Moving to Shropshire advice please

[Forestmum4]

H

My advice would be don't go up the road my df accidently turned up last year when we went near Church Stretton. It's hilly, only really space for single track, but cars coming the other way, without many passing points and off the road slopes down rapidly. Beautiful views though.

Beautiful county.

What are you looking for?

Which part of Shropshire? It's quite a varied county.

Shropshire is gorgeous, but it's massive do you have an area in mind?

It’s like Fight Club. Once you move to Shropshire you don’t tell anyone about Shropshire. It’s a relatively well kept secret and we don’t want everyone coming .

@MargaretThursday I know exactly the road you mean and it is absolutely terrifying!

Church Stretton is lovely though quite touristy, ditto Ludlow. Shrewsbury is also nice. Personally I would avoid Telford.

@Forestmum4 I’m from Shropshire. Had to move down south for work. Am always plotting how to get back. It’s a huge county and the roads can be poor so pick where you go carefully.

@NotExactlyHappyToHelp

It’s like Fight Club. Once you move to Shropshire you don’t tell anyone about Shropshire. It’s a relatively well kept secret and we don’t want everyone coming .

Exactly!

The most perfect place in the world.

Telford is great! I have never understood people slating it, the shopping centre and Telford town park is amazing and there's alot to do, great roads with next to no traffic and quick to get anywhere.
I lived there for a bit and loved it.

H? Is this a deep undercover Line of Duty clue? Has H been seen in Shropshire? If H is there they'll be safe up that road in Church Stretton for a while by the sound of it. Flash your car headlights 4 times to let us know where you are and what you need to know.

No it’s just my clumsy fingers! I posted before working out how to write and send!😂 will update with more info.

We have two girls 12 and 8 so schools will be priority. Also my niece lives in Wem so it would be nice to be closer to her. Possibly somewhere between Wem and Shrewsbury or Wem and Market Drayton. We are used to village life but don’t want to be too isolated with children. We are both self employed I am a childminder/ Forest school leader but can work in a school or nursery as have all the relevant qualifications. We are living in the South East in Bucks atm but want a quieter way of life away from the London links. Don’t get me wrong being this close to London but in the country has raised the value of our home but it’s also become a very competitive area and that’s just not us. Regarding schools we are not particularly fussy about highest achieving but more about a happy environment.

@Proudpeacock why would you avoid Telford? I’m also thinking of moving to Shropshire and keep reading that Telford is an area to avoid and I’m wondering why specifically.

Is it because it lacks the charm and character of the rest of the county? Personally I like new and modern and don’t mind a lack of character. But I do mind run down and depressing, bad schools, high crime and feeling of being unsafe, aggressive people etc.

@User5747384 It’s good to see someone say something positive about Telford. What do you like about it? What are the best areas?

I live here right in the touristy bit. It’s a lovely place to raise a young family but it is very cut off access wise.
We wanted to go to London and it was an epic trek to get a train that went direct.
Yes you can get to Birmingham and Chester etc but we do feel very rural.
My DD’s love where we live but they also want to travel and see the world and sometimes I think it is a bit too olde worlde.
But it is gorgeous and we are lucky to have local shops and stuff and pubs.
Up towards Wem area is nice but it’s not my stomping ground I’m sure others will know it well. I can see the dodgy road from my window and it’s mayhem on bank holidays

I have a friend in Newport Telford she likes it as it has retained a bit of an identity. Some of the Telford burbs have been amalgamated into Telford and are sort of one lump of housing with no shop or pub or centre as such.
However there are some outlying areas that are nice.

Anyone know anything about Church Stretton? Or Whitchurch? We don’t want to be too far from Wem max 35-40 mins but closer would be better. Just don’t want to be too isolated.

@StrawberryCreamCake well it is my home town so I carry all of the baggage of childhood . It is a new town so not much housing stock pre 1970 and built for cars. If you prefer a new build and don't mind driving everywhere then it may work for you. Not sure about schools these days. It is probably a bit more multicultural now than when I lived there but not sure there is a lot of culture still. I would avoid the council estates built in the 1970's but aside from that there are a number if safe (but dull) areas to live.

I’m in Stretton not much property on the market at the mo it’s gone mad! Schools are great and the secondary is next door to the Primary.
It’s quite small so not too intimidating for the kids to go up to.
Lots of extra curricular stuff to do. Lovely community and village feel with events like bonfire night and Christmas stuff in normal times.
It’s a bit dull if your children are used to having lots of options.

I don’t live there but I work in Newport and I’d avoid it personally due to the students from the Uni (and I say that as someone who was once one of them). I believe the local residents aren’t big fans of them, their student houses take over a lot of the main estates and they can get quite rowdy.
Friend of mine lived in Whitchurch and she only had nice things to say about it.
Another friend of mine lives in Wem and when I’ve visited her there seems to be a lot of small villages I drive through on the way.

Telford isn't anything like the rest of Shropshire in that it's a newer development. There are loads of amenities there though, better transport (M54) good shops, leisure etc and surrounded by beautiful countryside. The Town Park and Wonderland are fantastic. I can't really comment on individual neighbourhoods but I wouldn't dismiss it as a place to live unless you are particularly looking for tiny, twee and tea shops.

Sorry! I meant Church Aston but Church Stretton is also on our list. We are not overly bothered about it being super busy at all we do like spending a lot of family time together and DH and I love to garden (god we sound so boring😂) But I am conscious that our girls will want to mix especially the 12 year old. We actually have four children but the other two are grown and have flown the nest. So even though we have two younger ones we are not getting any younger so feel if we are going to up sticks we need to do it now rather than later!

I know the Wem/Whitchurch area quite well. Whitchurch is the bigger town. Don't know much about primary schools in either though although I've never heard anything bad said about either of them but some parents do opt to send their DC to smaller village schools in the surrounding areas. The Secondary school in Whitchurch used to be poor but a big change in management and Governors a few years ago has drastically improved it. Some families choose the Bishop Heber School across the border in Cheshire though. The Secondary in Wem was previously the better school of the two (my DS left there about 6 years ago) but has had big staff changes in the last few years so don't know if it is still as good as it was but parents still seem to choose it.
Both towns are on the main Crewe/Shrewsbury train line but more trains stop at Whitchurch. This means you have access to trains to almost anywhere. If I had to choose between the 2 towns I'd probably go for Whitchurch - there's more houses being built there and more happening plus it's handy for Chester and Nantwich both lovely towns/city. House prices will be cheaper in the North of the County than the South or indeed Church Aston which will be sought after due to its proximity to the only 2 Grammar schools in this area (one boys one girls) although again Newport and the surrounding areas are lovely and closer to motorway access.

I've got family in Bomere Heath, it's a beautiful county and I can't wait to visit again soon. Shrewsbury town centre is lovely, you'll do a lot worse than to move there

Bomere heath is under threat from the north west relief road, which will greatly increase traffic. Too many in Shropshire have never lived anywhere else and think bypasses are a good idea - thinking from 40 years ago. Seriously corrupt and incompetent council, heres hoping people can see past the blue rosettes on may 6th.

Watch for flooding, don't buy on a flood plain because that is where most new builds are sited. As I said, seriously incompetent council. Very sad.

We really don’t want a new build we much prefer something with a bit of character. And thanks for the warning we have done a bit of research on flood plain but much better coming from someone who lives in the area.