Moving to Shropshire advice please

[Forestmum4]

H

Thank you all for all your help! Going to go catchment first then I feel a bit like a field commander all I need is a big map and some pins!! It’s also really reassuring knowing childcare is needed as I love my job. If anyone can think of anything else useful for me to know that would be great just pop it on. Thanks again so much!!!!

I hope you don’t mind me coming back to you but we have finally arranged a trip at the end of the week to look at areas and after reading your last comment I was wondering what village you are in? Obviously I know you do t want to add it to this thread but could you possibly send me a private message. It’s just that we are not familiar with any of the villages or catchments yet.

Just seen this.

Give Telford and Market Drayton a wide berth and you’ll be fine.

@Forestmum4 if you are looking for a response from a particular poster, try tagging them; they may not be checking the thread two months later. @ and then their username, no space, in case you didn't know.

@Hen2018 I’m about to exchange on a house in Telford (Lightmoor Village to be specific)

Please can you tell me what it is about Telford that is so awful? Everyone says that’s it’s bad, but the parts I’ve seen (town centre and Lightmoor) don’t seem too terrible to me. What is it that I’m not seeing. Thanks!

@StrawberryCreamCake of course I haven’t done a study into every area but I dislike the weird, sweeping dual carriageways that soullessly connect all the disparate former villages. Weirdly, despite being mainly road, it takes ages to get anywhere.

Most of it is modern and boring housing estates with no centre, little shop/facilities or heart to them.

I have no interest in shopping so the centre is pointless to me. No old buildings and nothing to look at, just a tired 1970s shopping centre. We only used to go there for the ice rink. At one point the area was so run down we called it Trolley Town because of the high numbers of shopping trolleys dumped everywhere.

Most of Shropshire is lovely so it seems a shame to choose it when you could try Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury etc. Though I suppose it’s not too far to drive somewhere pleasant and Ironbridge is on the door step.

Due to advice on here we didn’t even look at Telford, your so right though everywhere we looked we though was lovely. Our search will now solely be narrowed down to school areas so schools are next on our list.

Thanks @Hen2018

Okay, I see what you mean.

I don’t actually mind there being no old buildings and I like modern housing estates. As long as we have countryside nearby then I’m happy.

I would really recommend Hadnall - it has a nice village/community feel, with a little shop, pub, and hair dressers, has a regular bus service into Shrewsbury, and is in the catchment area for some good schools.

All my advice has mostly been given but as domeone who grew up in this part of the world I would definitely recommend that you choose a house that is within walking distance (on safe pedestrian paths not country lanes) of a train station. You will have much more harmonious teen years with your kids and they will thank you for it!
Lots of people go for cute quaint cottages on the outskirts and say 'its only 10 minutes to a bus stop!' Without realising that bus transport is a lot more sporadic in the countryside and that '10 minutes' walk is down roads with no footpaths that people who have grown up here speed round.
Oh and not sure if Ludlow has been mentioned - not sure about the schools but its a gorgeous town but Shrewsbury is brilliant, best of both worlds of countryside and a busy town.

Thank you! Will check it out.

Another one saying check the transport links especially since you are both working. A train station nearby is ideal.

Bus routes can get cut. Train stations can be delinked (as Shrewsbury was from a frequent link to London). but rarely post Beeching actually cut.

This may possibly not be an issue as hubby doesn’t need the train links or bus for his work. I am undecided on weather I will work from home yet so is a good thing to factor in. Thank you.

Does anyone know anything about Baschurch please.

There is a PGL at Boreatton Park Baschurch which might be a potential place of employment.

Hello again to all the lovely helpful Shropshire folk. It’s been a while since I have added to this post.
Right so we have been to your lovely part of the country a few times now viewed a few properties and had a look at a few schools.
DH is very keen and one DD the other is taking a little more persuading as is older. Thing is I have all of a sudden become terrified I really want to move but am for some reason really scared. I just feel that we are extremely spoilt in our part of the country with all the money and facilities that we have. Don’t get me wrong the south is fine if you have lots of money and out particular part is becoming more and more materialistic by the minute as more and more affluent families move into the area from London.
We really do want to slow down and want a less competitive life for out girls. Having been born and brought up here I have seen the area change so much. Even my parents now say the same. My sister moved with her three children to Cheshire years ago when they were younger and they were fine (all adults now) so I just don’t understand why I am feeling this way. I think a lot of it is the worry that my 12 year old won’t settle I don’t know why I think this. I could really do with a little reassurance does anyone have any similar experiences? We have now settled on a move to the North and not the south as I have family in the North but just don’t understand why people are a little negative about the North. Anyway any help would be really appreciated.

We moved from being 20 mins drive from a city centre to N Shropshire. Admittedly, DD was 5 when we moved but we had no problem in settling in.

She now goes to secondary school a bus ride away. Just means that when she wants to see friends I have to be a taxi driver until the train is a more viable option. We knew this would be the case when we moved here and are quite happy with that.
We are on the bus line to Shrewsbury. This has an hourly pick up and drop off from our village.

Which village are you looking at moving to? Which school are you looking at her going to? That will have some bearing on my reply!

Personally I’d stay as far away from Wem as I could, but then my ex husband lives there and seems to have developed an attitude of ‘whatever, I’m from Wem, no-one will stand up to me’ it’s all a bit odd, I’ve noticed it seems to be fairly prevalent in the pubs there too… middle aged men who live in a small Shropshire market town believing they run the local f*cking mafia… very odd! What about Whixall way?

I have done lots of research on schools so it’s really the school catchment areas that are driving us. Thing is everyone sees schools differently. We have been told to avoid the Grove and the marches and St martins not sure why though. Plus Whitchurch junior. It’s more the secondary that we want to make the right decision on. We have heard positives about Thomas Adams and Lakeland’s but not sure about SIr John Talbot. We did go to visit the latter and they were not really very helpful. They booked us in for a visit only to tell us they didn’t have spaces.My niece lives in quino brook (please excuse my spelling so somewhere not too far from her but we are willing to look about. Houses we viewed were in Prees Pant (this was a lovely house but agent had no idea on schools) and Wem.
We are honestly not worried about driving for friend visits or not having everything on our doorstep.

That’s very interesting We recently missed out on a lovely house in Wem and my DH is gutted. But I have heard mixed reports about the area. I will take a look at Whixall thank you.

Personally I would start with the areas that cover Thomas Adams but that's because that would be my school of choice! I also prefer being a bit closer to Shrewsbury so I'd draw a search area for that. Whixall and Prees are further out. I'd also avoid Wem too. It's just not for me!

@Forestmum4

You've got a good budget, I live on the border or Cheshire/Shropshire. In between Nantwich and Whitchurch.

I'd personally not choose Whitchurch just because my mum lived there and had some issues with neighbours. Obviously not everyone has issues.. and there is a sense of community there. I'm not sure on primary schools in Whitchurch but their secondary is meant to be good.

Whixall/Coton/Edstaston/Quina Brook are lovely but very rural. No public buses from there at all, or shops. Tilstock - nothing there but a bus does run to Whitchurch /Shrewsbury.
At TA roughly 50% of the children come from the primary there and 50% from outlying villages and are bussed in.
At SJT roughly 90% of the children come from Whitchurch junior, 5% from schools within the Trust and the remainder from other schools.
For Wem, trains/public buses runs from Whitchurch, Tilstock, Higher Heath and Prees.
Some new houses going up in Prees, Higher Heath and Whitchurch.
You can have problems with neighbours anywhere.

Ellesmere for Lakelands is OK. Some nice areas and a lot more to do there then in the villages! Nice villages around Ellesmere too though! Bit further from Quina Brook.

What facilities are you after?

Do you know how far the catchment for TA runs? I find the map a little confusing as to the Prees Wem divide.

We do love in a village now in the Chiltern hills it goes my have much but a few local shops and a few pubs but it’s quite close to a town that has cinemas shops etc. To be honest we don’t really do masses of outings and stuff with our girls. We have a dog and enjoy walks and spending time as a family. DH and I would be very happy with a rural property but understand that with children it’s not that practical.