does this place exist?

[gingerhills]

DC have grown up and DH is retired so we can now move away from the expensive London commuter village we've lived in for years.

We are prepared to move anywhere in England, pretty much, if we can find these things:

4 bed house with large garden for £650k or less

on the outskirts of a small town/big busy village as DH insists on having rural views and I insist on being walking distance from centre

town with lots of life - theatres, cinema, swimming pool, market and loads of community stuff going on

Not too cliquey - not too 'you have to be born here to belong here'

Ideally not Tory heartland. Diverse, bit left wing/arty eccentric.

ideally not more than 2 hours from London as we still have lots of friends there and I still have work meetings there a couple of times a month.

Does this place exist?

From your ' want list ' how about looking in Oxfordshire / Wiltshire ?

I've looked @Sunnyday321and anything that isn't a chicken shack costs more than it's worth. I love the North Wiltshire landscape but not going to pay prices.

Yes! South Manchester. Maybe a bit further on a train (2.5 hours) but apparently the HS2 is coming so possibly quicker in the future.
Has everything you want I think.

@Sunnyday321

From your ' want list ' how about looking in Oxfordshire / Wiltshire ?

Isn't Oxfordshire way out of our price zone?

Happy to look in Wiltshire or Manchester - family connections to both.

I struggle to understand the "not a Tory area" preference. If you take the safest Tory seat in England (South Holland and the Deepings), the Conservative candidate took 69.9% of all votes. That means that there are still 11,841 people who voted, who are not Conservative - and 39,601 adults who didn't vote Conservative at the last election. I'm sure you could probably find a few friends from amongst them. And that's without discussing the idea of being able to get on with people even if they don't vote the same way as you. Churchill and Atlee managed it!

Solihull or its villages? My local station is a 7 minute walk from my house and I’m in London Marylebone within 95 minutes (I’m in Dorridge).

I'd consider the Midlands, Moseley, Harbourne, Edgbaston, Bourneville all lovely areas

@clairethewitch70

What about Wales? Labour heartlands. Places like Machen or Rudry etc

OP said England.

Yes, I'd not feel comfortable moving to Wales. I'm not sure the Welsh want English moving in, raising their house prices and I don't blame them.

Leamington (a very marginal constituency, which makes elections half interesting, currently Labour) and surrounds ticks your boxes. Close to Birmingham for big theatre stuff, but has a fair amount itself, plus Warwick Arts Centre. One of very few places outside London to have returned a strong Remain vote too (I know that's irrelevant now, but gives an idea of voter type if that's important to you).

It's adjacent to Tory strongholds, but I think that's largely driven by the average age - you wouldn't get a sense of that from the younger population.

Chesterfield area. www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/59771990/
Darwen near Blackburn, countryside and city links, www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/60557857/
Bury, Greater Manchester. www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/59756035/

All more than two hours from London but near enough to towns/cities with theatres, shops, trains that go south..

Malvern fits everything other than the non Tory element. It’s 2 hours by train to London. Beautiful area as it’s an AONB and a SSSI and lovely range of shops and a thriving theatre. It’s quite arty with lots of galleries and there are lots of clubs and groups.

We have friends in Telford , we visited them and there are some beautiful villages around the outside that you can get a massive house with land for that price . We are tempted !

Holmfirth, West Yorks. You'd have to drive to Wakefield to get the train to London (under two hours). But the town is fab with lots going on. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116882729?utmcampaign=property-details&utmmcontent=buying&utmmedium=sharing&utmmsource=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Malvern hits a lot of your criteria. Direct train to London, although it's longer than 2 hours.

Oh good call eatglass, holmfirth is lovely

I would second Lewes. Theatre, artsy, markets, tons of things going on for a small place, South Downs on the doorstep and surrounded by pretty villages. Brighton not far away (but far enough!). Just over an hour or so to Victoria.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111761189

This is a lovely house in Lewes.

@gingerhills

Yes, I'd not feel comfortable moving to Wales. I'm not sure the Welsh want English moving in, raising their house prices and I don't blame them.

At least somebody acknowledges this luckily we bought prior to the bridge tolls being scrapped so have benefitted, but the formerly cheap valleys' houses around here have gone up by about 30% in the past few years. Madness!

If you were putting that aside however, Penarth would definitely fit your bill.

@Shadowboy

Malvern fits everything other than the non Tory element. It’s 2 hours by train to London. Beautiful area as it’s an AONB and a SSSI and lovely range of shops and a thriving theatre. It’s quite arty with lots of galleries and there are lots of clubs and groups.

I live quite local to Malvern and second this. We often go there for the theatre (which is amazing) and events like the free 'Brass Bands in the Park' Sunday afternoons in summer, which is such a lovely family occasion, kids playing in the park while people bring chairs and picnics.

There's a huge Waitrose, a good library, lots of small shops and cafés. OUTSTANDING views all round. Good trains to London, Oxford etc.

DH and I have considered moving there, it has a rather other-wordly feel which I love (there's even a Narnia lamppost in the theatre grounds - C S Lewis spent a lot of time here) but the only thing is, it IS hilly! We're not getting any younger (me 60s, DH 80).

@steppemum

There are pockets even within Tory heartland

How about Stroud?
2 hours to London on train.
I have no idea of house prices though.
Fits with your lefty/arty/eccentric vibe

Yes I was going to suggest Stroud. Lots going on there. There is a cinema but no theatre. You could travel to Bath for that. It’s very left wing and very scenic. However you might struggle to find a four bedroom with large garden for your budget. You’d have to compromise on something.

Also agree about Malvern. It’s lovely and has all you need.

@Sacada

The thing is you are describing classic middle-class conservative (with a small c) England. Who do you think keeps farmers’ markets, theatres etc going? Exactly.

I do wonder OP - are you going to be actively participating/volunteering in this local life/culture? If not people doing it for free it needs to be commercially viable, which needs disposable income.

Sherborne?

2 hrs into London on train
2 swimming pools
Has theatres although all amateur
Amazing markets
Lots of community stuff
15 minute drive to a cinema

Something like this (needs a bit of work) has rural views but walkable to centre:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116426462#/?channel=RES_BUY