Moving to Gloucestershire or Dorset

[StephOD]

Hi everyone, we are looking to move West from Hampshire so we can expand our family. I'm needing some help with areas. I would like to be just outside a small town. Ideally the town would have a market, independent shops, cinema or theatre and a few chains. Looking for somewhere close to transport links to London, with a good family community feel. We are looking at Gloucestershire/ Cotswolds and also Dorset. Considering Stroud, Frampton, Shaftesbury, Frome but would love your thoughts and other suggestions as our search area is huge!

I meant to add, ideally we would be somewhere that has a bit more of a down to earth feel rather than very posh/conservative.

Gloucestershire is very blue these days but Stroud is very hippy dippy labour/green, I think it went blue mostly because of the other parts of the constituency. It's a nice place but it is awkward to navigate and quite expensive for the quality of houses. Lots and lots of villages around it though of you fancy anything slightly more rural.

Wimborne's nice. Or Wareham or Shaftesbury.

I wouldn't recommend Stroud, to be frank, it just isn't very nice.
Dorset's lovely.

Dorchester? Or Sherborne?

I stayed in a friends house in Frome for 2 months this summer, really enjoyed it, it's a good mix of independent shops, bars restaurants, independent cinema etc, quite arty, but it is very mixed, lots of pretty houses but also estates.
You can get the train to London (don't know how long it takes) but also train to Bath/Bristol.
Only downside for me as it felt quite a long drive to main roads if you wanted to go somewhere by car (ie A303 M3 M4).

My family live in Wiltshire, I always found the Cotswolds a bit posh for me, I love Dorset but parts are again a long way away, no motorways in Dorset ( but maybe that's good).

Thank you all for the advice. Really interesting to hear all that info about Frome. Can anyone tell me a bit more about Dorchester, Wimborne, Sherborne and Wareham? Schools, community feel,green spaces, theatre/arts etc

I really like Dorchester - good schools, big enough for stuff going on and not too far from the coast... well connected (for dorset) - and a mix of 'naice' and real.....
Wareham seems a lot smaller but is nearer swanage :) but also nearer bournemouth which is more of a 'city'
Wimborne I think is even smaller ...Sherborne is pretty but miles from anywhere ! seemed quite an older population in the main bit and a more 'rural' Conservative vibe - not sure what the 2 public schools do to the character... although there seemed a lot of commuity leafleats in the Sainsburys...
Think I would pick Dorchester above Wareham if you dont want a connx to the city..

I think Stroud is nice, lots of independent shops and festivals. A lot going on but yes, bit hippy-dippy and very arty. Countryside around is beautiful. Nailsworth is lovely (bit smaller).

Not a lot in Shaftesbury or Sherborne from your list and quite a trip for decent cinema/theatre. Frampton is a hole. Stroud and frome have better connections for London. Wareham and Wimborne decent connections too and commutable to Poole/Bournemouth for Cinema and Theatre.

Wimborne has a small theatre which doubles as a cinema but bigger ones in Bournemouth/Poole/Southampton. Easy access to Bournemouth, Salisbury, Dorchester, Southampton,New Forest and beach. Some of the DC go to the Grammars in Poole /Bournemouth if that's your thing and Brock College for 6th form.

It is quite Conservative but lots aren't.

Stroud and Frome both too hippy for me.

I'm desperate to move to the south west but it is too far from family. If we did my first choice would be Bristol.

Have you looked at Cirencester? V nice town. Trains from Kemble are do-able although I wouldn't want to do it every day.

I live between Weymouth and Dorchester and feel I have the best of both worlds! It is on the train line with South West train line going to London Waterloo and Great Western Trains going to Bath, Bristol, Gloucester etc. The local train stations are Weymouth, Upwey - free station parking, Dorchester South and Dorchester West.

There is a thriving large outside and partially covered market every Wednesday in Dorchester opposite Brewery Square.

Shopping in both towns has been badly affected in the economic downturn with stores closing down and too many charity shops...but there is a mix of chain and independent shops...Dorchester has ‘naice’ shops like Phase 8, Joules, Crew, some posh art gallery shops and a nice department store (in two locations) called Goulds with their garden centre in Weymouth. Also shops like Fatface...sadly Laura Ashley recently closed. I love the old Curiosity warehouse selling antiques/recycled items on the outskirts of town.

Obviously this year has been a disaster for the arts but Dorchester does usually have a thriving arts scene, not just in the town eg. The Corn Exchange but in the surrounding villages.

www.dorchesterarts.org.uk

Dorset & South West: www.artuk.org

www.sculpturebythelakes.co.uk (beautiful)

Dorchester also has an Odeon and a lovely independent cinema:

www.plazadorchester.com

Weymouth has the Pavilion Theatre (great for pantomimes!) and a Cineworld cinema. Lots of festivals in the Summer eg. The Nyetimber Seafood Festival (cancelled this year), fireworks on the beach (not this year) and apparently the huge carnival is due to return in 2021. Lulworth is only a 25 minute drive away where Camp Bestival is held. Sadly all the country shows were cancelled this year.

www.dorsetseafood.co.uk

www.weymouthpavilion.com

www.visit-Dorset.com

The National Trust has places in the local area eg. The Hardy Monument, Thomas Hardy house (Max Gate) and the Thomas Hardy cottage plus of course the coast...Ringstead Bay and the cliffside walks on the south west coastal path. Around here it is designated an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).

I don’t have kids in schools but I understand that the Thomas Hardye school (state school) in Dorchester is excellent and there is a bus from Weymouth which goes there. There is also a Catholic school in Dorchester which has pupils from Weymouth.

Property prices are relatively cheap here (unless you want a property adjacent to the sea!) compared to Hampshire....indeed my in-laws are moving here from Yateley in Hants.

Good luck with your search!

Here’s another couple of links, @StephOD:

www.dorchesterdorset.com

www.love-weymouth.co.uk

The distance between the two town centres is 8 miles

Crewkerne and chard would be worth s look.

Depends on how near a station/townyou need to be but have you considered very west Dorset?
There is a direct line from crewkerne to Waterloo (2hr 30mins) which is just over the border (10mins)in Somerset. Consider mosterton/Beaminster/bridport?
The train line also runs directly to Exeter the other way if you want small city shopping.
Main near towns would be Dorchester weymouth or Yeovil all 20-30mins in the car.

Thank you all for the advice. Really interesting to hear all that info about Frome. Can anyone tell me a bit more about Dorchester, Wimborne, Sherborne

Sherborne is a really lovely, pretty town, but it's very small. Weirdly, it's a difficult town to go for a walk in at night because it's surrounded by roads without footpaths ... which would only bother you if you're the sort of person who likes to go for walks at night. I considered living there, but discounted it for that reason, though.

I wouldn't recommend Stroud either.
Considering your needs you really need to be handy for the bigger towns. A lot of the smaller market towns don't have the facilities you require. How about places like Cricklade and Lechlade? Lovely towns, but not far from Swindon for all the entertainment you could want, plus a station.

My dad was scared of Stroud. Said it was creepy. I grew up about 10 miles out and we'd avoid it as teens as it was weird

I live in South Glos now - lovely and close to Bristol so my dds won't suffer the hideous rural boredom I did but still pretty quiet and green. Super connected in terms of motorway and rail.

Sherborne is pretty but miles from anywhere

I don't think so - and it's very pleasant driving around that area. It's only about ten minutes to Yeovil (a much bigger town than Sherborne) on the dual carriageway. The drive to Dorchester from Sherborne is lovely.

Lots of the villages / market towns around Stroud are really lovely, although I'd personally avoid Stroud itself. Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Painswick are all great market towns with shops, cafes, pubs and other amenities and all only around 3 miles from Stroud so give you the best of both worlds. Both the primary and secondary schools in the area are excellent.

The drive to Dorchester from Sherborne is lovely.

Though not always in winter.

I would say Dorchester. It has thriving markets, cinema, good leisure centre, decent range of shops and really easy access to the coast. Good park too if your kids are climbing frame age. Definitely down to earth, but not rough.

@Pinotpleasure we go to the Dorchester Curiosity Centre whenever we have nothing else to do. It's called The Looking Shop in our house, named by DS when he was about 4 because we went so often 'for a look'.