Let's move to Bacup, Lancashire | Property

What's going for it? Where's the most Easter-y place in Britain? Somewhere all cute and sylvan, I bet, eh? Perhaps involving chocolate, chicks, egg-rolling or fluffy lickle flop-eared rabbits. The little hamlet of Bunny, Notts, maybe. No, no, no. My pitch is a damp old economically challenged former mill town, deep in the Pennine valleys.

Let's move to ...Property This article is more than 10 years old

Let's move to Bacup, Lancashire

This article is more than 10 years oldIt's the most Easter-y place in Britain, where evil winter sprites are beaten off by The Coconutters

What's going for it? Where's the most Easter-y place in Britain? Somewhere all cute and sylvan, I bet, eh? Perhaps involving chocolate, chicks, egg-rolling or fluffy lickle flop-eared rabbits. The little hamlet of Bunny, Notts, maybe. No, no, no. My pitch is a damp old economically challenged former mill town, deep in the Pennine valleys. Bacup is picturesque if you've a penchant for Victorian stone terraces and great hulking moors, which I do. Most of the centre is a conservation area. Film crews turn up regularly, after that perfectly preserved old-cotton-town-gone-a-bit-to-seed look. But its Easter-y-ness lies mostly in the peculiar existence of the Coconutters. Dressing up in frilly turbans and blackened faces might be considered a tricky activity in former Pennine mill towns, but here it's a centuries-old tradition: something to do with mining, paganism, Moorish pirates, Cornwall, beating off evil winter sprites… The Coconutters gather at 9am at the Travellers Rest with the Stacksteads Silver Band and dance those evil winter sprites away through town till the early evening, fortifying themselves with liquid. Men will do anything for a beer. Still, beats simnel cake.

The case against Waiting for the next big thing. Local fortunes of former mill towns can turn on a sixpence. Bacup needs a leg up.

Well connected? Rail disappeared decades ago, much to Bacup's detriment. OK bus services, but a car will help. Five miles from the M66, 25 minutes from the M62, 20 from the M65 north, and then on to the M6; 40 minutes to central Manchester.

Schools Primaries: Northern and Britannia Community both "good", says Ofsted, with Bacup Thorn and Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads CofE "outstanding". Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar is "good".

Hang out at... Red Chilli restaurant is a bit of a local gem. For posh, there's The Waggon at Birtle.

Where to buy The centre's lovely conservation area is prime for old stone cottages and mill architecture. A legion of cheap Victorian stone terraces. The odd old farmhouse on the edges. Decent suburbans west to Stacksteads and up to Weir and Dean.

Market values Large detacheds, £325,000-£550,000. Detacheds, £130,000-£325,000. Semis, £70,000-£325,000. Terraces, £40,000-£230,000.

Bargain of the week Period, four-bedroom semi, in a lovely semi-rural location, needs TLC, £130,000 with Entwistle Green.

From the streets

Philip Johns "I go to the local grammar school, and it's lovely with great teachers and pupils. The area does usually get heavy snowfall in winter, though."

Live in Bacup? Join the debate below

Do you live in Kenilworth, Warwickshire? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, please write by 26 March to lets.move@theguardian.com

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