Warwickshire move - advice please

[LittleFilly]

Would love advice on a Warwickshire move. We're an international family planning a move to the area after years overseas.

We're looking for a town or village with great schools and a strong sense of community. Beautiful green spaces for outdoor recreation, sports and activities for kids and good coffee / food options are also important to us.

We've mostly lived in cities previously, but seeking more space for our growing family. Would be nice to find somewhere with a metropolitan feel. Ideally welcoming, used to incomers and not excessively-provincial in outlook.

We have three children age 6 and under, so excellent schools are a top priority.

Be grateful for input on the following areas: Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Stratford, Alcester and surrounding villages. Open to as far south as the Cotwolds and as far north as Solihull. Proximity to train links to London would be helpful.

Please do suggest specific villages and reasons for or against particular towns. Any specific school or nursery school recommendations also appreciated. Prior experiences of moving into the area would be great to hear about too.

We know Warwickshire well, but lack a parenting lens on these towns and their suitability for a young family. We want to plan this move eyes open and with a realistic picture of what awaits us.

Thanks very much for your help!

Warwick ticks all your boxes. A fab place to live. Possibly also Kenilworth (although there's less to do in town). Loads of nice villages close by - Barford is big on community, as is Noton Lindsey for example.

Are you planning to buy a house? If so, what's your budget, as that will have a huge bearing on where you can go.

They are all fine really. I'd choose Kenilworth probably as it is really lovely.

We looked at Warwick, Leamington and Stratford, personally Stratford was our favourite so we moved here in February! Loads to do for our children.
Kenilworth is quite nice, but for us felt too close to Coventry.
Leamington I feel is better for the teenage years but for us has a very student-y feel and we prefer Stratford's vibe, people are friendly and if you can tolerate the tourists it's great for families.
For us being able to walk everywhere was important as we wanted to be less reliant on the car, especially as traffic gets bad in all of these towns TBH.
Therefore although there are some nice villages in the area we didn't really look at them as we would've had to drive everywhere!
If you've any more specific questions on Stratford feel free to message me.

Will you be private or state schooling?

Transport links to London are all the same line and it’s the quickest.

From Solihull you could look at Dorridge as it’s next stop down and a village feel, one decent independent cafe (plus a costa) and couple of nice bars, really good state schools including an outstanding state secondary and near to solihill if you wanted private. Knowle is minutes away with a great high street but not its own train station.

Lapworth is next along and some lovely eateries but no coffee shops and only primary level school. I’d stick to Dorridge or Knowle for village feel PLUS school and amenities.

Hatton is mainly only new housing estates and no village feel really. It’s stating to get more infrastructure but feels very new and is still essentially a main road with estate off it. Some surrounding villages like Shrewley are quaint but too small for much in the way of cafes.

Warwick itself is great with a big park and skate park, facilities but schools a bit more hit and miss depending on area although good boys private. Nice feel and welcoming. Shops are mainly now large slightly out of town retail parks which is a bit soulless but the centre still has a more traditional feel.

Leamington has a nice more boho shopping vibe although a LOT of shops have shut since covid and I wonder if they will get filled. The main shopping plaza is now almost half empty and starting to get the rubbish Poundland type shops moving in. Plenty of eateries and great coffee shops including independent chains. Probably the best of the bunch for coffee if that’s big on your list. Schools decent. Obviously too big to have a village feel.

Villages outside of Warwick like Barford or Hampton Magna are nice and deserve a look round to see if you like the feel.

My children are in private schools which I find excellent. I found the Warwickshire villages are tricky to drive from and I became very isolated and moved in lockdown. You have to book a cab days in advance which is not ideal. I haven't experienced a community in the villages here that I've had elsewhere. I love Warwick and Leamington, lots of community, plenty to do and lots of open space. I love popping out with the children to visit the parks and go for coffee and food. We hardly use the car at all. My step count has quadrupled compared to the village I first moved to here. Me and the children are very happy. The train is easy to Birmingham, Oxford & London.

Stratford isnt great for high school which is ehy we moved and the traffic and parking if you live in town

The high school in Stratford is Good, plus there is the excellent Grammar schools if you're that way inclined.
Traffic is pretty bad I agree (hence why we walk almost everywhere).

I wouldn’t send mine to the high school well we didn’t. That’s why we moved.

When I moved to the area and wasn't sure where to live the estate agent told me that Leamington is where you go to party, Warwick is where you go to raise your family and Kenilworth is where you go to retire.

I'd say that's about right! I'm currently in Warwick. There are no bad Schools in the area. If you want private, there's the Warwick school for boys and Kings school for girls. The current girls school has only been open a couple of years - it was previously housed in various buildings around Warwick town centre, which when you see the splendour of the boys school will show you how unfair that was - it's now a stunning new build on the same site as the boys school.

There are lovely parks and the town centre has plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants. It's very small and since M&S left has definitely seen a decline. It's good for a potter but not much else.

The castle attracts plenty of visitors but you don't get the swathes of tourists that Stratford gets - which puts me off living there.

There are great train links. Easy to get to Birmingham and London. Lovely open spaces at Hatton. Lots of lovely villages around including Barford, Norton Lindsey and Claverdon.

Thanks for all this superb information everyone.
Budget is quite good as we're moving from an expensive city. But top end homes in Leamington and Stratford are probably too pricey.

We're aiming for state school for our three. Obviously, grammar school would be nice, but wouldn't want to have expectations in that area. So a quality secondary will be important to our search.

The best state schools are the Grammar schools but you won't get in unless kids are already secondary age, untill 6th form.

Kenilworth is probably the best state school, and I think a good all round family town

Used to love in Solihull, and have family in Dorridge. Great area, good secondaries but very "new money" feel. Much prefer where we live now, between Warwick and Stratford.

It's a super place to live, feel free to DM me about our village, which has a lovely primary school and great family feel.

Kenilworth or Warwick are both nice with good state schools.
Dorridge is lovely but expensive.
There are lots of lovely, pretty villages around Warwick but very quiet if you have teens.
I used to live in Kenilworth. There are nice coffee shops and restaurants in the town.

Ideally if you have teens be on the line to Leam or into Birmingham.

Arden school in Knowle is excellent. Knowle and Dorridge offer the nice combo of edge of city/almost rural with excellent state schools but easy reach of both Solihull and Birmingham (20 minutes on the train).

However, it does come at a price. They're very Mumsnet "naice" villages.

Stratford High school is.....ok. In Warwick you have Myton (traditionally good, has had some issues) and Aylesford (traditionally weaker but a bit more upcoming) as well as the private schools.

Leamington is broader, with Catholic schools as well as high schools and some more niche private options like Kingsley (girls) & Arnold Lodge.

Kenilworth has a fantastic state school and the prep school for Princethorpe (private, catholic) school.

Other options might include Balsall Common? Closer to Solihull, possible a bit commuter village.

Possibly consider somewhere like Kineton if you want more rural. Close enough to M40, might be a bit full for teens unless they're outdoorsy types but lovely pretty large village, and has a decent high school too.

Henley-in-Arden could really hot the right note. Good high school, VERY pretty little market town. House prices to match! Maybe a bit dull for teens.

Henley-in-Arden is indeed very nice, but even more expensive than Stratford/Leamington/Warwick and much more limited housing stock, so you would need deep pockets.

To be fair, I think all the places mentioned have their positives/negatives but none are bad places to live IMO.

Myton school in Warwick has a good rep but from what I've heard is very oversubscribed - actually, a lot of the good state schools in Warwickshire are having this issue, so may be something to keep in mind/look into as well.

We are a few years off secondary schools yet so no direct experience there.

Myton isn't as good as it was. It has its issues, possibly overrated? I've taught with a lot of staff from there who have left.
Aylesford is possibly better than its reputation.
Henley-in-Arden was a great school but has had lots of changes at the top since and don't know how good it is now. Parents with kids there seem happy.

Southam is another possibility? That's a really good secondary, with recent Ofsted to match it's reputation.

All secondary schools in Warwickshire are oversubscribed as there's been such a big rise in population with the new builds.

At my old school we were having kids brought in taxis 45 minutes away because they couldn't accommodate them closer to home. It's not a great situation but hopefully they new Oakley school in Leamington/Bishops Tachbrook way will relive some of that pressure over time.

I don't know anyone whose children didn't get into the secondary school they wanted in Warwick. There are a lot of new houses being built so maybe that's going to have an impact in the future? But at the moment it seems ok.

It will all depend on your budget Solihull has good schools both primary and secondary. Lots to do and easy commuting to Birmingham. Dorridge, Knowle are more large villages but a very good community feel and still good links into Birmingham. Some other outskirts of Birmingham like Moseley have a good school and some nice houses, Edgbaston too. Birmingham have the grammar schools. Other areas, Arden has a good school. As I say it will depend upon how much your budget is. There are some lovely houses but they are expensive.

Believe me, if you move into Warwickshire or within it at the moment, there are no places.

At my school we have numerous kids brought in taxis from halfway across Warwickshire as ours was the only school with places in that year group.

Thanks again everyone! This is all very helpful indeed.

Would also love to hear about:
a) Shipston on Stour and surrounding villages;
b) Alcester and surrounding villages,

Does anyone have experience of those areas they could share please? If there are specific villages you love and reasons why, that would be great. Thanks!

Alcester’s not great I believe chavy teens hanging around street corners

Shipston and surrounds are nice. Kineton is a nice little village with good schools (and excellent curry house 🤣) Ettington, Tysoe lovely.

Avoid Temple Herdwyke and Long Itchington

Apologies, wine brain. Kineton is a large village. Loads going on. Would live there myself.

Shipston itself is nice enough too, again good schools.

You say metropolitan feel - I’d hone in on Leamington (or Warwick…they merge) or go up to Solihull personally for that. There are loads of lovely places in the area but as someone who was a teen in Leamington, it’s only with the experience of time living elsewhere that I realise how it punches above its weight for older kids. If you want to settle then I assume you want to see your eldest at least through to the high school years so worth thinking about the future.