Cirencester - thoughts welcome!

[Threecouldbefour]

Hi,

We went and spent the day in Cirencester yesterday with our three daughters age 10,13 and 18 months. We had a nice day - started with bike ride at Cotswold Water Park (although found the off road routes round lakes quite limited and was very much cycling in single file along arrow footpaths), then went into town and visited Bathurst Park (plus saw the amazing outdoor swimming pool) and then went to Cerney House Gardens which was beautiful.

We are thinking about moving next year and on paper it seems to tick a lot of boxes but my main concern is that there isn't enough to pop out to nearby. And by nearby I mean 20 minutes or less away. Otherwise it's not a 'pop' in my book . We are not into the big things like bowling, cinema, ice skating etc We do do those things occasionally but see them as a treat rather than everyday things. We are more keen that there are nice places to pop out for a few hours to. National Trust estates (ideally with house and cafe!), nice villages to explore with ice cream stop, rivers to walk along, paint a pot etc We used to live in a place that had these things in abundance so I suppose we are hoping to find that somewhere else.

If you live in Cirencester or surrounds, what does your family life look like? I'm interested in what you do at the weekends and school holidays, what you do during the day with preschoolers? I'd be so grateful if you could share some honest accounts with me please. We really need to make a change to our current set up and I'm running out of places to look at!

Thanks ever so!

Bumping hopefully!

We would also consider Moreton-in-Marsh so any thoughts on there would also be super useful. Thank you.

I live about 40 minutes away. There are loads of places to pop to, there is a leisure centre, a theatre, an amazing children’s bookshop, there are national trust places nearby- Woodchester park, Chedworth Roman villa. Cheltenham & Oxford are both within 45 minutes.

I grew up there! Live 30 mins away now.
So many places to pop to! Westonbirt, Bibury, Bourton on the Water, Cheltenham... great schools, abbey grounds are brilliant!
In normal times plenty of things to do with toddlers too :)

@Overcovid thanks. I thought Woodchester Park was quite a long way away? And Oxford an hour away? I think we went past the children's bookshop - Octavia's? Looked lovely. I did really like the town itself - very picturesque. I just don't want to be blinded by pretty stone if I'll struggle for things to go out to nearby. I'm a bit fussy about this 20 minute thing - it's just what we were used to and with three children I need convenience!

@ellesbellesxxx thanks for the reply. May I ask how you found it as a teenager there? What sort of things did you do please tell me you weren't hanging around outside the Tesco metro as I saw the other day. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do the Abbey Grounds. I've just read what people say on google and it sounds really nice.

WoodChester park says 33 minutes on google maps. On a bad day oxford might be an hour but can be less. I guess living rurally 30 minutes feels like a pop! There is Cotswold sculpture park too, I think there is a lot more going on in Cirencester than Moreton in the Marsh.

I live near Cirencester and went to college there. You’re right by the Cotswolds there and it’s not far to Swindon and Cheltenham (opposite directions obviously). Being on the A419 means it’s really easy to get to the M4 and the M5 and I don’t consider an hour to be a long drive for a day out.

That's interesting @Overcovid. I have sort of thought that Moreton might be better in terms of things to go out to, even if not as much in Moreton itself?

I'm terrified that we will uproot everyone and then have the same issue we have now with little to do. I'm a bit worried that Cirencester might not be so great in the winter when you don't have quite the same inclination to sit in parks!

I take your point on rural pops being longer. We were really spoilt where we lived before. We were fairly rural but have about 5 places to go within 15 minutes! It's colouring how I feel about everywhere else...!

@BeingATwatItsABingThing May I ask how you found the collage? My eldest daughter is into dance and I don't think she's necessarily going to take the university route.

Do you go to Cheltenham for shopping? Is there a bus if you don't want to be a taxi service?

[quote Threecouldbefour]@BeingATwatItsABingThing May I ask how you found the collage? My eldest daughter is into dance and I don't think she's necessarily going to take the university route.

Do you go to Cheltenham for shopping? Is there a bus if you don't want to be a taxi service? [/quote]
I really liked the college. I didn’t do dance (not a rhythmic bone in my body) but was very pleased with the subjects I did take.

I went to university in Cheltenham so went shopping there loads of times. A good selection of high street shops and much nicer to shop than Swindon. Swindon has the Designer Outlet though which is good.

There is a bus I believe but I always drove myself.

Have you thought about Malmesbury- it’s a fab place To live 15 Mins South of Cirencester.

Thanks for that @BeingATwatItsABingThing - that sounds positive. We have also looked at Cheltenham and we really like it but it's an extra 30 minutes on the train to London (dh has to be in once or twice a week). I do wonder whether it would be a better fit for us with more facilities and shopping but I do love Cirencester with its proximity to more Cotswoldy things.

@lissie123 I haven't looked at Malmesbury no. Not sure what trains are like. We vaguely looked at Chippenham (that wasn't a good fit...) and I believe it's near there? Need to refresh my memory. I've never been though.