Moving to north Wales/English borders - areas to look at, secondary schools - help needed!

[Dappled]

I posted recently because we were pondering a family move to either the Chester area or Clitheroe in Lancashire. Clitheroe has been ruled out, largely because of the job itself. Chester area still in the running as a possibility.
Several people on the original thread recommended looking over the border into Wales for affordability. My dh has Welsh roots on both sides of his family and family in North Wales and we have always hoped we might be able to move there one day so this does appeal.
We would be happy either over the border into Wales or in England close to the border. I'm not sure currently what we will be able to afford but I'm certain it's less than we'd ideally like and will be a downsize for us (as we are currently in partly work-funded accommodation). The whole family would prefer to be more rural than we currently are (we are in a city). But a village or edge of a small town near to walks and countryside would be fine. Names of villages that we could begin to focus our search around would be great. I've been told that some of the Welsh towns in that area are quite deprived, although I don't know them myself. If anyone has any suggestions of locations within this area that we could focus our search on I'd really appreciate it - my dh could work partly from home but would need to get to Chester at least once a week plus some travel within the region - incl. as far as Wigan once a week, so I'm just not sure if this kind of commute is realistic. It would be good to know how snarled up the roads get. (he could mainly avoid rush hour).
I've just gone through the process of applying for secondary school places for our daughter (yr 6, due to go to secondary school next Sept) so this is a bit of a rubbish time to be thinking of moving really, before coronavirus hit we had been hoping to do it before the school application deadlines. I'm finding it more difficult to find out info about schools in Wales and I don't know how much of a nightmare it would be finding a school place given that we have missed the deadlines - if it felt like it would be really hard to get her into a decent school nearish to where we were living I think we will just abandon the idea of the move - we are near a very good school where we currently live and moved to our current house largely because of it, so although we won't know until March whether she has a place there I'm nervous about throwing it all away for something totally unknown.
It would be really good to know in general whether schools in the region are oversubscribed or not. I'm finding it harder to find out info about school performance - e.g. the performance tables for a region - than I have done for our current area, but maybe I just haven't found the right websites. If anyone can point me in the direction of online info about exam results etc that'd be great. Obviously, exam results aren't everything so if anyone has specific recommendation for school within this region I'd really welcome it (my ds is primary age so we will be needing a primary place as well as secondary).
Also re. schools of course there is the language to consider if we do go over the border into Wales. My dh's parents were fluent in Welsh but unfortunately he grew up in an era where many people were not passing it on to their children. He's always regretted this. We'd love the children to learn Welsh but we would definitely have to look at an English-medium school as my dh only has very basic Welsh and none of the rest of us have more than a few words.
thanks

Rossett is nice and Llai.

I'd definitely limit myself to somewhere that has a pronounceable name.
I've househunted there and ruled out some places because I couldn't stand the mangled names.

Thanks everyone, loads to think about here.
@MikeUniformMike hard-to-pronounce maybe, but a bit steep to call a Welsh place name mangled just because it's Welsh!!
We gave my DD one of the easiest-to-pronounce (and spell) Welsh names we could think of and yet still everyone in England gets it wrong - much to her irritation. So at least people would be getting her name right if we moved.

Ruthin is a lovely town and I echo the recommendations for Brynhyfryd.

However. Please make sure that you fully understand the differences between the English and Welsh curricula, especially as the the curriculum is about to change. If your daughter is currently year 6 then she will be in the last cohort to do the old curriculum, which will be left ticking over while the teachers’ attention is on planning and delivering the new curriculum.

You need to be looking closer to the border to cut down on commute times. I agree Holt/ Farndon? Marford? Rossett /Gresford are all very nice, but pricey. Mold and the villages around it some of them are very nice. the high school in Mold has a good rep. Hawarden is lovely and again the school is rated highly.

The schools are not bilingual. they have to teach Welsh but as a second language. All lessons are in English. there is a Welsh medium school in Wrexham and one I think near Mold.

Holywell is not great - but there are some fabulous little hamlets in the hills arond there. Holywell school does not have the best rep.

Llangollen is very pretty and the school there does ok exam wise.

Dappled - if you speak Welsh, the pronunciations sound very strange, some quite different.
If you don't know the welsh pronunciation, you won't understand, but mangled sums it up for me.

I suppose an example might be something like Rhuallt (sounds nothing like Roo-alt) and Rhuddlan (it really isn't Rudland).

I'd probably not get at Corwen -it's not Cor-wen but Corr (like in Corrie)-wen.

#i used to work with someone who lived in Kevinny Beth. Took me a while to realise she meant Cefn-y-bedd (kevn uh bathe)

Oswestry is lovely, and just on the A5 so commuting times aren't bad. Surrounding villages also nice, on both sides of the border.

The Marches is rated "Good" by Ofsted and has a well established 6th form, or there's North Shropshire College for more practical courses.

@MikeUniformMike, I don't speak Welsh or properly understand pronunciations, so you're right I wouldn't notice. My DH has talked to me about it before, he knows enough Welsh to 'get' the difference. It does sound like it would add an extra layer of complexity when trying to learn the language We did notice that our North Wales relatives initially insisted that we were pronouncing our DD's name wrong - because we were using the mid/South Wales pronunciation!
@MyKingdomforaNameChange, thanks for that. I hadn't been considering Oswestry as looks too far on the map, but as it's on the A5 actually seems pretty fast.
What are the A5 and A483 like for traffic? We wouldn't have much rush hour commuting, but there would be some - is it a nightmare or ok?

A5 and A483 are not usually bad, I travel them daily and even in rush hour there aren't often queues. Llynclys crossroads can be a pain when there's an accident, it's a bit of a black spot.

I'd guess your daughter to be called Cerys or Eleri, or possibly Siân.
If you are saying it Care-iss/El-airy or Shehn, then you are saying it in a way that is confined to tiny parts of Wales, and would sound strange.

Oswestry is nice. People from around there say I say place names strangely - some of them were ones I'd only ever heard welsh-speakers say. Many places might be just in England but the names originate from Welsh.

or possibly Eira.

Thanks @MyKingdomforaNameChange, that's good to know.
Any particular areas of Oswestry to avoid (or to look at) in terms of housing?

@MikeUniformMike, it's not any of those! I do love the name Eleri though. I don't want to say DD's name because it's unusual in England and DH is in such a niche job that employs so few people nationwide - we can't let it become apparent that he's thinking of leaving just yet. Hence not wanting to give too much identifying info!

Holt/Farndon prices are really expensive!!

I’ve lived and worked in the area for 25 years. The area around Chirk has stunning views but some of the local villages can be a little unwelcoming to outsiders (I’m looking at you Rhosllanerchurugog).

Avoid the Ceriog valley as the roads in winter are terrible.

I think Oswestry, St Martins, Gobowen are all good areas. The town has a market and a mix of independent shops and supermarkets.
It’s isn’t far to Chester I used to commune that daily including a drive through coffee at McDonald’s! You aren’t far from the coast, National Trust properties, major cities like Liverpool and Manchester. All in all North Shropshire/welsh border will give you cheaper house prices and the more rural living you are looking for. Also you wouldn’t have to worry about a different curriculum in Shropshire.

If you are moving nearer to Wrexham area then St Joseph’s, Penley and Darland are probably the best schools but they are oversubscribed.

Depends on your budget, some of the villages are more expensive than others.

I'm Non Welsh and moved to North Wales. I think I remember your other thread.
I second Holt, lovely village and I think in the catchment for Darland. Other schools with good reputations include Castel Alun in Hope and Hawarden High.
I am not as familiar with the villages nearer Oswestry but know a couple of people from down near Chirk/St Martins and I only hear good things. The a483 posthouse roundabout by Chester can be busy at normal commuting times (hard to tell in covid times as definitely quieter) but is normally manageable barring any accidents.

Hawarden, Ewloe, Northop Hall,Northop, Sychdyn, Mold are all great places to live. They are in easy commuting distance to Chester as all are near the A55. Look at the Estyn reports for Welsh schools. Ofsted relates to English schools. There are some lovely villages outside Wrecsam and Chester. My instinct would be to narrow down the secondary schools you prefer and look in that catchment area for houses. The Welsh medium schools are often attended by the children of English speaking parents and they would be given intensive lessons. The rest of the High Schools teach in English. Welsh is mandatory in primary and senior schools ( year7, 8 and 9, I think in the High schools).
Learning another language is always an advantage and really useful if you want to work in some jobs in Wales. Good luck.

In that area of Wales, you definitely want to have a look at the flood risk map as some areas are quite badly affected. Apologies for the length of the link, but this is where you can find the map:

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Have you looked at/ considered anywhere further west? If you’re looking at Llangollen, that’s almost a 40 minute drive to Chester. A fairly large part of the north Wales coast (the bit with easy access to the A55) is just as close to Chester, in terms of the time it would take to travel there.

Also, don’t worry about the pronunciation of place names. Unlike English place names, most Welsh place names are phonetic. So it’s just a case of learning a few simple rules. I’m not a native Welsh speaker, but found it didn’t take me more than two or three Welsh lessons to get my head around the basic rules 🙂

Most of the places in the part of Wales near Chester have English names too.I thought Sychtyn was at some point Soughton, but residents tell me not. It's like Sucktin but with a 'ch' like in loch instead of 'ck'. The welsh names and english names are often quite dissimilar (Northop & Llaneurgain, Mold & Yr Wyddgrug, Hawarden & Penarlâg...).

Some places don't have English names - Babell and Pydew, for example.

It's definitely an advantage to learn a second language.

It is Sychdyn!

Sorry yes Sychdyn.

According to Wiki it was originally Soughton (South Town).
Quite a nice village.
That area is good for commuting to Chester.

Yes, Soughton Hall is between Northop and Sychdyn. I think Michael Owen still owns Little Soughton Hall. The area is full of oak trees and is beautiful. There are good bus links too. The nearest train station is Flint. Mold has a market on Wednesday and Saturday. All of the Deeside area is near to a swimming baths. This is because of the proximity of the river Dee. A form of safeguarding, if you like. There is an ice rink in Queensferry and lots of ballet/ dance/athletics/ football etc opportunities. Theatre Clwyd/ Theatr Cymru has excellent theatre productions too. This is in Mold. If there is anything else you want to know, I will help if I can.

What did you do in the end, OP? We’re moving to North Wales in the next few weeks so am just being nosey!

I came on to say I agree with @noideaatallreally, it all depends on your budget but I would choose Mold Alun or Elfed over that side or Castell Alun/St Joseph’s on Wrexham side, Bishops Hever on the Rossett/Marford side, where are you moving to @Subbaxeo?