Banbury

[BeePeeGee]

We're thinking of downsizing and moving closer to family, and Banbury looks like the ideal location for us.

I have been there a few times but don't know much about it. Any locals can give tips on where to avoid, or where's nice to live?

We don't need to worry about schools and the houses we like seem to be quite central, about ten minutes walk into town.

Any hints or tips would be very gratefully received.

Anyone?

Er, I might be a bit out of date but I thought it was meant to be a bit of a shithole sorry OP (and anyone who lives there!)

Haha. I lived there maybe 10 years ago and it was! There are some nicer areas on the outskirts though and its cheap for what you can get. Southam and the villages 10 mins outside of banbury itself are lovely. Barfords, deddington etc. They might not be as low on price though.

Check schools. The Banbury ones are...um... interesting.

Look for villages towards Warwickshire and you might get places for better secondary options over the county border.

Oh dear that's not great. We don't need schools but interesting that they're not great.

How much of a shit hole are we talking?

To be fair - its really nowhere near as bad as some places i've lived! I think Banbury is compared to the cotswolds though and anywhere is going to be rough compared to that! Everything is relative. If you're moving there from a city you might find it lovely. Go and spend the day there, you'll get a feel for it

What kind of budget do you have and what are you looking for? Banbury is not great, but there are some nice villages and small towns nearby but it'll depend what you're after as to where I'd recommend

I like Banbury!

@BigMamaFratelli

What kind of budget do you have and what are you looking for? Banbury is not great, but there are some nice villages and small towns nearby but it'll depend what you're after as to where I'd recommend

Our budget isn't great, it's 300k for a 3 bed which is why it looked like a good option for us

@FindingMeno

I like Banbury!

Oh good! What do you like about it if you don't mind me asking?

I'm about 30 minutes from Banbury - it's not awful but not the most picturesque of places.

I would say to avoid Bretch Hill area, some of the new build areas are nice.

Brackley is nearby and quite up and coming though doesn't have the amenities or transport links banbury has.

I live in Banbury - just moved. PM me and happy to answer any questions.

My home town. I don't live there now but I would move back tomorrow if I could.
The town centre has lost a lot of retailers - but so has everywhere. But plenty of shops in the two out of town retail parks (Gateway and Banbury Cross Retail Park - aka "up by Tesco). There is a brand new due to open in Easter time complex been built. This includes a multi screen cinema, restaurants, bowling alley, indoor golf. Looks really good. It's next to the beautiful canal across from the shopping centre which includes a trendy place called Lock 29 - a food and entertainment place. There's a lovely musuem and arts centre (The Mill).
The countryside around Banbury is beautiful. Adorable villages to visit. Lots of places to walk. Nice country pubs. Good train service to London, Birmingham, Oxford. Not so great bus service.
I am on Facebook groups and there is a lot of negativeness but it's all quite hilarious because several locals seem to think Banbury is the only town in the UK with litter problems, shops closing down and traffic jams. (Seriously.... that's everywhere)
It's a perfectly nice town. Not utopia. But not awful either.
Does have a strange coffee smell from the coffee factory but you soon learn to live with it

The coffee smell occasionally clashes with the bread smell from Fine Lady Bakery and strangely the two do not sit well together!

mimble there's one tiny spot on the canal path where you can get the bread and coffee smell combined so you briefly think "mmm... breakfast" .

Thank you, I thought it smelt like burned hot cross buns last time I went there but I kind of liked that

I've lived in a little village just outside of Banbury for almost 10 years. I moved here from Chicago so country living took a little getting used to! But I love it now. I agree, avoid Bretch Hill and also the area around and behind St John's Catholic Church on S. Bar street. It can be a little rough there. There are some new build neighbourhoods that might fit your budget op. One really nice one is Banbury Rise (I walk my dog there every now and then). Duke's Meadow is also nice. Adderbury is a little more expensive but also nice. As is Bodicote. There are lots of villages around where you might find something nice too.

Lego - it seems to merge in a slightly upsetting way in the middle of Spiceball Park when I'm doing the morning dog walk.

I am right in the middle of town having moved from West London. Everything is 10 minutes walk, apart from the things that are a 5 minute walk. Very well connected - in London in an hour by train, in Birmingham in an hour by car or train, in Stratford in 20 minutes, in Oxford by train in 18 minutes. People incredibly friendly. Cinema ticket £5, in fact three cinema tickets cost the same as one at Westfield Vue the other evening though I expect the new cinema will be more expensive. Some great independent coffee shops, mostly with bean in the title - The Missing Bean and The Rustic Bean. Rustic Bean also has a good bakers and there is a sweet man with a coffee van in the market square every morning. Charter Market on Thursdays and Saturdays. Farmers' Market the first Friday in the month. Some great pubs out and about in nearby villages, especially the Roebuck in Drayton. Lovely walks. A couple of very good farm shops that need driving to. Huge Waitrose, Sainsbury, Lidl, Tesco, Morrisons. Very good up to date leisure centre that is very much nicer and a great deal cheaper than the West London one I used to go to. Nice local arts centre, The Mill, which gets lots of people doing their Edinburgh try-outs if comedy is your thing, plus some good music etc. Plenty of places to dog walk. Very good Japanese restaurant, really good pizza delivery company called UpRise, excellent Thai and Indian. Very good vets. Large Waterstones. More Turkish barbers than you can shake a stick at (bizarrely). Lovely Italian deli. Peoples' Park and the area up round there is great with some beautiful Georgian and Victorian town houses though they are a bit dearer than £300k. Open air pool. Local hospital and referrals to the John Radcliffe in Oxford. Banbury Museum has a great shop for gifts. Church Lane has a very good butchers and a nice little art gallery. Very nice Christmas lights(obviously hugely important!). The canal. The river. Spiceball Park and through to the reservoir. There is a park run every Saturday.

Downsides: nothing has filled the space created by Debenhams, H&M and Gap in Castle Quay. Parking is a nightmare if you do happen to live in the centre. I mean a NIGHTMARE. The smell of coffee mixed with the smell of bread already mentioned but that's not every day (phew). No NHS dentists, they are all full.

Currently a three bedroomed terrace at the end of my street on for £250k, some really nice apartments in the centre coming up too but lots of people have moved in from London and prices are starting to noticeably climb. In the time I started looking to the time my purchase went through they'd gone up about £60k or more.

Adderbury and Bodicote - good luck with finding something nice under £350k now.

@mimbleandlittlemy

Lego - it seems to merge in a slightly upsetting way in the middle of Spiceball Park when I'm doing the morning dog walk.

I am right in the middle of town having moved from West London. Everything is 10 minutes walk, apart from the things that are a 5 minute walk. Very well connected - in London in an hour by train, in Birmingham in an hour by car or train, in Stratford in 20 minutes, in Oxford by train in 18 minutes. People incredibly friendly. Cinema ticket £5, in fact three cinema tickets cost the same as one at Westfield Vue the other evening though I expect the new cinema will be more expensive. Some great independent coffee shops, mostly with bean in the title - The Missing Bean and The Rustic Bean. Rustic Bean also has a good bakers and there is a sweet man with a coffee van in the market square every morning. Charter Market on Thursdays and Saturdays. Farmers' Market the first Friday in the month. Some great pubs out and about in nearby villages, especially the Roebuck in Drayton. Lovely walks. A couple of very good farm shops that need driving to. Huge Waitrose, Sainsbury, Lidl, Tesco, Morrisons. Very good up to date leisure centre that is very much nicer and a great deal cheaper than the West London one I used to go to. Nice local arts centre, The Mill, which gets lots of people doing their Edinburgh try-outs if comedy is your thing, plus some good music etc. Plenty of places to dog walk. Very good Japanese restaurant, really good pizza delivery company called UpRise, excellent Thai and Indian. Very good vets. Large Waterstones. More Turkish barbers than you can shake a stick at (bizarrely). Lovely Italian deli. Peoples' Park and the area up round there is great with some beautiful Georgian and Victorian town houses though they are a bit dearer than £300k. Open air pool. Local hospital and referrals to the John Radcliffe in Oxford. Banbury Museum has a great shop for gifts. Church Lane has a very good butchers and a nice little art gallery. Very nice Christmas lights(obviously hugely important!). The canal. The river. Spiceball Park and through to the reservoir. There is a park run every Saturday.

Downsides: nothing has filled the space created by Debenhams, H&M and Gap in Castle Quay. Parking is a nightmare if you do happen to live in the centre. I mean a NIGHTMARE. The smell of coffee mixed with the smell of bread already mentioned but that's not every day (phew). No NHS dentists, they are all full.

Currently a three bedroomed terrace at the end of my street on for £250k, some really nice apartments in the centre coming up too but lots of people have moved in from London and prices are starting to noticeably climb. In the time I started looking to the time my purchase went through they'd gone up about £60k or more.

Adderbury and Bodicote - good luck with finding something nice under £350k now.

An end terrace in town sounds great, thanks for the informative post too

Thank you everyone who's replied. It seems mixed but I'm not put off (yet)

@mimbleandlittlemy where do people park who live in the centre with no parking outside?

I've managed to get a permit in a private car park at the end of my road - which is a lot more than my permit was to park in a rather expensive bit of London but my car insurance and pet insurance went down substantially when I moved so swings/roundabouts. You can park on my road but it's very much being in the right place at the right time - about 8ish as people leave for work and 4.30/5ish as people leave from work. If I've got friends visiting I pop into a space in the road then move to my permit parking when they arrive. It's easier up round People's Park because it's five minutes more walk from the centre so people don't tend to park up there for shopping. There is talk of residents' parking permits but we'll see. Not holding my breath because at one point they announced they'd spent all the money on permits for Bicester so couldn't afford a scheme for Banbury, but we're coming out from under Oxfordshire Council's control and Cherwell is taking all decisions now so it may happen. Or not. If you are out a little bit most houses have drives.

That's very helpful, thank you

@Legoisthebest

My home town. I don't live there now but I would move back tomorrow if I could. The town centre has lost a lot of retailers - but so has everywhere. But plenty of shops in the two out of town retail parks (Gateway and Banbury Cross Retail Park - aka "up by Tesco). There is a brand new due to open in Easter time complex been built. This includes a multi screen cinema, restaurants, bowling alley, indoor golf. Looks really good. It's next to the beautiful canal across from the shopping centre which includes a trendy place called Lock 29 - a food and entertainment place. There's a lovely musuem and arts centre (The Mill). The countryside around Banbury is beautiful. Adorable villages to visit. Lots of places to walk. Nice country pubs. Good train service to London, Birmingham, Oxford. Not so great bus service. I am on Facebook groups and there is a lot of negativeness but it's all quite hilarious because several locals seem to think Banbury is the only town in the UK with litter problems, shops closing down and traffic jams. (Seriously.... that's everywhere) It's a perfectly nice town. Not utopia. But not awful either. Does have a strange coffee smell from the coffee factory but you soon learn to live with it

Could have written this word for word. My home town also. It's just a bit...boring. But DEFINITELY worse places to be! Villages are beautiful around. Also happy for you to PM - know it really well and can advise of specific areas/streets!

Much like OP, We are also looking to move to Banbury, closer to family and rail link to Marylebone being some of the main reasons. We have a kiddo in year 1 so really interested in the schools and safe areas for a family. I have been told to avoid Bretch Hill and some of the parts of Grimsbury but would really appreciate some info from people who know, rather than hearsay. @mimbleandlittlemy. @Legoisthebest, @BanburyBirdie

Mouse Bretch Hill is the large 1950s council estate (although most is probably privately owned these days) so it does unfortunately have a typical council estate reputation. Going by local Facebook there does seem to be a lot of trouble with things like stones thrown at windows, messing up the local playareas etc.
I am from the south of town - which is the Easington, Cherwell Heights, Bodicote Chase and the new Longford Park area. This is a nice part of town. There is a lovely brand new park been created. If you need bus service Easington unfortunately hasn't got a very good one but the other areas have.