Places near Swindon

[Gamorasgran]

May be moving or at least thinking about it.

Would need to be village/small town just outside Swindon (or maybe outskirts if it's a good suburb) . Near m4 junctions. Good secondary. Good broadband speed ( I know this sound funny but l have friends and family Gloucestershire way who are still very patchy and it's vital for us).

Can't be too expensive so not one of the uber quaint Wiltshire weekend property villages, lovely as they are. Also not too isolated - I was a teen in a rural setting and lovely though it was in some ways I would like dds to have a bit more connectivity to stuff

Any ideas?

Wootton Bassett

That was the first one I thought of! Thank you.

I know junction 16 area a bit better than junction 15 so be interested in places that way too...

It used to be outside Swindon, but what with developments etc Wroughton is ok and almost a suburb.
You also have Highworth but I don't know if it's a nice place to live, South Marston, Lydiard, Wanborough lots of places just outside of Swindon.
There are of course areas of Swindon that has nice areas, best to look at prices within your budget and ask again on here.

Highworth was a lovely place to live, but I'm not sure about the quality of the schools.

Another one for Wootton Bassett here.

Why not Swindon itself, gorgeous houses in old town, close to motorway- good senior school. Highworth is a bit grim wanborough too rural I would have though.

Shrivenham? Faringdon? Wantage? Hungerford?

I would never live in Swindon itself, though it does have a very good range of shops. It's just quite a scattered place so have to drive everywhere.

Wantage has excellent schools and a lovely marketplace. Plus lots of other amenities like big supermarkets, leisure centre etc. Hungerford has great access to the beautiful North Wessex Downs AONB. Shrivenham and Faringdon a bit smaller but both quirky and lovely with lots of smaller shops and a couple of bigger supermarkets and leisure centres.

I’m in Wroughton and love it here.

Currently living in Highworth and have done for over 20 years. This is a nice town with a good community feel. DD left the local secondary school last summer with excellent GCSE results, though I know some Highworth parents send their children to Farmors School in Fairford. The bus service to Swindon and the train station are very regular, with links to the S6 bus to Oxford city centre. I grew up in a village and I think Highworth is a good middle point between village and large town, though DD thinks it is boring and cannot wait to leave! Internet connectivity does depend on which part of Highworth you live.

Wroughton, Highworth, Wanborough.

Faringdon, Shrivenham, Highworth, South Marsden, Blunsdon all worth a look!

Fab, some good rightmove perving awaits, thank you.

It's only a vague conversation atm and at least a year away (post brexit) but useful to think about.

I meant to add that I agree that everything in Swindon is very spread out. The centre is pretty dead as well.

Highworth secondary is.... ok. It was our local ‘good’ school when we lived there, but I’d have sent DS to Farmors if we hadn’t moved out of county.

Ridgeway (Wroughton) and Wootton Bassett are well regarded. I’d look there. Some nice villages around there which still have good transport links.

Despite its reputation, Swindon is a great place to live. Town centre is dire but you rarely need to go there.

Well located geographically... close to Cotswolds, London, lots of towns/cities... Bristol, Cheltenham, Reading... and house prices still v low for the south. We only moved out of the area to move back to extended family in the East.

WTCT, that's one of the reasons we're thinking about it. It potentially opens up my commuting prospects and thus job options, has the stuff when you need it and the prices do seem reasonable.

We don't need more bedrooms but we need more living space and the cost of extending vs moving for that is something to consider.

Only problem is we love where we are now but property prices are such that extending is the way to go.

Old Town in Swindon itself is lovely, too.