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

I love Colwall.

However we have friends there who say it's boring and full of old people! They're 30s. They're moving back to Malvern!

DH and I are baffled as we love the quiet. It has a nice cafe, a Thai (bloody love that place) and a village store. Also it's got a good primary.

Also, no matter which part you live, Link, GM, West Malvern or the other popular area Barnards Green, your postal address will trial just Malvern so no big differences.

Thanks everyone. We're mid 50's so we probably count as old 😁 our children are both early 20's and have left/leaving home so don't have to think about schools this time We will have a busy Friday this week looking at houses in all those locations I hope.

Malvern and Colwall are lovely. Train station in Malvern , good theatre/cinema and Waitrose. Lovely countryside, great coffee shops and a good range of shops. Lots going on and great countryside. Colwall is lovely too but less accessible.

NC for Anonymity.

Hiya, I currently live in Kington, although not directly in the village. There isn't really a lot here to be honest but there are some lovely hamlets nearby.
What kind of thing are you after with your new village?
I've read a lot of people have said about hereford being quite a drive away but it's about 20 miles from Kington and takes me about 20-25 mins to get into town (where I work)I've never found traffic to be that bad, at least no worse than other cities. Obviously at peak times it gets busy, but I have found that traffic going out into the Kington direction is fine.
If you're after a village type place with a good pub/shop etc have you looked into Eardisley/Weobley/Almeley? Lovely villages with countryside walks.

@janex1 if you want to pm me I'd happily advise you on areas of houses you might be looking at.

There are a few 'avoid' areas

Hi OP, I know Ledbury, Malvern and Kington very well having lived in all three. I agree with the positive comments about Malvern but would always opt for Great Malvern or West Malvern rather than the Link, although as a PP says, there are some lovely houses in the avenues around the Link railway station.

West Malvern is gorgeous and has a genuine community atmosphere with the most amazing views over Herefordshire countryside. A huge plus is that it also gets the best of the sunlight whereas some parts of Malvern are in the shadow of the glorious hills for much of the day.

Have you considered Ross-on-Wye? For me it is the most perfect market town with fantastic places to eat both in the town itself and in the surrounding countryside with some wonderful pubs, plus it has a great community vibe and an excellent range of indie and mainstream shops. It's got excellent access to the motorway system via the M50 but you do have to go to Hereford or Gloucester for a train (20 mins from both) as very sadly Dr Beeching took his axe to Ross's station. Ross has some gorgeous houses and has something about it that is hard to define but is fab!

Thank you starlightbarking. Will definitely look in those areas. We really like Ross but it is that bit more expensive. Will see what the next few days bring 🙂

whereas some parts of Malvern are in the shadow of the glorious hills for much of the day.
I hope you didn't gloss over this bit, OP. They are big hills that cast big shadows! The Hereford side of the hills don't have this problem and have fantastic views.

Hi again, OP - Colwall has a station which has direct trains to London, Birmingham etc. It survived the Beeching Cuts as a very senior politician lived in the village at the time. Some of my family live there and love it but my preference remains Malvern, Ledbury or Ross.

Keep us updated - you are moving to a gorgeous part of the country. That said, Ludlow and Shrewsbury are fab too.

@Thestarlightbarking you're not wrong about West Malvern. See below for the sunset view from my house a few days ago.

No shadow issues in Malvern Link though, too far down. My mum lives there and she has great views up to the hills.

@janex1

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!

I like Colwall but not a fan of Malvern link - it lacks charm or character compared to the rest of Malvern. Its also set down at the bottom of the hill so somethings feel a bit oppressive with the Malverns behind it. Colwall is attractive with train line but lack the wider range of facilities.

@Shadowboy Colwall is also the bottom of the hill, just the other side! Agree it's nice though.

I wouldn't be too hard on Malvern Link, Great Malvern is lovely yes, and I wouldn't want to live in the Link further down ear the Royals, but much of it is pretty nice, and you can walk to the common then down Graham Road to Great Malvern fairly swiftly.

You would need a bigger budget in Great Malvern and I'm not sure you gain that much.

Crickhowell is your answer . They won High street of the year in 2018 .
It is in Wales but not far from the borders and it is absolutely beautiful there.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-high-street-named-best-15422510

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74686092#/
Can confirm this is beautiful not my property lol

[quote Mrsmadevans]Crickhowell is your answer . They won High street of the year in 2018 .
It is in Wales but not far from the borders and it is absolutely beautiful there.
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-high-street-named-best-15422510[/quote]
Crickhowell is a lovely place! Nice high street & I'm assuming good places to eat.

A friend lives in Abergavenny & we went for a walk around there but didn't eat.

Excellent places to eat , it is absolutely the very best place of course l am massively biased having been bred & born there . I have no axe to grind , l don't like there now but it is the most lovely of places just don't buy by the river lol it FLOODS!

Like = Live

@Mrsmadevans

Excellent places to eat , it is absolutely the very best place of course l am massively biased having been bred & born there . I have no axe to grind , l don't like there now but it is the most lovely of places just don't buy by the river lol it FLOODS!

my friend goes quite often to the zero waste shop there & I have heard about the floods! Hopefully sometime in the next year I'll be able to make a visit to the resuarants.

One of my absolutes when buying a house was not being by a river.

Definitely
The Bear hotel, The Angel , The Walnut Tree. Gliffaes , Gwernvale Manor, The Rectory, The Dragon, Vamos for a naice cuppa there are so so many

You've all made me want to explore Ledbury and The Malverns

OP any updates?

Hi all
No updates yet as we are viewing more houses next week as I have a week off work. Will let you know how we get on. Your responses have been really helpful. I am so pleased I asked for your thoughts. Will keep you posted.

Good luck OP.
Visited Ledbury and Malvern when we lived in the Cotswolds and really liked both and actually preferred them to where we lived..a good choice if you want to be in that part of the country.

...update?