Would you live in Warwick, Leamington Spa or Rugby?

[soonbesailing]

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

But you don't need to move the car and with resident permit you can leave the car from one week to the next - train and shopping all in walking distance including sainsbury and schools

I would choose the one in Bridge End out of the 3 ivykaty posted it is lovely there. It's where I did my paper round

Well I'm back after a few days away and it looks like some of you are enjoying some of the property porn... a very addictive passtime.

Do you think that the journey from Knowle, outskirts of Solihull would be ok because you don't have to go so far on the M6? is the M42 a bettter road?
DH would need to be near Fort Dunlop.

Looking on-line Im not feeling the love for Sutton Coldfield, don't know why, obviously we need to go and have a good look around.

Have been doing lots of school research and I'm pleased to see that there are lots of good looking schools that aren't grammer schools.

DCs currently go to an outstanding, but liberal school and DC1 is def not grammer school material, he is very arty and likes drama and sport.

Anyone with knowledge of Arden school in Knowle or Alderbrook school in Solihull.

I'm looking for somewhere with a bit of space around it, but within driving distance of life, good pubs etc. We like gardening,walking, cycling, kids in scouts, drama clubs, music club, rugby club.

Is Kenilworth nice? Its that bit closer to the motorways than Leamington/Warwick?

There isn't a lot in it - Kenilworth, Leamington warwick you could be looking at 5 minutes. Actually warwick is probably the closest to the motorway, though if you lived the right side of kenilworth you could chop soem minutes from your journey

NLS is a liberal school, arts and drama with a lovely feel to it, your ds wouldn't get into myton now.. Kenilworth kids go to both Kenilworth school and north leam - and leamington kids get bus to kenilworth school. Kenilworth is a lovely small town waitrose stuck fell from sky into kenilworth, there is a youth club atm - but for how long not sure.

there are two rugby clubs in leamington, one rc in warwick and one in kenilworth, drma clubs in warwick two at aysleford school and one at the uni in cov/burton green on a fridday night, athletic club in leamington and scouts.

the woman that used to live next door to me worked where your dh would work at Dunlope - she moved to warwick gates - new housing development on south side of leamington, so it didn't bother her the commute

Kenilworth is alright but so, so much more expensive that Warwick. I practically live on top of the motorway in Warwick, but something to bear in mind is that an accident somewhere on the motorway network has a terrible impact on traffic in the midlands. People are always going on about how we are at the heart of the motorway network so it can often be gridlock. But it is a lot better in the school holidays, and the train service is pretty good.

That should read - its better once all the private schools have finsihed for their longer hols... did you not notice the traffic died last week..? when the private schools finished

You are right. It is always better when the private schools finish.

Thank you ivykaty44 and llaregrub, I will have at the schools and at the villages around Leamington/Warwick.

The league tables seem to indicate that the school at Kenilworth is good, is Kenilworth a nice town, I've never been there, but have been to both Leamington and Warwick (I went to a wedding reception at the castle, very nice indeed).

Have been looking at property around Knowle and Solihull and it seems expensive, we were hoping that we would get a bit more for our money, but not knowing the area it's hard to know what its actually buying you.

We would probably rent to start with anyway as I'm sure getting into the schools won't be straightforward and we will need to live close to any school we hope to go to. I would need to know we liked an area before we buy, but I do enjoy looking, oh the power of the internet!

Thanks again, I'm sure I will be back asking more once we have found out if the job is going to really happen.

PS ivykaty44 why do you say that DC's won't get into Myton now... have they changed something to do with their entrance criteria?

Perhaps ivykaty and I could check out houses in person for you. She loves a bit of property porn.

Knowle & Solihull have the state schools with the best exam results in the region hence the high house prices. I would choose Knowle purely for Arden school catchment - great village and close to M42/M6 for your commute. If it's too expensive for you, Leamington would be a good choice (slightly biased since I lived there prekids for a few years). IMO, Kenilworth is great for young kids but once they hit the teenage years, they hit Leamington for the nightlife, same with Warwick. Leamington has the advantage of a train station which Kenilworth doesn't and just has more and better facilities than Warwick - saying that, they run into each other and are only technically separated by a bridge. You need to spend a few weekends having a recce around the areas. Good Luck.

Sorry, I meant to say that Knowle & Solihull have the best non grammar state schools in the region hence the high house prices.

I know, the house prices reflect the nature of the area definitely. We too were shocked at how 'little' we were going to get. The truth is Knowle is very expensive - it's a little like Marylebone in the middle of the Midlands and therefore perhaps less of a culture shock. It's also possible to get into Birmingham without using the motorway network from there (via Shirley).

Just don't even look at anything in Lady Byron Lane (the place to live)!

Dorridge (which is the next village along) has a train station with direct access to London and Brum and is a little cheaper (but not quite so lovely imo).

I think that what Ivykaty means about Myton is that it is massively over-subscribed and therefore it's unlikely that they'd have any spaces left.

I really would recommend going to look around, sometimes even Google Earth can't provide the answers! Right now, an hours commute each way doesn't seem much compared to 45mins public transport, but it is exhausting to do 2 hours driving every day in extremely heavy traffic.

We looked at at house on Lady Byron road thats up for £1.2 m but I couldnt bring myself to like it cos of the motorway behind it !!

I've heard of the 'golden triangle' in Dorridge, but can you tell me the best roads in Solihull itself ?

I am certainly up for a spot of property porn, its been a while

yes morefruitloopthanfruitshoot has it correct about myton.

if you're still looking at the leamington/warwick area have you thought about warwick gates? it's one of those purpose built villages, good for kids (so i've heard), closer to the M40 junction and also within the Myton catchment area. Terrible shakespeare inspired road names though

Knowle = Old Sils RFC. Very active in Mini & Juniors.

All very interesting information again ladies, one worry is if Myton will be impossible to get into, surely the same will apply to all the schools around Solihull if they too are seriously oversubscribed?
To tell you the truth we are more arty north london types (can't believe I'm calling myself a "type"!) than Marylebone, so would Knowle may be a bit posh for us?
I do think its location seems ideal and like the idea of a small town, but within easy access of a bigger one.
Still haven't heard if DH has the job or not, so part of me wants to keep on cracking on with the reasearch, but the other part of me thinks I should hold back.

You really should check out Leamington, in my opinion.

I still think Leamington, etc are too far for a commute to Fort Dunlop if you have any choice about it. Don't make your DH waste his country lifestyle with hours every day on the motorway, plus a fortune on fuel. They are better placed for Coventry.

Knowle/Solihull are pricey because of the convenience for Birmingham as well I suspect. Also gives you the option of a non motorway route to work, essential when there are big events at the NEC.

IKWYM about not feeling the love for Sutton Coldfield, but there must be some villagey fringes to it, that's why I suggested Streetly. There are definitely character houses around if you hunt.

I suggest you start a thread about the Sutton Coldfield/north of Birmingham area because at the moment there don't seem to be any MNers defending it which doesn't look good for finding like minded society!

Ooh that commutes not good! I've seen that section of motorway in the morning and it is chocca. I've also used the A452 and it gets even worse around castle brom cos it's a dual carriageway going into a busy roundabout that takes ages to get onto cos of all the M6 traffic.

Plenty of villages around coleshill etc that would be an easier commute.

Tbh the whole of that area castle brom, tyburn road, Dunlop fort is a total disaster early morning. I used to live in Sutton and commute through it daily.

Your DH would have to go M40,M42 and M6 or use the A452 which always sets our road angel accident black spot alarms off.

We live in a village near tamworth and it's easier from here cos it's a quieter area.

Streetly can be a bit rough, Borders kingstanding. I was born in Sutton coldfield it's not what is was. And the houses cost much more. The roads are shockingly bad! Potholes everywhere.

Agree nice villages around Coventry.

We have family in Knowle, house is like a fortress because of attempted break ins, anywhere right near a motorway junction is risky. We are in the M42 crime corridor and we get would be thieves prowling around at night shining torches into houses with their curtains open.

there was a thread on here about a month ago - which is the most awful city in the uk? I think coventry was mentioned negatively about every third post of the 300 posts

this is something to bear in mind, if you do find yourself househunting, should it ever make it through to construction!

Lovely big Ikea though..

Ugh, not Coventry.