Moving to Warwickshire

[Dewdropdeb]

Hiya -

We are an Irish family currently living in Germany. Looks like we'll be moving to the UK next summer. Husband will be working in Atherstone 2x a week and is willing to commute up to an hour each way. We'll have a 12 year old who is in 7th grade at an international school at the moment (have yet to work out what that converts to over there, but first things first) and our older two are in Uni in Manchester and Brighton. Definitely don't want to live in Birmingham.

Any suggestions for nice towns/villages with a decent school for the wee man within an hour or so of Atherstone? We've never lived in the UK and were hoping we would be placed further North, as more familiar with the area and our daughter is doing medicine so will be in Manchester for awhile yet. But here we are... any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated because we are totally clueless 😂

Edit: I'm a midwife and would like to work there, so somewhere near a hospital with maternity services would be good too! x

Thank you! ❤

Stratford has good schools but grammar schools, which your son has missed entrance exams for.
private schools or state?

State schools I think. Not paid? I would say public school, but I think that means something else entirely over there! 😕

Can I suggest Swadlincote in very south Derbyshire? It's central to so many places and about 30 mins from Atherstone. People who lived here 10-20 years ago will tell you it's awful but it's actually a really nice place now, not gentrified, just right. There's an outstanding Catholic secondary just out of town in Burton that you'd be in catchment for called Blessed Robert Sutton, and there's a good secondary called Pingle in the town. We've just moved here after living in Ireland (with an intervening 2 years in the south of England) and the houses are really decent value for money (significantly cheaper than the SE but a lot more expensive than what we paid in Donegal).

Other good places a bit north include Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Burton-on-Trent.
I'm suggesting this direction so you're closer to the A50 to get across to Manchester more easily to visit your family.

I have family in Warwickshire, so while I can't give a good recommendation, I just wanted to say that it's a really nice part of the country :)

Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford on Avon all nice areas in Warwickshire and within commuting distance of Atherstone (my DH commutes there from here). Good schools, not too far from anywhere. Easy to get to Birmingham and London and close to M40. Alternatively Solihull could also be an option as closer to Atherstone.

Also if you are a midwife there is Warwick Hospital

Also from Swadlincote/Ashby/Burton, there's Burton Hospital right there, Derby Hospital up the road and Leicester and Nottingham both a bit further out, within an hour's drive (depending on how long you want to drive to your own work), all with maternity wards.

Really it's such a nice part of the country, though, you can't go wrong with any of the suggestions so far.

As someone who lives in the general area, I couldn’t imagine Swadlincote. Some of the surrounding areas like Ticknall, Repton, Appleby Magna maybe.

Swad is great value for money though!

@Dewdropdeb

I wonder whether Solihull would suit you, OP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solihull

Contact details for someone who recruits locally for midwifery:

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jobadvert/C0020-24-3041

Swadlincote is honestly awful! I can't believe anyone would ever serious recommend someone move there 😂 I do actually live in a very nice village near Swad, (and work at the UHDB hospital trust) but cannot with good faith recommend South Derbyshire as an excellent place to move your young family to. There's nothing exciting here. Derby and Burton are, sadly, miserable, dying towns . I grew up around Birmingham & Worcestershire and wouldn't write it off tbh OP. There's lots of nice places.

Henley
Balsall Common
Knowle
Leamington
Moseley (maybe a bit too close to town)
Stratford (if you can cope with the tourists.)

Worcester, Pershore, Evesham, Broadway, Morton, Stow on the Wold etc, at a push as they a bit over an hour away, but lovely.

Lichfield, Alrewas, Ashby if something closer to Atherstone.

Leamington spa, Warwick, kennilworth, Stratford upon Avon, Rugby

however I really dislike the midlands and would prefer to be near more interesting countryside

This would be my choice but definitely the most expensive option. Good transport links, schooling and very desirable places to live for a reason.

Solihull is v nice but expensive and the good schools are very full. It's a very particular feeling though (Conservative heartland) and the airport can be a pain. Traffic can be awful.

If you fancy a market town Ashby has a nice feel and it would be a good commute. Market bosworth has state and private that might suit also. Villages off the A5 could suit you well (fenny Drayton is nice but I'm not sure on school catchment) stoke Golding is nice also but it's growing almost a bit too fast

I wouldn't go as far as stratford or Warwick either to drive to atherstone.

Kenilworth is lovely

I went to the sixth form linked with Robert Sutton and found the kids really stuck up.

I would recommend atherstone and surrounding area. There's a school called higham lane. It's meant to be really good but full of rich kids so probably quite stuck up too 😂

shuckburgh is super quaint.