MegaSack DRAW - 6pm Christmas Eve - LIVE on our YouTube Channel
As title.
Anybody local know whether this is a good idea generally.
Is it close enough to bike to the Chase, and any decent local clubs?
And any good primary schools?, ive looked online but i prefer actual recommendations.
We've got a lot of family in Stafford (in-laws to start with), and i can live anywhere because of work. (but not stafford, dont like it).
Just get on the Heritage Trail and it takes you straight through the chase...
Rugeley is right on the doorstep of the Chase, easily bikeable to it. Brereton Wheelers road club seem fairly active.
Only problem is Rugeley is a bit of a dump...though at least it's not Cannock! Not sure about schools now. Speaking as an alumnus, Hagley Park High School used to be a bit of a school of hard knocks - though latest head teacher seems to have sorted it out a bit.
No idea on primary schools.
no way would i want to live in rugeley itself. there are nice places around it and chase is on the doorstep
Used to live in Little Haywood which is nice, now live in Lichfield which is also nice. Plenty of other villages around which are good. Where are you going to be working?
If you turn your computer off and look at the screen it is mimicking Rugeley nightlife.
but for ready rides - perfectly placed.
Lichfield is probably better and not too far away, IIRC. Or south of Rugeley.
Second iDave. Really nice villages around Rugeley - but Rugeley itself, no!
Brereton wheelers are OK, and you are near enough to hook up the Mammoth runs, or Stafford Road Club.
After a few years away at University I moved back to Rugeley and have been here for around 25 years all in.
In terms of access to the Chase it's excellent. There is Brereton Wheelers cycling club but after a foray into mtbing back in the 90's they seem to be firmly focused on the road again. There is Chase Trails (blatant plug) which although based around trail building has a good group of guys and girls who also ride together.
The nightlife is non existent, a handful of pubs and a couple of crap bars and that's it.
It's not a rough arsed dump but I'd have to say there are better places around. Lichfield is a nice place with plenty to do for such a small City but it's a 10-15 minute drive to the Chase so if you want a quick ride from your front door to the Chase it's not ideal.
Secondary schools are Hagley Park and Fair Oak, I went to Hagley and it wasn't a school for hard knocks back in the early 90's. Both are due to be merged in the next few years with a new combined school (spending cuts permitting)
There are some really nice primary schools. My daughter is at Chancel which is just outside the town, Hob Hill is a nice single form entry school out in Brereton.
It's convenient enough to get to other places, Stafford, Lichfield etc but then it needs to be as to get to any large shops you need to drive out of town.
House prices are sensible. Move to one of the villages like Great or Little Haywood, Milford, Slitting Mill (still reliant on Rugeley as a centre) and the like and prices rise considerably. Whilst there is one council estate (Springfields) and an ex miners estate (Pear Tree where I grew up) neither are drug infested ghettos. There are also a few nice spots. I'm a 10 minute walk out of town along the tow path which is on the edge of my drive and looking out the window can see the canal right now. A couple of modern housing estates give you plenty of choice if you're after a modern built in a hurry but ticking all the boxes house.
There's alot to be said for having the Chase so close. Living a 10 or 15 minute drive from it can make it all the harder to get to as a family once day to day stuff gets in the way so having it a short ride (even with a tag along and trailer in tow) is a real bonus.
It's far from perfect but it's all relative.
st gives a fairer, better informed and more considered view than mine - Hagley must have improved after I left...
oooooh you don't want to ride with those chaps from mammoth, they're a strange bunch and at least one of them is a roadie who also singlespeeds 😯
on a serious note, as everyone else has stated, area around has some lovely places to live, rugeley itself.......EEEEEEEEEK
LOL. Went out on the road bike today after a good few weeks without doing the roadie thing. Jeez it was tough!
and ST is a singlespeeder......
out on the bigwheel on thursday night if you fancy it picto, found some ace secret singletrack
3 of the best primary schools anywhere are on the Cannock Chase side of Stafford. Oakridge, Berkswich and Leasowes. If you were to move to Walton or Brocton, life could hardly be nicer.
I live in Walton on the Hill and have lived in Rugeley (Pear Tree), I much prefer Stafford. Easy access to the Chase too, pretty much all off-road.
Would be more expensive to buy here though.
My blood ran cold when I saw this thread. I lived in Etching Hill, Rugeley for best part of a year, and it still haunts my dreams.
Terrible, awful place.
