Moving to Ledbury or Kington

[janex1]

Hi all- does anyone know or live in either of these towns- house hunting tomorrow! Is there anything we should know? We know Ludlow and Shrewsbury but these towns are new to us. Many thanks

Why are you looking there specifically?
What kind of things do you want to know?

I know of both towns..
Ledbury - Market Town fairly out of the way although not too far from Worcester or Hereford.

Kington is another market town & more "out of the way" than Ledbury. Used to have a delivery stop there. So only really ever drove through it. Leominster is the nearest town and its not got a great reputation.

Name changed because I grew up in Ledbury (I lived in Leominster for a while too and I loved it, CaptainCarp).

Anyway, what do you want to know about Ledbury OP?

I only know Ledbury. It’s a pretty town but full of retired people who are connected to hide bound institutions. The church is very important. It’s all a bit dull I think.

Hi many thanks for responding. We live in Bedfordshire Trying to get a feel if these are friendly places to live. Children leaving home so we are no longer school dependent We would love a town that had some good pubs)food and a high street that is good to spend some time in.

@GoLightlyontheEarth

I only know Ledbury. It’s a pretty town but full of retired people who are connected to hide bound institutions. The church is very important. It’s all a bit dull I think.

That's weird. The few people I know in Ledbury (all unconnected with each other, so not a small enclave) are writers and musicians. Not churchy or institution bound or dull at all.

DH grew up in Kington, or actually on Bradnor Hill just outside the town and both his parents taught at the school there, Lady Hawkins School.
I first saw the town in 1974 and it looked like it was still in the 1930s. I last saw it in 2008 when MIL moved away, and it still looked like something out of the 30s. DH couldn't get away from it fast enough, but his parents managed to tolerate it for 50 years, so it must have had something.
There is lovely country around there - Bradnor Hill is owned by the National Trust & Hergest Ridge is nearby -it inspired Mike Oldfield's second album & he lived on Bradnor Hill for a couple of years in the 70s (and shared a phone party line with DH's parents)

I'm from Ledbury although don't live there now.

It's a nice town, but it depends on what you want really. It's quiet and safe and in the lovely countryside. I always found it annoying that to go anywhere interesting or even to bigger shops you need to travel 30 mins away.

If you want good jobs you usually have to travel outside of the town, 20-40 mins or so to Malvern, Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester or Cheltenham. And even then they never seemed that highly paid.
There's not much to do and public transport isn't great, although there is a train station.
The primary school is good, and I think the secondary still has a good reputation. There is not much for teens to do so keep that in mind.
The town is also expanding pretty quickly with lots of houses being planned, but apparently, they're not really putting in more services like doctors surgeries etc, so it'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

Just seen your reply.

There are some good restaurants in Ledbury from what I've heard (I never really ate out in the town) and quite a few pubs, although after covid who knows how many will reopen.
It has a lovely high street with independent shops too.
There's also a poetry festival every year if that's your idea of fun.
There's a facebook group called Voice Of Ledbury if you want to see what the locals are arguing about now :)

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. Will see what tomorrow brings when we visit both.

Ledbury is quite a big town, bigger than Kington. There are some retired people but it’s a normal age range, not an old people’s enclave. The primary and high schools are big, for Herefordshire.

It does have a lovely church.

There has always been a lot of building in that area because it’s the only part of the county close to the motorway system.

I don’t know what your idea of a fun high street is OP, and I haven’t been back for years, but it used to be quite lively (in a good way) when I lived there. No idea what restaurants and things there are these days, but there were lots of pubs on a varying scale of naice to mainly-catering-for-those-who’ve-been-barred-from-all-the-other-pubs.

Kington has a very aged population, it's a very small village, everyone knows everyone type of place. The nearest towns are Leominster (depressing) and Hereford (awful traffic). Really bad public transport links, but beautiful countryside around you and very peaceful. There's a Friday market and a community FB page that's surprisingly busy. Kington has lots of pubs, most serve okay food.

I know Kington well as a family member grew up and still lives there and we stayed with them for a long while very recently so if you have any specific questions feel free to PM.

Ledbury, for me, is a nicer, friendlier town, and Cheltenham isn't too far to drive to for a large town to spend the day in. This is reflected in the house prices though. Better transport links and shops/restaurants.

Ledbury is beautiful and full of independent stores (at least pre COVID) it has a train station that pretty much gets you anywhere and it has good school. Ledbury to Worcester is about 25min and Hereford the same. Malvern is about 15 min away with great walks.

It has a pool, gear independent wine/cider store with amazing unheard off wines from around the world. Great restaurants and a map shop! It’s quite gentrified actually. I don’t know Kington but I live about 25 min away and the general area has beautiful scenery but far less connected.

I live in Malvern which is a stones throw from Ledbury - do I can't say what living there is truly like but can say we got there a LOT. Malvern is nice with independent shops but there is something about Ledbury town, the little shops etc that I just love.

There is definitely a buzz to the place. Especially compared to somewhere like Bromyard which is also a small Herefordshire town and has the Hot Fuzz / 'are you local?' vibe.

Ledbury is on the train line to Worcester AND Hereford, both great places in their own right.

DS goes to a primary school just over the border in Herefordshire and it's great - feeds into John Masefield at Ledbury which is where I hope he will go later.

There's always something going on in Ledbury too. I was tempted to relocate there but as my parents just moved to Malvern to be by me I decided not to for that reason.

Anyway OP, how did it go?

I've read the thread properly now.

Everywhere has retired people! Ledbury and Malvern are maybe a retiree magnet because of the beautiful location.

Some nice pubs in Ledbury (apparently Bez from the Happy Mondays has a relation in Ledbury and be found in The Feathers from time to time!), best Indian I have ever been to is also in Ledbury - Sitara, and the best shop in the world - Hus and Hem 😍

DS goes to swimming lessons in Ledbury (pre-Covid), far better than the offering in Malvern.

Of course things may change post Covid but imho Ledbury is the kind of place that will bounce back. It has passing traffic which keeps the high street alive with the independent shops.

This part of the world has the country vibe but is also well connected to 'civilisation'.

Hello everyone. Thanks for all the replies. It is incredibly helpful. We have put an offer in on a house in ledbury. We haven't heard back yet but fingers crossed for tomorrow 🤞

Good to hear OP- am glad you chose Ledbury!

I was thinking of you earlier when I popped to Ledbury Aldi

Keep us posted!

Congratulations OP! I think you made the right decision town-wise as well

Definitely Ledbury over Kington.

Thanks everyone We are still waiting to hear if our offer had been accepted (nervous times 🙂)

I'd live in Presteigne over Kington (15 minutes from Kington into Wales) but Ledbury is lovely - indie bookshops, good restaurants and a thriving high street and on the way to Malvern for walks. Fingers crossed for your offer, OP.

No luck with our offer unfortunately. We will carry on with the search ! Thanks everyone 👍

What a shame OP.

Will you stick to Ledbury?

As we are back on the house hunt does anyone have any thoughts on Malvern link as apposed to Malvern. Is there a specific different between the two? Apologies for all the questions.

Apologies greengrey I didn't see your question- we may not be able to stick with Ledbury so we are looking at Malvern/Malvern link and maybe Colwall too. We don't know any of them though!

Im in Malvern so ask me anything you like.

Malvern Link is more affordable. The shops there are the 'practical' type compare to Great Malvern which has the tea rooms and independent shops etc.

Properties in GM are pricier and mostly period.

Really though it doesn't matter that much which side you live as we lived North Malvern but always went into GM for everything- only go into the Link for Co-op and pharmacy (and the wool shop lol) - if we go out to eat it's usually GM etc

The area by the Link station has some lovely roads and properties.

I'm now West Malvern and love it. It's a 'village' - just one shop! Great views. Pricier than the Link.

My DBro has just moved to the Link with his family to a new build. They're loving it here (moved from Gloucester).

Are schools a consideration?