On the up...
Taunton has been making
the most of its first-station-
beyond-Bristol status to lure
WFH types, and has the
Quantock and Blackdown
hills on the doorstep. And
Exeter is moving on up too.
It’s not far from here to
Lympstone, a younger, more
affordable alternative to
oversubscribed Topsham. If
you’ve been dreaming of
Bath, but would rather avoid
its cocktail of traffic and
tourists, Larkhall offers a
villagey escape route.
Wiltshire’s Wylye Valley is
a happy hunting ground for
seekers of bucolic beauty, as
well as the villages of
Stockton and Steeple
Langford. Codford, midway
between Warminster and
Salisbury, has a thriving
community spirit.
The cliffs of the Purbecks
are a lovely part of Dorset’s
Jurassic Coast and along
with the water, a huge part of
its outdoor-lifestyle appeal.
Try to bag a thatched cottage
in a village such as Church
Knowle, Corfe Castle or
Creech. Swanage, the area’s
biggest town, is a seaside
resort good enough for
Goldilocks — neither too
run-down nor too posh.and yomps on the commons
with the labradors; for
others it’s mung beans and
beanies, changing the world
one sustainable soya latte at a
time. Most Stroudies fall
somewhere in between, but
whichever camp you’re in
everyone comes together at
the Saturday morning
farmers’ market — one of the
best in the land.
There’s also serious culture
at the Stroud Valleys Artspace,
Stroud Books prides itself on
its “festival-like vibe”, and
even the local football team,
Forest Green Rovers, is riding
high, both in the league and as
the world’s first fully vegan,
carbon-neutral club. The
thoughtful revamp of the
Five Valleys shopping centre
is progressing nicely with the
arrival of Sandersons — a
“boutique department store”
— and evening openings on
Fridays with food and music.
In the past 12 months
many more new arrivals have
joined long-term residents to
sing Stroud’s (often
alternative) praises. The town
and its surrounding valleys
are crowd-pleasers for
families looking for good
schools — Stroud High School
and Marling School finished
third and 15th respectively
in Parent Power top 20
schools in the Southwest —
commuters (direct trains
to Paddington 1 hour 28
minutes, Bristol is a
40-minute drive), or anyone
who wants to keep it real
surrounded by countryside.
It is one of the reasons that
Ry Gerbrands, 36, who grew
up in Stroud, returned. He
lives a 20-minute walk from
Made in Stroud, the gallery
and shop set up by his parents
in 2000 which he now runs.
“Stroud has improved
massively since my early
teens,” Gerbrands says.
“There’s a much wider
choice of good restaurants
and pubs and plenty of
independent shops — only
chain shops closed during
lockdown — and also greater
diversity in the people here.
The Sub Rooms puts on
events, educational plays
for children, and music, and
the markets are a big draw.
It’s not great for people
aged 18 to 23 — there’s no
nightclub — but past that
it’s wonderful.”
Best place to live if... You
fancy country living with a
radical edge.
Best address Middle Streetand Nelson Street in the
centre, or nearby
Minchinhampton, Chalford
and Rodborough.
£412,000WELLOW, SOMERSET G
This year we say au revoir
Frome, bye-bye Bruton — and
never again Bath. Instead,
with apologies to the
residents, we tip our hats to
the village of Wellow, one of
Britain’s best-kept secrets.
A small, picturesque village,
five miles south of Bath, 16
minutes from Bristol on the
train and on the southern
edge of the Cotswolds,
it has that bucolic best-of-
both-worlds appeal.
The locals are passionate,
personable, practical — and
busy. If they’re not helping
out in the oldest volunteer-
run community shop in the
UK they might be playing
tennis on their all-weather
floodlit courts, joining in with
a safari supper or plotting the
next fundraiser for the
community bus.
The Wellow Energy Group
has been set up to reduce the
carbon footprint of village
homes and, since 2008, a
syndicate with more than 250
members buys domestic
heating oil to help to reduce
costs and curb the number of
delivery lorries, while the
Wellow Village Show includes
ferret racing. Then there’s the
Friday evening meet-up in the
Fox & Badger, the village pub.
“Any good village needs a
decent pub,” says James
Hart, the co-owner of
Lovell Stone Group. “On
Friday evenings it can feel like
the whole village is there. I
can honestly say that I met
more neighbours in my first
six weeks in Wellow than I did
in six years in Bath.”
Along with its pale-stone,
rural beauty, it’s that
tight-knit character that
gives Wellow its special
flavour. There’s a village
hall, a well-used recreation
ground with cricket nets,
and a playground that was
revamped a year ago.
Wellow Badgers meet every
Thursday to play football,
there’s a boules team and
even a chicken WhatsApp
group for hen owners to
exchange tips.
Best place to live if... You’re
too grown up for Bath time.
Best address The south side
of the village or Mill Hill.
£391,000ago residents of this ancient
market town gathered to trade
sheep, cattle, hides, and later
silks and buttons. Now locals
can choose from a wealth of
independent retailers, from a
violin repairer to a made-to-
measure corsetière; markets
on Thursdays and Saturdays;
more sociable cafés, antique
shops and art galleries than
you can shake an ormolu
candlestick at; and a
community kitchen that has
taken neighbourliness to new
heights — as well as a Waitrose.
With 232 community
groups catering to every
interest, there is a real sense
of everyone pulling together,
whether they’re generations-
old locals who call the place
“Sher-borne”, or the “Sher-
burn” brigade, connected to
the famously successful
private schools. Both
come together at Sherborne
Abbey, founded by St
Aldhelm in AD705, one of
the most beautiful parish
churches in England.
The old-fashioned
attractiveness of the eco-
minded transition town with
its castle, half timbers and
hamstone at every turn is
matched by the modern-day
convenience of its shops on
Cheap Street, the inaccurately
named main drag, and
countryside. Sherborne is on
the edge of Blackmore Vale,
GOOD SOULS/GETTY IMAGES; NICK TURNER; PAUL BIGGINS; MR STANDFAST/ALAMYwith its trimmed hedgerows,
oaks and rolling hills — and a
pinch of gastropubs. What has
really put a spring into
Sherborne’s well-heeled step
is the impending conversion
of the grade I listed Sherborne
House into an arts centre. As
well as exhibition space, it will
have workshops and,
naturally, another café.
Best place to live if... You
want good neighbours to
become good friends.
Best address Long Street,
Bradford Road or The Avenue.
£369,000STROUD,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE GStroud likes to celebrate
everything local — it was one
of the many reasons that the
old-fashioned, new-age town
was named the overall Best
Place to Live winner in 2021. A
few locals might have treated
themselves to a Plant Power
vegan pizza (£11) with a pint of
Big Cat stout — all organic and
“very Stroud” at the Stroud
Brewery Taproom — others
liked to point out the fact that
Extinction Rebellion was
founded here as grounds for
disqualification.
As a mill town in the
Cotswolds, Stroud means
different things to different
people. For some, it’s
Barbours and bridles, welliesApril 10, 2022 37