Move to Wiltshire or Cirencester

[Nuttymama83]

Hi,

We are hoping to move to Wiltshire or Cirencester from a far so don't the know the area at all! Our two kids are at primary but ideally would like to relocate near a good secondary school in either Wiltshire or near Cirencester with good local activities and countryside. We would really appreciate any advice that could help narrow down a town/village considering our budget for buying a house is ~£375K.

Many many thanks in advance xx

I have PM’d you

Having grown up in and around ciren but lived in north Wiltshire I went to school and 6th form in ciren and primary in south cerney

• there is nothing to do there as a teenager other than attempt to buy booze underage, go on long walks to smoke weed and swim in dangerous lakes though summer work options with all the tourists are fairly good.

It is very quiet though. Everything is a good 20 min drive from everything else.

If I was to pick anywhere around ciren I would live in Kemble as the train line gives you more options as local busses were always shit but I’ve been told have become shitter so you will do lots of driving no matter what.

Cirencester used to have a local hospital if you work in healthcare and Swindon/Cheltenham are the other options but both would be a longish commute.

Swindon - the magic roundabout isn’t so scary but it’s a bit of a nothing place whose only upside is the fact it’s on a direct trainline between London and Bristol. The bus station one of the 7 circles of hell. Kids get bussed from Swindon to ciren college as the local 6th forms were shite.

Villages around Swindon - wooton basset / Purton/ Cricklade are ok they all have some form of working local shop + school + pubs/restaurants the buses are awful though.

I live in Swindon.
I work in education.

Schools in Swindon are crap.

Sorry but it is true.
Yes there are many advantages here. Swindon gets a bad rap, but I live quite close in to town, yet from my front door I can walk in 5 different directions and walk for 5-10 km on grass paths, parkways and on to nature reserves, forest parks etc. Swindon has an amazing secret network of cylce and walking paths.

Brilliant leisure centres, 2 theatres, cinemas, bowling alley, trampoline park, ice skating, very quick and easy access to Cotsolds, Forests etc etc. Outlet Centre, and a surprising number of nice restaurants in Old Town.
Town Centre is a shithole. I never go there. The populations is very much not mn middle class brigade. But we've been her 10 years and like it.
Public transport is good and our teens can meet friends and go to the cinema on the bus/bike. In any village you will be taxi driver. My teens also got part time jobs and can get themselves to and from.

Primary schools aren't bad. (well, some of them)
but for secondary you need to be prepared to travel.
Many go to Wotton Bassett, but you won't get in there any more from Swindon, too over subscribed. You need to live in Wiltshire not Swindon borough.
From our primary school, 50% ended up travelling to secondary school.
I should emphasise, there are about 10 secondary schools within Swindon, if you live in Swindon you would get into most of them, and yet 50% of our year 6 chose to leave all of them behind and go outside Swindon. (and the other 50% wouldn't have had the finances to pay for the buses) They went to:
Highworth, Fairford, Wotton Basset, Bradon Forest (but I don't rate Bradon Forest) Ridgeway (in Wroughton) and to the Gloucestershire Grammars.
For sixth form, many, many take a bus to Cirencester College. Or use school sixth forms (Wotton Basset, Fairford etc) I wouldn't use Swindon College if you paid me.

But you will get a lot more house for your money.

actually Cricklade is a nice little town, lots of community stuff going on.

@steppemum that's a really good summary actually.

Basically if you can get your DC in to a good secondary nearby- and never ever go in town 😁 it's alright.

God knows what I'm going to do about secondary. Mine go to a good primary. But not impressed at all with secondaries nearby.

My husband got a job in Salisbury at one point and we looked at moving (but then circumstances changed and we didn't). We felt we could get a 3 bedroom family home on the outskirts of Salisbury for your kind of budget. That was a few years ago though, and a quick look at Rightmove suggests some of the areas we looked at would be beyond that budget now. Salisbury has good schools and it may be worth a look.

[quote BellatrixOnABadDay]@steppemum that's a really good summary actually.

Basically if you can get your DC in to a good secondary nearby- and never ever go in town 😁 it's alright.

God knows what I'm going to do about secondary. Mine go to a good primary. But not impressed at all with secondaries nearby. [/quote]
feel free to pm me, if you want some advice/suggestions etc

Ohmigosh, you all have been so unbelievingly helpful!! Thank you all for taking the time, I appreciate every single message so much!

I have been making lots of notes! We will definitely have to make some compromises. From what I've gathered, Chippenham seems to tick a lot of boxes, but Swindon might be more affordable for us.

@steppemum it is great to know that you can walk to countryside/green spaces as that is something we miss where we are the moment. And thank you for the great summary - super helpful!

We really don't have the best towns around here, there are couple of nice ones, so it will be interesting to see what Swindon is like in comparison :)! But yeah realistically would just like to be close to some nice cafes with good cakes!!

@TheHobbitMum - thank you for your insight. Everyone says Cirencester is lovely, which I'm sure it is, but thank you for pointing out that there might not be a lot for teenagers, that's interesting.

xx

@steppemum that's really kind- I've PM'd you.

There’s absolutely nothing whatsoever for kids to do in Marlborough, especially teens and no trains, buses are infrequent and v v expensive

Tidworth is horrid

@Nuttymama83 ciren is lovely in many ways but the kids arw always trying to get out of it to do something sadly. If they take a bus to Cheltenham/Swindon to shop/cinema/meal/escape rooms etc It's a day out as it's an hour each way at least (half the buses journey through the villages so much longer) so we end up having to pay for activity & 1/2 meals usually so works out even more expensive with bus fare on top. They don't always want us to taxi them but we do try to take it in turns with their friends parents so it's not always the same one doing the taxi-ing.
There was talk of a Cinema opening up in town itself but that was years ago and the developer doesn't have the best reputation for actually doing what they plan too sadly.
There is a skate park but our kids aren't into that.
My oldest 2 are 19 & 20 and actually love the town now for its bars & restaurants so it's not all bad for the kids :)

I spent some mispent teen years in Cirencester. the used to be a roller disco at the leisure centre on a saturday night

But yes it is a great town for parents and smaller kids.

Trouble is, I actually think all villages and small towns are like this. great for younger kids and parents.
Except you spend all your time in a car.
Awful for teens until they learn to drive!

@TheHobbitMum - it sounds lovely for us grown ups :) - maybe I should by them some roller skates for the kids birthday so they won’t be bored :)

@steppemum - I think you’re right about the villages and small towns, I was just thinking the same thing!

St John's in Marlborough is an excellent secondary but with your budget you'd probably have to compromise on the house.

Another vote for Chippenham. Have children at one of the secondary schools and it is good, as are the other two.
There are some new builds in your price range currently.
I like the town - two parks, one with access onto the wilts cycle path, you can cycle out to Avebury. rowing club is v cheap to join if your kids might like that, there’s a pool, cinema, sports facilities and you’re close to Bath (10 mins on the train), Bristol, M4 and equidistant (30 mins drive) between the Swindon retail parks and the one at Bristol.
The centre is a nice size, it’s not a chocolate box Wilts village but you can pop 10 mins up the road to Castle Combe or Lacock for that!
Loads of great walks within 5/10 miles.

Do have a look at Devizes - quiet country town, very pretty, I much prefer it to Marlborough. Trainline is planned to be going back in. Good primary (the one that’s amalgamated the C of E and RC primaries), and good secondaries if you are either c of E (st Lawrence in neighbouring Bradford on Avon) or RC (st Augustus in neighbouring Trowbridge) if you are neither, Devizes comp isn’t great. You can sometimes get into the Salisbury grammars, but it’s a long journey.

If you were considering Cirencester it might be worth looking at Stroud. No idea about schools, but I have liked it when I’ve been.

@Beecham

St John's in Marlborough is an excellent secondary but with your budget you'd probably have to compromise on the house.

I don’t think St John’s is great, if you consider the area. It’s now massive - nigh on 2000 kids, and I think a huge number fall through the cracks.

Malmesbury has good schools shops and access to train lines at Kemble and Chippenham. It’s appealing and has good employment rates (Dyson).

Melksham isn't a dump at all, ignore that comment. There's a brand new community campus being built, a new park and splashpad, good selection of supermarkets including Waitrose, good transport links, really close to Bath, lovely surrounding villages. Two secondaries to choose from, 1 built a decade ago and a brand new state of the art sports centre added recently.

Another recommendation for Malmesbury- good secondary school and close to Kemble or Swindon or Chippenham train stations, good range of useful local shops, nice historic buildings like the Abbey.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118552679

Thank you so much everyone, we are going to make sure to visit all of these towns mentioned after your encouraging comments :). They all look like they are really good potentials and really excited to see them. To me, it seems such a lovely place from what I have heard and read xx

We are between Stroud and Cheltenham. Stroud was voted in some poll (Sunday Times?) as best place to live in the UK. Conversely it can get a bit of a bad rap as the high street has had closures but seems to be coming back a bit. It has a laid back/slightly hippy vibe. Prices are cheaper than surrounding villages.

You have the canals, a cinema, bowling alley, award winning farmers market and the Subscription rooms which put on music/plays etc. Cheltenham about 30 mins away driving and direct buses. Trains to London are 1hr 30 and go to Gloucester and Cheltenham the other way. Bristol and Birmingham both about an hour for bigger hospitals, Glos has a pretty sizeable hospital and Cheltenham slightly smaller.

Schools - you have access to 6 selective grammars (2x Stroud, 3xGloucester and 1xCheltenham) - lots of buses for these schools. The comp has been improving but some children travel to Deer Park in Ciren and a couple of other local comps all with decent reputations.

Warminster has it plus points it is right next to Shearwater and Longleat estate so plenty of woodland around. Depends what you are looking for. Between Bath and Salisbury for shopping/days out. It also gives you a choice of hospitals which we have found useful with our DD.
There are some lovely villages nearby as well hich might be worth investigating but they may be outside your price range.

@Nuttymama83

Just went onto Rightmove and this came up in Stroud www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119206832. Close to schools, town centre, station etc

Based on your needs, would you consider the Forest of Dean? Dene Magna school is outstanding, obviously beautiful countryside and Gloucester hospital is large and close by.

You will get a lot of house for your money there too.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114230216?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY