Anyone here near Bury, Manchester?

Hi All!
Sooo, I am interviewing for a job at Manchester Uni next week (wheeee!).  I am currently in Michigan, and they are interviewing me via video-conference.  Although it's very early to start making concrete plans, I do want to be educated about the area.

So. I know all about the horrors of the housing market, and that further north in some areas is a good idea for first time home owners. My brother (I am actually British, but having lived in the U.S. for 15 years, I feel more at home on this site that the British expat sites!) has suggested the Bury area as somewhere decent and affordable.  Any insights, folks?  I've got two boys, one of whom would be starting primary school this year. The other is a baby still. (job pays between 41 and 50K--which is pretty good, but also might be soul salary for a while. We'd be starting from scratch really)

Family friendly, good schools, and affordable in Greater Manchester and surrounding area?     We'd like somewhere in a town or village--semi-rural feeling.

You'll get a lot of helpful advice about places to live on the Channel 4 homes board  - including (if I remember) several discussions about where academics going for jobs at the University in Manchester might want to live:

http://community.channel4.com/eve/ubb.x/a/frm/f/6026044741

I live in South Manchester- Didsbury and it has a village-y feel to it.  I love it here (well there actually as I'm in the US at the moment).  I'll ask hubby about Bury- he'll be brutally honest about location/schools and commute.  The traffic coming into/out of Manchester can be pretty brutal.  If you can manage to have off peak traveling then it's really easy to get into Manchester. 

Have you checked the ofsted website? http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/ They'll give you the low down on schools.  I went to upmystreet and found local schools there and  then I would check them out in the ofsted website. I think the upmystreet has a link to ofsted. It's not perfect and some of the data is a little out of date but it will give you a good idea. 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions on Greater Manchester.  Hubby has been in Manchester for over 15 years and can tell you where to avoid.  He's originally from a small village in Cheshire so he knows the area well. 

I really  hope you get the job, it would be great to have another mom in the area!!  You can join our Last Friday of the Month Club (LFoMC)- No hubbies- No babies- lots of booze!!