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

Newbury. Has everything on your list.

I was going to suggest Newbury too. It has a station to commute to London and is by the M4 to get to Bristol.

Daventry

What is daventry like? I’ve heard it is getting nicer…but commute into London would be tricky without a train station.

How about Bristol itself? You're very close to countryside in all directions and not far from the coast (Dorset, Devon and Wales for example). If you don't want to be ferrying kids around, a market town might still be quite limiting for them. And obviously you've got good train links in Bristol. Bristol has loads going on and is in most parts an attractive city.

Malvern is lovely - especially for walkers! Some lovely cafes and pubs, plus some independent shops. Worcester not far away for more shops.

Only problem is the flooding!

@LazyCatLtdbut Pershore itself doesn’t flood. Even the bridge is out maybe one day a year, but no houses after the post 2007 works

Google Maps says that it’s 3 1/2 hours on the train to London though

@ElvisGraceit is 2 hours. I get it regularly, so I don’t know what google maps is on about there

Still quite significantly longer than the other Midlands towns with direct trains that go a lot faster
Wouldn’t be worth it for me