Living in Malvern

[Elvini]

We're thinking of relocating to Malvern. Any MNers from the area? I wondered what it's like in the way of a community feel, schools and things to do. We like walking so the hills and scenery are what's attracting us to the area. Also DH would commute to Birmingham on the train, does anybody do this and find it ok?

Which residential areas are preferable and which not so much?

Thanks in advance.

Elvini, did you settle in Malvern in the end? If yes, what is it like for you as a newbie?

We are in the process of buying a house there, and know no one in the area, relocating from over 100 miles away(but know Malvern itself relatively well, finding the right house took nearly two years!), it's a bit daunting!

The house needs so much work we probably will not be able to move until Christmas, if any local Msnetters see this and can recommend local builders/electricians/plumbers/roofers, all recommendations would be gratefully received!

I think I know what we are doing with the schools, though nearest primary seems oversubscribed, so I guess no guarantee of a place for DD, she might have to change two schools within a year or two 😐.

Hello Nodowntime

This is quite spooky - we moved last week! I wrote out a post to thank everyone that posted on this thread. We don't have wifi yet and my signal is temperamental and so it didn't post. Hadn't got around to trying again until now.

But yes, we finally completed on Friday and have been unpacking all weekend. We have had the best couple of days so far. Explored lots of the shops, lots of trips to the lovely park and just enjoying our house and the views

It's obviously really early days for us but we absolutely love it so far. We don't know anyone here either but have chatted to a couple of friendly people in the park and shops.

Our house needs quite a bit of updating too. We have some people coming out to quote over the next couple of weeks. Once work gets started I'd be happy to let you know if we've had good experiences with people.

Which part of Malvern will you be moving to? Congratulations on finding your house - sounds like it's been a long search!

Oh and obviously - THANK YOU to all the lovely MNers that helped us at the end of last year. It really gave us a better idea of where to start with our exploring and searching

to you all!

Lovely to hear that you did move to Malvern. Hope you enjoy living there, though not the best weather for the start!

Elvini,
How exciting! I didn't have much hope that you'd come back, usually posters disappear once they have the info they want, and mumsnet is understandably buzzing with more pressing matters currently.

We just had our survey today, expecting to hear the results soon, but if there is nothing completely majorly wrong, like the house is falling down, then we hope to complete within four weeks, we've already been charged the deposit for the exchange by the solicitors, and will be coming to camp in the garden even if the house is not fit for living in! (it looks like it needs replumbing and rewiring so broken floors/walls and possibly re-roofing - will know soon I suppose!)

I'm afraid to tell where it is until we actually own it - we had our very first purchase in Malvern fall through 18+ months ago (which was truly a house of our dreams), but it's Malvern Wells way :). Walkable into Great Malvern but it would be about 30 min walk I guess.

Initially we were supposed to move to Malvern for work, that's when we started looking and had our house on the market, and found the house of our dreams but couldn't sell ours quickly enough, and it was snapped up by someone else. By the time we sold, we decided to go into rental to break the chain, made an arrangement with the schools etc, all was very stressful and last-minute, then our buyers pulled out and we only found out they did two weeks after! They just disappeared, weren't answering any calls etc. I then by accident found out they pulled out of two more house purchases in our area, one before, one after us. I don't think they were malicious, just really really paranoid and easily spooked.

Anyway, by then DH's job couldn't wait any more and he lost it, but we were already set on the idea of moving to Malvern, we loved the area so much.
He eventually accepted a job offer local to here and then two days later we sold the house again! So went into this cramped rental, nothing else was available on the market rental-wise, though at least it is very near DD's school so my walk to the school now takes five minutes, which made life so much easier. Typically the job was till end of summer, and then not very long ago they offered to extend the contract till New Year, he said yes, and the same week we found this house in Malvern :). It doesn't have the wow factor of our dream house, but it's good and it's got potential to make it better.

The only consolation that at least we will not have to live in the house with such major work going on, we had to do it before with tiny DC and it was awful. However trying to project manage from afar is a pain too. But as I said, fingers crossed it all goes through soon and we'll definitely be there week-ends and summer holidays, so Elvini, might bump into you in the park! Is your DC now two? My youngest is 2 but will turn 3 this year.

Elvini,

I don't remember where I read it and I don't know if it's true, but basically I heard that more than a quarter of all people in Malvern consciously relocated there, they were not born and bred there but were specifically attracted by what the area has to offer.

Which really gives you hope that it cannot be insular with all the locals knowing each other and not wanting to know newcomers, and that you should meet lots of like minded people, at least who share your taste in where to choose to live :).

Are you originally from Birmingham area?
I'm from another country originally and grew up in a capital city before moving here to be with my English DH, I've lived here half of my adult life now, though neither DH nor me were never truly happy with where we ended up settling in England (East Midlands. DH grew up in the South in a hilly area and missed the hills ever since!)

Welcome to Malvern both of you. It is such a lovely place to live, I hope you both enjoy it!

Hi Nodowntime

Sorry for the delay - hectic week.

Sounds like you've had a really chaotic time of it so far with house ms and jobs! Hopefully the end is in sight and you will be settled soon though. Have you had the results from your survey back yet?

My daughter isn't 2 until the autumn. We'll be starting her in nursery in November so will start our search for the right one once holidays and other summer events are over.

I'm from Warwickshire originally. My parents are brummies but moved out to the country to have me and siblings. They've since moved again and I've just never felt like I have "a place I'm from" really. I want my daughter to have a place she can call home.

I would believe that about people consciously relocating here - I met a man and his son in the park who recently moved from another city to be here. It's certainly very encouraging! I feel like it's got a great balance of being a little sleepy/relaxed but also has some great independent shops, cafés etc and there seems like a lot to do.

Will you/your husband be commuting for work once you're here?

Elvini,

I'm a SAHM (for now anyway) and DH has a contract till New Year here, but I don't think he'll continue in the same job when we move, public sector, though who knows.
It's not difficult to find a job in his area, but it is very low paid and he basically has been doing it on and off, interspersing years of public sector with some years in commercial private sector, otherwise we wouldn't have survived!
So he'll be looking for a new job and if it is a commercial one - sales manager - then it's likely to be a mixture of working from home and lots of extensive travelling, but travelling is likely to involve Birmingham and Bristol areas most, so convenient to be coming from Malvern.

We got our structural survey and are going ahead with the sale, but we are very disappointed with the survey and feel like it was a massive waste of money. There was nothing in it that we didn't know ourselves, but several quite important things were completely missed! Like a beam in the roof being split and then you can see attempted repair with metal stapling. Or it says there used to be storage heaters in the property but not any more, but 1/3 of the house does have storage heaters! Or there is a big chunk of render missing at the bottom of the porch and looks like there is a hole in the wall there or some obvious damage and deterioration, and it's not mentioned either. We emailed them to clarify at least about the roof and supplied our own photos because it was the most worrying point and for now, two days later, there's no response

Anyway, if you come across any good builders we'll be grateful for their contact details.

I visit regularly to walk. It is a good place for families, great theatre, nice coffee shops and restaurants. Lovely scenery and Malvern water for free! I do find it a bit old fashioned though. I wouldn't want to live there.

Bumblebee, where do you live which is more up-to-date?

It's a small town, for more urban pursuits there's always Worcester! For me the scenery is enough to not worry about it possibly being old-fashioned :)

The 'old fashioned-ness' as you call it, is part of the charm I find!

User...99,

Thank you for the welcome btw! Though we are not there yet, but hope to complete by the summer holidays. :)

Elvini,

We are completing in a week 😃, but don't have any luck finding local builders/traders, where are you looking for yours if you started looking already?

If anyone else reading has any recommendations, please post! We are after an electrician, plumber, roofer and general builder (changing bathrooms, changing flooring/windows etc)

Nodowntime - how exciting! Are you all ready? We have asked for some quotes and things but haven't instructed any work yet.

We are remodelling a few rooms including bathroom, utility and have found a general maintenance guy who seems really good. I will send you his details.

I can recommend a good electrician and a really good window company. Also landscaping too. Please message me if you'd like their details.

Thanks, Elvini!
user, thank you too, does landscaping equals tree surgeons too? We have a couple of weeks of tall dead trees in the garden 😯 and massive hedges(too tall to reach), but the rest of the gardening/landscaping we can tackle ourselves.
We have found a roofer through a builder's merchant, and he gave us some other traders' details, but we'll need a recommended electrician.
Windows - I think my DH could repair some, and it's probably only French windows/sliding door which need replacing, but due to budget for now we'll have to prioritise making the house safe and watertight, so it's roofer, gas safety checks, electrician and possibly tree surgeon which is our top priorities. I will message you, thanks everyone!

Just a couple of trees, not a couple of weeks of trees, stupid predictive text 😄

User,

My phone is playing up, I need to get on the computer to be able to send a PM, so if you see this sooner than I could get to the laptop, could you please PM me the electrician's details and landscaping if they do tree surgery ☺️ Many thanks!

Elvini, yes to the general maintenance guy's details too, thank you!

I've messaged you Nodowntime.

We are moving to Malvern, originally we looked at Colwall but got out-bid, now we are moving to West Malvern. We currently live in Solihull, and I feel quite worried about the decision - understandable I suppose.
We chose Malvern for the broadband, the scenery, transport links and community. The house we are buying is set into the hill and I do worry about water running towards the house but it’s a fairly new build so presumably this was well accounted for and the survey will throw up any concerns. Actually I seem to be finding all sorts of things to worry about and I hope it’s unncessary! I will need a builder too, I need really good steps building to the top of the garden! I hope it’s as good as all these posts suggest. Any opinions on West Malvern appreciated - I know parking is a problem!

Hi Florry! Welcome to Malvern! I've been here 10 years now and love living here. I hope you'll be happy here. I'm trying to think whereabouts your house could be (I am obsessed with rightmove!). What are you worried about the water - running down from the hills into your house? My house is set into the hill, (but on the other side) and although we've only been here a year we haven't had any problems (in saying that, our house did flood from surface water, in 2007 when we had the mega floods) but I'm sure your local searches will bring any risk like that up, or your survey.

West Malvern is much nicer than Colwall (IMO Florry1!) Colwall roads are awfully maintained and full of potholes and it always seems a bit dark to me. Judging by recent posts on a local FB group too, they aren't always very welcoming to incomers.

Friends of mine live in West Malvern and they love it. It does seem to have a lovely community feel, they have a nice playground and West Fest in the summer is always popular. As you say parking can be a problem, but it always seems manageable. I'm always a bit surprised that WM doesn't have a shop, where do you go if you just want a pint of milk etc? I guess you just get organised, and it isn't that far away from town.

Message me if you if you like, if you need any info, or have any questions.

Thanks for the info! We are in town today so I will be sure to ask questions about flooding. There is a spring in the back garden which is like a ski slope down to the house.
I’m not too surprised by your Colwall comment, when we were looking there I alway got a feeling that ‘the Establishment’ was everywhere.
There is a little shop in WM in the SugarLoaf Cafe I think. I may get get a bigger freezer and stock up on UHT milk 😉

Have a lovely day Florry! We have a spring in our garden too, but it is far enough away from the house not to worry, thankfully.

You only get snowed in once before you learn to stock up. I found that out the hard way!

You might want to have a look at the new walls outside the entrance to the Splash, by the park in town - they have just been done by a local landscaping company - they might be worth having a chat to about your garden/steps.

The Sugarloaf Cafe in West Malvern is fab and also sells a great range of local produce, eggs etc plus some lovely books about the Malvern area.

If you need a stonemason, OP, PM me - we have used a great local firm to replace some of the stone mullions on our windows that had suffered by long-term exposure to the sun and the winds that come across to West Malvern from lovely Herefordshire.