Often called 'the village in the city', St John's is a lovely suburb on the west side of the City of Worcester; which is itself often called 'the city whose council turned away a new John Lewis department store'. They did say yes to a Wilco tho, so it's not all bad.

St John's is pretty much self-contained. It hasn't quite got a Waterstones, but it has got a brilliant charity bookshop. It hasn't got a Starbucks, but it has got lots of independent cafes for when your kettle breaks down or you run out of biscuits. 

St John's has a lovely, modern library, four schools, a grumpy sports gym and an even grumpier Post Office. It also has a nice Sainsburys and an even nicer Aldi.

​

Worcester Golf and Country Club on Bransford Road has squash and tennis courts. There are more tennis courts in Cripplegate Park, a bowling alley round the corner and a swimming pool and golf driving range in nearby Lower Wick. The sports centre has a gym, 5-a-side football pitches, badminton courts and runs fitness classes etc. (apparently). It all sounds very tiring.

​

There is a lovely, open park in St John's, where you may see Bug, our Fox-Red Labrador, pulling Mrs Ellis round at great speed. St John's is also very close to some lovely riverside walks. Bug particularly enjoys swimming in the River Teme, which is only a few minutes away (see 'Dog Walks' section).

​

As Worcester suburbs go, St John's is easily the most popular, with good public infrastructure and social amenities. Whilst it has a real community feel and a lot going for it, if you do need to be elsewhere, Worcester is very well connected, with good access to the M5 and M50 via the new link road.

For train travel, Worcester's Foregate Street and Shrub Hill railway stations are on the mainline to Bristol, Birmingham, Hereford, The Cotswolds and Paddington. The new Worcestershire Parkway allows you to access the Cross Country network (Bristol-Birmingham North West/North East). 

​

From the city centre bus station you can eventually get to most places using the local bus network. It's not in tip-top condition, but could certainly be used in an emergency.

​

You're never going to get lost in St John's and you'll certainly bump into someone you know, even if it's only a boisterous Fox-Red Labrador with a string of sausages in his mouth.

​

St John's is where people choose to live.

​

​

The Hive : 
Sawmill Walk, The Butts, Worcester WR1 3PD
/// online.easy.prep
Phone : 01905 822866

​

The Hive is the large golden-coloured structure you can see as you come over the main bridge, into Worcester. The building houses the fully integrated public library, the University of Worcester's academic library, the records office and lots more.

It's all very confused, as are the staff. At least, architectuarally, it's a nice place to start your Kafkaesque journey into the world of bureaucracy.

Read more here

​

The Worcestershire Hub is also based in The Hive and is a central point to access information and services of the County Council. It's supposed to make things easier for people, but actually doesn't. When you're fed up of waiting on the phone, you can march down here and have a rant.