What’s going for it? If I were a country casuals kind of guy, which I’m not, Winchcombe is where I’d lay my Hunters, if I had any. It is at the quieter end of the Cotswolds, far from the madding Camerons and Clarksons. It could host A-list soirees, but it chooses not to. It could grace chocolate boxes, but prefers not to. It seems quite happy keeping to itself, under the radar, high on the escarpment overlooking the Severn Valley with a nice pint of Hook Norton in its grasp. It has seen the high life, and I don’t mean when Liz Hurley got married at Sudeley Castle, but rather when newly remarried (and pregnant) Catherine Parr moved there after Henry VIII died. She survived only a year. Or when Winchcombe was capital of the kingdom of Mercia some time in the ancient era of Game of Thrones. You can still get a hint of a time when the Cotswolds were remote, wild and rugged by walking up to Belas Knap long barrow, made 5,000 years ago, before posh boys and Chinese coach parties moved in and Barbours began roaming the Earth.
The case against Like much of the Cotswolds, it ain’t cheap.
Well connected? Trains: only the heritage railway left. Driving: 20 minutes to Cheltenham and its rail station, 25 to the M5. The 606 bus trawls five or six times a day between Cheltenham, Winchcombe, Broadway and Willersey.
Schools Primaries: Winchcombe Abbey CofE and Isbourne Valley are “good”, Ofsted says, with Gretton “outstanding”. Secondaries: Winchcombe and nearby Cleeve School “good”.
Hang out at… Winchcombe hides lots of great places behind its modest facades, like the Michelin-starred 5 North Street, the lovely bistro Wesley House and the Cotswold dishy dreamboat pub, the Lion Inn.
Where to buy Long, rambling streets – Gloucester, North and Hailes – are lined with all manner of period properties. More affordable postwar properties in the gaps in between and in edgeland estates. Slightly leafier stone houses, Victorians and modern on and off Gretton Road out of town. Large detacheds and town houses, £600,000-£2.5m. Detacheds, £280,000-£600,000. Semis, £250,000-£500,000. Terraces and cottages, £200,000-£380,000. Rentals: a one-bed, £500-£600pcm; a three-bed house, £750-£1,200pcm.
Bargain of the week Well, ish: a two-bedroom period stone cottage, needing updating, yours for £300,000 with cookresidential.co.uk.
From the streets
Elaine Foster “We moved from London with our two children nearly 14 years ago. We live on the High Street right in the centre of this friendly, vibrant town. We haven’t regretted the move for a minute. There is a real community feel as well as a buzz from the visitors who come to enjoy the history or walk in the glorious countryside.”
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• Do you live in Ripley, Derbyshire? Do you have a favourite haunt or pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 5 April.
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