Schools and life in the Cotswolds (and beyond)

[Bigmove25]

DH thinks it's the perfect time to quit the big smoke and semi-retire (although we still have young children). We failed to pull the trigger when we started looking in 2018-2019, then Covid hit. Other than a few day trips we haven't really been back and don't know if finding a nice house, in a good location, with access to great school is an even bigger headache than in 2019.

Is it better to live with easy access to say Oxford or Worcester for access to (state and private) secondary schools rather than in the middle of Gloucestershire or are there good state and private secondary options in Gloucestershire?

My biggest concern is the growing reputation for the Cotswolds being over-run with billionaires and rich celebs (a lifestyle we certainly can't afford). We have a decent budget so could afford something in most areas but I don't want to move out of a big expensive city to a country lifestyle that is even more expensive (access to a big name Supermarket and good council run gym would be more use to me than having Daylesford on my doorstep). Perhaps would we be better off looking in Oxfordshire or Worcestershire for a nice non-Cotswold village or even moving the search somewhere like Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire?

Will also post in property as think I've rambled my way into a 2 question thread!

TIA

Have you considered living IN Oxford? There are quite a few areas e.g. south Oxford, Iffley, Cumnor, where you can walk to the city centre and walk straight into open countryside and obviously great access to schools and shops etc.

otherwise the towns in Oxfordshire are all still pretty normal. My parents live in Chipping Norton and it is pretty unchanged in the 30 or more years they’ve been there despite the change in reputation. Lots of very normal people, a council gym, state primary and secondary etc. I think some of the villages around Chippy have gone a bit expensive but you never see those people in town.

Wallingford, Abingdon, Faringdon, Wantage all nice towns too and definitely not particularly fancy but ditto some villages around them might be. Though I think the billionaires are more likely to be in big pads in the middle of nowhere.

I think you almost need a list of what you are trying to achieve. A short list of essentials and a longer ranked list of preferables.

Are you looking for an outdoor country lifestyle or just a prettier outlook or do you really want to be in a big city or a market town and which amenities will you be using in reality?

‘ Cumnor, where you can walk to the city centre and walk straight into open countryside and obviously great access to schools and shops etc.’

When I’ve stopped crying, I might laugh.

The south of Oxford has been cut off from Oxford by road for the past eighteen months because of the railway bridge rebuild. As soon as they’ve finished that, the water mains are going to be dug up, so single file contra flow for at least another year. The business are either closed or trying to locate.

Cumnor is pleasant, so is Abingdon, but direct access to Oxford from that side is not on the cards ( probably for ever, if the CC get their way.)

@OneDayIWillLearn ... I'm thinking you've hit a nerve there.

I want big city facilities but with a countryside-feel on my doorstep and just to be within 30 mins of the nice villages and actual countryside for day trips.

@GOODCAT My biggest fear is moving somewhere with lack of pavements and having to drive everywhere. So it is a prettier outlook I'm after not a rural idyll with room for a pony.

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen Sound like living in Barnes (except they also have the added bonus of planes overhead)

Worcester is ace. And the river runs through the centre of town and you can easily access shops and countryside from many places in Worcester.

@Haggisfish3 Does it flood often or is that mainly Tewkesbury area? Any lovely villages you'd be willing to share (PM me if you don't want half of MN to move there next year 😉)

I want big city facilities but with a countryside-feel on my doorstep and just to be within 30 mins of the nice villages and actual countryside for day trips.

This sounds like Cheltenham, which also has excellent schools (private, grammar and state). Or Stroud for a smaller town option.

I was also about to say Cheltenham, lovely town, esp Montpellier area.

Cheltenham or maybe Cirencester?
Lots of good supermarkets, gyms and schools though you may have to live very close to some of the schools.

Bourton on the Water, lovely but very very busy village has an excellent school.

Ah these options were exhausted in 2018. Cheltenham isn't somewhere I'd want to live as the pollution and traffic is worse than where we currently live!

I love Stroud (think I even have a bag with that on it) but DH doesn't. I get it. It's a marmite place. I also know that it you don't get into the grammars then the state school offering isn't recommended (unless friends were just being snobby or they have improved recently?).

Think we know the towns in Gloucestershire quite well (Stow, Burford, Moreton) and I'm left wondering if there aren't just as nice places in Worcestershire/Oxfordshire/Bedfordshire that have great schools, facilities and nice locals.

@Nicelynicelyjohnson I do love Cirencester actually. Are the schools around the area good. What is the flooding like (LLB house flooded a few years back I recall)? ps love the name have you seen the show at the Bridge yet?

It is, isn't it. I have many photos of my DDs paddling in the river and walking across the bridge. Back in 2017 we were chatting to some locals (well I say locals they had moved a few years previous from Birmingham) and they said it was dead in the winter. Wouldn't bother me but I wonder what DCs do when it is dark nights. Do the schools offer lots of after school clubs or are parents driving to and fro?

Small cities are VERY different to London. Certainly in New Hinksey/ Grandpont/ Iffley areas of Oxford you can be on the Thames path or leafy countryside within minutes of leaving your house. It’s more expensive than Cheltenham/ Gloucester/ Worcester though so you would probably get more for your money out that way. And yes the traffic in Oxford is bit of a joke at the moment.

Cirencester is lovely with some gorgeous villages near by, some with some great schools. Cirencester has all the big supermarkets except morrisons and asda and most of the villages are 10/15 mins drive from the town.

Have you seen 'This Country ' ? It's a real life documentary about how life is for young people in the Cotswolds..:)
You must see it before moving your children there.

Yes, I loved it, that is the motivation behind this move. It's exactly how my DH and I want to raise our children. He firmly agrees with me that a trip to TKMaxx in Swindon they should be the height of their adult aspirations.

My brother lives in Cirencester and they like it but for secondary school the kids are in Stroud/ Cheltenham as they weren’t very impressed with the local school

Ah good to know. If you don't mind me asking is that the grammars or private? I get the impression that in Gloucestershire you either go to a grammar or schlep up to Cheltenham for a private school.

@Bigmove25 you have me laughing out loud on the train xx hope it goes well for you

Grammars

There are a lot more kids in state schools in Gloucestershire than there are in private or grammar so it's not an either/or.
Grammar competition is fierce among the parents for sure in some areas and there are a lot more places for girls than boys.
Cotswold School (Bourton), Balcarras and High School (Cheltenham) are certainly decent options, I have friends very happy in the state schools in Cirencester but others strongly pushing the grammar route. I think the school in Chipping Campden is decent as well but no personal experience.
If it's the This Country vibe you are after, that would be Northleach. And it's good to take a trip to Swindon now and then.

Absolutely agree. I'm just a fifteen minute drive out of central Cheltenham in a village on the edge of the Cotswolds - not isolated but still definitely rural. Five minutes to a large supermarket. It's not cheap but certainly not all millionaires round here. Stroud is more down to earth with a slightly hippy vibe, while Cheltenham feels a bit more upmarket and there's more going on. Cirencester is a bit more of a traditional feeling market town but also nice. Gloucester is more your typical small city.

Those 3 schools are the ones always mentioned. Cotswolds has a wide catchment from the villages but the other two you have to live on the doorstep in Cheltenham. So I'm asking for any other recommendations... state or private.

I've been to Swindon several times, never to TKMaxx though. I only mentioned it as I was quoting an episode of the show back to the pp!

OP, what about towns/villages north or west of Oxford?Woodstock/Deddington/Eynsham/Witney and surrounding villages are lovely.