If so, how do you find it ? Would you recommend it as a place to live?

We’re at the point of our lives where we don’t necessarily need to stay where we are (Essex) but when you have the whole country to choose from we need to narrow down the search area a bit. I’m from Durham originally but I have got used to the better weather down here 🙂

We love the outdoors (walking as well as cycling) and I considered Rutland as I do enjoy windsurfing when I do it on holiday and he’s quite keen on sailing cats. I’m not sure how much we’d do but Rutland gives us the possibility.

I was under the impression that cats really disliked water having once tried to bathe a kitten, so how on earth do you sail on one?!

Grew up in Rutland – zero mountain biking of any quality. Otherwise nice enough place, Oakham seems bit like a suburb of London now when I return to visit the folks.

Welcome to heaven’s waiting room 😉

You’ll stand a fair chance of living quietly in Malvern as there’s normally sweet FA going on except for new retirement ‘villages’ and fast-build box-estates mushrooming on the surrounding green bits.

3 Counties Showground has a few things going on throughout the year including Vanfest

Plenty of decent gyms and pools and schools (looking beyond current C19 situ)

The Hills and Commons enjoy conservation and there’s fair opportunity here for a quick MTB blast on the few miles of tame (if sometimes steep) shared access trails. Also hang-gliding/para-gliding if you’re into that. Locally you can canoe/kayak the Teme, Wye and Severn Rivers. FoD and Wales are 40 mins and an hour away respectively, so plenty of outdoors opportunity. Couple of small local bike shops in Great Malvern, a traditional one in Ledbury and a nearby Halfords.

Plenty of walking from the doorstep onto the Hills, Geopark, Worcestershire Way etc. Have been here for 15 years, am a keen walker and yet still discovering new places/paths/tracks all of the times.

Farther afield (ie major cities and the South West) is easily commutable via nearby M5 and regular rail services straight from town.

Fair selection of supermarkets, wholefood shops, teashops, cafes and the excellent Malvern Theatre and cinema.

A lot of great unrealised potential/opportunities IMO (but that could well be just me), and on the whole it has a lot going for it for those who like the outdoors and the quiet life.

In a catchy phrase: ‘Enjoy The Hills, travel elsewhere for thrills‘ 🙂

We grew up in Hereford, just west of Malvern. Agree with everything Malvern rider Though would add that it’s often very busy at weekends on the hills, so can be frustrating to bike in my experience.

Close to Forest of Dean is a near drive, as is South Wales. It’s not a particularly cheap area though, we spent 4 years in Massachusetts before moving back last year, and prices are high in our opinion.

As MR says there is lots of development going on but this is creating heavily densely populated pockets on outskirts of small towns and villages which don’t appeal much to us. But does mean plenty of new housing stock

To add to Malvern Rider’s post:

I live in Worcester – Malvern was my play ground for years as a mid-week rider. The Wyre Forest at certain times of the year. Weekends at Cannock, Forest of Dean (both 50 mins in car) or further afield in Cwmcarn/Bike Park Wales (around 1hr 40mins).

I sail more these days (not cats I hasten to add). I sail at Bartley Reservoir (25mins up the M5) or Trimpley Reservoir (40 mins). Chasewater is about 50 mins away. There is a sailing club down near Upton on the river but I can’t imagine sailing on a river is much fun. The open series is quite lively (Lasers, Solos and GP14 classes) in the Midlands.

Hope that helps

Edit: Bartley has a few windsurfers that turn out when the wind is suitable. It’s a big enough body of water to get some heroic speeds up 😉

I’m in Leics. but have done loads of work in Rutland.
It is expensive, and anywhere affordable is cheap for a reason.
I did lots of work in a village pub, the owner didnt open at Easter, as the locals all go away to Norfolk for the weekend. They are all loaded, and have second homes.
Someone above mentioned Oakham as a London suburb, that isnt too far wrong,people with spare cash have bought up properties in the area, and come up for the weekend.
On the surface it’s a lovely county, great scenery lovely villages etc, but there is a lot of deprivation, an estate in Oakham is the pits, a lot of villages have a few council houses which people have rented for year through the family, they are the only affordable family houses in the area, but then they are isolated so inhabitants need a car to get anything/anywhere, and once elderly, they really struggle.
f you are rich, then go for it.

As for the Malverns, I dont get it, far too built up for me.

This is a while back now, but I used to live in Peterborough (I escaped to Bristol, thankfully) and before that spent my younger years around Stamford. Still have family in Bourne, so close ish to Rutland. I also went to Rutland water regularly for windsurfing.

You could not pay me to live back there. The northamptonshire side is a lot nicer but much more expensive.

If I had the choice of living anywhere in the country, that part would be well down the list.

Another Malverner here.
Been here 45 years and don’t see me going anywhere else.
It’s a quiet place but does get a lot of visitors over the summer weekends.
I’ve biked the hills for 30 years and you soon learn where to go to avoid people and there’s plenty of off-piste to test you.
There’s the usual issues with development but access to the town is good and should be better once the link road to the M5 at Worcester is finished though you can get to it easy enough through Upton.
Some good shops, retail park on the outskirts, theatre/cimena, lots of good food & pubs.
And I never get bored of the view:

Uppingham. Love it.

Was brought up not far from Rutland – Stamford side – and still visit/ride there a lot.

Good for road riding and gravel, not much “mountain” biking.

Very pretty part of the world. Decent road links via A1 and trains from Peterborough, which have driven property prices in the last 25 years or so. Bit of a divide between rich locals, poor locals, and rich incomers. Kind of stuck between Peterborough and Leicester in terms of “small city” facilities. Stamford is beautiful.

Oakham is the capital of the smallest county in England, and proud of it. The fuss over being the last county to get a McDonald’s (on the bypass by the industrial estates) was amusing to watch. They didn’t like the idea of the 21st century, however justified. But Oakham is also home to Laverack Cycles.

I’m in the Belbroughton/Clent Hills area which is just north of Malvern and West of Brum. We moved here with work 8 years ago and were very firmly planning on leaving ASAP when we moved here imagining the area to be a built up urban hell. It’s absolutely not that and we are uber happy. Riding is great – Malverns 40 mins or so away, Wyre Forest, FOD and Cannock not too far away, good travel links and housing in the area is really not bad value.

Oakham is the capital of the smallest county in England

It’s only the smallest county half the time.

We lived in Oakham for 25 + years.

It was a safe/nice place to bring up our boys but that’s about it.
Rutland water became over popular at weekends and holidays so we kept away, used it for training rides in eveninga or early morning but knew every stone on the track before they tarmaced most of it making it lethally fast.
Nearest mtb terrain is either Cannock or Chicksands, bugger all in Rutland.
It’s full of arrogant toffs who don’t talk to you unless you’ve got designer labels plasterd all over you or the right car parked outside the pub.
Nothing to do in the evenings, pubs are poor and eating out is very hit and miss unless you can afford Hambleton Hall.
Really glad we decided to move to a real place with plenty of Mtb on the doorstep and loads of great pubs and eateries.

If you want to mix with knobs you won’t be disappointed with Rutland.

As for Rutland Cycles 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Apologies to a few good friends who still live there – you are the exceptions to the “normal” inhabitants 😬

Though would add that it’s often very busy at weekends on the hills, so can be frustrating to bike in my experience.

For these reasons I’ve only ever really biked The Hills either after dark or at 5-6am. Being a night owl it’s normally at night. It’s a climb. You have to like climbing.

I grew up on the border of Rutland and Northamptonshire and my parents still live there. I visit regularly.

I personally wouldn’t live there now: I probably couldn’t afford to for one thing, I dislike the extent to which you need to drive (assuming you live in one of the many little villages), there are no hills, and it’s a bit too gentrified for me these days.

Was worried that my views on Rutland were too harsh, but obviously not!