Greenfield doesn't have much to recommend as it's not really a hotel kind of place, just residential. Here's a link to hotels in the area:

http://www.theaa.com/hotel-search/oldham/greenfield

Glossop also doesn't have much in the way of hotels, although it's not a bad town, the town centre having been improved over the years.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotels-...nd-Hotels.html

Thanks for the help. We don't necessarily need hotels, guest houses and B&Bs are fine with us. We read about the Peak District and were hoping to find something near there, but not too far from Rochdale and Oldham area.

To be half way between Rochdale and Oldham the Premier Inn, Milnrow http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/ROCTHE/rochdale is ideally placed and just off the M62 Motorway. Milnrow and Newhey are small villages close to the edge of the Pennines and Saddleworth Moor, easy access to Yorkshire with York just over an Hour away to the North.. Bakewell in the Peak district slightly longer to the south, Manchester and even Liverpool only an hour to the west. Hollingworth Lake 15 minutes away. Howarth and Bronte country an hour over the moors..

Whilst I love the peaks growing up with family in Youlgrave for the family links and as a touring base for the mid north then Milnrow/Newhey are ideally placed..

Thanks so much for the advice, and the ideas to consider. I have also been told that Ramsbottom is a nice little village, not too far from Rochdale or Oldham. Any thoughts about it, or accommodations there?

Be very careful where you stay traffic can be the sort that leads you to dump you car and walk. Effectively the M67 leaves Manchester on the way to Sheffield. Huge amounts of private and commercial traffic head this way then reach the battered village of Tintwhistle an its single road multi traffic light "main street."

I have queued on sunny summers evenings trying to travel 8 miles, it has taken 90 minutes.

Hope in Derbyshire isn't much further, Delph is fine, there is a posh village near Ramsbottom I will try to look up the name.

Holcombe Brook!

But the pubs look pants.

This is near Glossop , used to love it when I worked near there had our Chritmas do's there. Very English country.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R...e_England.html

Holcombe Brook is a small village just outside Ramsbottom and has nothing to recommend it. Rammy itself is a bigger village between Rawtenstall and Bolton and has a few restaurants and pubs offering food. Neither are quiet country villages.

Both of these are further across from the Rochdale/Oldham/Delph area and it would take some time to move between them, especially at peak traffic times. There are temporary traffic lights and road works all over the area making for a very frustrating drive.

I'd go for the Old Bell in Delph as it's closest to what you're looking for in location and accommodation.

Ramsbottom always makes me think of Albert and the lion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Putw3by4-e8

Sorry to digress!

I wouldn't argue with the Old Bell, looks great.

Thanks Rub will try it myself.

If we decided on the Delph area, is there pubic transport from the airport to Oldham where we could hire a car, and then drive up to Delph? We don't want to try to hire a car at the airport and navigate Manchester traffic after a long night flight from the States.
Thanks

I think that you'd have to go into Manchester first, then catch a train or bus to Oldham. Your choices for car hire in Oldham would be quite limited. To then find a rental office and do all the necessary to get the car would IMO take somewhere in the region of 2 to 3 hours.

The drive from the airport to Delph would route you around the M60 (take the signs for Stockport first to go anti clockwise around the motorway) and providing your journey starts after 9am, allowing again for car rental time (book in advance for optimum speed and costs) you should be in Delph in 45-60 minutes.

The M60 is a 3 or 4 lane (in places) motorway and taking the route above won't cause too many problems with driving. There will probably be a section of slower traffic around Stockport, but it's a very short section. Don't take the clockwise direction to Bolton etc. as this will take you through a longer, busier section.

I wouldn't normally suggest driving after an overnight flight, but this is a short trip and much quicker than using public transport. A taxi from the airport to Delph would probably cost some £45 to £50.

There is an interesting page in yesterdays Guardian Travel section on Glossop, which makes it appear better than I remember it, but it is difficult getting in and out of. The page may be available online. There are nice pubs and restaurants in Ramsbottom. Hebden Bridge is a little way out but is a better base than many of the ones mentioned thus far. Stalybridge known affectionately as Staly Vegas is worth visiting (possibly staying there)just for the real ale and jazz pub set on the railway station (the buffet bar),this is within striking distance of Rochdale.

They didn't call it the Manchester Guardian for nothing:

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...cy-high-street

steve, you're right, it is better than you remember it, mainly because of the influx of media types and those who've jumped on that bandwagon. I was in Glossop last week and the main street is much better. However, the town itself is still a bit grim once you move away from the deli. It's choice of hotels for the OP's purpose is limited. As you say, it's a pain to get in and out of due to the narrow Woolley Bridge at the end of the outskirts of the town.

Hebden Bridge is a bit too far away from Rochdale/Oldham that the OP wants, not perhaps in distance, but time, due to the road works in the area. Hebden/Todmorden/Littleborough/Rochdale/Oldham would take a good hour at the moment. Apart from the railway bar, I can't think of anything in Stalybridge to recommend it.

Agreed Rubicund - they dont call it Staly Vegas for nothing (I cant stand the real one). Dont forget there are two parts to Ramsbottom: lower and upper (I am always looking for excuses to slip that one in).