Tell me what's good and bad about living in Thame or Wallingford please

[WellWoman]

Just that really. Seen houses in both, would love to know what any MNers think about living there....

All I remember about Wallingford was the appalling traffic. day in, day out at most times of the day.

Sorry... really unhelpful.

Wallingford - nice walks, nice restaurants, decent schools, independent theatre but traffic can be rubbish and need to go into Didcot for more shopping options (15 min drive and not as pretty but amenities are loads better.)

Amazing community in Wallingford. Great for young families. Miss living there so much.

Thank you - sounding very positive!

Anyone any thoughts about Thame? Seems a bit less picture postcard, but I like it too. What might someone just mooching around the town not be aware of??

@GlassBunion - one house we are looking at would be walking distance from most things in the town. I am guessing it's a bunfight driving to stations though?

Thame is nice. It has a fabulous high street with free parking and a good selection of shops. An award winning kebab van and other takeaways 😀 I haven't heard horrendous stories about the schools and think there are two primaries and a good secondary school. Not too far from the motorway with lots of options to get onto it and not too far from the Haddenham and Thame Parkway for trains to Birmingham and London.

I live 20 minutes down the road and my daughter plays football at the ASM so spend a lot of time in the area. Lots of new housing and think some areas are better than others but not sure which.

We drove through Watlington on Sunday which took a while due to parked cars so would say on a busy weekday morning it could be very tedious getting anywhere.

Thame is on the trainline from Marylebone (Haddenham and Thame Parkway), so it's really easy to get into London or Oxford, if that makes a difference. Thame is a nice little town, a few good pubs and shops, and some things for kids like a good skatepark.

Wallingford has a lovely villagey feel, eg Bunkfest community festival every year, good train links in Cholsey but not as easy to get to London. Both nice but guess it depends on your priorities and the house!

Thame is great. Big enough that it's not weird and close to both Oxford or Aylesbury for shopping. Has a Waitrose! Fantastic train connection which in my mind makes it better than Wallingford. More commuters in Thame and possibly less retirement-y than Wallingford.

Wallingford is nice but location is more of a headache - road links not as good, harder to get into Oxford, further from the train station.

Thame has very pretty towns around it and you're also v close to the m40.

If Waitrose is your thing the Waitrose in Wallingford is better lol!

Thanks - both these towns obviously have lots of fans!
My DC are uni age. When they are with us would they like being in these places?
What are they like for young adults?

They’re both lovely, only downside I can think of is that obviously your money won’t go so far there as it might somewhere else.

@RosemaryAndTim , well we are coming from London so prices per sq ft are a bit better value just about everywhere else!

Live in Thame and looked at both when moving to Oxfordshire

First, both are small market towns and neither offer a lot to uni age children. Pubs and sports clubs. But both within easy reach of Oxford which has it all for young adults - reachable in 30 mins or so by car, bus, park and ride or train (Thame).

Thame has a train station to London/Birmingham and is much closer to the M40. Fast trains 35 mins to London. That’s what makes it more expensive than Wallingford.

Thame also has the better high street. And is close to the Chilterns for walks etc.

But Wallingford has the river for walks, also good countryside and a much wider choice of housing stock. Good schools in both.

We opted for Thame as the communications are so much better (we can Heathrow in 35 mins on a good day). But it is becoming more ‘dormitory’ due to that fast train link. Great improvement in the coffee shoos and restaurants though as a result

Depends on what you’re looking for. But neither is a bad choice.

@theresnolimits - sounds like it's worked out well for you. Thanks for sharing. If you don't mind another question, how good is the bus to the station to and from town? Any good or do you end up driving?

Agree! Also better charity shops and antique shops. Love the outdoor pool in summer, great for kids have fond memories of when I was a kid. Lovely community feel in Wallingford.
Excellent café by the river at Benson.

I always end up driving to the station or getting a lift ( parking not cheap). I believe commuters car share. Getting the bus back is easier as they seem to coincide with the trains.

There’s been talk of a cycle path for 20 years but because it runs across county borders, no one wants to finance it.

You can get the Oxford Tube from nearby Lewknor (bus service) into London which is cheaper but longer. And I have on occasions driven to Amersham which is 30 mins away and on the Metropolitan Line and much, much cheaper but it takes ages.

Thanks@Ariela and @theresnolimits , super helpful!
Do throw in any other insights you think are helpful if you have a minute or two, this insider knowledge is gold.

Clearly I’m in the Thame camp, but I’d forgotten about the open air pool in Wallingford- loved that when my kids were small. Thame has a good pool but only indoor.

Thame was voted the most vibrant High St In Oxfordshire recently - we do have some charity shops but we also have Mint Velvet, Crewe Clothing, White Stuff, Fat Face and some nice independent shops. Plus three great gastro pubs, Prezzo, two independent Italian restaurants,a Thai as well as the usual chip shops, Domino’s, kebab etc. And loads of independent coffee shops.

20 mins to Aylesbury for the superstores etc.

I do think Wallingford has a great vibe too - I think the relative remoteness has allowed it to keep its character. As I said, the links are encouraging loads of housebuilding here. Swings and roundabouts.

OP - Thame has a bus 7 mins to Haddenham railway station which has spotless toilets, carpark, taxi shed, its own little cafe, helpful staff, into Marylebone, no.2 right outside to Oxford Street, Park Lane, Victoria or
bus to Thornhill park and ride nearly at Headington, to pick up the excellent Oxford Tube, tinted windowed, wifi’d quiet coach,Marble Arch, Victoria. We alight at NHG, walk to Ken High Street, very handy.

We bus to Oxford, as parking in Oxford nigh on impossible, 40 mins.

Wallingford has a wee market Saturday am,
Thame has a market Tuesday, queues always at the large fruit and veg stall, fish van, flowers/plants, kebabs, wonderful bread and cake stall, also we have a real Bakers! they will make Rye bread to order, hot food and sell real flour and eggs, many hairdressers, great Oxfam bookshop, Robert Dyas, dentists, independent book/cardshop, Lloyds Bank with helpful friendly staff, Library, Black Goo for brunch, yum, chocolatier, Waitrose (but not as big as Wallingford’s) and a real butcher. O yes and a busy award winning Kebab Van!
As posters have said, there are many pubs and places to eat out, have coffee.

There is a growing contingent of young families DFL in the town, uncannily able to recognise each other : Thame is not a town in aspic at all.
Aylesbury has larger supermarkets, Aldi, Lidl, large Tesco etc., all major supermarkets deliver here, Sainsbury in the town does click and collect and we have a Parcels Office.
Haddenham is lovely, beautiful houses, if you do not want to be part of the town.

Wallingford has close proximity to the river, Thames Path, picturesque old cottages,
Antiques Emporium, closed down Lloyds Bank, bus to Oxford, bus to Cholsey to connect to Reading for London train, and indeed close to Reading, a circumstance you may want to explore. Reading is the county town of Berkshire btw.
Wallingford has a somnambulant feel to it, an Information Centre, 40 mins drive between Thame and Wallingford, same distance to Oxford from either town.

We moved to Thame from SE22, with children at Uni, they love it here, love the atmospheric Churchyard!? little Museum, civilised quietness, bus to Oxford.

When moving we prevaricated twixt Wallingford and Thame, the clincher being assured that Thame was a ‘safe’ town and so it is, civilised, friendly, people are open, polite, humorous, no natural predators here.
Wallingford with its closer proximity to Reading is more vulnerable. Neither town has diversity, apart from the taxi drivers in Wallingford centre.
Both towns resist change perceived as unnecessary.
Wallingford is smaller than Thame with constant traffic through the town but closer to the M4 corridor.

I imagine you have done your own research, but for the ‘feel ‘ of a place, walk the streets of the town - good luck either way, feel free to PM

Hi I found this thread about the same question we have now. I was wondering if you made a decision and if you have any advice for me? Thanks in advance

one thing about thame that you don't notice until you live here is the amount of light aircraft and helicopters that fly directly overhead rather than attempt to circumvent the place. if you are at work all day it probably won't bother you though.