Where is the best / nicest place to bring up your kids in the UK?

[womanwholivedinashoe]

Hi Ladies,

WWLIAS again lol! After my attempt to look for houses in Norfolk have failed, i'm literally just playing with rightmove now and have NO idea of where to start looking at for possible areas to move into.

My criteria : Small ish village / town but not too small so more than 500 and less than 5000.
Good schools if not in town within 5 miles driving possibly.
Good community spirit.
Pretty (yes i'm a real girlie and I want to live somewhere where I go ahhhhh)
We like by the sea, in the country and by rivers so very flexible now you see why i'm scratching my head so much.
We'll be renting and surprisingly there aren't that many houses out there 4 beds up to £950 pcm.
Within a 30-45 min commute into a major town for jobs or travel back to London for original jobs.
Phew thinks thats it.
Oh and I LOVE village greens and people playing cricket.
Must must must stop watching escape to the country???
Any views ladies, please feel free to promote your areas or areas you've visited then I can actually type in a name into rightmove lol :) :) :)

I drive through Dunchurch alot on the way to rugby and Coventry and always think it looks lovely..... Might be worth a look, there's something like ryton waters nearby and Coventry is improving! (this is someone used to the spires of Oxford!) we are considering moving upwards as it's alot cheaper and I know my ex has a lovely grand 6 bed house with a basement he rents in Rugby for £900!

You are unlikely to get anywhere where you can commute to London AND get a house for that price and that many rooms. So if you want that you will have to look further afield.

Leicestershire

Northamptonshire?

Norfolk if you can commute to Norwich - not a daily commute to London from there (which is why property is much cheaper) but Norwich has a lot going on and you can be in a village by the Broads or between Norwich and the North Coast and then less than 30 mins from the sea. Type in Aylsham to get you started.

well to me the nicest place is close to family but outside of a big city

but on your criteria you could try kelvedon, tiptree,or danbury, all in essex, all close to chelmsford which is fairly big city for jobs, or all fairly easily commutable to london.

Peak District. Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and even Manchester not far away

Oving in Buckinghamshire. I used to live there but had to move due to my dh being relocated for work. It has a lovely village school just a 10 minute walk away and is set in beautiful countryside. I miss living there.

gloucestershire.

chalford is just wonderfully stunning and has a fab community spirit. very creative and bumpy. it's about 10 mins to stroud where there is a train to london. good primary and secondary comp school. also grammer schools in stroud.

wotton-under-edge has a fantastic secondary called KLB. top grades. not as attractive as chalford but still nice enough

nailsworth - quite alternative and bumpy. i'm told there is a real community spirit there.

chalford is well placed for jobs in bath, bristol, gloucester, cheltenham, cirencester, stroud. london is about one and a half hours by train. it's also an hour and a bit to cardiff and birmingham.

oh how i love right move! and i thought i'd just got over my addiction to it. theres actually a 4 bed in chalford hill but make sure you add hill to the word chalford when searching. doesn't look too exciting as a building but the area more than makes up for it.

Try chudleigh in devon (if Exeter is major enough for you!!). Meets all your criteria!

skybluepearl you are an angel i'll have a look now and yes lots to look at. Will definitely look at Chalford as DH works in Exports and lots of job vacancies in that field in Bristol so if its easily commutable well worth looking at, thank you!

Luckywekeptthecot we've offered on 2 properties now one in Acle, the other in Long Stratton both have fallen through and you start to lose heart in an area after that :( .

Will also look at all the other areas.

Senorita don't we know it we live in a teeny 4 bed mid terraced prop NW London now and pay £1200 for what we truly need space wise (as the 4th bed actually can't fit in a bed but you don't realise that until you move in :( ) we;re looking at £1500 pcm. Sooooo as i'm expecting again we need to move out, find a better life and start again :)

Any of the villages along the Hope Valley railway line an easy commute to either Sheffield or Manchester. Hathersage seems lovely to me. Baslow not on that line but close to Sheffield and chesterfield for easy access to railways north and south.

i may have to move to chalford myself! nailsworth and wotton-under-edge are slightly closer to bristol.

Where do you live now?

I agree with Peak District, Hope Valley...

Hilsborough, northern Ireland. I know ni gets a bad rep, but the schools are excellent, good health service and plenty of investment so great facilities, and the people are super friendly.

NW London lljkk

Hope Valley ok thank you! :)

Loads of places in the Vale of Glamorgan near Cardiff like LLantwit Major, Penarth, Sully, Cowbridge etc, all pretty places and some with beaches. All lovely places within a short commute to Cardiff and Cardiff is only a couple of hours train to London.
Being Wales property prices reasonable allthough those areas are expensive for Wales you should be able to get what you need for your money.

i was born in Nailsworth So it must be lovely.

Milverton in Somerset is nice. Couldn't find anything big enough there but this is nearby wivvy

Right here where I am at the moment.

usk is gorgeous and easy commute to cardiff/bristol. stunning countryside, great schools...

OP I have PM'd you with some info! Secret squirrel, me.

Well I live in Oxfordshire and you can drive to Oxford in 25 minutes, or get a train to London in 50. Also Birmingham is a 50 minute drive or 30 minute train ride. So lots of opportunities there.

Places near train stations: Charlbury, Chipping Norton, Kings Sutton. Charlbury has a nice school and villagey vibe. Chippy is much bigger, Kings Sutton smaller. All have properties to rent.

Bradford on Avon ticks most of your boxes, and is 30-45 mins from Bath (depending on traffic)