Why Georgian market town is the ‘nicest place to live in the West Midlands in 2022’

If you’re looking to relocate to Worcestershire then the sleepy market town of Pershore might not be top of your list. The cathedral city of Worcester, the stunning Cotswolds village of Broadway or modern Redditch get a lot more press.

But the Georgian market town has pipped all of its rivals to be named the best place in the West Midlands to live. Beating the likes of swanky Solihull, posh Sutton Coldfield and cosmopolitan Birmingham for people to put down roots in.

Every year property finding company Garrington carries out a study to rank over 1,300 UK towns, villages and cities to find the best places to buy a house. And this year its findings are more relevant than ever as the pandemic saw thousands of people looking to relocate for more space and a better quality of life.

Read more:Ranked – the best and worst places to live in the West Midlands in 2022

In its 2022 report published last week, Garrington ranked Pershore 22nd out of 1,372 location – the highest in the West Midlands. Best place overall was Bath in Somerset.

The survey ranked areas on four criteria: natural beauty, architectural beauty, quality of life and how green it is. It also shows the average house price in each of the towns. Pershore scored better than anywhere else in the West Midlands on all these factors.

It was ranked high for its greenness (32nd out of 1,372) and architectural beauty (139th out of 1,372). The cost of an average family home was £350k – £650k.

In Worcestershire, Worcester was 117th, Evesham 136th, Great Malvern 186th, Stourport 411th, Upton Upon Severn 453th, Droitwich 522nd, Bromsgrove 757th, Kidderminster 793th and Redditch 992nd. Birmingham was put in 553rd position.

So why is Pershore such a plum place to live? Well, that is actually one of the reasons……

Plums

Pershore is renowned the world over for its plums. The Pershore Plum was the mainstay of the English plum industry from the mid 19th Century until the early 20th Century. Its best known export was and still is the Yellow Egg Plum, so called because of its yellow colour and distinctive egg-like oval shape.

But it’s not a new thing. The area has been growing the fruit since medieval times. Today, orchards in the Pershore area produce tons of plums every year. Varieties include Victoria, Majorie Seedling, Heron, Monarch, Pershore Purple, Pershore Yellow Egg Plum and Pershore Emblem.

To celebrate its famous fruit Pershore holds a Plum Festival every year in August, culminating in the grand finale on August Bank Holiday Monday. Throughout this time the town goes “plum crazy” with the whole town turning purple.

Pershore Abbey

Not many small market towns can boast an abbey, but Pershore can and it’s pretty stunning. Dating back 1,300 years, it’s one of the finest examples of Norman and early English architecture in the country.

It also has a fascinating history: King Henry VIII destroyed the nave at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries and part of it (the north transept) collapsed in the middle 1600s. But despite these setbacks the abbey survives and is open to visitors every day, free of charge.

Good transport links

One of the attractions of Pershore is how easy it is to get to. Very relevant in these days of hybrid working where people mainly work from home but have to commute into the office occasionally.

Pershore lies near the A44, approximately midway between Worcester and Evesham. It’s also close to Junction 7 of the M5 or Junction 1 of the M50. There is a railway station on the Cotswold Line with direct travel to Paddington in London, Worcester and also connections to Birmingham.

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Houses

Like other Georgian market towns, Pershore had a wide range of houses, suitable for all budgets. There are the stunning budget-busting homes, but for those with less cash, plenty of good value stock as well.

As well as the old traditional chocolate box style homes, lots of modern homes in new developments are also being built. Many of these can be purchased using the Help to Buy scheme – meaning they’re affordable for first-time buyers.

Currently on sale is this five bedroomed family home within walking distance of Pershore town centre can be bought for £575,000.

While for those on a budget, this three bedroom terraced house in the High Street can be yours for £275,000.

Green spaces

Pershore scored highly when it came to greenness and open spaces and a visit to the town proves this to be true. It has a wide array of open spaces and recreational grounds.

These include King George’s Field, which is popular for a picnic or to play a casual game of football. There’s also Avon Meadows, just five minutes from the town centre, which is a riverside Local Nature Reserve and has numerous footpaths and a boardwalk running through the middle of the wetland.

Close to the High Street there’s St Andrews Gardens, a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by. And opposite this is Abbey Park – the perfect setting for the Abbey. It also has a Victorian-style bandstand where music is performed in the summer, a children’s play area, a children’s water play area and also a skate park.