Worcester. Nice places to live

[OhWifey]

Hello, I started a post on this last year but then the move went cold. Now it’s on again and looking slightly tight for time so I thought I’d start a new one with more specifics.

We’d be really grateful for any tips on great places to live within about a 20 (25 at a push) rush hour drive of Fernhill Heath.

We are used to living semi rurally with a great bus service into our nearest city and we think we want to replicate that. However we’d definitely consider more rural, or the edge of a town as long as there is a feeling of peace and space.

We are looking for 4 bedrooms or three and an annexe as it’s really important to have good quality space for guests. We also need work from home space.

Definitely detached with a good garden, and space to work from home. We’d like to stick around £500-550k but could go to £650k if all boxes are fully ticked.

Please could you suggest to me where you’d live if you had the above parameters? I’ve seen houses I like in Abberley, Upton Snodsbury and Hartlebury.

We’d definitely want to steer well clear of flood risk areas and we are very open to new build as well as older properties.
Schools are not relevant.

We will be ready to start viewings next week!
Thanks so much for your help.

Pershore and Malvern will be too far from Fernhill Heath at rush hour.

Claines, Bevere and Northwick in north Worcester are nice or Battenhall would be the other area of Worcester to consider. Ombersley is lovely.
There are some villages between Fernhill Heath and Droitwich eg Salwarpe area but fairly rural in terms of amenities, Hadley has a decent pub.
There’s the other side of the M5, Upton Snodsbury, Crowle, Tibberton, Himbleton etc. all quite different but lively villages. Bus availability varies though and Himbleton can flood badly in places.

Other options with a 3 year old are feeding the swans by the river, the cathedral, Gheluvelt park and Droitwich park.

Bewdley is lovely but suffers badly from flooding. They improved defences on the west bank ... which means that now the east bank gets it

There is plenty of Bewdley that doesn't get flooded. It really is only the places on the riverbank.

Ombersley, Abberley, Great Whitley are all gorgeous villages with schools, cafes/shops, pubs and lots of community activities. Upton snodsbuy is lovely but a bit of a commuter village. Nothing going on there. Hallow is also nice and has good bus links but not sure how much goes on there. Crowle is nice but really expensive! Lovely pubs there.

I love the Pershore area. Pershore has a train station and buses to Worcester etc. It is a bad area for flooding though.

Malvern I believe is a bit of a dump, have drive everywhere and drugged up teens lottering

It’s really not a dump, no. It has an independent cinema/theatre which gets a lot of shows from London. Concerts, stand up comedians etc. It has a Waitrose. Lots of clubs and things going on. Interesting mix of people and great walking. It also has a train station. It’s lovely.

Malvern is beautiful!

Well it sounds like it’s changed beyond recognition since I was last there then

Malvern a bit of a dump? Are you feeling ok?

I suppose it depends what you’re used to/comparing it to 🤷‍♀️

@Nothappyatwork

I suppose it depends what you’re used to/comparing it to 🤷‍♀️

What are you used to/comparing it to?

If you're looking for something to do with a 3 year old then Little Owl Farm Park is great.

And it's only a 10 min or so drive from Fermhill Heath.

You can't really go wrong with most places to he honest, especially if it's I'm a village.

Personal preference I would stay relatively close to Worcrster and it is a great city to bring up kids (in my opinion).

Thanks all. I think we will view some new builds in Drakes Broughton and Upton Snodsbury. Maybe a house I've seen in Hartlebury but we are not yet proceedable so I don't know if they'll let us. Will ring round agents. Will also do a drive round Abberley area as it looks stunning.
Visiting all the small person friendly places you've recommended will hopefully get us a good idea of the area too.

Drakes Broughton has a fantastic new play area too.

Will also do a drive round Abberley area as it looks stunning.
Fabulous countryside. There is an English Heritage property nearby - Witley Court. The church (normal ecclesiastical access, not part of the EH property) right next door styles itself as Britain's finest baroque church. Shrawley Wood is nice for a walk.