Chippenham

[Phoebie]

I would like some advise on potentially moving to Chippenham please,my husband is in the forces and we would like to buy a house ready for when he leaves the forces in approximately 5 years time.we were thinking about moving near the M4 corridor as it would give my husband a good chance to get a decent job.what are the best streets /area in chippenham to look? Also I read the secondary schools are good.is there a particular catchment area to get into the best secondary school? Tia

Don't know about the schools but Chippenham can be a bit of a strange town. I was there last week and there are so many houses but not much of a community feel. A bit rough in the evening too. What about some of the surrounding villages? Have you looked at Marlborough? Though it is more expensive.
I am in Bath which is great for the m4 and near to Bristol for bigger companies.

I would post something on the mumsnet local sites for more info.

Don't think I've been much help!!

Or consider the cotswolds (other side of the M4 to chippenham) - cirencester? VERY popular area (used to live there until recently) so good, bouyant housing market.
Or even Devizes - near Chippenham but not chippenham - not that there is anything wrong with Chippenham but I agree with what iamoptimusprime said about it being abit, well, strange!

Chippenham isn't my cup of tea. What about Wotton-under-edge? Nice place, good community, great walks close by, very high achieving secondary school, train station a few miles away (links to Bristol etc), just off M5 with Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Cheltenham all reachable. Birmingham and Cardiff a little bit further away.

Cirencester is nice also but flatter, larger and more horsey. Good schools for sure though and feels safer.

Wotton is a fair trade town with a few artie shops, its own volunteer run cinema and a heated outdoor swimming pool.

Chippenham has outstanding schools and in my opinion a strong sense of community. I don't find it strange at all. I don't live in Chippenham but my DCs go to school there and my DH works there. I would happily live there. It's a great location without paying the prices of Bath. I love shopping in Bath but I wouldn't want to live there although surrounding villages of both locations can be beautiful.

Marlborough's nice but property will be more expensive, the same for Cirencester. Both great places to shop/eat and good schools.

If you are keen to get your DCs into the outstanding secondary schools the Chippenham villages (both living there or attending school there) feed into them first followed by Chippenham town schools.

Thank you for your advice ladies :-)

Good luck Phoebie what ever you decide but if you do decide to come to Chippenham give me a shout for some local info . We were a military family too and have lived all over the world but I still found myself back in Wiltshire.

IMO Devizes is much nicer than Chippenham, but the secondary schools arent nearly as good and houses are slightly more expensive. Marlborough is much nicer than both, has a reasonable senior school, but is HUGELY more expensive, as is most of Bath.

I too find Chippenham a bit strange, nothing I can particularly put my finger on... is suppose its just not very pretty, doesnt have great shops... But it has everything you'd need, great train links and there are some lovely villages nearby (towards Corsham,towards the motorway,towards Castle Coombe) that would get you into the schools that by all accounts are fantastic. Guess it depends what your priority is.

You see I don't rate Devizes, I like to shop there but there's something about it that makes me not want to live there. DH would though. I found the house prices cheaper in Devizes and I put it down to Chippenham having a main line train station and access to the M4 but I guess it depends what your looking for.

OP I think you need to come and visit the area and get a feel for these towns and a look around the property for sale.

I absolutely love Devizes. I drove 20+ miles today for a day out in Devizes.

It's got a good mix of shops, Tesco, large Sainsburys, M&S and more independents than most high streets. Large number of pubs, mediaeval buildings, weekly general and antique/collectors markets....

I would happily move there tomorrow.

If you are a Forces family you could consider Bath, Corsham or villages nearer Bristol as a posting to Abbeywood could be a future possibility. Chippenham is a bit soul-less.

I absolutely love Devizes. I drove 20+ miles today for a day out in Devizes.

It's got a good mix of shops, Tesco, large Sainsburys, M&S and more independents than most high streets. Large number of pubs, mediaeval buildings, weekly general and antique/collectors markets....

I would happily move there tomorrow.

If you are a Forces family you could consider Bath, Corsham or villages nearer Bristol as a posting to Abbeywood could be a future possibility. Chippenham is a bit soul-less.