Local knowledge help: Where to start looking in Warwickshire?

Rach3l

Hello everyone! I was wondering if anyone here would be so kind as to help me out with some local knowledge and point me in the right direction?

My partner and I are looking at moving somewhere within a commutable distance to Leamington Spa for work, but I’m not sure where I should begin to look. We’re not familiar with the area at all and would really appreciate any advice anyone has as to places they would recommend or avoid. I’m so lost.

I’ve done the usual research and have been searching what we can get around Leamington, but the majority of Warwickshire looks lovely to be honest and I’m finding it hard to figure out where to start as nowhere really looks “bad” on the surface, haha.

We’d love to be near some green space to walk the dogs and we prefer living in the suburbs/rural as we both grew up in rural areas and prefer quiet to busy. We don’t mind if there’s nothing to do, but don’t like the busy vibe of living near a town centre. A suburb or rural area with a train line nearby or easy car route into Leamington would be great.

Both sides of our family live in the south (both south-east and south-west coasts annoyingly!) so would appreciate being as southern as we can be or near a motorway, just so we can get down there to see them easily once things open up a bit more.

A lot of houses we see that we like are in Stratford-upon Avon, but also crop up in Warwick, Southam, bits of Rugby, Wellesbourne and Kenilworth. We were even looking further down towards the Cotswolds, but that’s stretching the commutable bit. Leamington looks a little too busy for us in parts, and Coventry looks a little too built up, but if there’s any quiet parts of them or villages on their outskirts I’d love to hear about them.

Thank you!

Edit: Budget is around 550k, looking for a 3 bed house and up.

thriftytracey

Hi

Before I recently retired I worked in Warwick.  I live in a Worcestershire village on the boundary with Warwickshire.  It is a large village with many amenities and is very popular.   Have you considered widening your search to include villages within the Worcestershire/Worcestershire boundary?  Alcester is also a very pleasant market town in Warwickshire - has a Waitrose (don't judge me).  Close to countryside and has a lovely park and nature reserve with River Arrow running through it.  We take our dogs there regularly for walks.  Oversley Woods is two miles from Alcester and very popular with dog walkers.  There is a popular large farm shop nearby, Hillers, which has a cafe, gardens and gift shop.

My commute took about 40 minutes in morning rush hour and as I negotiated a 3.30pm finish it was quicker 30 minutes.  I also WFH two days a week (this was before Covid).

Some of my colleagues lived in Bidford on Avon and Honeybourne. Bidford is lovely although not that many shops. Houses in Warwick and Leamington Spa were very expensive and still are I guess.

Perfectly placed for quick access to M5, M42, M40 etc.

Grumpelstiltskin

Remember when everything is back to normal think about which towns are overrun by tourists.

 Top of that list is Stratford upon Avon followed by Warwick.

What is your budget and what type of property are you looking for?

stig

Most important thing is - budget? Lots of Warwickshire is lovely but very little of south Warwickshire is cheap! I live near Leamington but wouldn’t recommend anything without having a feel for how much you would like to spend. I would forget Coventry or anywhere close though, I can’t see from your wish list you’d get anything out of paying a premium to live in one of the nicer areas  around Coventry as you don’t  want or need access to the city. 

Stig

Rach3l

Thanks so much everyone! Oops, yes, budget might have helped. Budget is around 550k and we’re looking for a 3 bed or bigger.

@thriftytracey Thank you so much! I have looked a little at Worcestershire as it looks lovely but I had assumed the commute was too long. That doesn’t sound too long at all, that’s definitely something I’ll look more seriously into now. 

Alcester sounds like a dream with the nature reserve and farm shops, and good dog walks, totally the kind of things that we love. Thank you so much for the pointers.

@Grumpelstiltskin Haha, thank you for that, I was wondering if Stratford upon Avon would be too touristy, but was hoping it wouldn’t be as bad on the outskirts. I guess the traffic must get pretty bad though. We don’t use our local town centre too much and keep to the suburbs where we are at the minute, aside from the odd dentist appointment etc. Definitely something to keep in mind, thank you!

@stig Yes, that’s what we were thinking too. I don’t think we would use Coventry town centre at all! Some of the Coventry outskirts do look lovely but it all looks nice around there outside of the main city areas which is why I’m struggling, haha.

thriftytracey

Stratford gets massively crowded with tourists even in the winter and it can get quite annoying.  Also, driving through Stratford is a nightmare.  Parking costs are an arm and a leg.  Lots of shops though (if you like that sort of thing).  

Lots of culture though!  Orchestra of the Swan superb.  Premium cost of housing due to the location.

elsien

Alcester and Bidford are both nice - no trains though, if that’s important to you. 

And not in my price range - you can tell that from the prices in the charity shops! 

You could also look at places like Meriden round Coventry which is handy for the motorway. 

Elmer_BeFuddled

Totally agree @thriftytracey. Alcester and its surrounding areas are lovely. Although I will say, with time, some parts of Alcester have been ruined.

Wootton Wawen is nice (has train station, sadly not to Leamington) as are Little Alne, Great Alne and Aston Cantlow.

If you look around Kinwarton, specifically at Canada Barn Cottages, you could knock on the front door of the front cottage with the flag pole in the garden and say Hi! to my Dad for me!! 

I'm sure Jean would invite you in in for a cup of tea and a slice of cake!

JamoLew

Nothing to add - but those town and village names bring back some great childhood memories.

I grew up in Alcester and went to Primary School in Great Alne 

robatwork

No expert but I was expecting Rugby to be a lot more upmarket than it is.

Rach3l

Wow, thanks so much for your help everyone!

@elsien A train station would be nice, but a quiet-ish location (doesn't have to be dead, just would appreciate some peace and quiet and somewhere to escape to after work) with green space nearby is of a higher priority. Bidford looks lovely!

Interesting that Stratford-upon-Avon is so busy, I perhaps foolishly thought it might have been a seasonal thing. Lots of food for thought there, thank you.

@Elmer_BeFuddled Haha, brilliant! I'll go anywhere for a slice of cake! 😂 Thanks for the local knowledge, those look great. Maybe a bit out of my price range though sadly!