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 :)

Yes, Leckhampton school definitely better than Pittville and Cleeve which are local to the Prestbury area. Although both Leckhampton and Prestbury have very good primary schools.

I suggest that Charlton Kings is your best bet for good primary and secondary, which is Balcarras.

Or there are the numerous excellent grammar schools, either in Cheltenham (Pates) or with school buses running from various areas in and around Cheltenham to Gloucester for Sir Thomas Rich's, Crypt, Denmark Road and Ribston Hall.

There are several very good independent options, including Dean Close, Cheltenham Ladies' College, Cheltenham College and St Edwards. There are a few more excellent prep schools too in Cheltenham.

I'd say that the Cheltenham schools to certainly avoid are Gardners Lane for primary and All Saints for secondary. Behaviour problems are rife.

I grew up in Malvern and my parents left a few years ago and do not miss the place. It’s not quaint and rural, there weren’t any nice book shops etc, it had a big drug problem, need to be the right side of the hills (we were) it’s beautiful up in the hills and lovely memories as a small child growing up but as teenager we were all drunk in parks most weekends and smoking weed as nothing to do!

That's true of most rural areas, the teen alcohol and drug use. They are rarely the idylls that tourist visitors imagine them to be, that's just not the real world.

Thank you so much, kindly people, for all this info. It has hugely helped us start breaking down where we might best live.

I’ve been doing some sums this morning and our budget might actually be nearer to 950k, (fingers crossed ten times) which is much more than I’d originally thought (we have a business to sell, so there’s some variables to figure out.)

All the wise advice about factors to consider is gold dust, thank you lovely lot. We’re going to try to drive up soon and meander about for a few days, weighing up places.

The kids are going to be in primary for 5 more years or so, so finding a good village school will be important.

I’ll report back once we’ve visited, and probably have a ton more questions for you!

It is very, very rural. If you’ve not lived rurally before it could be a massive cultural shock.
Lots of lovely villages around Worcester with good village schools and some good private schools.
Not a fan of Malvern. Used to have a good independent shopping centre but lots of businesses going bust over the last few years.
Some lovely villages north of Pershore.
Cheltenham is good for shopping.
Worcester nice and compact and the Waitrose has a sushi bar and Tapas wine bar. Lots of chain restaurants but also some lovely independent cafes, wine bars and restaurants.
Excellent train links via the 3 stations.
Also road links good.
South Worcestershire is a lovely area, I have a lot of friends who relocated back from London for schools and lifestyle. There is a good choice of private schools. And children commute from all over the county to attend so there is a good bus and train service to accommodate them. Although, if like my DS, whose best friend lives 40 mins away it can make things tricky, but they all drive now.

I think that the biggest adjustment is the amount of driving you have to do. If you choose to live on the Wales side of the river Severn make sure you are near a bridge but not on a flood plain. It can get pretty frustrating when we have flooding. This happens all year round and can affect day to day travel. Add to that the country roads, A roads between towns are usually good but the rest can be a nightmare at times.

Herefordshire, like most rural areas, has very isolated villages and more densely populated larger ones.
I live right on the Welsh border and we have no shops, GP surgery 20 or more minutes away, a thriving state of the art new village hall, a pub and THE best primary school with just over 100 children with wonderful ethos, community involvement and a strong music and performance tradition.
There is a real community feel ... everyone mucks in and helps each other in times of trouble.
These are the things that you cannot know from rightmove or estate agents' websites, so lots of detailed research and talking to locals is what is needed.

Oh ... and, as others have said, county lines is everywhere .... children need to be drug aware, even in rural areas.

Any reason you don't want to come to Bath OP ? We live there and fits all your criteria and you would get something perfectly nice in my opinion for £650 especially on the edges.

We've also Gita much better train line

Thanks for this - I've visited Bath once and loved it, but I think I always had in mind that the area around there was less rolling hills and green than Herefordshire, and more expensive property wise..

It's an interesting thought though, might you have any areas or villages to suggest we look at?

Bath (and surrounds) is proper hilly!

(But your original search area is nicer, IMO - I have family in both areas and am familiar with them, so can compare quite easily).

My main issue with Bath would be that as a UNESCO World Heritage Site it can get overrun with tourists at certain times. I've been a a tourist myself a few times and maybe just went at the "wrong" time of year, but it was always so busy. Cheltenham and/or Malvern, not so much.
Although if you're local you learn to avoid Cheltenham town centre in the evening of race week (unless you're joining in of course!)

NOT Ashchurch! I spent most of a Friday afternoon trying to get to the M5 there last year. They are building millions of houses and it clearly can't cope.

Cheltenham is lovely - very well connected and does have trains to Paddington. I'd very happily move there from where I live now. But also very expensive. But with a budget of close to a million you should be ok.

Worcester is really nice too. I am now googling Pershore as I can't afford Cheltenham. However one thing to consider there is that it is one of the locations for a possible new town due to Worcester parkway station.

I also like Cirencester but it doesn't have a railway station.

Cut a square block two miles square out of Milton Keynes and drop it on the edge of the Cotswolds = Ashchurch.

Definitely recommend Pershore (if budget allows) or Tewkesbury over Malvern.
Cheltenham is fab, and definitely nicer than Evesham but they are large towns and don’t have a quiet village feel if that’s what you are looking for.
Hereford and Worcester both small cities with lots going on, but it really depends what you like to do/need for your children locally, lots of beautiful villages in their outskirts.
Could you rent a house for a week or two over half term, test out the commute and train links, and explore the area more?

Nobody appears to have suggested Gloucester. I am guessing there is a reason for that?

Ledbury also a great place, if you are leaning more towards Welsh borders, Monmouth and Abergavenny are brilliant towns with beautiful villages surrounding them.

Gloucester is unpleasant compared to neighbouring towns. Relatively high crime rate, significant drugs issue and very sad homeless problem. It's a city of fascinating history, but depressing and in dire need of investment.

Agree.

The OP wanted a "village". Gloucester is a city that has been around since Roman times, i.e. not what the OP asked for. Although there are some nice villages around Gloucester tbf. However, for schools, particularly secondary, Cheltenham is a better bet for the local area. Gloucester and Cheltenham are so close that for anything else you can go to either relatively easily, particularly if you have access to a car.

@BuzzieLittleBee ooh I've lived in both areas, so I would personally have to agree to disagree.!! I like both though - personally I like proper hilly rather than rolling .

I think it's just taste really- I would say it's more touristy here , but more going on too all year round and a better train link to London if that's important

Don't put Gloucester on your list OP. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Here's my local picks OP - I've avoided More central Bath as I get the vibe you want a bit more villagey

Box by the way has the most beautiful primary school !! And has 2 cafes, 2 shops, deli, 3 pubs, chemist and is on a great regular bus route - 15 minutes drive to Bath and 7 minutes into corsham which is also lovely.

Neston is where Dominic west lives- edge of corsham -

Bradford on Avon is 15 minutes drive or train to Bath and is very lovely

Not exactly sure what style or size you need so had to kind of do a mix

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149588369#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153549296#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157258190#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146771687

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146401931#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153115064#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155698283#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143397002#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143283923#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156428177#/?channel=RES_BUY

I was looking to move to the same areas and found box & corsham felt cramped and isolated. BoA was ruined by the road.

I'd definitely look at Cirencester it is lovely. I also thought Malvern was lovely.

Nobody wants their grandchildren to be inbred.