Villages in or near Cotswolds with access to Reading/Didcot Trainline

[Dolceandgabbana14]

Parents are moving house and struggling to find anything that meets their long list of criteria. They need to be near a train station on the Reading or Didcot Parkway lines, or in a village with good buses to the train stations so DM can get around easily as she doesn't drive. They've not been successful in their search at the moment. Not knowing the public transport links locally, in not a lot of help to them. Hoping you can make some suggestions! Ideally they are looking for a village with a community feel, a few shops and not too much traffic.

North Leigh, Long Haborough. Right on edge of the Cotswolds and lovely villages

How long on the train to Reading/Didcot stations? How far into the Cotswolds? Any other criteria?

Thanks Cutes, I'll pass those in as possibilities.

I think the proximity of the village to the station is more important than the length of time on the train. They really like Honeybourne but can't find any suitable houses there, and have also looked at Mickleton, but they're worried about the distance from the station. They weren't so keen on Moreton in Marsh because they said it was much busier (I'm taking their word for it as I haven't been)! I think they're looking for an 'escape to the country' to retire to, easy links back home, and they have a reasonable budget for a four bedroom house.

Long Hanborough actually has a station that goes to Didcot and Reading and North Leigh is 5 minute drive from there x

I couldn't really describe Moreton as busy, though I guess it is in the summer as quite a tourist stop off.
Honeybourne is lovely, so keep looking there as there are new houses going up.
Have they looked at Pershore? Bigger than a village, but that does mean a leisure centre/pool, GPs, shops etc but a very friendly atmosphere. Train station, buses to Worcester/Evesham and the new Worcester Parkway station will join the line up to a Birmingham train

Thank you both. Are there buses between Long Hanborough and North Leigh? Or is there a taxi rank? What about the other stations on that line? Just thinking ahead as my DM really doesn't like driving and I don't think it'll be long before she gives up altogether.

They're definitely continuing the search in Honeybourne, I know they'd be there like a shot if the right house came up. Interesting about Pershore, but I think they ruled it out because it's too far from family in Berkshire/ Oxfordshire. I think they're worried that Moreton has four major roads converging there and they carry large amounts of traffic and HGVs which is one of the reasons they want to move from their current house, to get away from clogged up roads.

Really appreciate your ideas and have got some to investigate. Let me know if you have any more suggestions!

Long Hanborough would definitely fit the bill... rail link there and while it is a fairly small village it has the essentials for a non driver, plus Witney is only a few minutes away by bus.

You can't really rely on buses in many of the Cotswold villages. I'd focus the search on the ones that actually have a station on the Cotswold line.

Also have a look at the timetable though. It's not the busiest line, and it can be a long time between trains, esp at the weekend.

Where do they actually need to get to, didcot?

Hanborough definitely fits the bill, just bear in mind that it's a total rat run. Solid traffic at rush hour in term times.

Kemble near Cirencester? Kemble has a main line to London Paddington. Don't know anything about the village though, sorry!

Yes I’d say kemble. It is in London Paddington line, so also didcot and reading.

It’s a village but close to cirencester town. It has a few pubs, a shop, and a school. There are also smaller villages nearby, like Ewen, but not sure about buses to kemble....

Compared to some places mentioned above like Moreton, Kemble is much quieter.

We're currently thinking of moving to Long Hanborough from a nearby village. We love it. There are some excellent houses on Rightmove at the moment.