Worcester, Evesham or somewhere in between

[MyQuirkyHedgehog]

Hey, firstly I apologise there are a lot of similar posts but wanted to ask my own, my family and I are relocating to Worcestershire for many reasons - namely a fresh start. We love the area so sold on that and we have a 4 year old and almost 2 year old, 3 cats and 2 dogs. Our current house is due to go on the market shortly.

We can't necessarily decide on Evesham, Worcester or somewhere in between. There must a train station fairly nearby to get back to Oxford. A school for my son from September and childcare for my daughter who we believe has SEN and will need additional support.

Somewhere we can explore and have fun living in a new area and learning. Good food, good community etc. We do need a house with a garden and 3 bedrooms, ideally 2 toilets and parking or parking nearby would be perfect. Not particularly fussed I dont think outside of that. Really hoping to throw ourselves into a local community and make new friends. Can't begin to tell you how excited I am to move, it's the next chapter for us in a beautiful area.
So any recommendations please? Thank you :)

What is your budget? I think Worcester itself is lovely and of course has two train stations, although would assume you would need to go into Birmingham and then to Oxford. Malvernn also on the train line if there appealed to you. It’s smaller obviously and I think certain areas are in the shadow of the hills and might want to be avoided, I’m sure someone more knowledgeable could tell you about that. I thought Evesham flooded?

I have friends in Pershore, it’s a nice town and it’s near Worcester Parkway. I think the high school is worse than it used to be, though.

Evesham doesn't flood as much as Worcester tbf! But the flooding doesn't hamper transport or anything these days so it's not a biggie (unless you buy a house on the river). Evesham more convenient for Oxford and is nearer the Cotswolds. Nice if you like a picturesque market town. Middle school system though so high school starts y9.

Worcester is still a bit of a cultural desert but improving. Great rail links to Brum, Oxford, Bristol & direct train to London. Great middle ground between countryside and urban areas. It's been a great place to bring up our kids.

Most the towns and villages around Evesham flood yearly, but usually only the flood plains (still unbuilt upon). Most new houses are far enough from the Avon wherever you are, just make sure before purchasing that the house doesn't have a flood history and you should be fine.

The Hereford-Paddington line has stops at both Evesham, Worcester and Oxford so that's not a problem, and a few villages are along the same line too. Evesham has - or did have - good state school options, don't know what it's like these days.

Check the routes from the new Worcestershire Parkway train station - not sure if that has a different route to Oxford without having to go to Bham.

Maybe have a look in the area around Honeybourne, as there is a station there?

Please take it from someone local to the area… Evesham is an absolute sh!thole. I’m sure someone will be along soon to tell you not to listen to me but I promise it’s a dump! Empty shopping mall, run down high street full of charity shops and boarded up/empty shops. The park is nice Howe lots of antisocial behaviour. Pershore is nice and so is Worcester.

Pershore going the same as e esham sadly, its declining, slowly.

That's sad, I wouldn't be surprised. It was hit hard in the 2008 crash and I don't think it recovered

Have a look at Pershore. There is a train station to Oxford, Abbey Park school has an integrated ASD unit, and so does the high school (where my DS was till last year and it was brilliant). Nice small town, but with lots more facilities than you'd think, all very walkable and very friendly

Avoid Evesham. It is awful. Worcester is getting more run down. Pershore and the surrounding villages are lovely, message if you need any more info.

Evesham has good state schools at primary/middle and one good high school . Pershore not great but Worcester's school are good .

The Paddington train goes from there without going through Bham. It’s about 2 hours direct.

Thank you everyone for the updates - I feel like my heart and head are both drawn more towards Worcester itself. I have read lots of posts about good and bad areas - is Dines Green really that bad? We can get so much house for our money (which I appreciate may seem obvious why) but would like peoples thoughts. We can afford £260k-£280k at a push (we have seen some near the centre too although appreciate parking can be tricky). We aren't bothered about the area so much as long as its safe and has a community feel (would be lovely) thank you

I would avoid Evesham and pershore. There are some lovely villages around those areas but if you want a busier area I would head for Worcester.
Bredon/eckington area is lovely, not sure if you want to head that way though.

Dines Green itself is a bit of a no-no tbh although some of the outskirts of it are ok. But I'd avoid. Further up on that side of the river is St Johns which is great and has its own little centre and good schools.

I've just looked on Rightmove and there are some great 3 beds in Claines and similar nice areas.

Evesham also has a massive drug problem as there's sod all else to do there. (I used to be a support worker there so this is not anecdotal).

I'd go for Malvern. Lovely place, nice shops, good school, direct train to Oxford.

Further down nearer the uni is much better.

Also try St Peters.

I would choose Worcester. I am very fond of the City and live close by. The only thing it lacks is a good theatre but Malvern is world class and just 10 minutes on the train. They are developing an Arts Centre and hopefully things will improve.

The architecture around the city is fascinating as is the history of the city. Evesham and Pershore seem a little dull and they have flooding problems. Worcester does too but it doesn't seem to affect the city too much.

The access by rail to Oxford is great and does not go through Brum.

Pershore is lovely, though it has recently lost a few independent shops. It still has an independent butcher/deli, greengrocer, bookshop, toy shop, fishmonger, lingerie shop and jeweller. It has a very good leisure centre and a thriving cultural/arts centre. There’s a new Aldi planned in the town centre.

Evesham has some nice areas but as others have said, is very run down. The town centre is depressing.

Many villages are lovely but tend to be expensive.

Worcester is almost the perfect city, not too big, not too small, in a stunning setting and with a rich heritage. (It’s hard to forgive the monstrosity that is the development round Cathedral Square though.)

Worcester is almost the perfect city, not too big, not too small, in a stunning setting and with a rich heritage.

I know let's keep it quiet please :)

It's got the Swan theatre and Huntingdon hall so it's not a total cultural desert. Not on the same scale as Malvern admittedly.

Worcester is great. WR5 and WR3 are the nicest areas IMO.

Thank you for the responses, it has been helpful in so many ways! We are going on the market with our house next week so fingers crossed we are on the move soon - onwards and upwards to make the best memories with my kids and make sure my daughter has everything she could need xx