If you are aiming to move to Staffordshire, in the heartland of England, you might want to consider the town of Stone as just the place to invest, start a family or continue further education? If so, here are some of the benefits likely to lie in store …
House Prices 🏠
- Most expensive property: £660,000
- Average house price in Stone: £217,849
- Cheapest property: £48,000 (flat, leasehold);
Property Investment 🏠 🏠
- Stone is one of five rural “hubs” in Staffordshire, officially identified as “a significant concentration of population and business”
- Hubs provide an important link between centres of population and business to the surrounding countryside
- At the last Census, the town had a population of 16,385 and higher than the national average of those of working age are in employment.
Economy ££
- Stone’s economic prospects are tied in closely to the economic development plan for this part of north Staffordshire
- This includes a specific commitment to expanding economic development in Stone itself and to improving broadband access to the town and the surrounding rural communities
- Stone is the UK’s centre for the manufacture of high-end laboratory glassware systems.
Location and Transport 🚌
- Stone is situated just to the south of the conurbation of Stoke-on-Trent
- Road connections put Birmingham a 45-minute drive away, Derby 50 minutes and Manchester 70 minutes
- The town’s railway station is on the West Coast Main Line, with connections (via Stafford) to London Euston and north to Crewe, via Stoke-on-Trent.
Education 🎓
- Alleyne’s Academy is the principal high school and Walton Priory Middle and Christchurch Academy provide middle school education
- There are a number of primary schools in and around the town.
Environment 🌷
- The Trentham Estate, on the Stone Road to nearby Trentham, is probably the most popular day out for locals and visitors alike – with gardens, woodland walks and even a Monkey Forest
- If you are looking to bring the outdoors indoors, the Come into Play indoor adventure playground is the place to take the kids for the afternoon
- If there is still the energy left, another indoor adventure area just a mile from Stone is Flip Out Stoke, a huge warehouse of interconnected trampolines.
Trivia 🎬
Finally, did you know …
- Stone is the headquarters for the National Association of Chimney Sweeps
- Home to the John Joules Brewery since 1758, the company telephone number until at least the 1950s was Stone1
- Stone’s nickname is Canal Town – thanks to its situation midway along the Trent and Mersey Canal.