Sawbridgeworth

[HouseHunting]

Any live in/know Sawbridgeworth? I only know it very little having been to the BUOA hospital there. Have seen this house on rightmove but I have no idea if the location is good (apart from it being near to the station & shops).
Thanks

[HouseHunting]

Oops BUPA!

[Sarimillie]

I used to know Sawbridgeworth, and loved it. Twas about 15 years ago, but I can't imagine it's changed much! That house looks lovely, and sounds well located (can't picture the exact street, tho).

[hocuspontas]

Although Knight Street is lovely and in the centre of the village the property itself is at the end of the road and overlooks the crossroads with Station Road (v.busy). It's opposite a pub as well which has two outside seating areas. Just out of shot on the right is the pedestrian crossing - the bleeping may get on your nerves!

I believe the house has been renovated in the last few years so it's probably nice inside so don't let me put you off!

Fantasically located equidistant between an infant and junior school and walking distance to the secondary and everything else SBW has to offer though.

[HouseHunting]

Thanks for your responses, very helpful. Sounds like it is in a rather busy location though, which is a shame. May have a drive by at some stage if we want to pursue it further. Many thanks again

[Ets]

I moved into Sawbo (this is how local people call Sawbrigeworth) in spring 2011 and I find it very pleasant, quiet and safe place to live. The old part of the town and its centre is particularity beautiful with lots of historic buildings, pubs and just properly looked after properties. There is a touch of 60s too, but the town does not have any horrible council estates or large developments. The main pros and cons are
 
1)      The local police station was recently closed down as the crime rates are really low
2)      Easy commute to London.  Up to 5 peak time trains to/from Liverpool Street and an hourly train to Stratford. Some Stansted express stops at Sawbo too, which make journey to Tottenham Hale (Victoria line) just 20min and LivStreet 30 min
3)      Two very good school: Reading and Leventhorpe. The last one apparently is one of the best in East Herts
4)      Full of nice retired people, affluent families, BMWs and Mercs;  bankers and brokers from the City (no wonder given its direct connection with the Liverpool Street Station)
5)      10 min drive to Bishop Stortford where you can do your Waitrose shopping
6)      Small villages around (The Hadhams, Eastwick, High Wych) are truly picturesque. There are nice pubs there too.
7)      Spring and summer time ? very green!
8)      Victoria and David Beckham have a massive house on  Sawbridgeworth/Essex boarder
 
Cons: a) I would not recommend to live around A1184, London/Cambridge Road as it is a busy route to/from Cambridge/London/Stansted airport. The best area of the town is around the train station. Some houses are full of charm, but the road noise might be a problem. b) If you are going to live in Sawbo, you will need a car to do your shopping in Bishop S?ford or neighbouring Essex, or just drive around on weekends. c) Travel is expensive to London, but worth paying for it if you want to live in East Hertfordshire (10th out of 20 best places to live in Britain according to popular Halifax area survey) d) be prepared to see wild life around you, not motorways, large shopping malls or other city non-sense. It sound like a joke, but believe me you will miss a bust and blast of the city after you?ve lived in a big metropolis before (not for while though :)

[dcbe17]

Wondering if all this info still applies to Sawbridgeworth? Thinking of escaping hipster hell in North East London for more space....did you move here? How did your kids settle in school? Were they bullied for being outsiders or is it small enough not to be an issue? Read this about other small towns in Herts so wondered if this applied here
... thanks in advance

[Tartyflette]

I live near Sawbo and would say the above still pretty much applies. There have also been quite a few newbuilds and small developments in the last three or four years.
Fraid don't know a lot about the schools but the town has grown, and continues to grow, so I can't see that newcomers will be much of an issue.
(And the Beckhams have sold up now.)

[Raislander]

I know it's an old post but would still the same apply? We are about to purchase a house in Sawbridgeworth and we don't live locally just a few miles from there.

We've been a few times and it seems a great village/town but don't know if we are missing something that we should know?

Any advise would be really welcome, thanks guys!!

[QuitMoaning]

I don’t know Sawbridgeworth hardly at all but I do live in nearby East Herts and over the last 20 years have never heard anything bad about it, only good stuff.

[Raislander]

I have the same feeling, that's why we looked particularly at this area, it has a nice feeling to it, thanks for the input.

It just because we haven't had the chance to live there I don't know if there is anything we are missing, so having some local input would be great, but thanks for the feedback.

[AdmissionsFairy]

I was also wondering whether there is something I should know. Are there areas to avoid? We’re looking at lower sheering and it seems lovely and quiet but near Station which is good. Having lived in Greater London all my life I am a bit worried that it might be too quiet! Any comments gratefullyreceived!

[Shchandr]

Wondering if the above is still valid? Looking at houses there. Is A1184 very busy and noisy road? It seemed not so busy when I drove on the weekend but then the current situation has a lot of people staying home.
How noisy or bad does it get traffic-wise? Will it be absolute hell living around there?
Thank you.

[MyCatReallyIsAGit]

Have only just seen this - I would avoid anything in the middle of Sawbridgeworth on or immediately off that road if I had a choice. It gets very busy, especially during rush hour (in non-Covid times) and school run times. The problem is, there’s no alternative road between Stortford and Harlow so if/when there are roadworks, or the M11 is closed, the volume of traffic just ramps up. Also, some of that road is a 40 limit on the edges of the village.

[Shchandr]

@MyCatReallyIsAGit thanks! I agree that it did feel like I would have been locked from all sides if there was an incident or roadworks. Thankfully we decided to not go for it. The search continues...

[Gingerninja4]

@shchandr

Have you considered Bishop's Stortford .Not quite so locked in can access m11,a120 and a10 pretty easily .Good schools as well