To think there must be somewhere lovely and unpretentious within commuting distance of London?

[Willthisdoo]

Is it possible to find somewhere to the southwest or west of London that’s still within commuting distance (and has a station) but is also very close to the countryside, not too full of over privileged people, somewhat diverse, has reasonable(ish) rents and house prices, and is also appealing and attractive as a town/village? Does such a place actually exist?? Or is this just a pipe dream?

Not W/SW but you could look at North Kent. The towns are generally not 'lovely' though definitely unpretentious. There are some lovely villages and rural locations.

I'd suggest looking near Alton (Hampshire)

This is walkable to the train station by the looks of it & certainly looks like more space for your money

Basingstoke Road, Alton
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-65575528.html

Oops, helps if you include the link

Basingstoke.

If DH currently has a shortish commute don't underestimate the impact of the extra travel time on tiredness levels, ability to get home by certain time and potential participation in day to day life stuff during the week. I know you don't ask about that and have probably thought about it, but until you do it ...

Not Farnham, while it's commutable it's not what you're looking for I don't think and not on the best line.

Warfield, Winkfield, Binfield maybe better suited.

I live within 15 minutes walk of station and it’s 1.20 to London Marylebone.

Houses are 1200 per month for 4 bed with garden

Really nice towns and there are three - the third has a station which connects to a main line Euston line which is quicker

Great schools, clubs, shops, activities, restaurants, cinemas etc

But what annoys you about where you live?

Oh and 10 minutes and you’re in the countryside, 15 on bike

I would definitely look at Sevenoaks/Tonbridge areas then as it's about an hour in the car to Kingston areas (i have family in Chessington so do the journey a few times a year). There are regular trains (every 10 mins) to Charing Cross which only take 45 mins and then your DH could walk to Soho. You wouldn't need to drive to station. Good pubs, restaurants, shops, loads of historic places too (we kick the crap out of our National Trust card every weekend).

As others have said-Twyford is a good bet-nice little town centre with a Waitrose and some little shops, and only 15 minute drive to Reading which has everything you could ever need pretty much. Trains are really good-some 25 minute to Paddington ones in rush hour-40/55 minutes at other times. When crossrail opens it’ll be 45 mins direct to Tottenham Court Road car park at station does get full by around 8am each morning though. It’s around an hour’s drive to Kingston from there, we have lots of friends who live in that area.

Try Kent

It’s the only home country that doesn’t make my teeth hurt

The accent is a bit but you can handle that !

Peterborough. Despite what people say, it is improving. It might not be like a village but the river is beautiful. We live 10 minutes walk from it. The train station is a 10 minute bike ride. It's diverse and definitely not pretentious (you want Stamford for that).

You've described Didcot.

Well it's not very attractive but the villages around are nice.

@ivykaty44 The main reasons we want to move are that we’re at the maximum we can spend in terms of rent but we need more space (and our house is awful) and can’t get that without spending over £2000 pcm here, plus we want to be closer to the countryside (or coast). But I find Teddington frustrating - it’s full of over privileged people who can’t understand how people like us can’t afford to buy (hello, million pound houses) and it just isn’t the right place for us.

@StopMakingItDifficult That’s exactly what worries me!

Euston will take you to Warwickshire and some lovely villages in under an hour. You could rent a nice 4 bedroom detached in one of the nice Rugby suburbs or villages for around £1200 a month.

Less than 10 mins to the station by car (bus will drop you right there but more planning required). Train to Marylebone is between 42 and 65 mins.

Three bed semi roughly 1500/month

We are at any point in the town max 15 mins from open countryside (walking) and there are many nature reserves also.

In addition to good public transport links we’re 10 mins from the M40.

Tonbridge, Maidstone, Paddock wood. East or West Malling all have mainline stations that take between 40mins to 1hr to London. All near to lovely Kent country side and decent schools (grammar school system though so prepare for 11+ hell)

Come to Wokingham 1500 will get you a nice big 3-4 bedroom semi. People are lovely, lots of parks and countryside around and near Reading which is great for shopping and dining. Schools are great too.

What accent? It's no different to how people in Teddington speak around here! I'm originally from west London and there is no difference at all in Sevenoaks/Tonbridge/Tonbridge Wells. It's just generic southern.

Reading?

There are some lovely little villages around Tunbridge Wells, short drive from the station.

Twyford is nice and most of the villages walkable to the train station. Slightly cheaper is Woodley that’s 5 minutes from Twyford and you could walk to earley or winnersh triangle train station which is the Waterloo line (Twyford is Paddington) or a three minute train journey to reading where you can catch the fast train to Paddington.

Great schools in both Twyford and Woodley. Lots of coffee shops, gyms, range of supermarkets. Easy distance to reading for shopping, or the new Bracknell which has been regenerated. Also on my takes me 45 minutes to get to Westfield Shepherd’s Bush.
Close to country side and a few big parks and lakes for nice walks. Really close to Henley which is great for a nice river walk and some great parks for the children.

I wonder how easy it is to get to the station for London. Don’t you have to leave Home at the crack of dawn to get parking place?