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 :)

If you look between Ledbury and Malvern where there is a lot of common land administrated by the MHC Malvern Hills Conservators, building on even quite small scale is generally limited. So, Hollybush, Castlemorton, Birtsmorton. My sunniest ever garden was in Welland!

Ledbury has a Co Op, Aldi and Tesco, Boots, Specsavers, as well as independent greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers, wholefood, hardware, opticians, clothes, cafes, pubs, coffee shops, wine merchants, plus lots more!

And a Theatre.

Various nurseries, playgroups, museums, a library, GP practice, an NHS minor injury unit, a swimming pool and leisure centre run by Herefordshire Council

a primary and secondary school. And
lots of local primary schools feed into the secondary school.

And a Lidl planning application in at the moment on the outskirts.

I've lived very near Ledbury for the last 29 years, it's a lovely place to live. Decent train service, also buses to Malvern or Hereford and near to M50 motorway links. Good schools, lots of clubs, great culture locally. My son went through primary and secondary there, then off to Uni, now an adult living elsewhere in the county.

I'm selling up soon simply due to being older and needing to downsize from a smallholding . Several acres , rural, detached and getting too much work for me.

Still looking to move locally.

Any takers?

I work in Cheltenham, and live in a small village in between Gloucester and Tewkesbury. Malvern is a lovely town/area, no idea why it's getting bad press here. The walking on your doorstep; easy transport links, lots of exceptional schools. Ledbury a lovely market town but sadly being drowned by housing estates around the bypasses. Eastnor castle between Ledbury and Malvern has a lovely deerpark to walk round and Woodshed cafe for good hot drinks and cake afterwards - we go there most weekends.

Tewkesbury is a cultural black hole, same with Stroud and Evesham.

Painswick a lovely little town and good rail links from Stroud. Some lovely villages in the surrounding area, like Cranham.

Cheltenham has some lovely areas and the centre is always busy with events but there are some very poor parts of the town - you need to pick your area carefully. Charlton Kings, Leckhampton, Prestbury are probably the better areas.

We often get sun in Malvern, when the rest of the county is shrouded in fog. Not sure why everyone thinks it's so gloomy.

I've got connections to Cheltenham, Malvern and North Wiltshire. Malvern ticks a lot of your boxes. It has the book shops and cafes, and Malvern theatres hosts some interesting things. I quite like it. It has a certain peace about it. If I were you, I would actually live in the old bit of Great Malvern so things are in walking distance rather than having to faff with parking spaces.
However, it is in the middle of nowhere. You have to wake at the crack of dawn to commute from Cheltenham to London, so I imagine with Malvern (and beyond) you might have to travel down the night before.
You mention kids so you really need to put some thought into that. Country idles are fine when they are little, but they want to be near the bright lights when they are older. My teen daughter would love to live near one of the major centres where her favourite bands tour. Herefordshire would be even worse in that respect.
You desire to have a quaint village with amenties close to culture is the ultimate rural dream and would have a hefty price to match. Your budget is realtively modest - if you are after a detached house with land then you will be looking in the back end of nowhere. The local pubs will be bleak affairs and there won't be culture for miles.
I would recommend taking a map out and drawing a 10 mile radius around Swindon, Chippenham, Bath, Kemble, Stroud and Cheltenham stations. Then work out where the good secondary schools are within those zones, then look for your villages. Good Luck!

Thank you for this - gosh we'd love to have seven acres (young family, and hoping to bring our pony!)

We're finding lots of properties look very pretty, but it's a struggle finding ones without low ceilings.. my 6'7 husband has requested we avoid ones where he has to duck all the time 😆

Such wonderfully practical advice, thank you for this!

I came to suggest Bredon Hill but I see it’s already on the thread. waves to neighbours

I lived nearby and agree with you. Pershore and surrounding area is lovely. Don’t like Evesham at all and find Malvern gloomy too.

Several, not 7 acres!

3 acres, some lawn/garden/orchard/veg patch/greenhouse/sheds/garage/stables etc, some grassland/paddocks, a copse and a wildlife pond.

Another vote for Winchcombe. I think that it would really suit your requirements.

three acres is plenty😆😊

it sounds like the dream - gardens and greenhouse, pond... wow 😍

Please please trust the VAST majority that are telling you to not bother with Evesham- we’re trying to help you not live in a decrepid dump!

yes we have a nice park, acouple of fancy Grocery Stores and a couple of ok restaurants. That’s where it ends. It’s a run down sh!thole- there’s no romanticising it!!

Bishops cleeve or winchcombe definitely suit your needs. If going for cleeve I would say. Look on the cleeve hill side of the village to avoid new builds which are joining it to gotherington. As for the schools, all primary's in the cleeve area are over subscribed so that is a downside.

It's lovely, but a lot of work as a single person aged 70.

Hard agree. I feel desperately sorry for evesham - it has all the potential to be a lovely little town, but something's gone wrong somewhere. Years ago ( 90s), before moving to this part of the world I used to visit evesham regularly and it was lovely - old world charm, thriving centre, wide river paths, lush surrounding countryside... It was desirable. Nowadays it just depresses me; it's dirty, unkempt, broken.

Evesham used to be lovely. I don't know what went wrong.
Just up the road, Alcester has a much nicer vibe - a lovely high street with loads of shops and cafes. I don't know what it's like to live in though, I only know it as a visitor.

@MissyB1 3 Hours from Ledbury, apparently!

Spent the afternoon in Colwall. Lovely walking roots.nice pub and hotel. Sweet tiny hight street.

Many of the villages in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire flood so just be mindful of that.

Malvern is nice. Lots of free walks up the Malvern Hills. Nearest big shopping centre Worcester about 6 miles.

i love Cheltenham. Currently live in Surrey and thinking about moving to Montpellier. Such a nice area.

@BuzzieLittleBee

We live just outside Alcester. As you say, it's a lovely little town with very good schools. It has a grammar, an excellent oversubscribed secondary and a RC secondary.
No train station though. You'd have to travel to Warwick, Stratford or strangely Honeybourne.
Honeybourne is a lovely village, close to Stratford and not too far from Cheltenham.

My DDs both live in Stroud and I really like it, despite what everyone is saying. They have a very lively farmers' market and things like a Goodwill evening.

I grew up in Cheltenham. The nicest areas were ( are) Leckhampton, Charlton Kings, Prestbury, Tivoli and Pittville.

If you have a pony, Prestbury and Noverton would be ideal for land and/or livery. Have a look at Bishops Cleeve too.

In terms of Cheltenham I would say Leckhampton best fits the brief. You can walk into the Countryside, walk to the nice shops and cafes on the Bath road, plus good primary schools and the well regarded brand new high school.