I don’t know where I should move to.

[Mielabel]

Please move if this is in the wrong board!

I’ve been struggling with this for about ten years.

I want to live somewhere in the Cotswolds/Wye/Gloucester area as I have set down roots here, job, family etc. It’s important that the place I move to has a great community and family aspect, with regular events and festivals going on, food markets, outdoor cinemas, things like that. I love rural life but love activity and people doing things in the town too.

It’s also important it has a culture of being ‘outdoorsy’ where it’s normal to go hiking, camping, kayaking and enjoying the simple life and nature.

I am from Cornwall and I have been finding it really hard to find that same outdoorsy culture in the Midlands. I’m sure it’s there somewhere, but no idea how to decipher where it is.

Anyone know of a place like this I can check out, or just how to help narrow my search and find out where these areas are likely to be?

Stroud

Monmouth?

Hm, I’ve been to both those places and liked them but didn’t get that outdoorsy community vibe. Might be worth another shot

@Mielabel did you get any further? I'm looking for the same thing! Abergavenny?

Malvern? Not quite the area but not far away. Can't beat the hills for walking!

Cheltenham?

Malvern and Cheltenham completely the wrong vibe- both very conservative, stuffy, closed-minded. Want the exact opposite!

Might look into Abergavenny. It’s a bit further than I’d like. I’m basically looking for somewhere like Padstow but between Worcester and Bristol…!

Upton on severn has music festivals...but I've only been once so not sure what it's like as a community

surely you can't write off a whole town as being "stuffy and conservative"...there will be a mix of people anywhere you go (including padstow!)

I would say Cirencester because of the proximity of the Cotswold water park. But if you didn’t like Cheltenham or Malvern you probably wouldn’t like Cirencester.

Ross on Wye maybe?

Missy definitely not .

I know many of the towns you mention and don't think you'll find anywhere quite like Padstow ... there are lots of 'outdoorsy' activities going on but not so much in the way of festivals, outdoor markets etc ... I think I've heard of one outdoor cinema screening in ten years !

I know there’s a mix of people anywhere but each town has its own overall character which is important- think I might have to settle a bit! I’m looking at Ross on Wye, Monmouth, Stroud and Tewkesbury. Fingers crossed…!

Watch out for flooding in Tewksbury, they get it bad.

I live in Stroud, lots of outdoorsy people here. Lots of hippies in Stroud, which I like!
Few times I've been to Tewkesbury I get Conservative vibes but not as bad as Cheltenham. Can't speak for Ross on Wye or Monmouth but suspect you'd love Stroud!

Ross always seems pretty outdoorsy to me, and there's a load of activity on the River Wye. Agree about Stroud too. Is Ludlow too far north for you?

Amazed to see Padstow held up as a beacon of community, when the vast majority of local families have been driven out over the last 20 years by second home owners and rich holiday makers!

I want to make Bristol my main city if possible (so could pop there for a day out) so Ludlows a bit far. Love Wye area though.

Whether the families are originally from the area or isn’t relevant to me- Padstow is a place in Cornwall most people know, I think, so was chosen to illustrate the sort of vibe I miss since moving ‘up country’.

Symonds Yat, or Forest of Dean areas nearby. Anywhere with access to the river Wye really. (As long as you're not on the flood plain!).
The Gloucester Sharpness canal is good for kayaking and paddle boarding too.
The Tewkesbury Avon (as opposed to the Bath Avon) has quite a few sailing clubs, as does the River Severn in that area.
Stroud is a very ordinary, boring town with the usual graffiti, drug problems, yobs and heavy traffic. I do my best never to go there. It is the surrounding villages and countryside that are lovely. Stroud town centre is pretty grim as far as I'm concerned. Can never understand it's popularity.

Buxton?

Longshot after so long, but where did you end up moving to? I’m thinking of Ross-on-Wye but just not sure …