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

Leamington is so chi-chi.
I was there this week and, fluttering down the Parade, they have bunting in RedWhite&Blue.

On the other hand the Happy Diwali sign is up for much much longer than the Happy Christmas one!

And did you see the amazing Gurdwara?

It's not as WASP as you think!

Hi, I'm actually only 14 and I'm a boy but saw this post, live near Leamington and thought I'd sign up and join the discussion! Are you still looking at buying in this area?

Hello everyone.
Ok I will try and keep this as simple as poss.. hope you guys can help?
I have been offered a good job in Kenilworth, and have a number of questions I hope to get answered, or at least advise upon..
We are a married couple in our 40s, living now in Norway( dont ask) My wife is Norwegian and our plan has been to re locate back to the beautiful countryside of the UK.
My reservation is that my wife would feel isolated in a village, however that is our dream , the little house, christams with family visiting etc.but realistically:
My questions are as follows, bullet listed..

-Are there any viallges or small towns we should be looking at over Leamington, warwick etc.?and indeed avoiding like the plague..

-Our son is 2 , are there any good kindergarden reccomendations? toddler parent groups or even free state nurserys?

-As my wife wife will not be eligable for any kind of benefits( i think) and until she finds a suitable job( she is in admin, travel ), we need to keep costs down, but at same time wish to have a social life., are there any good clubs, amateur dramatics,historical, spiritual circles, womens groups, opportunities for her that you could recommend?

-How are the cultural, history, nature, music and fetes scenes ..and so on. We truly want to get involved in the community, we are very green minded and love these type of events.

Finally-as mentioned, we will have one income for an undetermined period, and will be renting (temporarily) does anyone have advice on where to buy eventually?The price of course if a factor, but were thinking around the 250 k mark..realistic or are we way off?looking at 2 bed minimumu wih garden, edge of town, close to a vilage or town centre.

Many thanks in advance

Derek

Rugby - schools not so good, cheaper house prices, bit rough but ok. Bit grim.

Leamington - campion generally has low results. Other schools good mostly. Great shops, lots going on

Warwick - myton school is great. I'd happily send my child there. Family orientated town. Has pool and nice cafes, big tescos/sainsbories.

Kenilworth - also fantastic secondary school but much smaller town. Quieter.

Primary school wise coton end in Warwick is a great little school. The preschool/play group on Coventry road in Warwick is also great.

Of all Leamington is the most London-like. Big Regency buildings, a thriving and very vibrant live music and arts scene. There are at least five record companies and studios in the Old Town area and it is like a mini-Oxford because of the fact that Warwick students choose it as their uni town. both leam and warwick have a LOT of restaurants. Commuting to M6 from leamington is easier than Warwick. . and takes about 20-30 mins from North leam.

Train times from leamington to London are about 65 mins on v. reliable Chiltern line.

Old Town is slowly turning vintage craft and indie retailing.

Main town is well regarded shopping-wise culpepper cologne and cotton fat face, l'occitaine, superdry, house of fraser, neils yard etc with a carluccios strada nandos ask etc as well as indie equivalents.

Strong asian and Thai influence as well as authentic french retail italian and portuguese. several foodie events a year and in oct /nov there are three artisan markets a week!

Hi cominghome, I am looking at doing a similar move: Norway to Warwick area and wondered how you got on?

Rugby isn't great - great grammar schools and Rugby School is beautiful, but the town is very tired. Houses are quite reasonable there, I'm always surprised they don't command a premium as you can get to Euston in 50mins on the train. Surrounding villages are worth checking out, many have decent facilities / bus routes etc. kenilworth is nice, but a bit divided between desirable and less desirable - there's a good Waitrose though. I'm a big fan of Warwick, bijou bars and restaurants and some magnificent buildings, it can get very busy with traffic though, especially on the main road linking to Leamington. Leamington is fab and thus commands a premium price. In fact, the house prices are getting rather out of control, and anything period and interesting seems to get snapped up despite over-inflated prices. Great shops, restaurants, bars etc, lots going on with food and culture festivals etc. It's a 'spa' version of London in lots of ways. Again, some top villages around Leamington and Warwick, though these too command a premium due to their proximity. I'd disagree with the villages are 'deathly' during the day, I've grown up (and still live in) villages and yes, lots of people go to work, but lots don't/work part-time/work from home etc etc and on the whole they're friendly places with people to talk to (if you make the initial effort to meet people). If you can find a village with some amenities eg a pub, shop, village hall etc they are usually far more buzzy. I went to school in Rugby and have lived in villages between Rugby and Leam plus work in Leam so if you need any advice I'm happy to help :-)

Thanks tweedjacket. I think we will be looking at Warwick as my husband works for Rolls-Royce and he will be working out of that office when we re-locate. Leamington Spa sounds great but I think our budget will be stretched, so happy to travel there for better shopping etc. I plan to come over and have a look at the different areas within Warwick, which will make it a little easier when viewing properties on the net. Our children are grown up so no need to consider schools :-).

AngloWelshKiwiinNorway, have just looked at where the Rolls-Royce offices are in Warwick - they're in the Warwick Technology Park. This isn't actually in Warwick proper, but is like a little pocket in the countryside between south Warwick and south Leamington. The commute time from both towns will be roughly equal IMO, and could actually take less time from e.g Whitnash (officially a village but in practice part of Leamington).

Kennilworth and myton school are both great.

I would avoid rugby as its a bit down at the heels and school are not so good. Leamington is more of a towny young professional/trendy family place while Warwick is a more mature professional/family orientated town. Leamington has the best facilities but Warwick has lots to offer too. Stratford has a brilliant children's playground but is totally over run with tourists.

Thanks WhereYouLeftIt that is very helpful info. Also Preciousbane - will be sure to check out HS2 proposals. Onsie, our kids are grown up so we don't need to consider schools etc but thanks for the LS/Warwick info. It is still very early days yet as I don't envisage a move until summer, so have plenty of time. I am looking forward to flying over for a long weekend and having a look around Warwick/LS in Feb/March.

A friend has thrown Stratford-upon-Avon into the equasion. I didn't think this was close enough or affordable but after looking into it, it seems no more expensive than Warwick and more lively?? She says taking back roads from Stratford to Warwick Technology Park would probably be even quicker than travellling through Warwick to get there??

It takes me about 25 minutes to drive from the centre of Leamington to the centre of Stratford (A452, Warwick bypass, M40, A46, A439) . BUT - I do that drive mid-morning, when it is relatively quiet. Even then I generally hit a tailback going into Stratford, I shudder to think what it's like in the rush hours. The 'back route' (staying on the A46 until you reach the A3400, then taking that into Stratford) is a bit better because you miss out the pinch-point of Bridge Street; but it is longer. These are the main roads though, your friend mentioned back roads? When I lived near Stratford, I used to strike east on the B4086, through Charlecotte until I hit the A429 then north on that. Very pleasant drive (past the deer herds in Charlecotte park ). Roads not too busy (although that was years ago). Can't remember how long it took me, but it wasn't excessive. I chose to go that way rather than through Stratford and up the main roads, so it must have been at least as good!

TBH, you wouldn't want to be having to go through either Warwick or Stratford-upon-Avon. They're both medieval towns with a road system shaped by their age. Leamington is a bit better since it's more Georgian, with their fashion of grid layouts and wider main roads. All three towns are commutable to the Warwick Technology Park, but what end of those towns you live in will probably affect the commute times more than which town you live in, IYSWIM.

You might want to visually stroll around these roads on google maps, it'll probably make more sense that way .

Warwick Enterprise Park is certainly quicker from Stratford; what a great place to work ;)!

Stratford is lovely. Nice (if twee-ish) shops in town with a lot of the chainstores on an estate out on the edge of town; good market held in town centre; cinema. Drawbacks: a lot of the town revolves around Shakespeare (duh! ). Fab if you want to go to the theatres regularly, but also lots of shops selling souvenir tat, and the town can feel as if it's under siege from tourists sometimes (and the tourist season never really ends). This pushes up prices quite a bit. Lots of good restaurants, and all are used to the pre-theatre/post-theatre timetable.

leamington is definitely the place to be if you can afford a nice house. There's a nice farm shop just off the A46 near Kenilworth too.

Warwick is by far the nicest out of the 3, rugby and leamington spa are a bit rough in comparison.

it depends on age I think (!). Leamington is great if you are into great food, singer songwriters and a laid back (albeit in a Georgian setting) scene. Nice ethical community here with beautiful parks and fantastic shopping. Warwick is equally as stunning but for a bit more of a mature buyer IMO (I don't mean to offend anyone. All of Warwickshire is stunning. Anywhere you pick I'm sure you'll love).

Wow, lots to think about! Thanks for your feedback eyebrowsfurrowed, WhereYouLeftIt and yummystepford. It all looks very beautiful on Google and I can't wait to fly over and explore!

Leamington Spa is getting quite a good array of new shops and restaurants recently - you can have a decent night out there even if you aren't a student. Personally, I'd choose to live in a village on the outskirts of Warwick or Leamington - as others have said a student population in Leam means there are certain areas that you should really avoid!

If you're looking for village life I'd suggest researching areas around Stratford upon Avon and Wellesbourne too. Much nicer and still good access to the Motorways.