Taking the plunge...

[davies102]

Hi all,

My partner and I currently live and work in Oxford with our two young children. We have decided to take the plunge and up sticks before our children are school age and are looking at places in Gloucestershire for a potential new home (renting initially). After hours of research I like the look of Nailsworth as it seems rather nice... any thoughts? Are there any other towns/villages that people would highly recommend or (almost more importantly) any areas to compltely avoid???

Thanks in advance for any help or thoughts.

Katy

[Shotgun]

Why do you want to move to Gloucestershire? I ask because your answer will help to refine suggestions. What kind of ambience do you want? (You're definitely not looking for easily-accessible, decent shops as there aren't any!) Do you want to be withinn reasonable walking distance of a small town centre? In a village (in which case be prepared to drive everywhere), or a landed pile in the middle of nowhere (ditto)?
Even if you do move to a town, you'll still have loads of driving to do as the public transport is dire and your DCs will have friends in every corner of the county as the schools have huge catchment areas - or none, in the case of the grammars.

[Shotgun]

I'm telling you this as someone who moved here from the city with small DCs over a decade ago.
Btw, the local boards tend to be quiet (well, this one is, at least); might be worth posting in Chat for nore traffic).

[TheCommonWoMan]

We live near Nailsworth. I quite like the town - big enough to have a fair bit going on (although that depends on what you are used to - maybe not compared to Oxford) but small enough so that you can easily get to know lots of people and hopefully quickly feel at home. Traffic isn't too bad.
The primary school is OK - not brilliant but 'OK'. Secondary schools will mean a bus in one direction or another. When the children are teens, they can catch a bus to Stroud if they want which is almost impossible from the villages (where we are a little outside the town) has just had it's bus route taken away.
Renting first is a good idea - we did the same when we moved here 10 years ago and it gave us a very useful insight into the location that suited us best.
Do let me know if you have any particular questions about the area.