best market towns with good cultural life in UK?

[milliefiori]

Where should we move to?
DTeens are nearly grown and we no longer need to live in commuting distance of London, so we want to free up some cash and move sometime in the next couple of years.

We want a market town that has a lively cultural life - independent cinemas, theatres, jazz/folk/indie music venues, bookshops, restaurants. A great sports centre with swimming pool and a library would be brilliant too. We both love walking, so good places to hike nearby would be great.

It needs to be much cheaper than London, so places like Oxford, Cambridge or anywhere close to London (Sevenoaks, Guildford etc) are not on the cards. About 2 hours away from London is ideal as we'd want to come back to see shows and exhibitions and meet up with friends.

I was wondering about Stratford-on-Avon but is it just TudorDisney?

We're happy to move anywhere that has its own lively buzz and isn't too Daily Mail.

Where should we look?

Shrewsbury is lovely. Train Links to Manc, Birmingham and London. People are a bit small town mentality and fashion lags 5 years behind but on the whole it’s a good town.

Cheltenham or Malvern, maybe Leamington/Warwick too. Not Stratford, it is Tudor Disney and full of tourists it just has a not that nice feel.

Definitely not the New Forest - beautiful area but some parts are quite insular and not welcoming to 'outsiders'...learnt from experience :(

Not read the full thread but these places are near me and nice and while expensive will probably be cheaper than in don depending on whereabouts in London you are

Altrincham
Knutsford
Alderley Edge
Wilmslow

All around Manchester which is 2 hours from London and all lovely

@Schwibble that’s really sad. I love the New forest and never would’ve thought it could be like that.

@Schwibble - that's a really good point. As @Lefric has proved, some people are very insular and protective of their patch of England and don;t want people with a slightly different accent from fifty miles away coming to sully it. Mystifies me, but I certainly can;t be bothered dealing with that. I'm originally from the North and prefer places with a mentality like London's which is: if you live here you instantly belong here, wherever you come from.

@KronksSpinachPuffs - all of those places are possibilities. So's Ramsbottom. DH grew up near there so we know them all well (though his mates from school have all moved on and away) So beautiful around there. I wondered about Ribchester too.

@Alwaysgrey and @milliefiori it is indeed very sad, we lived there, near Hythe on the edge of the forest, for several years after relocating, we were vilified by the neighbours and locals. Some of them were very abusive. We did nothing wrong other than buy a big house and own more than two cars. Was glad to leave the area a few years ago.

I think that's the problem. London is so inclusive that it's hard to find that 'vibe' elsewhere. Many of the areas mentioned upthread are very 'conservative' in outlook. Places like Hebden Bridge, Stroud, Totnes, Lewes are pretty places but have that fairly elusive inclusive feel too. Brighton obviously has this too but is a mini London with similar problems socially and the traffic is terrible (house prices high too).

As others have said, Stroud ticks all those boxes. Or what about
Ledbury?

I can never understand the love for Stroud personally. It is snarled up with traffic, has a major drug problem and the shops are not good. (For a Cotswold town it is not particularly attractive to look at either) But then I suppose that description relates to a lot of places these days.

Another vote for Chichester - there's the Festival Theatre, an independent cinema, good leisure centre with a pool. Easy to get to Southampton and Brighton. Trains are OKish for London or Gatwick. Close to the South Downs for walking and the coast. Lots of really good country pubs too.

Downsides are it is a bit elderly and traffic on the A27 can be bad.

Some of these are towns/ cities rather than what I’d consider a market town?

Market towns I can think of would be Marlborough/ Bradford upon Avon. But I wouldn’t call them cultural exactly with a music scene.

Bath is great though, like a mini London. You could live just outside then you have best of both worlds.

Norwich - yes, it's a city, but it's got that small city vibe, lots of good cultural attractions, independent/quirky shops and restaurants. Plus nice countryside on your doorstep: the broads, the coast, and inland around the river valleys (Bure, Wensum and Tud) which all make for nice walking routes.

Harrogate, Ripon, Richmond North Yorkshire?

Easingwold is lovely
Only 15 miles from york
Everything you want there

We are going today. Then down to york for some music then comedy later on.

@PerfectPeony2 - please would you say more about Bath being a mini London? I did wonder about Bath but, like with Stratford-on-Avon, wondered if it was just heaving with tourists and World of Jane Austen. Does Bath have music clubs/theatres/galleries etc?

@ContinuityError - I liked Chichester the only time I've visited. I walked aorund the city walls and there were some lovely independent shops.

@Dowser - that sounds fun.

@milliefiori Bath has all of that and I’ve never found it to be touristy (we don’t live there but visit a lot). There are loads of cocktail bars, a theatre etc. depending on your taste. Fab restaurants, coffee, parks, lovely architecture and I’m not into music myself but I’m sure there’s loads of stuff because of the university. Central bath is more mainstream but if you walk around you will find the smaller vintage shops and independent bars/ restaurants. You should definitely plan a visit even if it’s just to be a tourist and go to bath spa!

If you wanted more of a village feel you could live in Bradford upon Avon which is stunning.

Bradford upon Avon is fabulous. BIL & SIL moved there last year and MiL & PIL followed as the town, the surrounding area and the people are fab.

Definitely Saffron Walden. The market square is gorgeous, you're two minutes from there to the Common, which has a medieval maze, 30 seconds from a small town centre park with bandstand that contains a labyrinth, less than 5 minutes from Bridge End Gardens which is 2 minutes walk from The Fry Gallery which celebrates local artists.

There is a small cinema near the town centre, Lord Butler Leisure Centre at the other end of town has a 25m pool. St Marys is the largest church in Essex and is the final resting place of Rab Butler. Many of the buildings around the town centre are from the 16th century and exude character.

I love the place and the people and would love to live there.

Oh, one final thing, the traffic is nowhere near that of

London. Pressed post one word too soon. :o

Westgate on Sea in Kent is lovely... Small shops, wine bars, cinema, railway station. In between Margate and Ramsgate /Broadstairs... here

Make a list of all the town mentioned above. Then look at 20 houses in each of these towns on RightMove in your price range. Whichever town has the most houses decorated internally in a style you like is the town for you.

I think you can tell a lot about a place, the people who live there and whether you'll fit in by doing this. Maybe pick the top 3 towns and visit those places to come to a final decision.