Shrewsbury or Ludlow to live?

[lexp72]

My husband is changing jobs and we are planning to move to Shropshire. Although I have visited both Shrewsbury and Ludlow, I still haven't got a real feel for the places. Has anyone lived in either and can give me any more info? p.s we have a 16 month old daughter so will be needing schools/nurseries at some point. Thanks in advance

[PurpleKate]

Hi I live in Shrewsbury, and I love it.

Shrewsbury is the county town so is quite a bit larger than Ludlow. Both places are lovely though. Both towns have lots of older buildings, whereas Telford (also in Shropshire) is a former new town.

I'd live in Ludlow quite happily, but Shrewsbury is closer to the major road networks (A5 to M54 to M6), so it more accessible and the shopping is better.

Shrophire is the most beautiful county, IMHO, very rural in the most part, but we do have broadband! Wales is to the west, Cheshire to the north, Hereford and Worcester to the south and the rest of the West Midlands to the east.

Pretty far fronm the sea though!

HTH, happy to answer any more questions.

[lexp72]

Thanks for your post. In your view, which areas in Shrewsbury are the nicest to live in? Also are there villages near by?

[MrsVidic]

I love shrewsbury- have never been to ludlow but the people i know living in the area love Shrewsbury

[littledawley]

Shrewsbury is much better connected in my opinion - Ludlow is lovely but really has a small town feel whereas Shrewsbury has a lot going on. It also has a much bigger range of shops from supermarkets to high street to exclusive boutiques.

I fantasise about living in Shrewsbury but am stuck daaan sarf

[Ormirian]

Ooh lucky you ! I love Shropshire. I love Ludlow but I suspect it's quite a narrow place to live. Lovely food though

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

I'd say Ludlow - it has a wonderful market and food shops, and the schools are excellent there, especially the sixth form college (I went there). The town centre is small enough to walk around easily, and you are also within easy reach of some glorious countryside.

Ludlow has an annual festival, the centrepiece of which is a Shakespeare play in the keep of the castle - well worth a visit whether you plump for Shrewsbury or Ludlow to live.

There are lovely craft shops too, and you can go and paddle in the river down by the swimming pool (if I remember correctly).

[Ormirian]

I had forgotten about the Shakespeare! Went to see Richard III when I was at school. Prefect setting.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

I sat my A levels during the festival one year - afternoon exams were enlivened by the recorded boom of a cannon that went off just after the National Anthem. Made me jump the first time I heard it!

[PurpleKate]

Loads of villages in Shropshire, all lovely. As with all towns there are good and less good areas in both Shrewsbury and Ludlow.

I recommend that you look at the local newspapers online at www.shropshirestar.com/ and www.ludlowadvertiser.co.uk/ to get a feel for Shropshire. Just remember though, 'nice' headlines don't sell papers!

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

The Ludlow Advertiser - golly that takes me back!

[stealthsquiggle]

StayingDavidTennantsGirl - my best friend (and, not co-incidentally, since I met him through her, my first boyfriend) went to Ludlow 6th Form College - lots of canoeing on the river, IIRC.

I have no idea about schools, nurseries, etc as we live a fair way away from both, but as an observer I would say people who live in/near Ludlow end up getting quite frustrated with how far it is to anywhere - more about the roads than the distance, I think, and the fact that there are people who travel from near there to DC's school suggests that the choice of independent schools (if that is at all relevant to you, OP) is not fantastic [disclaimer - I don't know this for sure, but there must be some reason they are prepared to drive so far]

[littledawley]

this is where I will live in my head when I move to Shrewbury.

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

Oh wow, littledawley - that is an amazing house!

[PurpleKate]

I used to live on The Mount....


... well a seventies estate at the top end, LOL.

I used to cycle past all these houses every day!

[LtEveDallas]

I lived in Shrewsbury for 3 years, and will be returning there in 2 years for good!

I loved Shrewsbury - and the surrounding villages.

Where to live depends on your budget.

If you want to be close to the town centre, but not in a townhouse (IYSWIM) then you could go for (in order of expense) The Mount, Copthorne, Mytton Oak, SY3

If you dont mind townhouses and want to be closer to town then SY1 and Belle Vue

Slightly further out is Bayston Hill which is more of a housing estate, but nice.

Cheapest areas are Harlescott and Ditherington but I did not like either

Nice villages (all within 5 miles or so of Shrewsbury) are Bromere Heath, Pontesbury, Myddle, Westbury.

To be honest your best bet would be to find houses you like the look of, then come here to ask about the area. There really are too many to name, and my view is only based on living there for 3 yrs, against someone who may have been born there.

As for nurseries - I used the NuNu Nursery and thought it was outstanding. I couldnt fault a single thing - DD was 2 when she first went. I raved about it to friends and 4 of them moved their DC to it and felt the same as me.

Another friend was very impressed with Earlyworld - but I thought it was dirty

I'm looking now (to hopefully buy early next year) and am concentrating on the catchment Secondary Schools - the area isn't as important to me - but to get the school I want we will probably have to pay more than we thought (madness really, DD is only 5, but when we move we never want to move again!)

[LtEveDallas]

Oh thats funny, I posted before I saw littledawley's post! There are some 300K houses on the Mount (about half the size of that one!)

Oh, I'd love that house - in my dreams!

[teta]

I live in a small town equidistant between Ludlow and shrewsbury.The local school is really good as are several village schools round here.I would suggest moving to a catchment area for a really good primary and secondary [ speaking from the point of view of a mum with several kids!].If you are moving from a city [ or the burbs!] and fancy the country i would suggest renting initially to see if you like it.Personally i love Ludlow and the beautiful houses and the markets.However if you love shopping shrewsbury is probably better [ i have to shop on the internet these days!].We happened on the town we live in now by accident [we were looking for a rental property] and fell in love with the beautiful scenery and lovely old houses.I would suggest driving arround the countryside and finding towns/villages that you like [or doing lots of house viewings].

[lexp72]

Thanks everyone for all your comments,very helpful. We now have a lot of researching to do!

[frostyfingers]

Church Stretton is another market type town to consider if you don't want somewhere as large (comparatively) as Shrewsbury and you're not so far from Shrewsbury for "outings".

I use Ludlow as my main shopping place and love it, so much there and so much going on, and there are some fab places to eat both in an around.

It all depends on how "country" you want to be - you will spend a lot of your time in the car if you live somewhere smaller, and there's no popping out as such, you do have to be well organised in some ways. However, the marvel of internet shopping goes a long way to relieving this problem - and the benefits of being somewhere small is that people are generally friendly. One of the nice ladies in Tesco in Ludlow asks after my boys quite often - she's never met them as they never come shopping if they can help it (15!), but remembers conversations we've had about them. Now that might put some people off, but I like it.

You need to have a long hard think about what your needs are and how you would cope in a more rural environment. We moved here from London ages ago, both having been country bred and love it. I wouldn't live anywhere else now, even my home country of Wales which luckily is only a few fields away!

[dejavuaswell]

I have been hunting for a house in south and mid Shropshire for some months now. Lots of nice ones around (350 to 450K) but not yet the one that really grabbed us by the throat and said buy me.

Curiously there hasn't been anything much good in Ludlow itself (noisy and/or overpriced or once, both) while the best value for money was in Craven Arms and in Clun. The strangest 2 houses were both in Church Stretton.

I have advised to avoid Clee Hill and Cleobury Mortimer but cannot comment first hand on either.

[YohoAhoy]

ooh, deja, what was the reason for avoiding Cleobury? That was one of the villages we were looking at.

Tenbury is another.

[dejavuaswell]

About Cleobury - I was told it has a very good school but that it is 11-16 only - there is a noisy main road right through the length of the village and there is no prpoer supermarket nearer than Ludlow or Kidderminster.

But as I say, I have not been there myself.

[YohoAhoy]

Thanks deja. We actually visited Cleobury very briefly in half term. Road is busy, it's true, but quite a nice high street.

Think most of the schools are 11-16, but the 6th form centre in Ludlow looks great, so wasn't too put off.

It's the same in Tenbury re: school, but high street set-up a bit different.

Glad to know there isn't some awful secret horrible-ness we missed! :)

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

The senior school in Cleobury Mortimer is Lacon Childe Comprehensive school - I went there in the late '70's - early '80's, and back then it was a good school - pupils from there often went on to universtity (after VIth form of course), including Oxford and Cambridge.

Children are bussed into the school from as far away as Clee Hill village, Farlow and out towards Bewdley too. There is (or at least, there was) a dedicated school bus service.

[YohoAhoy]

Thanks Staying DT'sGirl. Yes, the bus service covers a pretty wide area, but we're aiming, wherever we go, to be within walking distance. The dc bus to their current school, which also has a wide catchment, and it would be nice for them to have friends on the doorstep.

Am looking forward to another visit to the area :)