Moving from London to Midlands - where do we go?!

[RoseR124]

Hello!

We are moving to the midlands in July from South West London for my husband’s job. We have a 3 year old and 1 year old. Where should we go?! We have family in West Midlands but not sure it’s the place we want to be. Has anybody done the move/research and recommend anywhere. I like Warwickshire but not sure if there are other places we should explore? Looking for somewhere that has walkable local amenities and has a bit of a London feel.

Thank you!

I'm assuing East Mids is too far for your DH job, but most London-like is West Bridgeford in Nottimgham, many ex-londoners there, obviously I mean nothing like Central London (and nowhere is) but something like Dulwich etc. Easy for the Nottingham station from there. I've no idea about commuting by car to W.Mids though.

Moseley in Birm also nice but smaller - to me it's not great due to the lack of a train station, I took a bus there from the centre and it took quite a while in traffic. Agree that Leamington is better, and well-connected.

Hmmm, I've done this move to a small village and I'm not happy at all. The fields are beautiful but I'm bored of them now. I don't find anywhere like London, Leamington Spa is nice, I wish I was a little nearer, I love popping to Broadway to feel more me. I think that Village life is very dull compared to london. I find people just stay in on their own, I've really struggled socially as no-one seems to have parties or gatherings (pre covid, the pandemic obvs made it worse). Maybe you are less social and you do have family here which would help. Choose wisely! I'm moving ASAP. I'm actually going to visit some of the suggestions on this thread to see what they're like as I've not been to some!

Knowle

We live in Knowle and we love it. Local schools are great, both primary and secondary. Train from Dorridge into Brum in 15/20 mins, train to London in 1hr 30, or 1hr 10 from International. Solihull is less than 10 mins drive, also close to towns in Warwickshire. Some good independents & lovely country walks, but definitely nothing like London at all. Commute to W Brom wouldn't be great but is do-able! Property market is hot here at the mo but £750,000 will get you something like this - Station Road, Knowle
www.rightmove.co.uk/property/91068517

I've also lived in Moseley and Harborne - more of a London feel and closer in distance to Birmingham, but transport not so good as it's bus rather than train into the centre. Having said that they will be opening the train line to Moseley again & this is planned by 2022. Good luck with the move. I'm not from the West Mids but I love it here now and can't imagine we'll ever move anywhere else!

My sister works in West Brom and commutes (pre-Covid but will be back) from Malvern which is a lovely place but no London vibe!

Wrist Brom itself is grim.

If you want a London 'Buzz' then as PP said Harborne or Mosley in Birmingham are good shouts. Just be care which side of the Hagley Road if you go for Edgbaston - north side is quite grim/red light.

Personally I really like Bournville. The houses there are lovely and they have good schools.

If you'd like to try more of a v(big) village with amenities what about Kinver or Wombourne. Not too far a commute to West Brom from those and they are more like small towns than villages tbh.

As others have said Sutton Coldfield is a nice desirable area. DH works in Birmingham and all of the higher earners seem to live in Four Oaks or Aldridge. I've only ever visited myself. I have a real aversion of anything immediately north of Birmingham for no real reason.

I grew up in Knowle and went to 6th Form in Solihull (Arden only went up to Yr 11 back then). I wouldn't particularly recommend either. Knowle is more of a small town than a village really and Solihull is the worst of a soulless and yet snobby provincial town.

We moved out of London 3 years ago, not to the Midlands in the end but to Kent. Midlands was a possibility though. We would have either gone into Birmingham or to a smaller village in Warks. Warwick itself possibly too.

Just to second the others; Harbourne or Leamington spa will suit you nicely. Leamington in particular has brilliant parks and good schools. Harbourne will give you the city feel and both places have good transport links. I like Solihull (its incredibly convenient for shopping), but I think you will find it too small after London.

I was going to say West Bridgford as I've lived here years after moving from Bromley for uni and never returned, but sounds like you need West Midlands. Leamington spa was my first thought too for WM, Harbourne is nice but very central - some lovely leafy streets though

If it’s the side of West Brom near the station, it will make life much easier. I drove from Stourbridge to West Brom for two years and hated it, found it really rough going. Also did castle Bromwich to West Brom before that and it was slightly better (West Brom and castle Bromwich are nowhere near each other, despite similar names)

This is all so helpful, thank you. We are hoping to start our search next week. Then it’s just looking for nursery and primary schools but may start another post on that :)

I’ve travelled all over the world. I really don’t understand why people try to grasp onto London so much, as if it’s Shangri La. There is life beyond it you know and we are all very civilised too.

If you’ve family in Sutton then why don’t you look at Lichfield? It’s not Londonesque but great in its own way and you’d get a lovely house for the budget. Plus it’s only 1hr 10 on the train back to London and you can get into Birmingham easily enough too.

I think Harborne/Moseley is what you'd be looking for

Definitely Solihull OP. I live in Dorridge, Solihull and I love it here.
Dorridge is a small village in Solihull but has lots going on. We have an hourly service from our local station to London which is about an hour and forty minutes. Solihull has excellent restaurants and shops. Alas it doesn’t feel like London but it is such a wonderful place to live. There isn’t really anywhere in the West Midlands that feels like London imo. Birmingham has a very different vibe to London.