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Original poster

Would you live in Warwick, Leamington Spa or Rugby?

103 replies

soonbesailing · 08/04/2011 08:57

Hi all, we may need to relocate to this area and I do not know them at all, any information would be useful.
I have posted in education as well as we have 2 DCs who would need to go to secondary school, probably state, we do not have grammer schools where I live so would be looking at non-selective.
So come and enlighten me, the good, bad and the ugly : )
Thanks

OP posts:
greenlotus · 08/04/2011 22:48

I reckon you should look at Streetly nr Sutton Coldfield, unless you have another reason for being so far south. Bit expensive but we can all dream!

Original poster
soonbesailing · 08/04/2011 23:28

Well thanks again to you all, its so helpful to have a bit of insider knowledge.

You are doing a good job of putting me off Rugby, no need to move somewhere grim if you don't have to.

I will def take a look at Sutton Coldfield, as on the plus side coming from London means we are used to high house prices.

Are the secondary schools still selective in Sutton Coldfield? Does anyone know about good non selective state schools?

OP posts:
3isthemagicnumber · 09/04/2011 09:32

waves to ivycat-you don't know me but seeing as though you said you live in Stockton, I thought i'd have a nose (I grew up/lived in Napton,) and find we have the not only the same dress but almost haircut too...
tish-small world eh Grin

3isthemagicnumber · 09/04/2011 09:33

ooh ivykaty-sorry! , and op for hijack

ivykaty44 · 09/04/2011 09:50

I don't live in stockton - sorry didn't mean I - meant as a rule of thumb you live in the villages around here and you need to live there for 101 years to be a local..I live in the county town!

3isthemagicnumber · 09/04/2011 10:08

Ah, those pesky random 'I's eh? get everywhere Wink
You are right though, we moved to the village as a family when I was 11 (now 36) from Southam exotic ,far away foreign lands and we were for a very, very long time 'the new people' and still after 25 years my Parents are occasionally referred to as the people who live in 'xxx(previous owners) house'.

senua · 09/04/2011 10:25

To be totally random ... OP have you carefully studied the motorway network around M6J5? There are a lot of weird junctions that have restricted access/exits which means that a commute may not be a straightforward as you might expect.

I agree with looking north towards Sutton / Four Oaks / Lichfield. There is lovely countryside for you but they are also on the rail line so your teenagers can get into the bright lights of Brum.

RufousBartleby · 09/04/2011 16:36

Sutton still has two grammar schools OP, but four very well regarded non-selective secondary schools too. I believe the one in Four Oaks is supposed to be particularly good.

goldenpeach · 09/04/2011 20:32

Lived in Rugby for a year, I think it was very nice and you get a bargain now. The library and art gallery/museums are good and enough shops. Leamington Spa very beautiful but really small central properties/gardens (even if you have lots of money). Warwick, pretty but small and not much to do in winter.

goldenpeach · 09/04/2011 20:33

In Rugby you want to be around Hillmorton area...

saltyseadog · 09/04/2011 20:48

Leamington is lovely, really lovely. Good shops, parks, beautiful Georgian and Victorian architecture, easy access to Brum (Selfridges ).

I grew up in Sutton Coldfield. Very nouveau riche (especially Four Oaks), but excellent schools, beautiful 2000+ acre park, good shopping centre, excellent transport links etc. Are you a sailor, as your name suggests? If so very good sailing club there, which is an excellent place to learn as a junior (lots of us went on to sail in Uni teams, squads etc.)

overthemill · 09/04/2011 22:03

ditto the m40/m42 interchange hell - i regularly take the wrong direction and have been using it at least once a month for 12 years! i also echo the thought about what you actually want. we moved from market town to village with shops to village with no shops and are about to move to small town for walking distance station, schools, shops etc and to go down a car. i hate having to drive everywhere and being miles from daily needs and being my 3 kids' taxi service (no buses, too far to walk on unlit roads and all friends a minimum of 5 miles away as they go to mega schools).

i left london 25 years ago and still miss it! my suggestion is if you love london go for place with real community like leamington or warwick or kenilworth type place. they feel, to me, like hackney/islinton/crouch end
good luck
btw, i have made good mates locally via MN and WI!

llareggub · 09/04/2011 22:14

I moved to Warwick a few years ago and find it a friendly and welcoming place. We find that there are loads of things to do here with families and I love how quickly we can be in beautiful countryside as well as cities such as London, Brum and Oxford. I feel very fortunate to live here.

We were in Offchurch today. Never been there before and it is a lovely village. Southam seems nice too. I second the comments about Knowle. It is definitely one of the places where I would choose to move if we had to leave Warwick. I wouldn't consider Rugby at all, but I'd happily live in central and North Leam.

Lots of great schools around here too.

llareggub · 09/04/2011 22:15

Be careful with some if the villages. Some of them can be very snooty and unwelcoming of outsiders.

MrsSnaplegs · 09/04/2011 22:32

I was born in leamington, lived there and Warwick and went to school in Warwick, had a sister who lived in rugby. My choice would be Warwick, north leamington or one of the villages. moved away 19 yrs ago but still have friends locally.
Waves to local ladies Grin

llareggub · 10/04/2011 21:06

You make an excellent salesperson for Warwick and Leamington!

ninah · 10/04/2011 21:06

Out of those 3 I would live in Leamington.
I know someone who teaches at Ashlawn in Rugby, it's a good school (but) has just become an academy. I don't know what Rugby is like to live in but it has no appeal for me as a town.
Hear good reports of North Leam school.

ivykaty44 · 10/04/2011 21:14

you know I love a bit of house porn and any excuse to have a nose round the estate agents - dd2 just asked me if we where moving and why was I looking at 700k houses? Grin

RunforFun · 10/04/2011 21:52

What can you find around the 800 - 1m mark then Ivykaty Grin

I think Rugby Leamington are too far for us but am toying with the idea of Warwick or Knowle

Jojay · 10/04/2011 22:03

Irrelevent I know, but guess what? I live in Napton! Very exciting to see it mentioned on a thread!

It's beautiful here and very friendly, despite us having been here a mere 7 years, but I think it's too far away for you.

My inlaws live in Knowle and DH grew up there. I agree, it seems a great place to live, village-y but has everything you need and Solihull just up the road is great for shopping. Don't know much about the schools there but I can't imagine they'd be bad.

Happy house hunting Grin

llareggub · 10/04/2011 22:22

I loVe that one on church street. Parking is rubbish though.