Move to Cotswolds/Banbury family move reality help & Advice?

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Hi All,
We’re looking to possibly move to an area called South Newington near Banbury and would really appreciate some honest local advice/recommendations from people who know the area well.
We currently live in Leamington Spa and are at the stage where we’re looking for more of a forever home to raise a family in. Budget-wise, in Leamington/Warwickshire we’re just not really getting what we want for around the £700k–£800k mark, so we’ve started looking more towards the Cotswolds direction (as this is where we spend most of our free time anyway).
My OH is originally from a village near Banbury and, if he’s honest, doesn’t particularly love Banbury itself, so our thinking was to live more rurally/village based and hopefully avoid needing to spend too much time there where possible. However, I’m not sure how realistic that actually is day-to-day.
We’ve been looking around the South Newington / Chipping Norton side and would love to know:

• Is South Newington considered a nice village/location for young families?
• Is there a good sense of community?
• Are there enough young families/new mums around?
• What’s the reality of living there — how often do you actually end up needing to go into Banbury (not by choice 😂)?
• How do people find the schools in the area?

I’ve looked at places like Great Tew Primary which looks lovely, but I’m struggling to work out how realistic getting in would be living in South Newington and how strict catchments tend to be around there. We’re members at Soho Farmhouse already, so being closer to that lifestyle/area definitely appeals to us too. Just looking for some honest thoughts from people who actually live nearby before we make any big decisions! Thank you so much.

hi OP,
I don't live in that area now, but when I did I loved it. I used Banbury, Leamington, Chipping Norton and Oxford for shopping depending on what I needed and where I was heading for other things.
Much preferred the area to when I lived in Warwick before.
Banbury itself isn't exciting but does have all you need and also services all the surrounding affluent villages.
Kids and schools - can't help. sorry.

We live just north of Banbury. Banbury itself is a dump - the centre has been destroyed by town planning and is only worth popping into for services like the dentist/station. On the other hand the countryside around is lovely.

I don't know South Newlington, but it is worth spending time in the village you are interested in as your experience can differ wildly depending on that and depending on what you want. Do you want a buzzy village with lots going on? Does it have a pub/village events/active social life/ shop? Or do you want peace a quiet and to keep to yourself.

Also double check the routes you will want to drive. Traffic can be bad, especially at rush hour or with the London crowd descending at the weekends.

Schools - are you looking at state or private for junior/senior? That can have a HUGE impact, especially on the logistics side. And what about work - do you need regular train access to London/Oxford/elsewhere?

Loads of variables.

Avoid Banbury itself. Take yourself to the town centre and you will see what it has become. Vape, shops, mobile stores and many many pound shops.

Banbury town centre ... well, there isn't much to add that previous posters haven't covered.

The meh outweighs the good due to neglectful town planning and the death of the High Street nationwide. The chains are out of town (Waitrose, M&S, Next ... Gails is moving in but to the Gateway retail park by the motorway). For proper shopping, Oxford and Birmingham are easy to get to by train.

Naice stuff (sourdough bakery, reformer Pilates etc) is here but you have to be prepared to rootle around the dross to find it.

The surrounding countryside is gorgeous, and the town is surprisingly well connected by train.

I can’t help with South Newington but I drive through it regularly it looks very pretty and does have a very narrow main road running through it with very heavy lorries.

Great Tew is a popular school and has good results but as a small school it may not have availability you would need to check with the school.

The Warriner Secondary school in Bloxham is also a good school but it doesn’t have a sixth form.

Banbury used to be a lovely market town but it has been destroyed in recent years and I no longer go there to shop.

Good luck in your house hunting.

My son attends Warriner sixth form.

Not a fan of the area. I lived in a village close to S Newington for 15 years. Public transport is dire, so you’ll be the family taxi till your kids can drive themselves. There are a lot of RTAs involving young people, because so many learn to drive as soon as they can, so there are a lot of inexperienced drivers around. Because there is no evening public transport, and little to do apart from pub visits, there’s quite a bit of drink-driving.

There’s little to do locally culture-wise, so get used to half-hour drives to Oxford along roads where you have to dodge deer at dusk if you want to go to the theatre or suchlike. The local church is historic and gorgeous and there’s quite a sense of community but most stuff is led by a clique. I wouldn’t have wanted to raise my kids there - there are few amenities for children of any age.

Local primary schools are pretty good but when I was there, were all so oversubscribed that people were having to drive kids two or three villages away because they couldn’t get places in their own village. There’s a range of good state secondary schools, and Bloxham has a nice independent school.

I didn’t rate Banbury at all - it’s a tired little two-horse market town with ballooning housing estates in all directions which attract London commuters. It’s OK for big shops - Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are on the same side of town as S Newington, Tescos a bit further over. There’s a really nice farm shop at Wykham Park.

It’s very convenient for the M40 and good connections to Birmingham and west towards Gloucestershire. There are frequent trains to London from Banbury, either an hour or an hour and twenty minutes journey time, and parking at the station isn’t too bad.

Good luck!

Very nice village with lots of other nice villages nearby.

Great sense of community, lots for young families/new Mums, especially as members of farmhouse. Get your child their membership and you can do the classes there which is a good way to meet people.

Very easy to avoid Banbury. Chippy has M&S, coop and Aldi for food, or you can get any of the other supermarkets to deliver. Oxford for shopping. Occasionally use the Banbury train line.

Great Tew is the desired primary, but there’s only 15 spots. From South Newington it’s probably 50:50 as to whether you’ll get one as it’s out of catchment (which is tiny) but depends on siblings. 2 years ago there were 10 siblings so you would have had no chance. Other years you would. I do know people who live in SN whose kids are at Tew.

Other primaries are in Bloxham and Deddington or there’s various private options.

I moved 7 years ago, have 2 kids and love the area. Also know a few who’ve moved down from Leamington and there’s loads from London.

Let me know if you have any other questions

Do you mean the Soho Farmhouse? The waiting lists etc.

The OP says in the opening post that they already have membership.

My partner lives in South Newington in the week as works that way. Definitely not Banbury lol.

What about Moreton-in-Marsh? Charming, easy train to Oxford.