Spotlight on Middlewich

WHERE: 30 miles south of Manchester, junction 18 off the M6.

WHY: Historic market town next to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal with one or two old Tudor buildings, an impressive church but even more impressive cemetery chapel. Its proximity to the motorway (one mile) has made it ideal commuterland and most of the major developers have built estates here recently. There is talk of Tesco coming into the centre and the general feeling is that if a couple of national retailers appeared it would tempt the new money to stay and shop locally and not go to Crewe or Northwich. Much fury that a swimming pool and sports complex, promised for the last 50 years, has still not materialised and even more fury at the possibility of a landfill site being developed between the town and the motorway.

WHO: Hundreds of new families attracted by the new houses and easy commuting, with many moving in from other parts of the country. A small site right on the high street is being developed into a mix of retail and apartments, which may suit the young professionals. Many people who work at the airport have located here because the journey is so easy.

TRANSPORT: The car seems the only option. The main rail line does run through the town but the station was shut years ago and plans to re-open it and create a direct link with the airport remain on the drawing board.

SCHOOLS: Middlewich High School gets 54 per cent of pupils through five or more GCSEs

AGENT'S VIEW: David Palmer, of Reeds Rains, pictured, said: "I have lived here for 12 years and there have been lots of changes. More than half the inquiries I have on my books are from people looking to re-locate from the south. They sell a two-bed terrace down there and you can buy a nice new four-bedroom house up here. Middlewich has always been more affordable than, say, places like Holmes Chapel. Get this side of the M6 and prices drop. Having said that we hardly ever have stuff under £100,000. You can see the disappointment on first-time buyers' faces when they come in and see just what's around in their price range. I don't know what the answer is for them. There has been massive development in the last five years but nothing at the bottom end.

"Jones Homes are starting another site soon and maybe that will have smaller properties. The market is not as mad as it was, things are selling in weeks rather than days but I can see no signs of this boom ending. Levelling a bit maybe, but that's all."