Living in Stratford on Avon

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phoenix45
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:09 pm

Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by phoenix45 »

Anyone on the pros and cons of life in Stratford on Avon compared to other villages and towns in Warwickshire for kids, and of course parents?...i know this is wide open question, but just trying to get a feel for what's out there..thanks :)
serendippyty
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:23 pm

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by serendippyty »

I love Stratford. It is big enough for the children to find things to do like go to the cinema and there are enough shops to keep them interested. The town is pretty and family friendly with lots of things on over the year like the river festival and food festival. I have no concerns when my teens go into town as it is very safe and everything is central.
phoenix45
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:09 pm

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by phoenix45 »

serendippyty wrote:I love Stratford. It is big enough for the children to find things to do like go to the cinema and there are enough shops to keep them interested. The town is pretty and family friendly with lots of things on over the year like the river festival and food festival. I have no concerns when my teens go into town as it is very safe and everything is central.
great, thanks serendippyty that helps - its always a question in your mind when you think about moving as to whether you can raise your kids in a fun, safe neighbourhood. We've been to Stratford a few times now to see KES and it's been a positive experience so far! :) :)
ginx
Posts: 2151
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by ginx »

I love Stratford. It has good shops, restaurants, parks, museums, the river and boats, ducks to feed!, theatre, places to see, visit ... we often go there for a day out. My dh's parents lived there and only died two and three years ago, dh grew up there, I visited there a lot as a child. It is lovely. I bet all the schools around are quite good. It's near the Cotswold, Warwick and Leamington. It's on a river. It's pretty. It's a small enough town to feel safe.

I would love to live there, and hope to retire there - if we can afford a property there! :)
phoenix45
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:09 pm

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by phoenix45 »

ginx wrote:I love Stratford. It has good shops, restaurants, parks, museums, the river and boats, ducks to feed!, theatre, places to see, visit ... we often go there for a day out. My dh's parents lived there and only died two and three years ago, dh grew up there, I visited there a lot as a child. It is lovely. I bet all the schools around are quite good. It's near the Cotswold, Warwick and Leamington. It's on a river. It's pretty. It's a small enough town to feel safe.

I would love to live there, and hope to retire there - if we can afford a property there! :)
..ginx, thanks for your insightful post, reads like a poem!..i'm sure you'll get to retire there..

Anyone else with their perspectives and experiences positive or negative, I know traffic and access to motorways etc could be an issue...
serendippyty
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:23 pm

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by serendippyty »

Traffic is an issue if you live in the centre, we are on the edge so fine. I would never drive in at a weekend but we are close enough to walk in anyway. The height of summer is busy with tourists. The m40 is only 15 mind away at the most and there is a station, soon to be two stations. There are a couple if areas I myself would not particularly want to live in but nowhere is awful. The Birmingham road area is the worst for traffic.
phoenix45
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:09 pm

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by phoenix45 »

serendippyty wrote:Traffic is an issue if you live in the centre, we are on the edge so fine. I would never drive in at a weekend but we are close enough to walk in anyway. The height of summer is busy with tourists. The m40 is only 15 mind away at the most and there is a station, soon to be two stations. There are a couple if areas I myself would not particularly want to live in but nowhere is awful. The Birmingham road area is the worst for traffic.
Thanks serendippty that's good to know for our search of a place, we'll keep this mind...soon to be two stations?, keen to know more about it, I guess any sort of connection into London or oxford direct would be good..!
nervousmom
Posts: 1687
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:38 am
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by nervousmom »

I too love Stratford and go there quite a lot, about 25 mins down the road. We go as a family at the weekend and o quite often go with my mom shopping, because it has everything we need.

Plus my youngest loves to see the ducks.

I love the atmosphere in the summer with all the tourists, makes you feel like you are holiday yourself.

My DH and i got engaged in Stratford and spent our wedding night there as well, so it will always be a special place to us for that reason.

KES was my first choice school, but DS wanted KEFW. He scored Enough for KES but got offered FW, would much prefer to be driving to KES if he needed to be collected than to FW, but there we go!
phoenix45
Posts: 102
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:09 pm

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by phoenix45 »

Thank you nervousmom..
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Living in Stratford on Avon

Post by Okanagan »

Stratford can get a little touristy at times - which on busy days can make traffic an issue. Otherwise it's big enough to have everything you want, small enough to still have individual shops, restaurants, etc without being over dominated by chains. I can think of a lot of worse places to live.
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