To move to Wrexham?

[Coldfeet18]

Not an aibu really, but posting for traffic.

Dh has the possibility of a new job in Wrexham, better wages and prospects than his current job.

All I know about Wrexham is what I've seen in the media which is mainly negative (I've taken this with a pinch of salt) so I need some real life opinions.

We would need to be near a decent primary school. I work very part time and shouldn't have much of a problem getting a job, there seems to be plenty in my field advertised.

It's very daunting, we still live in our home town so it would be a big change.

Anyone live in or know Wrexham?

Our best friends live just outside Wrexham in a small place called Gwyn Fryn just outside Coed Poeth. They are about 20 minutes from the town and there is a good Primary School in Coed Poeth. Wrexham itself is very mixed but there are lots of really nice places within commuting distance and house prices are good. If you want to avoid the Welsh bilingual education system then look towards Chester which is more expensive but lovely.
Wrexham has excellent leisure and shopping amenities.

Some lovely villages and primaries - good high schools are more problamatic. Llangollen, Ruthin and Mold are good alternative nearby towns with better highschool options

I'd look at villages around Wrexham, rather than living in Wrexham itself if you need to live close to his place of work. If not, I'd consider areas near to Chester.
My husband worked for a while in Wrexham and we live in a lovely small village not far from Kelsall. Think his journey time was around 30 minutes each way.

Thanks for the replies .

I think nearer to Cheshire would be out of our budget. I'll look up the other places.

We are Welsh, from the other end of Wales so used to the bilingualism.

Definitely look at the outlying villages, its easily commutable so no need to live right in the centre, where yes, there are issues but no worse than any other town IMO.

If Cheshire way is out of budget, why not look the other way - Shropshire. I live in Shrops and work in Wrexham, only takes half an hour up the A5/A483 and I'm there :) Feel free to PM if you want to!

Seriously, consider Chester if you can. Welsh NHS is shot to pieces and the GP service in Wrexham is collapsing. It’s also a dump. Base yourself across the border if you can, for the English NHS and the English education system

NC, obviously

I live in the town centre. Honestly? I hate it and would definitely say commute. I find it really very unpleasant. My DP in particular grew up in the roughest estate and had some real problems. We are saving to buy and moving ASAP.

Cons:

• Unreliable transport, bus services seem to just keep collapsing at the moment and Overton in particular have been left with no services at all
• Chav culture is HUGE
• Bus station is vile, massive problem with addicts hanging around and yes that article about the needles in the toilets was pretty accurate sadly
• Crime can be a problem, there was an issue with arson over the summer and lots of burglaries over the winter
• Lots of anti-social behaviour, mostly fairly harmless bored teenagers but still can be a bit scary
• HMOs are popping up all over now and it's causing a lot of problems with parking and bins for people
• Town centre is pretty much dying, nothing is surviving but poundland and bloody pie shops!

Pros:

• Decent enough links to Liverpool and Chester
• Cheap houses
• Nice market (though the grocer is massively overpriced and everything rots in about two days )
• Eagles Meadow is quite nice
• While there are some awful nasty people hanging around, there are plenty of lovely ones too
• Some people quite like the town centre still so I may just be a snob, DP pops in every weekend for a stroll
• Lots of countryside around and interesting places to visit for the day (Erddig, St Giles' Church, Chirk Castle)

I know I'm probably making it sound like hell on earth - it isn't, but I wouldn't live here by choice and certainly wouldn't want to raise children here if I had an alternative. I really feel that you'll still benefit from all the "pros" living a commutable distance. Agree with Llangollen, Ruthin and Mold being great. Shropshire is lovely! I grew up in a neighbouring village and had a lovely childhood.

Oh and to add, definitely agree with Fortybingowings regarding the NHS. Takes me three weeks to get an appointment with my GP in the winter.

I'm from the area. Whereas the town centre itself is not great the town does have some nice bits and especially within a half hour drive there are loads of options.
Look at Hope/Penyffordd area. Good schools and much cheaper than the other side of the border. Easy distance to Chester too.

Oh and Gresford/Rossett which is half way between wrexham and Chester is worth looking at.

I live in Wrexham. We moved here from London to be closer to family. There are some pretty awful parts of Wrexham, there are poor schools and Saturday night in town is rough as a badgers bum! However we live in a nice modern Barratt type estate. 2 doors down is a police office, there are plenty of families, a couple of sets of retired people. One could cycle to the Industrial Estate from here. The new bit of town (Eagles Meadow) is lovely. We have loads of supermarkets / shops / a good leisure centre / cinema etc.. Our 6 yr old attends school in a nearby village - 10min drive away.

If you are uncomfortable with Wrexham try some of the surrounding smaller towns / villages. Llangollen is lovely but a bit touristy. Overton on Dee or Bangor on Dee are charming villages. If you head Chester way it gets a bit pricier but equally more gentrified....

Feel free to let me know if you want more information.

My friend lives in a rough part of the north east of England. He visited Wrexham and thought it was a shithole in comparison

I live half an hour away and Wrexham is a bit of a dump but there are some nice surrounding areas. Chester is lovely but again the nice areas are more expensive. I would look at Broughton. There are some new houses being built right by a retail estate with restaurants, cinema and shops.

To add I got a GP appointment this morning for my daughter about 2hrs after I called. WrexhamNameChange is right that living in the town centre wouldn't be my idea of fun or in the larger predominantly council estates like Caia Park. I don't go to the old town centre much (except to visit Waterstones). I don't use the bus either so couldn't comment on that. Parking is easy and cheap. Compared to down south the services are much more accessible with less traffic, queuing etc.. We are 1hr from MAN airport.

I used to live in wrexham and oswestry they (like everywhere else) have good bits and bad bits but I still think it's a lovely area with some fantastic things to do, there are some wonderful Welsh beaches only an hour's drive away
I used to live in Acton just outside wrexham and it was nice and quiet, no trouble whatsoever the commute from oswestry was around 30 mins and there are some very pretty villages between there and wrexham which don't have the price tag that Chester has

I'm in the area too.Wrexham area, Rossett and Gresford are both nice, but sought after and quite pricey.

I agree that Hope/Penyffordd (Penyffordd is better IMO because of the Chester postcode) are good. Also Buckley, Mynydd Isa, and Hawarden (pronounced Harden). If you look at Flintshire (close to border), you don't have to rely on the bloody awful BCUHB (Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board), but can access the Countess of Chester Hospital. I live in Flintshire close to the border on the Welsh side, and always get the choice by ambulances etc whether I want to go to The Countess of Chester, Wrexham Maelor, or Glan Clwyd Hospital.

@wrexham name change, your post is really helpful, thanks the town I live in now actually sounds very similar and has the same issues as you're describing. Despite those things I'm happy enough apart from it being a nightmare to get a doctors appointment.

@blueyacht hmm, similar is said about my town pretty frequently as it's portrayed a certain way in the media with the focus on the negatives/rougher areas.

Dh would be happy to commute up to an hour each way, the job is outside the centre so that opens up our options.

I'm going to check out these villages on google maps.

Is there much around for dc? Thinking along the lines of softplay, bowling, sports camps etc?

Definitely look around Ruthin/Mold area.only a 20 minute drive away,but excellent schools and other amenities

somebody mentioned Coedpoeth - check your geography in this area, nice spot apart from the busy road through but the height gives winter problems. The area round Wrexham has lots of hills so there are rain shadows and rain traps. Ruthin (for example) is in a rain shadow and the Clywdians are beautiful country.

Wrexham itself - no. Caia Park - definitely no!!!

Wrexham is ok. And I'd pick the Welsh education system over the English. EYFS up to age 8. Free prescriptions too.

Schools that way aren't very Welsh. There may be Welsh medium schools but it's not exclusively Welsh medium like parts of North West Wales

Have a look at Ellesmere in Shropshire (not Ellesmere Port)

Not bad schools, 30 mins from Wrexham max and not a bad area at all.

Kinnerton also nice and between Wrexham and Chester.

Wrexham has a big bowling alley, cinema and swimming pool / leisure centre.

I live in Overton on Dee. Love it. Wonderful community. Nice school. Bangor on Dee and Hanmer also lovely. Whittington is very nice too over the border. If you base yourself in dudleston or Welshhampton then they botha even brilliant primary schools. Malpas and Penley are both good for secondary schools.

Sorry for spelling errors. On mobile.