Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 45 total)
  • Worcester – whats its like to live there
  • Nipper99
    Free Member

    considering a job in Worcester. Whats it like to live there, any places to avoid. Where to ride or do i just sell the mtb and become a roadie.

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    S’all right.

    Malverns and Wyre Forest close by.

    FOD, Cotswolds and Cannock near-ish.

    Good train links to Birmingham, M5 close by so trips to Quantocks, Cwmcarn etc quite achievable.

    Some nice road riding around as well.

    aracer
    Free Member

    Nice place to live IMHO. Though not necessarily so good if you’re into exciting city life. A lot better place than many to live to go mountain biking (the usual places have already been covered) – depending on where in Worcester you live, Malverns can be as little as 15 minutes drive away (or even rideable to). Also not too long a drive to get to various places in Wales.

    As for where to live, personally I’d choose somewhere in the Malverns direction (ie SW of the city). South of St Johns is an OK place to live (we used to live in Lower Wick, which is a decent place to live and not too expensive). St Peters is OK, but you’ve got to negotiate the congested ring road to get in Malvern direction – though swings and roundabouts here, if you live in the SW of the city then you have to negotiate that traffic jam to get to the motorway. Of course you could always choose to live outside the city – we live in a little village between Worcester and Malvern, or Malvern itself is a possibility.

    Places not to live? Well I suppose Brickfields and Dines Green are the obvious ones to avoid – but then they’re the obvious council estate locations. Having said that I did once live in Dines Green, and it’s not that awful – there isn’t really actually anywhere that bad in Worcester, it’s a very small city without any no-go areas. Personally I’d not choose to live in Warndon Villages, but then there’s nothing really wrong with it, and lots of people are happy living there.

    Pigface
    Free Member

    Lived in Barbourne a long time ago, nice part of the town.

    antennae
    Free Member

    Malverns are compact but have some good tech riding if you know where to look. Best to get out early/late on weekends though, lots of walkers about.

    As Blob says, pretty easy to get into Brum on the train for any big city shenanigans.

    Surrounded by countryside, plenty of pubs in picturesque spots.

    Give the Warndon area a miss.

    renton
    Free Member

    Ive got a house in Droitwich which is just outside Worcester.

    As people have said there is quite a bit of riding on your door step(malvern wyre forest etc) and the links to the m5 are pretty good for getting to cannock.

    I would echo what someone said up there about avoiding dines green. I would also avoid the rainbow hill area too!

    There used to be a few bike shops in worcester many moons ago but now down to just the one by the cathedral !

    cheers

    Steve

    EDIT : I find it a very good night out too !!

    aracer
    Free Member

    There used to be a few bike shops in worcester many moons ago but now down to just the one by the cathedral !

    Not true – Peddlers is also still there. Maybe not the best for mountain bike stuff, but then nowhere else ever was really, and it’s always been one of the two decent proper bike shops in Worcester (the other as you mention being Worcester Cycle Centre). Oh, and Star Cycles which used to be a city centre shop is also still open, just moved. Also two decent shops in Malvern.

    renton
    Free Member

    Peddlers….. did that used to be where the outdoor clothing shop is now at the bottom of the overpass to st martinsgate?

    where is star cycles now then ?

    EDIT : I know peddlers now, just looked it up on web. its the place on the way into worcester from Droitwich lol how could I forget I drive past it every time I go into worcester!!

    sambob
    Free Member

    Gran used to live in the centre of Worcester, seemed nice enough. Cheapish housing too.

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    Star cycles is (was?) opposite Ron smith (mowers) bottom of Newtown rd, a small ‘back st’ place (friendly but limited). The Green Bike company are in St John’s, nice ppl to deal with

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    I grew up in Worcester. Echo pretty much what has been said above really.

    As for which areas are the ones to avoid, just have a drive around, you’ll get the feel of the place pretty quick. St Johns, Barbourne, Northwick are all nice areas, Bevere or Claines to the north if you are loaded, Rushwick or Powick to the SW for just out of town.

    It depends on where the job is. The city centre and crossing the river in the city is a right pain at rush hour, even worse is the link bridge from Malvern Road to St Peters and M5.

    MarinNo8
    Free Member

    This brings back memories. I used to work at Singletrack Bikes many moons ago. We had Grip magazine down the road and loads of bmx pros about the place. Met some great people there. Quite enjoyed living there too. Torch nightclub did well out of me! Happy days 😉

    LMT
    Free Member

    I used to live in claines, very peacful and quiet, shared house with a mate only way he could afford to keep it, was a good few years back but was good fun. Nights out ok as well!

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    Star cycles is long gone.

    Peddlers for basic stuff

    Worcester cycles for blingy main dealer and clothing stuff

    Green Cycle Company for parts and social stuff (shop rides every Sunday plus trips to events)

    aracer
    Free Member

    Long gone from the city centre maybe – was still here last time I remember looking

    http://goo.gl/maps/OQ3Ly

    I’d suggest Peddlers for less mainstream stuff, rather than just basic. Must have a look in Green Cycles sometime, but I hardly spend any money on bike stuff any more.

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    Nope, long gone. I reckon it must be 2 years since they shut up shop. That unit has been part of Howdens since.

    Unfortunate, as it was on my way home from the station and useful for gear cables and bearings etc. Once they moved from the city centre their stock dwindled to a few very poor kids bikes, a load of old tut and a workshop without enthusiasm.

    You might be right about Peddlers, it’s been sometime since I was in there. Just thought I’d try and give a flavour of the different shops, as ‘less mainstream’ is how I would describe green Bike Co. tbh.

    mboy
    Free Member

    Must have a look in Green Cycles sometime, but I hardly spend any money on bike stuff any more.

    Pop in and say hi mate! I’m not there every day, but pretty much every Tuesday and Wednesday, occasional Fridays/Saturdays, and some of the group road rides and I organise the group MTB rides.

    I used to live in claines, very peacful and quiet

    Will echo this. I live just between the Ombersley Road and the Droitwich Road, technically it’s Claines but it’s not quite in Claines if you get me… Anyway… It’s quiet, and a very nice place to live!

    Nights out ok as well!

    Don’t move to Worcester if you’re after a kicking night out. Sorry to disappoint! Rich and cultural as the city’s history is, it doesn’t exactly have much of a modern culture sadly. There are some half decent pubs, but no decent clubs or venues to speak of.

    EDIT : I find it a very good night out too !!

    REALLY?!?! 😕

    If you’re into cheesy clubs, and drunken ladies in too little clothing then perhaps. But it’s not high brow entertainment, or decent music!

    This brings back memories. I used to work at Singletrack Bikes many moons ago.

    Those were the days! Good shop that was, albeit too briefly.

    there isn’t really actually anywhere that bad in Worcester, it’s a very small city without any no-go areas. Personally I’d not choose to live in Warndon Villages, but then there’s nothing really wrong with it, and lots of people are happy living there.

    Even Tolladine Road and Dines Green aren’t that bad any more. They’re a bit rough sure, but they’re nothing like they used to be.

    Where to ride or do i just sell the mtb and become a roadie.

    Plenty of places, if you move here, pop in the shop and see me. Not much, if anything, direct from your door, but lots of decent riding within 30 minutes, and a huge amount within an hour by car. But it is very definitely a good road riding area.

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    When we moved back to the area in 2000, Saturday night was kicking……

    ……and punching and spitting. It was a massive eye-opener for me as it had been a very sleepy place when I left in ’88.

    Things have really calmed down again now, but it can still be busy on certain nights, with drunken semi-naked ladies and students ( Monday nights during x-factor season are stupidly busy as the evictees usually do a PA at Tramps the following Monday – I recall getting stuck in a traffic jam at 11pm on a Monday night due to the crowds!)

    We do get some pleasant things going on at the Swan, Huntingdon Hall etc and occasionally the live music scene gets going in a local hostelry. But yeah, it ain’t really highbrow.

    grtdkad
    Full Member

    We relocated from Tynemouth to Malvern eight or nine years ago.
    Looked at Worcester but found area selection too tricky !

    No regrets at all with Malvern. Great riding out of the back door. Good pubs. Good schools. Good theatre.
    Though pace of life is ‘relaxed’… Time lag equivalent to lving in ~1976 I reckon. Striking when I’ve been in London for a couple of days with work and then get home and out for a ride … it’s a million miles away from big city life.

    You’ll find 50% of Malvern population are non locals … all migrants from other parts of the UK.

    bwaarp
    Free Member

    my misandrist and at the time closeted lesbian ex lives there.

    So I’m giving it a wide birth. I know it’s a small risk that I might meet her but it’s a risk I’m not prepared to take.

    littlegirlbunny
    Free Member

    Worcester is lovely, as far as cities go. I lived there for 7 yrs (pre riding habit) and never really appreciated how nice. Until I had to move away to Brum and Manchester, then it hit home what I had left behind . Lived in St John’s and would highly recommend the place.

    In terms of riding, there is a fair bit in the local area. I’m in Malvern now and the hills have some exceptionally good techy descending and singletrack, if you know where to look. There is also the Wyre and Bredon Hill close to Worcester. No doubt there must be other flat but fun stuff hidden in and around the city.

    As said above, you are well placed for easy reach of Wales (South Wales, Rhayader etc) and not too far from the Pearce tracks around Ludlow. Also hop on the motorway north and you’ll be at Cannock in no time. Head south and you have Cheltenham, Stinchcombe and Nibley all within the hour. Oh and definitely don’t forget the Forest of Dean.

    ski
    Free Member

    It’s horrid you would never find me living there 😉

    Joking apart, Woo has changed quite a bit over the last few years, the new library the Uni sports facilities and even the new kings boat house have added a new buz to a old city architecture.

    Agree the clubs are not up to much, but there are some great pubs and bars if you look further than the high street.

    If you want clubs Brum is not far away for a proper lively night out

    The only thing that would put me off living The Malvern side is the terrible traffic problems you get trying to get over the new bridge to the motorway. The sooner they make the bypass dual the better, then you might just see the prices for properties explode in price Malvern way.

    The only other local town or city I would consider would be Cheltenham.

    ski, Woo born and inbred 😉

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    mboy.

    I bet you live within a couple of streets from where I grew up. If not THE street. Parents sold up 2 years ago and moved to Bulgaria. My brother lives at the top end of Ombersley Road. My Dad grew up in Clanies.

    Penbury Street FWIW.

    aracer
    Free Member

    The sooner they make the bypass dual the better

    That won’t be happening until well after they build lots of new houses on this side of the river and south of St Peters – at which point with all that extra traffic there will still remain a choke point making it at least as bad as it is now. SWDP, grumble, grumble 🙁

    The completion of the ring road might help (it would at least enable me to escape in a Northwards direction, which is all I usually want to do), but I’m not holding my breath.

    I do wonder whether our traffic problem is really so much worse than anywhere else, or whether it’s just the contrast between all the other relatively free flowing roads – it really is pretty awful for a bypass though.

    To the OP – don’t let all this traffic talk put you off, it’s just the most obvious downside of living here, and something you should bear in mind when choosing where to live.

    renton
    Free Member

    EDIT : I find it a very good night out too !!
    REALLY?!?!

    If you’re into cheesy clubs, and drunken ladies in too little clothing then perhaps. But it’s not high brow entertainment, or decent music!

    Yep thats right up my street ! :mrgreen:

    Nah seriously Im to old for all that clubbing malarky and as someone up there has said there are some decent pubs if you look hard enough!!

    renton
    Free Member

    Have a look at Droitwich if you cant bear the city itself.

    stevied
    Free Member

    Star cycles

    There’s a blast form the past. I worked there many years ago when I was on ‘study leave’ for my GCSE’s. Was a really good shop in it’s day (when Raleigh were at the top of their game).
    Worcester is a pretty good place to live. Easy access to m-ways etc as already mentioned. Where to live could depend on where the job is??
    I’m in Malvern and it really is a lovely area to live. Powick is nice and St Johns…good riding on the hills too 😉

    aracer
    Free Member

    Powick is nice

    Interesting to see a couple of mentions of what I thought was the insignificant little village I live in and which most people surely only see as a few houses by the side of the main road as they pass through. Or have you all been paying more attention as you sit in the queue through here at the moment?

    If you do pass through and see somebody on a unicycle going to or from the school, that’s me 🙂

    stevied
    Free Member

    I really like Powick. Got a few mates who live there and have considered it when we move (although the drawbacks are longer drive to work in Ledbury and not being able to ride out the door and be on the hills in 10 mins). It’s got a good footy pitch too 😉
    #aracer: do you ride your uni on the hills? If so I may have seen you and thought ‘loony’..

    bigbmx
    Free Member

    I moved to Worcester from Stourbridge a couple of months ago for the girlfriends job. I still work in Stourbridge and ride to work everyday, 26miles each way. The lanes are fairly quiet but it’s too flat around Worcester. Mountain bike wise there is nothing on your doorstep you have to travel to ride anywhere good, which is not what I’m used to.
    The city itself isn’t amazing but it’s easy enough to go elsewhere.
    Leaving Worcester in June, enough said

    aracer
    Free Member

    do you ride your uni on the hills? If so I may have seen you and thought ‘loony’..

    Yep – though I’m not the only one apparently, so it might have been somebody else.

    the00
    Free Member

    It’s not the worst, but there are better places with more riding nearby. If your happy to drive for your riding kicks, then no worries.

    The city is ok. Brum and Bristol close enough if you want something more interesting.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

    ta for all the comments. would be moving from swansea valley with afan brechfa and brecon beacons on the doorstep so a bit depressing from that point of view but there are chuff all jobs in my line around here.

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    You see, I’m of the age where by admitting you live in Powick you expect to get the schoolboy ‘mong’ comments.

    Sorry, I know it isn’t PC at all, but it was part of my formative years.

    (Dates back to the institute which was based there for the mentally ill, now a housing development)

    BigBMX; I’ve often caught the train from my job in Brum out to Stourbridge and cycled home (via Kinver, Bewdley, Dunley, Astley etc) my favourite way home and quite undulating, although I wouldn’t want to do it daily!

    The great thing about Worcester for road riding IMO is if you head East you’re out in the Vale of Evesham, so relatively flat but if you head West then you’re into the Malverns, Suckley Hills, and hilly Herefordshire, so you’ve got a great variety.

    From an MTB point of view, I’ve been riding up on the Malverns for 12 years, yet I still found a trail I’d never ridden before back in November. It is quite amazing what’s hidden in such a small area.

    gribble
    Free Member

    Ski – my outlaws live locally and also refer to ‘that new bridge’, although as far as I can tell it has been there for a while!

    Lesbians in Malvern, I’m sold.

    aracer
    Free Member

    You see, I’m of the age where by admitting you live in Powick you expect to get the schoolboy ‘mong’ comments.

    I’m that old, but it had already shut before I moved to the area. Though personally I embrace living on the asylum – am just disappointed that we have such boring road names rather than “Madman Avenue”, “LSD Drive”, “Lunatic Close”.

    gribble – everybody calls it the “New Bridge”

    jimster
    Free Member

    gribble – everybody calls it the “New Bridge”

    At just over twentyfive or so years it is in comparison to the bridge over the river in Worcester itself.

    As for Worcester itself, not too bad a place to live. Depends on what you are after, personally I’d head for the St.Johns side of town.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

    just been to worcester for job interview which finished at 4.30 so rush hour. I didn’t know there were that many cars in the uk let alone all ramed into one town at the same time – took me an hour to get out and even then i ended up in tewkebury!

    aracer
    Free Member

    To be fair it is worse than usual at the moment due to the flooding.

    mboy
    Free Member

    Penbury Street FWIW.

    2 Roads over, just off Checketts Lane…

    I didn’t know there were that many cars in the uk let alone all ramed into one town at the same time

    As others have said, Worcester traffic can be a big PITA. BUT… It’s not as bad as some places I’ve lived in the past (Headington in Oxford for one!), and you get used to knowing when and where to go and at what times. If you can, highly suggest living within walking or cycling distance of your workplace for sure.

    To be fair it is worse than usual at the moment due to the flooding.

    Agreed. It’s worse than I’ve seen it in a long time at the mo, it’s usually bad, but not this bad.

    Worcester may be lacking in MTBing right on its doorstep, but you won’t lack for people and clubs to ride with in the area. There’s lots of highly active clubs, both road and off road, including Worcs St. Johns, the Green Bike Riders, Malvern Cycle Sport to name but 3…

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