To ask you if this place exists?

[montepulcianos]

I would really like to move house, somewhere we can get more house for our money as we would like a lot more space (currently live in the Home Counties in a lovely area with very good schools and great links into London, so housing is crazy expensive) and to escape the 11 plus/grammar system and the associated pressure and competitive attitudes.

We need to be within relatively easy reach of an airport as DH works overseas part of the week. I'd say maximum 45mins-1 hour by car to an airport. Need good schools for DC and would like to be in pleasant surroundings, in or near countryside and open space. Love the idea of the Cotswolds but seems too far from either Heathrow or Birmingham airports?

Have family up north and also more centrally. Would be great to be nearer to them too. Also decent train links to London (but not for daily commute, more occasional work trips).

Any brainwaves?! Does such a place exist?!

Oxfordshire? North of the county is cheaper but lovely villages and you can be at Birmingham airport within an hour, and not much further for Heathrow or Luton.

Bristol or Bath? Or surrounding country side. Seems to tick a lot of the boxes you have listed out there.

Cheshire?

Hereford Worcester Gloucester?

Somewhere between Newmarket and saffron Walden? Suffolk/Cambs/Essex area. It would be about an hour to stansted.

Bath and surrounding villages for Bristol airport, with good rail links to Paddington.
New Forest for Southampton airport, although train to Waterloo a bit of a pain.

Leeds?

Middlesbrough is delightful and near Teesside airport

What sort of budget do you have?

Thanks peas, I have been trying to look around that area. Love Oxford and know some of the surrounding areas a little. Wasn't sure about journey times to Bham airport but I will look into it further as logistically I think this neck of the woods would work well on all counts, and would definitely afford a much bigger house than we can here.

Darlington

On the main train line. Far enough up North for reasonaby priced housing.

2017 voted 7th best place to live in the UK

Thanks Sagent, I don't really know Bristol airport and wasn't sure how big it is in terms of where they fly to and how often etc. Will definitely take a better look as love the city and also love the south west (Devon and Cornwall) so would be amazing to be nearer all of that! Bath is beautiful too.

Depends on how far up north you want to go, but Yorkshire is nice and there is Leeds/Bradford airport, house prices aren't bad and there's some lovely countryside.

Oxon is so flexible - for up north and down south. Train times from Bicester/Banbury to Marylebone are less than an hour. Birmingham approx 45 mins by train.

Oxford is lovely but would recommend elsewhere in the county for better value and nicer surrounding villages. The park and ride/trains to oxford city still make it accessible too.

Herefordshire?

Helensburgh, you are near Glasgow Airport, there is a good private school and some very nice houses which would be entirely affordable if you are coming from the South.

York, 2 hours to London on train, 50 mins to Leeds Bradford airport or 1 1/2 to Manchester beautiful countryside, warm, friendly welcoming people

Which airlines does he fly with? Regional airports don't usually have all the major one. Do you still need to be in reach of London ones?

Wow lots of great suggestions thank you all! Cheshire ideal in terms of being between family (northern part are NW). Do they have grammar system there though? Or is that just Manchester?

With Hereford/Worcester etc would you suggest Bristol airport?

Toens around Luton airport

Harpenden, St Albans, Redbourn -all very expensive

Milton Keynes, Newport Parnell - further afield

Bedford, or the lovely villages around it?

Depends where overseas he works - you'd need to narrow down based on airports that fly there directly

In terms of budget, probably around £800k.

He flies BA or Aer Lingus (Dublin).

Trafford (area of Manchester) has the grammar school system and there are a few others dotted around, but you can easily live outside that catchment area.

Absolutely love Yorkshire and would very happily move there. Would be further from some family than currently though which i'd rather avoid and suspect DH wouldn't entertain it as a Lancashire lad

Thanks mike