'Lovely' West Midlands neighbourhood named one of the best places to grow old in England

When people begin to think about where they’d like to live as they get older, there are a number of factors that come up.

They can include the local environment, access to facilities such as healthcare, shopping and other local amenities, living costs and a general feeling of being happy in the area.

Some areas can be seen as nicer and more cost-effective areas to live in than others and become desirable places for people to grow old in for a number of reasons.

In a recent study conducted by care home operator Lovett Care, local authority districts in England were scored across 37 separate measures that shape later life and a table was produced.

Within the West Midlands, Cannock Chase was named as one of the top districts, ranked second in the region behind only Newcastle-under-Lyme and 56th overall in the country.

The district, which contains Cannock, Hednesford and Rugeley, rated highly for environment, with Cannock Chase Forest being a dominant setting within the district, and also scored highly for wellbeing and gigabit broadband.

But what is about Cannock Chase that makes people want to live there and grow old?

On a busy market day, Cannock town centre was full of people looking for bargains and things for their homes, while traders were out selling everything from fresh meat to cards, home goods and sweet treats.

Robert Smith runs the Card Planet stall at the market and said that while he was from Bromsgrove, he was very fond of Cannock, albeit while also hoping that the town centre could improve.

He said: “It’s a lovely area and is actually one of the last busy places for a market, plus I think having Cannock Chase forest nearby is really good as it’s a lovely place to go to.

“The people here are very nice as well and, for Cannock as a district, it’s a very nice place.

“I have friends who used to live in Cannock and they had some beautiful places that they lived at, so that was great, but I do think it’s a shame that the town centre can struggle at times, with business rates being what they are.”

Shopping for cards at the stall was Fay Nichol, with the 81-year-old saying that she was Cannock-born-and-bred and said it was a town with a lot to offer people.

She said: “One thing I love is the deer on Cannock Chase as there are places where you can see the deer feeding and that’s wonderful to see, plus we have a lot of natural habitat around the Chase.

“I don’t know if local people appreciate it as much as they could, maybe due to work or family, but when they have the opportunity, I really think they should go there and see it.

“We used to be a mining community, but that has changed and I think it’s a beautiful area to grow up and raise children and people are very friendly and helpful, which is more important as you get older.

“I live locally and everything I need is on my doorstep, with wonderful markets, and while they need to renovate the town centre, they are in the midst of doing that and I can’t wait to see it.”

Rich Ricketts also runs a stall at the market called Matthew Bannister and said that, as a regular visitor to Cannock, he could appreciate why people liked being there.

He said: “I enjoy going for walks around Cannock Chase and it’s nice to come into Cannock for the markets, as we do markets in a lot of different areas and just find Cannock people to be a lot friendlier.

“I do agree with the study as you see a lot of the old people around here and they always seem happier than some of the other areas, so I could definitely see myself growing old here.”

At Hannah’s Cafe, Deborah Mellor was among those enjoying a sit down and a breakfast and the 63-year-old from Cheslyn Hay said Cannock Chase was just a nice place with a lot of potential.

She said: “Everybody’s friendly and it’s a good community spirit that’s here and it’s just a happy place which I do think has potential to be a great place.

“I think it’s a good place to grow old because it’s accessible with the buses and you’ve got everything you need from doctors, hospitals and schools, which I can walk my grandchildren to and get exercise.

“I really wouldn’t swap it for the world.”