if you could live anywhere, we would it be? Village with train station and school

This is going to sound silly because it is a perfectly ordinary rural town really, but we live in Crewkerne in Somerset and absolutely love it here. I wouldn't live anywhere else, including the very naice villages around, even if I was a millionaire because to me, it's perfect. We used to live in London and then in a small town in Kent, and before that I lived in Cardiff and various other places in the SE.

My friends who have lived here all their lives laugh at me because I'm so enthusiastic about the area, but to me it's wonderful- pretty hamstone buildings, plenty of very convenient shops, a public swimming pool, and a train station that gets us back to London to see family in a couple of hours. Lots of nice countryside around for walking and a friendly community. I'll never leave 😁

Charlbury is nice

7 bedroom detached house for sale in Old Rectory Lane, Alvechurch, B48

Alvechurch in Worcestershire - never lived there, but lived a few miles away in a less 'nice' village! It's got a train station, with trains into Birmingham for commuting or grammar/independent schools. There are first and middle schools in the village, so you're sorted until year 8. After that it's not far to Bromsgrove, by coach or bus.

It's a decent sized village of about 5000, so good facilities. It's old and pretty and set in lovely countryside, yet close to the M42 for getting around!

I only learnt since reading your post that there are technical definitions of towns and villages.

Marple’s population in the 2021 census was 12,980. That puts it well over the threshold of 7500 used by many, but not all, to define a village. As towns go, it is very small and it certainly has the feel of a village.

The 2021 population of Hope was listed at something under 3600. Defo a village!

We walk from Hope. It’s lovely, as is that house. But there is only one train an hour (sometimes less) between Sheffield and Manchester, which is your only route out of the Hope Valley. You need to be a patient
traveller.

Plus point of a massive radio telescope on your doorstep!😀

Goostrey in Cheshire. It’s on the line btwn Manchester and Crewe.

We commute from Dorridge into Birmingham and London. Very convenient if a bit pricy. Possibly not quite as village-y as you may be thinking but it's got good primary schools, an excellent secondary and a cricket team.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/167785646?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Small town with both and a High Street. I'm not cut out for the claustrophobia of village life.
Ruralish East Herts, footpaths and countryside ten minutes walk away.

West Kilbride - Ayrshire
Fairlie - Ayrshire
Lochwinnoch - Renfrewshire

All on railway line to Glasgow - less than 40 mins travelling.
Lovely views, countryside, seaside.

Yeah, we're really fortunate. We have a lovely tennis club (and annual membership is only around £100-£150) and a cricket club, for which family annual membership isn't any more than that, so both are really accessible.

The village itself has some very pretty parts. It's also average in parts. But, for us, it offers the perfect balance.

There are a few villages between Orpington and Sevenoaks that have a train station and a school. There are also some others in the vicinity of Tunbridge Wells. I have never lived in any of them,

I wouldn't call Marple a village though @greenpeaks it's basically the edge of greater manchester suburbia and whilst you've got the canal and countryside on your doorstep it's hardly village sized!
Go a bit further out though e.g. into the Hope Valley and they're villages 4 bedroom detached house for sale in Parsons Lane, Hope, Hope Valley, S33

I grew up in a lovely little town in rural Somerset with a few shops, pubs, a post office, a train station, a few schools and a beautiful church. Houses prices have shot up as apparently it's a celebrity hot-spot now but I wasn't when i lived there.

We’re in Marple. In a restaurant review eight or 10 years ago, Jay Rayner described Marple as ‘the leafy village where Greater Manchester meets the Peak District’.

The restaurant was Angkor Soul, since renamed Kombuja (sp?) It’s Cambodian, and very good. Otherwise the restaurant scene is mostly gastro pubs, a new Italian that’s doing well and a decent Chinese takeaway. We usually go into Manchester, but we like to cook. We have a charming independent cinema on the High Street.

In terms of what you asked: we actually have two train stations, one being the terminal point of a defunct line. Trains to Manchester take 20-30 min. Two hours from Manchester to London. We have two POs. (One in the hamlet of Marple Bridge) There is ample choice of schools but they are mainly Good rather than Outstanding, FWIW. A number of DC attend independent schools in Manchester and commute by train.

We have at least two GP surgeries. Ours has served us well and been rated Outstanding the last two rounds. Several private dentists, opticians, etc.

Two excellent butchers, a good fishmonger, but the greengrocer is expensive for the quality and the supermarket is ASDA. Tesco on the outskirts.

We are in the lovely older neighbourhood close to Marple Station. I see a semi on Winnington Road and a medium sized detached on Manor Road both STC on Rightmove with asking prices of £700K and £800K. The larger detached homes in the neighbourhood are around your £1M but none are for sale.

We are near a lovely park where a Community Hub with a gym, pool, cafe, NHS Walk In Centre, Community Policing Station, etc (IIRC) is supposed to open this year. Looks like it may happen!

Marple is on the Cheshire Ring of canals and we have some great walks along canals and in the hills from the door.

You can tell I love living here. However a great thing about Britain is that there are many equally wonderful villages!

Morpeth Northumberland. Small market town, not a village. Good schools. On east coast mail line and close to A1. 9 miles from the beach and close to outstanding countryside. Good shops, restaurants and pubs.

Colwall Herefordshire.

On the west of the Malvern Hills. Regular train to Worcester or Hereford. Commutable to Birmingham. Near Ledbury which is a lovely little town or Malvern, also great place to live.

I live very close to this house. It’s a fab part of the uk to live.

Or Church Stretton, also on the train line and next to the Long Mynd.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/171352250#/?channel=RES_BUY

I love Prestbury but it is hard to get something decent for £1M. Also the trains are not terribly frequent.

I live in Somerset and there are several lovely villages on the Heart of Wessex line from Weymouth to Bristol Temple meads - Yetminster, Thornford, Maiden Newton

Silverdale in Lancashire, start of the Lake District

Shiplake
wargrave
Furze Platt
Cookham

All villages with train stations, schools and a small number of shops. All close to either Henley or Marlow.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/171949820#/?channel=RES_BUY

Here you go OP! I don’t live in Topsham but it’s a few stops from me on the train so we visit a lot. It’s a lovely place, has a train station and a primary school, and is by the sea.

Loads of places in Somerset, Hampshire and Wiltshire that fit the bill. Just look on the train lines to see which villages are served.

Prestbury in Cheshire?

It has a railway station only a few minutes in to Manchester. Also a village primary school and is walking distance from some good secondary schools - one independent and the other state. I think there is also a private bus service from there to Manchester Grammar.

The village centre is quite nice - shops, restaurants and pubs.

You could get something decent for your budget I think although property prices there are quite steep. I should add I can't afford to live there! But I live nearby and go to it or through it quite often.