Possible move to Cambridgeshire

[vat2012]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum so hope I am putting this thread in the right place?

I could do with some advice please. My hubby currently works in London but there is a strong likelihood that he will move to head up a team in the office in Cambridge. If this happens then we will have to move that way because currently we live on the South coast so daily commute wouldn't be possible.

Hubby's office is near Milton, in Cambridgeshire and we have seen some nice properties in March area. Is this a good area? If it's not then can anyone recommend any nice areas please? Our budget for purchasing a house would be £200k max but we would also consider renting until we get to know the area & are better settled.

We have a 19 month old daughter so want to be near good pre-schools and infants for when she starts next year. We also would like to be near parks to take her places. We are not too concerned about having a great social life, that's not a priority now, just concerned about giving our daugther a good life.

I would like to add that I am white British but my husband is Indian. You probably wonder why I added this comment but I just didn't want to move to an area where he/we may be subject to an excessive amount of prejudice so somewhere were there is likelihood of a mixture of cultures/colours would be wonderful.

Look forward to receiving your responses and getting to know you all better.

Thanks

As above Histon is lovely but I think its too pricey for the OP - and there are plently of places - maybe not as pretty - which will suit her requirments
in my view south of cambridge would not be ideal if her DH is going work - I am guessing in the science park near Milton

South Cambridge not good for a commute to Milton. Neither is anywhere that relies on the A14 to get to Cambridge! (I've worked on/near the science park for getting on 10 years now - have lived in Ely, Cherry Hinton and now near St Ives).

You definitely get more bang for your buck in the villages around St Ives, Huntingdon and St Neots, but they won't suit everyone.

Hi I am first timer on this site but haveing been reading the above and the only comment I can make is we have been looking around cambridge for about a year now and we have fallen in love with St Neots, it appears to be a really freindly place, with great schools and amazing park facitities for young ones(my 4 year old loves it). St Neots is also great for transport links to the rest of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, A1 up North and down south so best of both worlds. We are now planning to move there in August this year. So hopefully all that I have said will be true as we will not know anyone when we get there. Anyway rambled on long enough. Good Luck

Spelling above shocking - did go to school - a while back mind

Although a little late in responding, I lived in Newmarket and loved it a few years ago. Would certainly move back to the area with my now family if I decided to leave Cambridge. It stil a lovely historic place, with a great High Street a nd good mix of people. Good Luck.

Im up near Sawtry though until recently i have been commuting to below Cambridge. We moved to the village Great Gidding, partly because of the Outstanding school there and the excellent nurseries near by and partly because we could get so much more house for our money!
Despite being a rural area there is a real mixture of ethnic backgrounds and is a very sociable friendly area.
Good luck with the hunt!
Jooles

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the new contributions. Yes my DH will be working in the Science park near Milton, for a Co called Ultra Electronics.

My DH has been speaking to some of his colleagues at work who know Cambridgeshire and Ely & Huntingdon are areas that have been recommended so we are concentrating our search within 5 mile radius of those areas.

We have put our house on the market and the plan is to put the money we make from the sale in to a high interest account (if such a thing exisits) and rent for maybe 6 months to get a 'feel' for the area and then buy once we are more settled.

I love ready everyones experiences of the area so please keep these coming as we haven't moved yet & could still change our minds on area!!

If it's any help I am looking at moving from Australia into Cambridgeshire and am leaning heavily towards moving to Ely. it's a beautiful place, large enough to have everything I need in terms of supermarkets, Drs,dentist,shops etc, train either straight down to Cambridge or London or up to Peterborough if I want some different shoppping/work locations and it's about 20 minutes from my in-laws by road (though I don't drive at this stage) but they will still come up to see the kids and it's not too far in that respect.
We holidayed there in 2010 with the kids for 3 weeks and they loved it there, loved the Cathedral, walking down by the river and the French markets that took place while we were there. My only concern is the reputation of the secondary College (though it does seem to be rapidly improving) there but I am currently getting information about buses out to Soham (Miss 13's preference) and Witchford also, the primary schools all seem to have good reports so I am less concerned for my 8 year old twins. The pickle seems to be I can't apply for a school until we have a rental agreement, yet I don't want a rental agreement if we can't get into the schools there. I don't know how that will work as being in a catchment area doesn't seem to guarantee you a place at that school which could be troublesome for me without a license.
I like that Ely is small enough to walk to most places, seems to have good bus service too. Fingers crossed our house here will be on the market very soon and I will be in Ely soon.