To think Northamptonshire isn't that much worse than Oxfordshire?

[MandrakeLake]

We are moving and it looks like it will likely be to one of these two places. Everyone I've spoken to has gone on and on about how beautiful and lovely Oxfordshire is and how crap Northamptonshire is. Objectively I don't see that much difference. Both have lovely stone villages and commute times of roughly an hour into London. But what I keep hearing is that the people in Northamptonshire aren't so great but no one will elaborate beyond "parochial" and "less educated". The housing in NH is MUCH cheaper. So AIBU to think there isn't that much difference?

It sounds like someone is trying to compare the centre of Northampton with a rural Cotswold village which is ridiculous. Parts of both are lovely and parts of both are grim. It completely depends on the specifics of where you are looking (said impartially having lived in SE Warwickshire )

I'm puzzled by the suggested that there's nothing to do in Northamptonshire. Ok, I agree, that Northampton itself is run down and not somewhere I would usually champion, but it does have some cultural things in the centre such as the Royal Derngate Theatre and 78 Derngate (house designed by Rennie Mackintosh that's now a museum). And there's loads of family friendly stuff in the surrounding area such as Irechester Country Park (has a fab playground), Wickstead Park, Stoke Bruerne canal, Kirby Hall, Castle Ashby, and so on. There's also loads of activities near Milton Keynes and in Bedfordshire, which depending on where you live in Northamptonshire, is not too far away.

I live in West Oxfordshire (about 16 miles from Oxford) My DD2 lived in central Northampton for 2 years, so got to see a good bit of Northampton.

Central Northampton is pretty dire... run down town centre and DD2 actually saw someone dragged out of a car and beaten up on the street outside her flat! Also very strong smell of weed around.

Outskirts have some pretty villages tho, and Abington park is lovely.

Oxfordshire... mega expensive centrally, slightly better in surrounding towns. Plenty to do but massively touristy in summer. Some areas around central Oxford are really rough also ...it's definitely not all 'dreaming spires'! I live west..Witney ..which is a nice enough market town (and still has free parking yay!) but commuting along the A40 is a miserable time consuming affair.

I think the OP has been scared away!

I grew up in Oxfordshire and then lived in Northampton for ten years.

I really, really struggled to make friends in N'ton, and there is certainly still a much stronger 'born and bred' mentality than I experienced anywhere else: lots of archaic civic and county roles that exist simply to offer the wealthy dynastic families a chance to show off.

It is true that there is a good art house cinema. There is also a good theatre, but I found it tended not to programme anything too interesting: lots of 'tribute acts' and 'sing alongs' but not much else. The stage is too small for live ballet or opera, for example. They do also have a few classical concerts, and te ROyal Philharmonic Orchestra has a residency in Northampton. However, for them it is just a chance to hit their 'outreach' credentials, so it tends not to be their main players/conductors or the more exciting programmes.

The villages are beautiful, it is true - although I was staggered recently when I saw the honey-stoned villages in Oxfordshire again.

I don't know much about schools in N'ton, but it seemed as though there were a couple of much-sought after [single sex] schools, and the other schools seemed to trail in their wake slightly.

I regret spending as long there as I did: it cost me my marriage and my sense of who I was and what I wanted.

But each to their own. My experience is just my own.

Hmm the consensus seems to be what I feared. We are a young family with one child in a london Pre-Prep and a baby. We always intended to pay for secondary if we needed to but when DS turned out to have high functioning autism we opted to pay for prep for him as well. DS2 will hopefully go to the local primary so I need both good Indy and state options. We'd like to be within an hour of London. We love the outdoors and good country walks but equally enjoy theatre and museums. If we move to the countryside I want to be able to walk out my front door to some great walking.

The areas of Oxfordshire we have looked at are mostly south of oxford between reading and oxford. Goring seems to tick all the boxes but is very expensive and I'm not sure it's worth it?

In Northamptonshire we have looked at villages around Oundle and Kettering. There's a gorgeous house in Broughton which really caught my eye because we could truly just move in without doing anything. But racist and uneducated aren't really what I'm after for neighbours...

There's a lot of tarring going on on this thread!
I live in Northampton, a pretty multicultural part of it too and my neighbours are neither racist nor uneducated even with it being the 'cheaper' end of town.
There's loads to do here, country parks, theatre, great independent cinema, nice places to eat and drink (even in the 'shit hole' town centre). We never struggle for things to do at the weekends with a toddler in tow.
The schools can be hit and miss but there's loads of choice and if you're looking at fee paying there are some very good ones.
House prices here are probably a good £100-£200k cheaper than South Oxford but obviously the choice is yours whether you want to stump up the extra.

Goring is a lovely place to live.... we live in a village nearby....

I grew up in what those who know Northampton would deem one of the roughest estates. (KH for those in the know!)

I always loved it and was never short of things to do growing up. It has a bad rep but I think it's largely unwarranted. I now live in a village in Bucks but NN will always hold a special place in my heart!

I don’t think you can judge an area to live by the entire county..

I have lived in both counties.

Oxfordshire towards Cotswolds is lovely, but further South-East eg Thame is a bit too crowded now, as too really is the Cotswolds. Northamptonshire's best kept secret is the area north of Pitsford Water and either side of the A14. There are some lovely tranquil villages, water and woods there. But both counties can offer you what you are looking for.

I spend my time between London, Iceland and Spain now. They each have something different to offer.

Broughton/Kettering aren't remotely full of racist/uneducated folk. Kettering is extremely multicultural and in Broughton you have the countryside on your door step. St Peters (private) prep/infant school in Kettering used to be excellent (i have no idea how it is now), there is plenty to do certainly if you are outdoors/horsie types.

EnjoyYourShitCake
I know

There are some very pretty villages between Northampton and Kettering.

A previous poster mentioned second rate private schools for those who failed the 11+ - as far as I am aware Northampton isn't a 11+ area??

However, I went to Northampton High School for Girls and it was very good then - albeit that was about a million years ago

Market Harborough just over the border from Leicestershire is a nice town that many people from north Northants look towards too. Definitely better than Kettering for clothes shops, independent shops and cafes.

Northamptonshire, the county, is a good plac3 to live with lots of nice villages and some lovely market towns, eg Towcester.

Northampton, the town, is an anonymous, characterless sort of place. You feel like you could be anywhere in England. Kettering and Wellingborough are similar. Calling the place a shithole is harsh, and probably indicates that the person has never been to Luton or Middlesbrough .

A good thing about Northants’ location is that you’re close to Birmingham/ Leicester/ MK if you want culture or shopping.

OP I’m in the area of Northants you’ve been looking at. I am not racist or uneducated and neither are any of my friends. There aren’t loads of UKIP voters either

MrsCampbellBlackReturns - we lived S. Northants, near Buckingham, just in the catchment for Royal Latin (although I think it has shrunk since we left), hence my comments about 11+.

I would move back to one of the villages we lived in any day, but not to the towns!

I live in Goring and absolutely love it, though agree it is expensive. However, it is arguably only worth it if you put a high value on being able to walk to a train station with a good service to London. There are probably other (almost as) nice villages if you are less bothered about that.

However the train service to Oxford has got a lot worse lately. You mostly have to change at Didcot.

Happy to answer questions.

What about princes risborough area? Nice and close to London via the M40 but plenty of decent countryside.
I moved from S london to South Oxfordshire then West Oxfordshire. Where in London are you?

Just had a look at Broughton. Yup, certainly get a lot more for your money there than Goring!

You might want to check commute prices too, trains from Northampton to Euston are much cheaper than Kettering to St P, although they aren't such good trains. Not sure how that will be affected by changes to East Mids line though.

@irregularegular could you comment on the primary school and the local preps?

@Lemons1571 isn't HS2 coming very close to P. Risborough?

@MandrakeLake

Both my children are now at secondary, but went to Goring Primary. Generally speaking everyone is very happy with the primary school. It's not perfect - some parents will always moan about particular teachers, policies, but it has a caring, happy atmosphere and very good results. To be honest, it would be hard to go very wrong in such a nice, supportive, aspirational community.

The school almost always oversubscribed so classes are full. In years when there wasn't space for everyone within the village to enter reception the school introduced temporary extra classes but the site is probably maxed out now - though there is still quite good outdoor space. It is hoped that a new school will be built on a bigger site, but I wouldn't hold your breath!

It is very very rare in the village not to send your children to the primary school. So there are children from £2M houses together with (a few) from the new affordable housing. It is part of the glue of the community. Probably about 40% then go on to private secondary (Abingdon and St Helens are particularly popular). I do know of three families who had a child that was struggling and felt they didn't get enough individual attention in the state sector and transferred to prep schools. In each case their other children still started/stayed at Goring primary school. I also have one friend whose child has Aspergers who wasn't happy at Goring and much preferred Whitchurch primary.

I don't know very much about prep schools. The preferred options seem to be Moulsford and Cranford, both of which have a nurturing reputation.