Best villages around Gloucester

[hellogg87]

We are moving it Gloucester from the US in the summer. We are not at all familiar with the area and won't be able to visit before we move. So I'm doing as much research ahead of time as I can. My husband will be working in Gloucester and my children will attend King's, and we don't want to commute more than 15-20 minutes. We are also not interested in living in Gloucester city centre -and would also like to avoid suburban developments. We like what we've found east of Cheltenham, but we're nervous about the traffic. What are the best villages in the vicinity? Good schools don't matter, just looking for a place with some charm. Any insight is appreciated.

Is your husband working from Gloucester business park? If so, Cheltenham is perfectly commutable or surrounding areas like shurdington and birdlip

How about churchdown? Might be a bit big? But spitting distance from Gloucester and is more villagey around the edges.

It would help to know which bit of Gloucester he'll be working in, there are some good primary schools near the Business Park so unless they are already full looking at schools other than King's would help the housing search.

Wouldn’t recommend Dursley or Stonehouse, both very dull places. There are a lot of lovely small villages that don’t have much more than a small shop and a primary school and lots of lovely fields and woods so great if you’re outdoorsy people who don’t need ready-made entertainment on your doorstep, or there’s small towns that have more by way of clubs/events etc. All the villages mentioned in the first comment are lovely, Painswick is a town rather than a village but is lovely, as are Stroud and Nailsworth. Coaley, Horsley, Uley, and Slad are all lovely villages, the sort that just have a primary school, a pub, and maybe a little shop.

Painswick is a village

No it isn't, it's a town 🙄

Wouldn’t recommend Dursley or Stonehouse, both very dull places.

Really? You obviously don't know them very well. Also they have the benefit of being small towns, rather than villages, if the OP is going to be bored in Dursley they'd die of boredom in some of the hamlets like cambridge!

Is your husband working from Gloucester business park? If so, Cheltenham is perfectly commutable or surrounding areas like shurdington and birdlip

And Dean Close or Cheltenham College rather than Kings

fruitcider I’m not a fan of Cambridge either! But I live very near Stonehouse now and Dursley was my nearest town growing up so I know them very well! And now avoid going to either unless absolutely necessary

Painswick is a fair drive from Gloucester. The villages of Churcham and Tibberton are very nice and have good schools. Also have a look at some villages off the A38 - such as Twigworth and Norton - they have a nice villagey feel to them and commute to Kings school would be good.

Dursley... DULL?! 😱🤣 wtaf.
Far from it actually! For a small (historic market) town, it has plenty going for it! Leisure centre, Swimming pool, an array of unique shops, and an assortment of more mainstream ones too, breathtaking countryside and walks, wildlife, local open farms and great picnic spots, parks, fantastic pubs and restaurants on your doorstep, plenty of great schools, local theatre with frequent performances, lots of activities and groups to involve yourselves with, train station with great commuter routes into the major cities, and a community feel you'd be hard pushed to find elsewhere. Slimbridge WWT under 10 mins up the road, 20 mins one way and you're in Cribbs Causeway (shops, cinema, bowling, restaurants, concord museum, wildplace zoo, soon to be ski centre) 25 mins the other and you're in Gloucester with more shops and entertainment, so no shortage of big town shopping nearby. Not to mention the affordable house prices, and lower living costs of "city life"... Dursley was voted number ONE in the top commuter town of the UK last year.

Love this thread (as a Cheltenham resident :))

I'm enjoying too - from far flung Chelt
Lots of people live in Cheltenham and work in Gloucester, traffic does seem to have got worse in the last couple of years though.

We've moved from Bristol to Dursley to get our money's worth house wise, and to rid ourselves of the constant sitting in traffic lifestyle that we had living in the city. Best decision we ever made. The children love living here, we love living here, our neighbours are great, the community spirit is just second to none, and the local amenities mean we rarely have to travel back towards the bigger cities, maybe once a week we travel all of 20 mins down the M5 to pop to The Mall, or visit friends. I think Dursley has changed alot since you remember it as. We lived here briefly 12 years ago, and the place has expanded and flourished in recent years. OP, if commute is viable via train, look at the local stations as the links from Cam to Gloucester and Bristol are really good, I'm unsure which other towns have stations around here, but worth looking into.

Personally I’d steer clear of living in Gloucester.

Cheltenham is lovely and easily commutable to Glos.

Lots of lovely villages around Cirencester, and inbetween Cirencester and Cheltenham. Again, more of a commute but well worth the extra drive time imo.

barkin I haven’t been to Dursley since I left school almost 10 years ago so if it’s inproved that’s great! Visually it’s lovely but when I used to spend a lot of time there (was at the secondary school and did 6th form there so spend my free periods in the town) there was very little other than charity shops and drunks

Pippilota I think you should pay it another visit to be fair...

fruitcider it’ll just remind me too much of being a teenager which isn’t something I want to think about but it’s good to know is improved!

Thank you everyone. I don't have time to reply to everyone individually but I am reading each comment and appreciate the insights. Does anyone know anything about Haresfield? We are looking at a house there we like. I think there isn't much there, mostly countryside, but how would that commute be? My husband will be working at the Business Park. And I feel a bit silly because now I realize that's not even city centre. Clearly need to study my maps a bit more. But we are still strongly leaning towards King's as the best school, so I'd be commuting to city centre twice a day.

Hi Haresfield is a lovely area, just outside Stroud but there isn't much there. It would still take you quite some time to get there from Gloucester in rush hour. If you work from home that means your husband will be doing all the lifts and I don't know if his working patterns fit with start and finish times. Buses run from King's to Stroud area.

I know a lot about King's so PM me if you want more info.

The business park is near Hucclecote/Brockworth (if it's the one near Tesco or there is another one near Sainsburys as well) so quite close to Longlevens/Churchdown. If they are not rural enough for you, then going towards Shurdington/Stroud/Painswick would be a short commute to the Business Park, not so good for Kings because that is near the centre of Gloucester. I still think it's going to be a slightly longer commute to the school to get somewhere rural-ish.

Good luck with the search OP, always a stressful time anyway and not knowing the area makes it a little trickier. Is there anyone at your DH's company that can help or any colleagues he can speak to?

If he’s at the business park then I think you’re better off looking in/around Cheltenham. I live in Cheltenham and used to work in Brockworth - it’a a pretty easy drive. Then you could look at the schools in Cheltenham. Plenty of nice state primaries but if you’re set on private, there are loads - Dean Close, Cheltenham College, St Edwards, Airthrie... you’re not short of choice.

@EvilTwins the reason for King's is a bit complicated, but basically my husband's employer will start funding independent school for our children in Year 1. King's has offered to fill the gap and will give her a full scholarship for her Reception year. State school is definitely not out of the question, but we would be an in-year application. From calling around the schools, it sounds like most of the good ones are oversubscribed. So I am not sure what kind of school she would get into it. Do you have any idea how long it would take to commute from west/southwest Cheltenham to King's? I am assuming I'll have traffic problems during the morning school run, but maybe it won't be as bad when I pick her up at 3:30?

You’ll probably hit traffic both ways. My girls go to school in Gloucester and getting to them for the end of the day can be just as much of a nightmare. Kings is right in the centre of Gloucester as you are aware.

Haresfield is lovely, but very quiet and not much going on. It's away from any facilities without a drive down very narrow country roads, but there are places 5 minutes away with shops, supermarkets, etc. Commute to Kings would be within 20/25 minutes I would think. Fairly close to the motorway also, which would get you to the business park in around 20 mins too. There are also a couple of slightly longer back routes which would get you straight to the business park with very little traffic.
A lot of families use nearby Hardwicke and Quedgeley facilities who live in Haresfield, where there are loads of children's activities, community groups, sports facilities, etc.

There is a lovely little primary school in Haresfield too (very small, single figures of children in some year groups). Also a wide range of primary schools (all good) in both Quedgeley and Hardwicke. The secondary school in Quedgeley(although years off for your DCs) is also one of the better in Gloucester.
Wycliffe is another private school option in Stonehouse (10/15 mins from Haresfield) although I don't have any knowledge on how 'good' it is.