Moving to Malvern - any advice or thoughts?

[Dancingtothemusicoftime]

After years of (happily) following the flag, we intend to buy a family home before prices rise any further and my DH finishes his current career. We are thinking of buying in Malvern, Wocestershire - I was brought up near there and love the area but haven't lived in the region for 30 or so years so my experience of the place is not current. We do have family in Herefordshire and Worcestershire and some connections through friends who have been in the same career as my DH.

Our DC are in their mid and late teens now with one about to go to uni and the two DDs will begin A levels and GCSEs in September. The latter are currently in single sex fee-paying education (boarding) but we are looking at moving them to day fee-paying, preferably single sex when we move.

I would love any thoughts on life in Malvern and best places to buy/educate. Incidentally when I told my brother we were thinking of buying there he commented that it was a place people went to die! Would it suit our teens and is it a good place to put down our roots? Thank you.

I'm from Worcester originally and although Malvern does have a sleepy reputation I've always rather liked it. There's a lot of traffic on the main road up through Colwall towards the Wyche Cutting by British Camp so I'd avoid that although that road does have some houses with amazing views... School-wise, I went to the Alice Ottley in Worcester which has now merged with the Royal Grammar School where my brother went. They are OK as far as I know. There's also King's School near the cathedral which I seem to recall is rather more academic. Both are possibly preferable to the schools in Malvern although you'd need to do more research.

I'm not sure any of that is terribly helpful but hopefully someone with more up to date knowledge of the area will be along soon. When we've talked about the possibility of moving back there it's been Malvern that we've thought about although that might be because it would be too stressful to live close to my family in Worcester!

No more girls schools in Worcester but is it Malvern St James that is girls?

Might be worth posting on the Local pages too.

Burningthetoast - one of the advantages of Malvern is that it provides sufficient distance from my family in the area so I entirely get where you are coming from.

Cheminotte we are going to look at Malvern St James which seems to have great results and reviews. Good idea about the local pages.

West Malvern seems to have a strong community feel from what I can see on various sites but I think I recall that the West Malvern road is a nightmare traffic-wise. Can anyone comment on life in West Malvern? I suspect I would become a taxi-driver for the DC though as it is quite a hike into town although the walk would do them good