Pamela 1

To reply to Bevm we like both places for different reasons. We like UK down south here because it is warmer than other places in UK and we know Bournemouth areas from childhood and thought it would be better to come here than returning to Cheltenham for winter. We love the English countryside and being by the sea which is just across the road from our apartment. We found a very nice one bedroomed apartment for winter. Being in our 60's and therefore retired we are enjoying that too.

We love the variety of food one finds in the supermarkets be it fruit and veg which I think is better quality than we get in Ontario. And a lot more choice in other foods and sometimes organic is not that much more expensive.

We have never disliked Canada except for the hard winters and previously have spent a number of them in Florida, but decided to come to UK this year as a trial run for the future. We do miss friends and our church in Ontario and we are looking forward to our return in the Spring.To that end we are hoping to come for winter for a few years and back in Ontario in the summer.

With the exchange rate it can be expensive in some things, however the rate has improved with the pound dropping. We budgeted for this time but if one thinks in sterling instead of keep converting it is not so bad.

Hope this helps. Coming for winter is a good idea if you are not sure about returning completely. We have no house to sell or be looked after so we are free to come and go as we choose.

CarrotCruncher

Hello, I am Gloucestershire born and bred too. I concur that Cheltenham sounds ideal. However places like Stroud and Tewkesbury, maybe even Thornbury (South Gloucestershire) would be an option.

Hutch

You'll get a far better deal on rents in Ciren than you will in Cheltenham, plus Ciren definitely has the upmarket punters - even LLewelyn Bowen is a local (but don't let that put you off).

Cheltenham I was never much impressed by - yes, parts of it are lovely, but you've also got that large area round Princess Elizabeth Way that locals call the Bronx . All those five storey council blocks called things like 'Rhodesia House' - huge amount of crime originates in that area.

If I was in your shoes I'd be looking at Nailsworth, Stow, Ciren and Bourton.

Eastbound

Of course there are bad areas anywhere, nowhere is utopia ,even in the areas you have cited they have high incidences of crime .The original poster was asking for places to cite her business not to set up in an area which is largely just surburbia .

Bevm

Thanks, Pamela.

So you still find prices are pound for dollar?

As you say, the rate's getting better from the Canadian angle. 1.80 now, I think.

Bev

Hutch

Yea, thanks for that Einstein - whether the shop is situated in Imperial Square or not, the atmosphere and general population of a town have a bearing on what it's like to visit, work or live there. Fact is - you get bugger all serious crime in the small towns I mentioned and shed-loads of it in 'nam.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Bourton on the Water has high crime !!

I do remember being fleeced by the ice cream seller last time was there and the price of seeing the mini village was a bit steep but it never really struck me as a place where the drive by shooting was a common practise.

nik04

What part of Exeter did you end up in ?

deborahjane

We're moving back to Exeter in 2 weeks time. In a holiday cottage for 6 weeks in Clyst St Mary whilst we choose an area. Don't know Exeter at all. Looks nice though!

Eastbound

- whether the shop is situated in Imperial Square or not, the atmosphere and general population of a town have a bearing on what it's like to visit, work or live there.

Obviously your opinion is blinkered by absence otherwise you would be aware of the massive regeneration of the areas you slate.
I have lived and worked there and as previously stated although nowhere is Utopia , Cheltenham is by and large a beautiful cotswold town

AndyN

Although not originally from Glos, I have lived and worked in the county for a number of years. Owned houses in Lydney, King's Stanley and Longlevens.

Worked in Micheldean, Wotton-u-Edge and Cheltenham. I love Cheltenham! Gloucester isn't so nice - my former wife (who is from Glos) had problems with 'louts' hanging around Westgate and High Cross in the evenings etc. The King's Stanley/Stroud/Stonehouse area is nice, and fairly inexpensive. I liked it there because the motorway is close and so it the train to Swindon/London.

If I ever returned from the USA, I'd go back there somewhere. I've lived in a number of counties across the UK and I know why the Cotswolds are called the 'graveyard of ambition'........