Nice places to live in and around Staffordshire?

[mrsnevillelongbottom]

We are looking at moving to Staffordshire the next few years. We're currently in Gloucestershire and were previously thinking of Malvern, but now we can both work remotely full time, we are considering moving closer to family.

Ideally we would like a large village / small town, strong community, good schools. Stone seems to be nice from what I've read, but without having visited it's hard to get a feel.

[ChocoTrio]

OP - Whereabouts in Staffordshire is your family? Take it from there. See budget etc.

Out of curiosity, I just did a little google search. It looks like the most valuable place to live in Staffordshire is Lichfield, followed by Stone, Stafford, Uttoxeter and Rugeley. 'Valuable towns' is not always the same as "nice places to live", but can sometimes be a good indicator of places that are sought after and where people want to be.

Source: These are the most valuable towns and streets to live on in Staffordshire

The Guardian has this article about Lichfield: Let’s move to Lichfield, Staffordshire: as middle England as you can get A fabulous cathedral, Morris dancers, red-brick Georgian houses: this place is so English that even Samuel Johnson, the man who defined the nation, lived here.

Stone and Stafford: 10 reasons to visit Stone & Stafford

Guardian has a piece on Uttoxeter too: Let's move to Uttoxeter, Staffordshire The town best known for racing is well worth a punt.

Rugeley: Rugeley is the town equivalent of Ryanair.

Looks like some decent options and I'm sure there are many more!

Good luck!

[ChocoTrio]

@mrsnevillelongbottom - as for personal experience. A good friend of mine from Uni moved to Stafford and then Stone - I have visited her a ew times (Alton Towers isn't too far so that's good to have on the doorstep!). She really likes it. Stafford is quite well connected for transport. Her DC go to private school - I can find out which ones if that helps?

She has mentioned Lichfield before as being a nice place to live - it's quite famous too because of Dr Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin and the big Cathedral (they do a lot of events around Christmas, Easter etc.). Apparently a lot of people who worked and lived in Birmingham go to Lichfield to retire.

[beachgoer]

op we moved to uttoxeter last october. we moved OUT by March this year. Its a dump.

Be aware if your child is on melatonin (pead prescribed for sleep) youll get none here. Be prepared to order from America lol! the SEN provision / healthcare is the worst Id ever come across. We bought our house in Uttoxeter.....put it up for sale January!

[beachgoer]

never seen so much dog shit in the park/pavements, people look at u like u have 2 heads if you say hello in passing.

every other house there has a burglar alarm / cctv. should`ve realised why......

i never felt safe there.

[ChocoTrio]

@beachgoer - sorry about your bad experience in Uttoxeter. I hope it was a better place that you moved on to afterwards!

Do you know much about the other places on the list? - Lichfield, Stone, Stafford or Rugeley?

Or any other places in and around Staffordshire?

[missyB1]

Stay away from Stafford, it’s just depressing. I spent 30 years there - thank god I got out eventually! I’m in Gloucestershire now funnily enough, I wouldn’t dream of moving back to Staffs. Malvern is beautiful and so is lots of Worcestershire, I would stick with that plan.

[Stealthynamechange]

Hi

I live in rural staffs. All the places mentioned vary massively & the distance between stone & lichfield is huge.

I have family in stone, its a lovely market town. I work in stafford & definitely wouldnt live there! Very different place to stone.

I think you would be best to take a drive when you can.

I love the village i live in, community is great , close to alton towers & peak wildlife park, as well as walks in peak district, keddleston hall (national trust) is also reasonable distance.

I hope you find somewhere :-)

[Helbel82]

I can help you out with Lichfield as I moved there from Birmingham 5 years ago. I personally love it as it is much quieter (than Birmingham) and has some lovely buildings and a nice feel to the place. It is expensive though in parts depending on what you are looking for and budget. The schools tend to be very good though and not far from bigger places like Birmingham.

[beachgoer]

yes MUCH nicer. I don`t care if I never see uttoxeter again tbh.

[mrsnevillelongbottom]

Wow thanks everyone! Lot to think about here. Family are in the north of Staffordshire (Leek) and I was hoping for a bit of distance - not to be on each others' doorsteps!

Rugeley, Uttoxeter and Stafford are out then. Lichfield and Stone seem like they could be good options. Fortunately we both work from home full time, so distances between places isn't a problem. @Stealthynamechange can I ask what you mean by the places vary massively? Despite having grown up in Staffordshire, I've never really ventured out of north Staffs so it's all embarrassingly new to me.

[WhatInFreshHell]

I live in Lichfield! It's a lovely place to live!

[roseapothecary]

Another Lichfieldian here! It is a really nice place to live

[cosmo30]

Lichfield is lovely. Old buildings, massive cathedral and the place has got character!

[Stealthynamechange]

Hi

I meant very different feel to the places, i guess it depends what you are looking for?
Lichfield - cathedral town, stunningly beautiful
Stone - market town with canal
Both lovely but in different ways.
Wouldnt even compare to stafford or rugeley 😕

[Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]

Stone is nice. I was going to suggest Leek - nice indie shops/cafes, nearer the Peaks, but it the inlaws are there maybe not. Both dull-ish in the way that small market towns are.

Would you go further into Derbyshire - Ashbourne, Buxton, Belper?

I'd prefer Malvern tbh

[ChocoTrio]

Just did a search of google images for both Stone and Lichfield. From pictures alone, I think Lichfield looks like a more interesting place to live. Seems to have more going on. Also, there's been more responses on here from people in Lichfield who seem happy to be there.

Then again, I tend to like quaint Cathedral cities anyway. I just find that there's more going on for DC and it's more atmospheric around holiday times of year with Christmas, Easter and whatnot. There's usually more history and character in Cathedral cities too.

Looks like Lichfield even has its own Food Festivals and Literature Festivals. That looks lovely.

[AgeLikeWine]

Derbyshire

[MrsWeatherwax]

I'd second the recommendations for Stone and Lichfield. Lichfield expensive due to connections to Brum. Eccleshall is lovely but not very well connected. Penkridge is also worth a look.

I also think previous posters are being a bit harsh on Stafford, it's definitely not a pretty market town but it does have excellent transport links for Birmingham and Manchester, some great schools and different areas of the town have a very different feel. Weeping Cross an Baswich are very popular versus Highfields area for example and this is reflected in house prices.

[480Widdio]

I also live in Lichfield,moved from Birmingham 18years ago,I live in a village just outside the city,I love it.

Lichfield has a lot going on throughout the year.The Lichfield Festival,The Bower,all sorts,lots of history associated with the City.

The transport links are excellent,East Midlands and Birmingham for airports.From Lichfield Trent Valley station there are direct trains to Euston.

I don’t like Stafford or Rugeley,I don’t know much about Uttoxeter,but always thought it had a low crime rate,well it does compared to Stoke.

Interested to hear where you move to.

[winterflower15]

I live in a village about 10 minutes from Stone. It's a lovely little market town, lots of places to eat and drink, a monthly farmers market and nice walks along the canal. It's an easy drive to Leek without it being too close.

There are some nice villages on the outskirts of Stafford too like Haughton and Gnosall if you wanted to be nearer somewhere a bit bigger.

If you'd like to be up near the peaks but avoiding Leek then Ashbourne is a nice town.

[BrownBirdsFly]

I’ve lived in this area my whole life. Stafford isn’t great, huge traffic problem and not much of a community feel. Lichfield is larger and more expensive than Stone but a beautiful place to live. Stone has a wonderful community feel and has recently got a Marks and Spencer’s food hall, brand new leisure centre and the canal runs through the town, it is smaller than Lichfield but has everything you need. Having lived in both I prefer Stone as it has better transport links, you can be on the M6 within ten minutes.

[Jonnywishbone]

Eccleshall - fantastic village if you can afford it.

Newport (Shropshire border) - Nice market town too. Two great grammar schools and a good secondary nearby - also good distance to Thomas Telford School. Good links to M54 for M6 to Shrewsbury, Manchester, Birmingham etc.

Stoke - Nope. Stafford - Boring.

[Heronwatcher]

I think that the reports of Uttoxeter are a bit harsh. Obviously it has good and less good bits but the crime rate is low, and it has a really nice weekly market, lovely parks and walks and excellent schools. I grew up around there and lived in the local villages which are beautiful and we always found very quiet and peaceful. I’d recommend Marchington, Abbott’s Bromley and Newborough/ Hoar cross and also those a bit closer to Burton like Tutbury or Rangemore too. My favourite place for scenery in Staffs is the Staffordshire Moorlands, incredibly pretty villages like Calton, Wootten and Oakamoor (more like Derbyshire without the crowds) but obviously not a huge amount going on. Stone is really nice but very similar to Uttoxeter in “feel”. I also like Lichfield but found it a bit more busy and some parts of it almost blend into Birmingham so it depends what you are after really. I would recommend spending time there yourself and not taking as gospel anything you read here!!

[480Widdio]

@Heronwatcher,Lichfield does not blend into BIRMINGHAM,!! We are three quarters of an hour away!!I moved from Birmingham,in no way is it like the City.Miles of Countryside between them and us.

[Comefromaway]

The northern part of Biddulph is lovely, either Biddulph Moor or the area round by the Grange. Easy to get to Leek across the moor but not too close.