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Original poster

Anyone in St Margarets?

16 replies

biggest · 21/07/2010 20:16

We are living in east London at the minute but have put an offer on a house on St M's - a big move for us! ABout to have second DC and it feels like a nice place to bring up children, plus very close to DH work.
Anyone living there like to tell me how great it is?! I am a bit worried about plane noise and it being just TOO different from Hackney!

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thighsmadeofcheddar · 21/07/2010 20:18

I used to live there. It's gorgeous and a fab place to bring up kids! Plane noise you will get used to. Richmond is great for shopping and marble hill park is excellent. Lots of lovely walks, richmond park. Lucky you!

pearce · 21/07/2010 20:34

It's fabulous!! Don't worry you really will love it. So much going on for kids. Parks, playgrounds everywhere. Community feel. Great schools. The list goes on................!! Best of luck!

babblington · 21/07/2010 20:38

Gorgeous place, you'll be very happy. CHECK onthe catchment area for local schools!! A lot of St Margarets is a primary school black hole and you may end up with no place at all or being sent miles away.

eastendmummy · 21/07/2010 20:43

We live there at the moment, but actually moving back east! As lovely as it is, it's too far out for us so our move here has been nice but shortlived. There are lovely green spaces however I find that I use the car more than I would like to make the most of what's around. It's very friendly, nice shops and good schools so I'm sure you'll settle. It is a million miles from Hackey though but that may not be a bad thing! I hope you really enjoy it.

Original poster
biggest · 21/07/2010 21:13

We live in a really villagey part of Hackney and have lots of friends all over North and East London so I am a bit worried about meeting like-minded people in a new place. Shame you are moving back east eastendmummy! We aren't buying your house are we?!
Re schools, the house we are buying is not guaranteed to be in catchment area as it seems to change every year, but to be honest it is exactly the same situation here. Bit of a nightmare.....

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eastendmummy · 21/07/2010 21:25

Schools here are oversubscribed and I have heard (although not experienced) that it can be hard to get into the local school so you may have to travel. The plus side is that the considerable majority of the schools here are of a good quality so it's not everyone fighting over the same school .

We are also moving back to a villagey part of Hackney (does it take it's name from a local park?) and St M is similar in that respect so you should feel comfortable here. I've found that there are good toddler groups here - All Souls is particularly good, so I'm sure you'll meet lots of people - I certainly have.

For us it's been determined by DH's job as he's in the city and it's just too far for him and means he's not seeing our boys enough. The trade off of living in the east end is worth it for us, but if your husband works nearby then I'm sure you will love it! I would just say from experience that traveling on the train with 2 little ones is harder than I thought and we haven't seen as much of our friends (also in N/E London) as we have wanted. It will feel like a different world to Hackney though (in both good and bad ways) - just make sure you extend plenty of invites to friends so that you can make the most of the lovely area.

Good luck!

Original poster
biggest · 21/07/2010 21:29

Thanks that's really helpful. We are in N16 and love how vibrant and lively it is here - and our visits to St M's are so quiet! But it is a lovely place I agree, almost a culture shock compared to here.
Good luck with the move back east

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Original poster
biggest · 23/07/2010 20:11

We got the house so looks like we are St Margarets bound! Would be great to meet some other mums when we get there in September!
Oh and rang the council admissions dept today who weren't at all reassuring about school places come 2012 when DS is ready - all expansion plans shelved thanks to funding cut from govt - grrrrr

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eastendmummy · 23/07/2010 20:24

Congratulations on the house! There is a good local active thread on here and I met a few local mums who were all lovely. I'll find it and do a link for you.

eastendmummy · 23/07/2010 20:28

Here it is this page

Ktay · 26/07/2010 13:35

Hi Biggest, glad you didn't let the plane noise (a previous thread) put you off in the end! I think my DD is a bit younger (14mo) but happy to meet up and help you get your bearings once you're here if you want to post again nearer the time. Are you having DC2 there or here?

Good luck with all the packing in the meantime, don't envy you that...

Original poster
biggest · 26/07/2010 20:01

Thanks Ktay - will be in touch! Having DC at UCH and probably moving in September

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Original poster
biggest · 27/07/2010 17:57

OK Ktay and eastendmummy, am in need of some more encouragement here! We called to our 'new house' this morning while DS was at playgroup and I am having plane wobbles!
I am due DC2 any day now and won't get back over for a few weeks but I am having serious second thoughts much to DH's horror. The planes were just so...incessant - and we met a little old lady who said it's fine as long as you keep your windows closed
I know I have to either accept it or not - but remind me again why living there is great!

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Ktay · 27/07/2010 19:40

Oh no! Do you think it's your nesting instinct kicking in and encouraging you to stay put?!

I don't want to be responsible for encouraging you to make a decision you might later regret but I think the planes might have been particularly bad today. I've tuned them out and never normally notice them (and didn't notice them much round here today) but even I thought they were a bit loud when we were at Richmond library this morning - although admittedly that's in an even worse position than we are. I think the weather can make it seem worse too sometimes eg if it's a very still day then they are often louder.

Anyway, to St Margarets' many good points: it's great for families - lots of green space (the river, Marble Hill park, Moormead and of course Richmond Park a bit further afield), playgrounds, drop-in groups and nice cafes. You can easily get the essentials nearby (small Tescos, lots of independent shops, a post office and slow train service) but are within easy reach of Richmond and Twickenham for anything more substantial. Good junior schools, assuming you can get into them. And good transport links into town from Richmond (Eastendmummy's comment about the difficulty of getting two littlies around on the train notwithstanding) and out of town on the M3/M4.

Before I had DD it used to do my head in a bit dodging all the buggies etc but now we fit in a bit better with the local demographic I'm finding it's a very friendly place and it's nice to go out and have a good chance of bumping into someone you know!

Good luck making a decision you're happy with, it must be a very unsettling prospect upping sticks to somewhere you don't really know.

Original poster
biggest · 27/07/2010 19:47

Don't worry Ktay, I won't hold you responsible! Thanks for your reply though, maybe I will leave things until baby arrives and think about it again. I do feel particularly hormonal today crosses fingers that this is finally it

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schlo · 08/08/2010 22:37

Hello biggest, hope all went fine with baby no 2. Or if not arrived yet wishing you all the best. On the plane noise issue, you do get used to it but I find it v disturbing sometimes. We have 2 kids and as it was so hot a few weeks ago (only moved here 3months ago) I had to leave all the windows open. Kids never seem to mind even tough we have planes going right over our house. I do mind and when our tenancy contract is up I will be moving further away from flight path. Having said that I find it much quieter even down the road in Twickenham...sorry but had to be honest.

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