Devizes - Good for young families?

[notpartofthelifeplan]

Hi, we are considering a move to Devizes next year. I have researched the area and it sounds really nice but I'm not familiar with the area.

Anyone familiar with Devizes or have any views on it?

TIA

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I live in Devizes, I think it is a lovely place to live, but then I have never lived anywhere else, so am probably biased. From your research you have probably found that we have about 6 primary schools and 1 secondary school with a sixth form. There are several different parent and toddler groups, play groups and nursery's, some of which share sites of primary schools. There is a Sure start centre which has lots of different things to do with young children, including a childrens cafe which is very popular. There are several play parks dotted around, with a fairly large one at the Green, opposite Morrisons supermarket. This one has been recently refurbished so looks really bright and colourfull at the moment. There are buses about every 30 mins going in and out out of town and around the town, as well as hourly buses going out of town.

There are several shops, however, we only have one shoe shop (clarks) about 6 supermarkets, al though they are not very big. Biggest is Morrisons. Several differnt independent shops which can be a bit picey. Car parking is currently 50p an hour, but there are areas where you can park for free for up to 1 or 2 hours.

There are several pubs in Devizes and one "night club".

And of course we are very close to the m4 so have easy access to the big cities.

We have loads of lovely countryside for walks, which is lovely if you have a dog, and lots of lovely villages around.

We have the Kenet and Avon canal which goes through Devizes.

We have a cinema and bingo hall.

Anything else I can think off....oh yes, we are inundated with charity shops and take aways!!

HTH

i think you've covered most things , itsjust, plus a small theatre, lots of tourists, tea rooms.
lots of festivals, food festival, carnival etc.

Oh yes,how could I forget the fun things :) there is also a lot of hair and beauty salons and travel agents, a leisure centre, rugby club, wadworths brewery which now has a visitor centre, (shire horses still used to pull the drey cart) and the secondary school is also a sports college

one of the highlights of summer, watching the shires race off into the fields for their annual holiday

Thanks everyone. It does sound really lovely.

How long does it take to get to the M4? If you were traveling from the East would you get off at junction 14/15 or carry onto junction 16/17?

Looking at a map Devizes looks closer to junction 17 but the AA routeplanner was suggesting leaving the motorway from junction 14 and I got a bit confused. Just wondering as dh is going to have one heck of a commute from the south east.

I have never been to Devizes but am familiar with Marlborough, Swindon and Cirencester, how would you say it compares to those type of towns?

sorry i dont drive, so i cant help with those questions, but i think we go chippenham if we are going on the m4.

size wise i reckon, about the same as marlborough and cirencester. much smaller than swindon.
without wanting to sound snobby!, probably a bit nicer than swindon , think marlborough and cirencester , are more moneyed.