Spotlight on Marple

WHERE: Ten miles south east of Manchester city centre. Junction 26 off the M60 motorway.

WHY: Busy little town on the edge of the Peak District. It has managed to retain not only its own cinema and theatre but a thriving shopping centre and working canal locks.

There is a real mix of properties with some very desirable large Victorian semis in Station Road that would be double the price in some south Manchester suburbs. Some £500,000 big new executive piles are on the way from Antler Homes, which is developing the site of the old Tree Tops special school. There are a couple of stylish restaurants on the main street but eating out tends to mean a trip to a country pub in the nearby villages of Marple Bridge or Mellor.

WHO: Apparently Marple has a third more over 55s than your average town so the profile of the place is elderly which means the immaculate bowling green in the Memorial Gardens at the top of the town is well used. In the past 12 months more first-time buyers have come in, buying up the relatively affordable terraces and cottages. Families like it because it is within commuting distance of the city but is minutes away from beautiful walks, cycle trails and the country park.

TRANSPORT: Two train stations, one at Marple, the other at Rose Hill. The journey from Marple to Manchester Piccadilly takes 27 minutes. By road it is under 20 minutes to Stockport outside the rush-hour.

SCHOOLS: Marple Hall School gets an above average 65 per cent of pupils through five or more GCSEs A-C.

AGENT'S VIEW: Scott Grayson, from agents Edward Mellor said: "This is a beautiful part of the region and Marple is perfectly placed, ten minutes in one direction you are in the heart of the Peak District, ten the other way you are in Stockport. The town business forum is doing a lot to promote local shops and businesses and it is a thriving centre. There has been big demand for terrace houses from first-time buyers but there is all sorts of property here, everything from weavers' cottages to big Victorian houses and lots of newer-build. I have seen signs of the market slowing from the madness of 20 per cent rises to a more manageable 10 per cent and I think it will be round about five per cent over the next 12 months which is actually a lot healthier. It means property is still a good investment but people are not panicked."

RESIDENT'S VIEW: Jay Havoleana said: "I grew up in Marple and although I lived in north Wales for a couple of years I decided to come back here simply because it is such a nice place to live. The setting is beautiful with the hills all around but the town has all the things you need and you are not remote. There was a stage when it was going downhill a bit and the local kids were bored and caused trouble but they have worked to stop that decline by spending money improving the park and the town centre has got better. Prices have really gone up, especially in the last 12 months. I have a big, three-storey end-terrace with top floor views to Manchester and Wales and it has shot up in value but I would not want to leave now."