Winner
CHALKE VALLEY, WILTSHIRE ✪
Move into the Chalke Valley and you will most likely receive a
letter asking if you will help out at the Chalke Valley Stores,
which is known to locals as The Hub. A smart and serviceable
village shop in Broad Chalke established by the community in
2013 and officially opened by the late Sir Terry Pratchett, it
has a tearoom and post office counter, runs village events and
has its own magazine. There’s also a top-rated primary school,
and the annual and much-loved history festival.
This is picturesque countryside at its spring-scented best,
with Saxon churches, thatched cottages, rolling downs and a
series of valleys radiating from Salisbury, strung out through
the 13-mile chalk escarpment west towards Shaftesbury, with
names such as Alvediston, Ebbesbourne Wake, Coombe
Bissett and Bowerchalke. Together they reflect the best of
21st-century rural communities, from the volunteer-run
stores, a stand-out pub — the Queen’s Head — and Ch4lke
Mobile, a mobile network that will soon bring broadband-like
speeds to 1,100 residents, again set up by locals. The plan is
to install 50 masts across the valley.
The recent dash to the country has attracted more young
families, but it’s the broad generational mix that residents
have always appreciated. Each village has its own charm and
there’s a jam-packed social schedule — from toddler tennis to
a ramblers club and a Saturday market “with veterinary advice
but no animals” in Bowerchalke’s village hall.
All four of Ed and Lizzie Gairdner’s children: George, 15,
Minnie, 13, Charlotte, 12, and Tilly, 7, play for Chalke Valleycricket club and the family are regulars on the floodlit tennis
courts. The family bought half of an 1850s rectory, a
ten-minute walk from Ofsted-rated outstanding Broad
Chalke Primary School.
“The village caters for everyone,” says Lizzie, 47, who
is a regular volunteer at the Valley Stores. “We wanted
somewhere we could open our front door and have loads of
walks and cycle routes directly on the doorstep. Broad
Chalke fulfilled all of that and more. Of our six neighbouring
families, three have just had babies.” Trains from Tisbury (a
nine-mile drive from Broad Chalke) to London Waterloo take
from 1 hour 47 minutes.
Best place to live if ... You want to have a blast in the past.
Best address South Street in Broad Chalke.
£655,000current of anarchism. A
history of rebellion, stretching
from the reform riots in 1831
to the dethroning of slave
trader Edward Colston in
2020, reflect Bristolians’
determination to act on
their beliefs.
You are never far from a
plant-based burger: Bristol
was voted the most vegan-
friendly UK city last year and
it’s also the refill capital of the
UK, with 200 water stations —
more than anywhere outside
of London. Bristol also
promotes itself as the “UK’s
first cycling city”, with more
than 300 bike parking spaces
and a network of free-to-use
bike pumps. Be seen around
town on a VanMoof or Babboe
Big cargo bike for the school
run. It is also one of the first
locations for the government’s
Voi e-scooter trials — just don’t
always bank on a tip-top
battery after a student
night out. However, public
transport still doesn’t connect
all areas of the city so the
mayor’s green agenda is
yet add up.
Two universities, good
schooling, buoyant job
opportunities spanning tech,
media and finance industries
and a rolling events calendar
keep Bristol’s buzz going.
BUDLEIGH SALTERTON,
DEVON CIf you want to be spoilt by the
good life in an unspoilt coastal
hotspot, this is the pebbly
beach for you. Unspoilt is the
word that crops up again and
again when you ask the
residents of Budleigh why
they like living here. The
genteel town in south Devon
has long had a reputation
as a retirement resort, but
look again. There may not
be a train station, and it’s a
25-minute drive to Exeter, butthat hasn’t stopped an influx
of younger families moving in.
It means you are as likely to
spot paddleboarders making
the most of the low tidal range
as a regiment of whiskery
colonels. Proximity to Colyton
Grammar School, second in
The Sunday Times Parent
Power list of top state
secondary schools in the
Southwest helps, as does the
truly lovely beach, at the
western end of the prehistoric
World Heritage Jurassic Coast.
Suzanne Stuart-Banks,
owner of the Interior Studio,
regularly starts the day with a
group sea swim. “You can be
as involved or as private as
you like, but a common theme
is a drive to do everything
supremely well. I can get
everything I need in town
apart from getting my shoes
resoled or a key cut. We have a
beautiful golf club, the best
croquet lawns in Europe
and a community that
cherishes local life.”
Highlights include the
classical music festival, which
attracts international artists
and encourages local
talent, while the literary
festival in March, with
resident Dame Hilary Mantel
as honorary president, also
brings in big names.The big question is which
community to join. Clifton,
Redland and Cotham remain
Bristol’s “golden triangle”.
Bishopston and St Andrew
share a boho spirit, and are
firm favourites with families.
Regeneration projects in
Greenbank (BS5) are luring
value-hunters to the east and
also to gritty, arty and
alternative Stokes Croft (BS1),
while gentrified Clifton is
where Sophie Inman, a
midwife, 29, lives and works.
“The majority of my
friends stayed in Bristol afteruniversity,” she says. “It’s a
city with so much character.
Yes, there is real affluence
mixed with deprivation,
but the variation in wealth
and background is what
makes it better. Bristol
doesn’t have a monotone
mindset or culture.”
Best place to live if...
You think your Brizzle kicks
should be local and
sustainably sourced.
Best address Our pick for
2022? The Victorian villas and
terraces of Bishopston.
£363,000Just beachy
Far left: St Pauls
carnival in
Bristol. Left:
Budleigh
Salterton beachThis is an edited version. For the complete guide visit thetimes.co.uk/best-places-to-liveApril 10, 2022 35