Villages near Shrewsbury

[southernhemisheregirl]

Hi, DH and I are thinking of relocating to the Shrewsbury area, ( not the town itself) but perhaps a village within 10-20 mins drive from Shrewsbury. We don’t need schools or work as semi retired now that DS has finished Uni and gainfully employed. We have been looking at Upton Magna, Pontesbury Hill/Polesgate, Bayston Hill, Harmer Hill and Wem. Please could anyone tell me anything about these places pros and cons. Thanks .

Preston upon Weald moors? It is slightly further from Shrewsbury than you have given, but may be worth a look.

A Bayston Hill girl here... 😁 My parents still live there and are very happy. It's close to stunning countryside, although most of your places mentioned would be. Maybe doesn't have a huge amount of amenities given the size of it, but a stone's throw from Shrewsbury with everything you could want. Don't know the other ones as well, quite a bit smaller I think, apart from Wem. Wem didn't have the best of reputations when I was growing up but don't know if this was deserved! Good luck with your decision.

@Cakeandfinewines Thank you. Much appreciated. Our friends live in Pontesbury hill which seems lovely but a little further out than we would like. I don’t know what to make of Wen either but visiting this weekend so will see. Thanks so much for your reply. 😊

@Honeybunchcrunch , Thank you. I will have a look at that too.

Upton Magna is a lovely village. It has a nice pub and cafe there. Walks up Haughmond Hill.

Harmer Hill has a Premier Inn and attached pub.

You would need to drive to get to a shop for most of those villages you've mentioned.

Wem is a small town. It has lots of pubs and cafes, a library, 'pop-up' cinema, a co-op.

What do you want from the place you live in? Are you future proofing because you might want Wem to be able to shop locally.

Wem has a train station that will get you to Shrewsbury/Whitchurch and beyond!

Just make sure it’s on a hill, gets seriously flooded most years in that area!

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. We like Shrewsbury as a lovely attractive town with all the major shops one needs and we love all the independent shops and coffee shops. It has similarities to Malvern where we have been looking but are rather priced out by what we want. DH wants a workshop ( size of single garage 🙁 to potter away his retirement years), I would like a nice south facing garden with a small vegetable plot and fruit trees and I might like to keep chickens again and try my hand at beekeeping. We are looking for quiet semi- rural but not isolated and I do love a view especially hills having grown up in Zimbabwe and then later Cape Town. Most importantly I don’t want to hear endless traffic noise from busy A roads / Motorways. Hence the 10-20 minutes from Shrewsbury. I would also like my newly flown non driving boy chick to visit his mother so a train station with reasonable connections to London. We also like the theatre and cinema. As DH will be pottering in his oversized workshop I feel I would need some sort of community around me so I don’t get lonely. We are thinking of joining the U3A. We are also aware that whilst very sprightly now, we would like to stay in our new place for as long as possible and need to think about our needs for the future say 15 years down the line. So even though semi rural, need to have a small local shop for emergency rations such as milk, wine , chocolate etc . We have also been looking at Church Stretton ( wasn’t sure whether that may be too quiet ????) and Ludlow??

Sorry another question. Are there any plans for development of Sleap airfield ( what goes in there? We used to live near Biggin hill airfield and started getting large noisy large private planes coming in, edging towards and pushing to be allowed commercial aircraft and we don’t want to end up in a similar position. There seem to be an unusual number of houses for sale in Harmer Hill which seems puzzling. Why is there a Premier Inn in Harmer Hill. It seems odd, I can’t work out who would use it??

@Adarajames - Thanks Yes. I’m going to listen to my dear late Mum’s advice. “ Always buy a house on a hill!”

Our aunt lives at Moreton Corbett which is beautiful and only a short drive into Shrewsbury. We were there this week and had a lovely wander around.

@Bumpinthenight Thanks yes , I replied to you and forgot to tag you. I’m new to this @ business. So reply is a post .

@JazzTheDog Thank you. I will have a look.

Have you thought of Baschurch?

High Ercall in between Telford and shrewsbury is a nice village. Very active village hall with community pub on Friday (and poss sat night) shop, bus service, church. Might be worth considering. Depends how big a village you want. Rodington also very nice.

Shawbury also has decent links -its bigger and home to RAF Shawbury so you would have helicopters up and about but again has a shop, pubs, village hall etc. and the red arrows visit a few times a year en route to shows and for families day which is always quite a sight

@Honeybunchcrunch Thank you. I will look at that

South Shropshire is prettier in my opinion, and I have lived in both.

Bayston hill is nice but not really a village, more and extension of Shrewsbury.

There are lots of lovely villages on the road out to church Stretton. And church Stretton itself isn't too quiet. Pick the location well as on nice days it gets very busy with walkers. But there are lots of good shops, and places to eat in Stretton. Plus a good rail link to Shrewsbury. I think Church Stretton area may well have a lot of what you are looking for

I have always wanted to retire to either Stretton or ludlow.

Not a clue why there is PI in Harmer Hill. Seems a bizarre choice to me too! There are two other hotels on that road closer to Shrewsbury so maybe they thought they would compete with them!

Trains to London via Shrewsbury mostly go via Crewe. Have you thought about Staffordshire? Gnosall is a lovely village. Bus route to Stafford and direct trains to London from there. Haughton is a bit closer on the same bus route.

Or Newport. Buses to Stafford, Telford and Shrewsbury from there. Has a town. Bigger than Wem.

Edgmond is a village between Newport and Shrewsbury (5mins from Newport). Nice pub there!

I'm not sure if Sleap has any plans to expand. I'm a bit too far out to worry, and therefore, look out for news about it. The cafe is lovely there!

Whitchurch is getting a bit more upmarket nowadays. Train station, bigger town than Wem. Probably the same size as Newport. Train station. Lovely pubs and restaurants. 20ish miles from Shrewsbury, Telford, Chester, Crewe and Stoke.

If you don't want to be too far out of town, villages like Hadnall are pretty convenient. It's got a shop, pub, nice restaurant at the caravan park etc. It's also easier for taxis/buses for DS than some villages that are further out.

You need to come up and visit!

It's a bit further away, but Tenbury Wells is a very lovely little town with a vibrant high street and really friendly people. Don't buy anywhere near the Teme though as it is known to flood.

Lived in a village 3 miles SW of Shrewsbury for a couple of years until May 2023 - and could not wait to get away! Although, at first sight, a pretty place abounding with historic buildings etc., Shrewsbury town itself is infested with junkies, criminals and drunks who have become a real nuisance to decent, law- abiding people. Don't bother walking around the town centre on a weekday evening; most of the nice people have gone and it's dotted with drunken louts and junkies occupying the benches in the little squares around the beautiful, old churches. They will happily be peeing (and more) in front of you as you walk past! Horrible to witness and someone needs to get a serious grip. Got sick to the back teeth of the local "do-gooders" supporting these low-lifes. Desperately needs sorting out because Shrewsbury is NOT a nice place at all; the "shite" rule. As for the area generally; unfortunately Shropshire Council has had a policy for years of mixing "social housing" in with other (often affluent) areas of housing. Consequently, you can end up living in what, at first sight, appears to be a lovely area only to discover that you have some undesirables on the street growing and dealing cannabis (and other drugs) to the local (and very nasty) bored youth. The villages can be depressing, horrible and unwelcoming places - avoid at all costs in my opinion. You have been warned - go and live elsewhere; there is far, far better than Shrewsbury and its environs.