Moving to Malvern/Cheltenham area?

[spinningbirds]

Looking to move our family away from the busy and expensive south east, to a more rural area, but somewhere that's culturally rich (we're into art, books, etc) and with some lovely cafes, restaurants within a few miles.

Malvern/Cheltenham area seems to fit the bill, can anyone recommend nice villages, ideally pretty, with a pub, possibly a shop & school? At least 2 miles away from a motorway as we are looking for rural quiet asa a priority :)

Also, does anyone commute occasionally to london from this area? Is that mad to consider?! I need to pop to london 2-3 times a month for work, so can't really move as far as Herefordshire/welsh borders, even though it looks so pretty up there!

Any general advice would be gratefully received :)

Ooh just another thought - check out ledbury too. It's ' over the hill ' from Malvern and comes under Herefordshire. Very artsy small town, Tudor buildings, art galleries, craft shops, independent clothes/ jewellery workshops but importantly, has a train station - same line as Malvern so can get you into London. Everything is very self contained there and very pretty!

Ok, I hugely appreciate this - i've visted malvern only a couple of times but now you describe it this way, it really makes sense. Maybe best for us to live somewhere where we can see the hills, but not right under them!

Ooh yes we went to ledbury once, loved it! Didn't realise there was a london line, thats super helpful to know :)

Cheltenham is wonderful. It's near to me and we are considering moving there.

Driving to London perfectly doable. The A40 is not the best road in the world but it's OK.

Ledbury is lovely. I was disappointed with Malvern -nice Waitrose but it was a bit soul less and oppressive. I thought it would have more of a cultural vibe. Much preferred Ledbury. Gorgeous deli.

I'm reading this post whilst sitting in my art gallery that I opened in Cheltenham last year, and have family connections to Malvern and friends in Evesham - do I win a prize!

We sell coffee too!

Christ, not Evesham, unless you really fancy the emptiest shopping mall in the country. I like Malvern; bit hilly though. Ledbury is a good shout, or you could try one of the small villages nearby, like Much Marcle. Better stick with the towns if coffee is a vital component, though. The description of village doesn't necessarily imply anything more than a memorial hall or maybe an isolated pub.
Pershore is fine.

Ok I'm coming to visit soon! 😍

This sounds wonderful! dm me the name of the gallery, if you can't say it here?

Ok, I'm really getting the message that Evesham isn't everyone's favourite 😆

Much Marcle - what a name, it sounds very cute!

I'm happy to drive a bit for my coffee fix, but ideally not more than 6 miles or so

DH loves endless space and rolling hills, so Ledbury/Hereford way does sound more suitable... and if I can get on the train at Ledbury to London occasionally for work, that's reassuring

We go to a cider festival in Much Marcle every year. A lovely spot with village hall, primary and pubs. Ledbury is quite sweet but apart from a few nice Independants there isn't a lot on the high street.
I would say that the trains can be a bit crap on the Hereford to Worcester line. I work with someone whose daughter travels from malvern to Hereford for college and the trains are often cancelled or delayed.

We go to a cider festival in Much Marcle every year. A lovely spot with village hall, primary and pubs. Ledbury is quite sweet but apart from a few nice Independants there isn't a lot on the high street.
I would say that the trains can be a bit crap on the Hereford to Worcester line. I work with someone whose daughter travels from malvern to Hereford for college and the trains are often cancelled or delayed.

It’s 2 hours to London on the train from Cheltenham, we don’t have an electrified line. And half the journey seems to be spent going slowly, very annoying!

Check out rail links before commiting to this side of the Cotswolds. My PiL are not far from Northleach, and have to go all the way to Kemble for a London train.

(PS chuckling at Malvern/Cotswolds being the budget option).

Much Marcle.
Pretty to visit but lots of locals whose families have been there for generations and view outsiders with suspicion. Also, birthplace of Fred West and burial place of several of his victims. I found it to have a very insular feel.

A cider festival sounds great!

I think a small town is on balance ideal for us, as long as it's not too decrepit (which it sounds like Evesham is!)

I think for example that living near Cheltenham and it's suburbs would be too much town for us - not green and spacious enough... And property is probably ££.

A village near Ledbury is sounding perfect..I'm off to google Much Marcle x

I live in a small village outside of Cheltenham, nice place to live. Commuting to London is a doddle from Evesham (direct train into Paddington) but can go from Cheltenham with changes.

Just be very thorough in researching where you are looking to buy if you want rural and for it to stay rural. They are building on every bit of green they can possibly find at the moment and the small villages are very rapidly being swamped by sprawling housing estates.

Oh christ. There's always something 😂

This is wise thank you. We currently live in a sussex village but it's being rapidly swallowed up by the two neighbouring towns. Huge developments on all sides.

Perhaps further towards wales this is less likely?

Thats interesting, I pop there quite regularly, what is it you hate? Is it the shadow from the hills?

Thank you - I will really have to dig into the weeds concerning train lines

Our budget is probably going to be £650k all being well, so I guess what we get for that varies wildly depending on the area.

Nearer hereford, I'm thinking we might be lucky to get a large garden or paddock and a detached house, but nearer cheltenham, a 3 bed semi-detached... is that about right??

We live 5 miles from Cheltenham town centre. We have travelled to London from Cheltenham and it’s extremely expensive and not that quick 2 1/4 hours on a good day. We now go from Moreton in Marsh or Kingham which is much better. Quieter, cheaper and quicker. It’s an hour quicker than going via Chelt. It can be 25 mins to get to Cheltenham train station and it’s similar to go up the Stow Road to Moreton/Kingham. Lots of lovely villages/towns that way too such as Stow in the Wold…. Not cheap to buy housing though…..

It’s awful honestly, we are lucky that we are in quite a protected area but how long that lasts who knows. The infrastructure of Cheltenham is really struggling though. The roads and services just aren’t coping with the explosion in population. Lots of areas being advertised as quaint villages where in actual fact they are now just huge towns with the standard super expensive co-op, handful of takeaways and a poorly constructed ‘play park and green area’ half heartedly done by whichever developer builds the estate.

We are actually considering a move ourselves towards Hereford or a move North. I would consider certain parts of Wales, I grew up there and it has its flaws in areas but is more rural at least. DH isn’t so keen though.

I would agree 100 per cent with the green belt worry. Obviously housing is one issue but huge solar and wind farms are another.

Given the changes to inheritance tax many small family farms may well go down that route.

Labour have made it very clear how they stand on local objections. Planning law will change.

I've been considering relocating to that very area when I retire, having spent many happy holidays in the area, but these would be some of my concerns, especially ( in terms of housing) because there is a good rail link to London .

I see someone else brought up the Fred West /Much Markle link, I didn’t like to mention it 😂

They do have a nice Cider brewery though!

Oh forgot to say, word of warning about Pershore, look carefully at flood risk.