Market town recommendations please

[Fourlittlepiggies]

We have been agonising forever about moving, and the main problem is finding a location that works. We are currently in a S London/ Kent suburb with good schools and lots of things going on for children. We would (hopefully) move for more space inside and out and to be closer to one set of parents as they get older.

Any suggestions based on this criteria? Thank you!

• commutable to London 1 day a week
• family in the Midlands and Bristol so ideally close to one of these
• 4 dc under 6 so schools and activities are important
• Not a village. We walk a lot at the moment and I don’t want to be forever taxing dc around
• Market town ideally with a sense of community. Getting involved in the area/ making friends is important

The places that spring to mind for me are Cheltenham, Shrewsbury, Malvern and Lichfield (admittedly a city, but small and very pretty with direct train to London). These places all have good schools and lots of things going on, but you might need to narrow down your likes and dislikes and preferred location a bit as midlands and near Bristol covers a huge area.

edited to add, maybe not Shrewsbury, I don’t think it has a direct London train.

Making friends depends on other people I find! You need to check schools and spaces available! Cirencester or Cheltenham might work. Shipston on Stour? Evesham?

thank you, all good suggestions! I haven’t looked at any of these on RM yet. Will have a look today and see what we can get in each area…

I'm in a market town near Bristol called Keynsham (although the market is a once a month farmers market).
It's 10 minutes on the train to Bristol and Bath, and just over an hour to London. There is a direct bus service to Bristol Airport too and buses also take about 20 minutes to either Bristol or Bath bus station.
There's several primary schools and secondary schools. (Look at the BANES Council website for information).
We have a music festival for a week in the summer and a winter festival at the end of November.
Cricket, rugby and football are well catered for and we also have a leisure centre with swimming pools (one is a kids one) and sports hall.

Cheltenham is a lovely town with lots going on, good schools, great for kids. 50 minutes to Bristol, an hour to Birmingham.

Banbury

Sounds lovely, thank you. And I guess commuting would be from Bristol?

What’s Banbury like? I grew up relatively locally and it makes me think of the M40/ I don’t know anything else about it. Location wise it would work.

Cheltenham, while lovely, is a bugger of a place to get to from London!

Market Harbrough, Leicestershire has fast trains to St Pancras in under an hour. There are outstanding schools, loads of good independent shops plus the better chains. There’s a leisure centre and lots of sports facilities, outdoor pursuits and also beautiful countryside walks.

Oakham (Rutland) or Stamford, Lincs. Both have trains to London. As previously mentioned, Market Harborough would be a very good match.

@Fourlittlepiggies Keynsham has a railway station (its on the main line from Bristol Temple Meads to London).

Saffron Walden is lovely. No train station but Audley end only a few minutes up the road.

Stowe on the Wold, Cirencester, Cheltenham, Stroud - Gloucestershire is handy for Midlands and Bristol. There are some great schools (Pate’s Grammar, The Cotswold School). Links to Paddington via Kemble and Moreton in Marsh. Bit more circuitous and longer from Cheltenham Spa.

Stratford upon Avon, Warwick etc

Leamington spa is a great place for kids, teens and adults.

Malmesbury? Outstanding secondary school, close to M4 easy to get to Bath and Bristol. Cirencester which is a lot bigger is just up the road, nearest station Kemble trains straight into London Chippenham or Swindon (which is IMO a complete dump) but lots of trains. Very attractive market town with a nice community feel.

I love MH. Have been keeping an eye on RM for a couple of years but can’t seem to find what we want there within budget. That would be the ideal location.

Pershore in Worcs- direct train to London (and you can drive easily to 2 other lines if the Cotswold line is closed which is handy, my dh does 2 days a week in London). Totally walkable to everything Inc a swimming pool, and small enough to genuinely have a community feel. It’s a lot cheaper than Cheltenham or Cirencester

What sort of house are you looking for?

Budget is important here.

And don’t look at Stow on the Wold. Traffic is an absolute nightmare, and you’ll need to drive out a lot.

Agree, but not that handy for Bristol though 😁

why is everyone suggesting Cheltenham? It’s not especially commutable to London

Chipping Norton - commuting from Charlbury
Moreton-in-Marsh has its own station. Very nice

Olney.