Thinking of moving to Stroud...

[evelynro]

Hello,
I'm just posting to see if anybody has anything to say about Stroud in regards to what it is like living there and being a family there?

I currently live in Sheffield and there's always a lot going on for families, we have several big parks with different attractions lot of museums and arty things to get our teeth into. Unfortunatly our families live more south and we're really missing them :( We have always lived here in sheffield since being a family but I feel it may be time for a move.

Is there much to do?

Also we're both in our 20"s and even though some of our closest parent friends are older it is nice to know people our own age... Are there many young families in Stroud. I'm maybe thinking Stroud is for more mature adults and maybe that the country scares a lot of people away. Maybe i'm wrong!

Thanks, look forward to hearing from you!
(This is my first ever forum post!)

It won't be Sheffield, it's a small market town.

But there are young families there and a fair bit going on.

Stroud has a big park, and there are lots in surrounding villages/ areas. Artists are rife, and there is a good feel and a surprising amount to do.

My NCT class ranged in age from 25 to 40, and I've met a good range of people at various groups and age has never been an issue. But if you're after night clubs your choice is distinctly limited!

I grew up in Bristol, but I think we're settled here (a village 4 miles out) and love the area.

Stroud is perfect for family life - you'll love it!

Unless you don't have a car and live on a route with only one bus a day
:-(

Thanks for the replies. I'm not fussed with night clubs and stuff like that.. I'm far too tired to go out all night partying!

Any areas you would recommend?
So what's going on in Stroud over the summer- We're thinking of visiting for a few days.

Hi evelynro.
I'm in Stroud, but have older children, so can't help much about activities etc for younger ones.

Presumably when you are looking for areas to move, you need to take schools into account. A lot of the schools here are quite small and have mixed age group classes. Would you be happy with that?

Do you want to be in walking distance of the town centre or would you prefer a village? There are loads of nice ones round here. If you can give us an idea of your priorites, I'm sure we could suggest a few places to look.

Have a look on Gloucestershire Family Information Service website for some idea of what is going on. The museum in the park has stuff on through most of the holidays.

Hi All,

We're hoping to relocate from Surrey to Stroud and we've seen a house we like in the Cashes Green area but I can't find any baby friendly activities within walking distance and I'm worried I would become too isolated. Anyone have any experience in that area or know of any activities there? My daughter is just coming up to ten months.

Thanks!

Laura

Hi there, we're also thinking of relocating to the Stroud area (from near London). We've been looking at Nailsworth and some of the surrounding villages. We have a little boy who is 7 months old
Any local info on the area, schools, baby/toddler activities would great...?
Thanks :)

Nailsworth is a lovely little town. It prides itself on it's independent shops and slightly alternative feel.
My middle DS went to the school for a year (we moved here just as he went into year 6) but the head has changed since and I believe it has a very different feel to it. There is also a school in nearby Horsley which is much smaller and has a very good reputation.
There seems to be a lot going on in the town, but as mine are older, I'm not sure about pre-school activity.

Hello everyone

I've just found this thread. I was searching for one on Stroud and here you all are!

I'm from Stroud and my DP and I have just decided to relocate there from London with our 4 month old DD.

We have found a house in Ebley so not far from Cashes Green Laura. Actually my parents live in Cashes, I grew up there. On a recent visit I noticed a children's centre next to cashes green primary school so they will have things going on.

Cashes green and Foxmoor primary schools are both outstanding by the way.

Cashes is a nice area because it is flat and Stroud is hilly so having a flat garden is nice. You can easily walk into town or up into Randwick woods. It's not far to the cycle track that is a gorgeous flat ride to stonehouse or the other way through Stroud to Nailsworth.

I must admit that as a teenager I thought it was the middle of nowhere but I'm excited to be returning now. I don't think that the Stroud of my youth exists anymore. It has changed a lot. Or maybe I just wasn't aware of the interesting culture there at that time.

Personally I'm tired of living in London. We are looking for a mix of town activity and country living and Stroud provides both. Stroud is well connected to London and also close to Bristol and Bath if you need some city culture.

DP and I are both artists. I hadn't realised that there was so much artist activity going on there until recently. DP has found a studio in Chalford.

What are your timescales for moving? Our offer has just been accepted so I hope we will be in before the end of the summer. I'd love to meet up if anyone is up for it once we are there. My family are still there but I don't know anyone else. I'm sure I'll end up bumping into faces from school eventually!

Hello,

We're also looking at moving down to the Stroud area - driving down to look at Nailsworth tomorrow - we're only in Oxford but DH works in Stonehouse so it seems prudent.

We have one DD aged 6 - any recommendations for good rural areas with decent schools and family life would be very welcome

Hello last poster. Unfortunately your name hasn't come up.

How did you get on in Nailsworth? It's lovely Nailsworth but I don't know anything about the schools I'm afraid.

I also don't know much about the rural areas and schools around Stroud as I was brought up in Cashes Green. I don't think you can go far wrong though. Most places in the surrounding areas are nice. Leonard Stanley and kings Stanley are near stonehouse and both are very nice. Did you see Kirstie's new programme. 'The best of both worlds'? The second episode was in the Stroud area and she looked at the Stanley's. She also looked at minchinhampton which is also very desirable.

I've never seen anyone manage to not to have a name show up!

How did your visit at the weekend go un-named person? did you get a chance to look at Horsley - that has a very good school and community feel.

Hi all,

We're now in our house, just at the top of Cashes Green. We've been to the playgroup at Randwick and plan on going to the children's centre in Cashes once it comes back after Easter.

Shazzamattazzerly - can definitely empathise with being sick of London (we were in Deptford before we moved out to Surrey) and the surrounding area. So far Stroud has struck us as a kind of wonderful secret because it has such a lovely blend of culture and activity and beautiful countryside. And everyone we've met so far has been very friendly!

Please do message me if you'd like to meet up once you've arrived:-) That goes for anyone else who would like to get together!

Laura

There's a Stroud based MN meetup in a couple of weeks - see link on the Gloucestershire page here

Hello Laura

I've just come back to this thread. That's great that you are in cashes and are enjoying Stroud. We are buying a house very near Cashes so I will definitely PM you when we arrive to meet up. Our timescale is looking like end of July, beg of august. I'm looking forward to it now.