Guildford and surrounds - worth moving to?!

[timesarechanging]

I am thinking of upping sticks and moving to the Guildford area. Can anyone offer thoughts/advice on nice areas and schools etc?

DS1 is 3.5yrs (we'd be looking to start him in reception in 2009) and DS2 is 18 mths. Most likely to look at independent schools for them, so not too tied down to fighting for catchment areas (unless you are really passionate about a local primary that is worth moving next door to ).

Happy to consider urban or a village setting, with a very strong preference for a detached house and no nightmare with parking which is the issue I have with our current area in Richmond Borough! Budget roughly £800K. DH loves the outdoors and walks, mountain biking etc. Commute to central London a big factor so we'd need to be able to get to a station, too!

Or if anyone reads this and can recommend wherever they live, Guildford or elsewhere, please do share your views!

Thanks very much!

Hi timesarechanging, Guildford is a lovely place to live, I was born there and lived there until I was 21 and although I moved away, I still visit family in that area.
Central Guildford is very busy so I would imagine somewhere on the outskirts would be better. Merrow and Burpham are nice and there are a couple of decent(ish) state schools there, catholic and non-catholic, depending upon your views. Also, on this side of Guildford you are the 'right' side for some very nice private schools which are out towards East Horsley area. Can't remember the names of them but used to drive past them quite regularly (think there is a St Teresas/St Michaels) Have a look at the Independent Schools Information Service Website for info) The other side of Guildford which is nice is the Shalford side which is very nice, out towards Bramley Way. Have a look on rightmove.co.uk at houses in these areas as you won't have problems with parking etc. Also, around these areas are lovely walks, in particular, Newlands Corner (the Merrow/Burpham side) which is beautiful.

I worked in Guildford until February and know the area quite well. It's very nice but very wealthy and boy do the people know it - a bit of an attitude problem in places - people can be a bit "up themselves" and are happy to have a go if they think you've pushed in front of them in a shop or something - to an extent I've not experienced anywhere else, not even London.

If you have girls and are looking at private secondary schools, there are 3 good schools - Tormead, Guildford High and St Catharines - all very selective. The Royal Grammar is the main private school for boys - again extremely selective. I think George Abbot is the best state secondary.

If you are happy to live a bit further away, Fleet is more down to earth, but a nice place to live and very good state schools. With a budget of £800K you could buy a lovely house in the lovelist street in Fleet (currently on at £850K, I suspect open to offers). As are Yateley, Odiham and Hook (Yateley and Odiham don't have railway stations though).

Farnham is another place you could consder, Weydon school is the better state secondary, you want to live in the catchment of the Bourne and South Farnham schools if you can - personally I'd go for Fleet over Farnham if you want state schools and Fleet is also nearer to London (faster line, takes 40 to 50 minutes, Guildford takes about 35 but the car park charges about £9 a day for parking, though there's a multistorey where it's about £5 a day, it's £5.20 a day in Fleet and it's full by 8am so that's also a consideration if you need to commute and don't live near the station).

Both Fleet and Farnham are good for the outdoors, very close to army land you can use for rambles, North Downs way, Hampshire pubs etc.

George Abbot! grrrrr, that was the rival school to where I went (St Peters & Merrow Grange) and at that time the 'gabbos' were all yobbos. Oh well, guess times have changed and it has been 24 years since I left!

There are some nice villages around Godalming and some very good primary schools - Busbridge (Godalming), Chandler (Witley), Waverley Abbey (Tilford).

There are some good boys' prep schools around, but much less choice at senior school level. RGS is very good, but very academic and hard to get into. DS is 2, and we're thinking of Aldro in Shackleford at the moment, or possibly St Edmund's in Hindhead or Barrow Hills in Witley for prep school, but no idea where we'll send him afterwards if he isn't academic enough for RGS. Guess we'll have to cross that bridge nearer the time.

You could look at Milford, Witley (both have train stations if that's important). Chiddingfold and Elstead are also nice but don't have stations, although are only about 10mins from one. Tilford also lovely.

That's really helpful, thanks all.

At the moment we're looking at Cranmore in West Horsley. Looks fantastic. If anyone has any comments I'd love to hear them.

Cosette - isn't Aldro from 7-13 years? What will you do for pre-prep? If we don't do Cranmore then St Hilary's in Godalming might be an option, but I am not sure about it as it's all girls after 7+, and I think that means it gets viewed in a strange way if boys go there at all.

Does anyone have views on living around Godalming but choosing Cranmore as a school. Would the drive be a killer and impractical?

Thanks!

yes Aldro is 7-13 years, and I think quite a few of the boys from St Hilary's go onto Aldro afterwards, so I don't believe it's viewed negatively.

We're going to send DS to the village school in Shackleford as DDs went there and it's lovely. The journey to St Hilary's isn't great from where we are (although there is a bus from Aldro I think), and I work so having a quick school run is a must for me.

timesarechanging - have posted on your other thread re travel from Godalming to Cranmore - personally I think you are mad - unless you can find some country back route that would avoid having to go through Guildford one way system at that time of the morning... You should allow up to an hour to get there

thanks willali. i agree with you but am getting DH to check with his colleague who lives in bramley but sent his boy to cranmore. said they used a country route (as you said) and it took just 20 mins. if that's the case then it's probably just about do-able. of course he never did the drive 4 times a day so he could well be mistaken!

thanks again!

Hi All. Things are moving rapidly! House is about to go on market and now looking to rent in the Guildford area for 6-12 months while we find our feet and see what the property market does!

We can literally choose anywhere to rent, so I think our guiding factors are:

1. Close to as many good state schools for Reception as possible just to keep state option open if DH gets made redundant etc and we can no longer afford private.

1. Able to walk in pushchair to at least a local shop/shops, and preferably swings etc.

1. Bearable distance to Guildford station for DH to commute to Waterloo...

So, any ideas as to where? Busbridge sounds a good bet. Also can consider Guildford itself (and I will feel less jittery about leaving all the amenities currently on my doorstep!)

Just called Surrey Council education people to ask what will happen as we're late applicants for schools. She said that if we are as close as possible to as many state schools as possible, that we'll go as high as possible up the waiting lists!!!!!!

Thanks to you all in advance!

Hi timesareachanging, we have just done a similar move to you - we moved just before christmas from Richmond Borough, to a village outside Guildford. We also have a 3.4 year old and a 19 month old, so similar age children as well! My family live in the area which was the primary reason for our move. So far, we are loving it.

I hope the move goes well

For Guildford - I think I remember your thread from a while back and you were looking at Lanesborough/Cranmore - if so the Top end of Town - Roads off Epsom road would fit the bill - this would put you close to Pewley Down and Boxgrove as good state options. It is a walk into Town but a trek to the mainline - could walk it, cycle it (my DH does this when it is not freezing), walk to London Road - loads of locals do this, get a moped it is Free at the mainline or drive to one of the local stations (like Worplesdon) which has much cheaper and more available parking.
Busbridge is good - and puts you in the locality of Busbridge school - Prep options more limited for boys - St Hilary's if you don't mind the girl thing, Barrow Hills in Witley, or trek to Haslemere. Some of the Busbridge roads a walk to the station - keep towards the lower end of the hill.

Frazzled - thanks. Glad it's all working out. Have you had any issue with school application? Perhaps you were able to make the deadline of Oct for state-school submission.

Surreylady thanks for that. I have looked at Worplesdon as an option as the train is so fast to Waterloo! Is it expensive to live there?

I will also look around the Epsom Rd area. Not sure how far money will go there though!

timesarechanging, I know this is an old thread but we're considering the exact same move. How did things work out for you?

I too would be interested to hear how the move went :-)

And me!

So where should one live for George Abbott?