Pls tell me about Haslingfield, Stapleford and Whittlesford!

[wrestlingalligators]

We are house-hunting in the villages south of Cambridge. From driving around we think Haslingfield, Stapleford and Whittlesford are good candidates.

Like the transport links in Stapleford, and trying to work out what it would be like to be more car-dependent in other villages. Can anyone tell me about life in Haslingfield or Whittlesford with young children, primary aged children, teens? (I have three preschoolers). Many thanks!

I have a friend who shared a house in Haslingfield. He did everything by car, so I assume the bus service might not be that great. We had amazing BBQ's in his garden and the neighborhood seemed really nice. One caveat that might not have to do with Haslingfield per se: His house was robbed while he was at work; they came through an old window that did not lock as well as a modern one. Again, this happened to friends in Cherry Hinton area as well, so I'm not saying that Haslingfield itself is a 'bad' neighborhood at all. My friend only moved out because the house was sold, otherwise he loved it.

All three are tiny villages so it may be a case of seeing what comes up that fits your requirements and budget unless you're not in a hurry to move.
Haslingfield has one of the best primary schools in the area. It's not considered a "south village", it's more of a west village closer to The Eversdens and Comberton but not in catchment for Comberton Village College as far as I know.
I don't know much about Stapleford other than it's pretty much the same thing as Great Shelford and so in high demand.
GL with your house hunt

Not sure about Haslingfield myself but I have friends who live in the other two villages
Stapleford appears to be quite overpriced for Cambridge, but you generally get quite big houses do there and it is very well connected to the City Centre (number 7 bus and near Shelford train station). It is also in walking distance to all the Shelford amenities.
Whittlesford is more 'villagey' in feel and has a train station, but limited other public transport.

Thank you for the replies. It's hard to know before you live somewhere how much there is to do with preschoolers in an area, and how much I'd need to drive to other villages / Cambridge to keep them entertained.

I got the impression there was more going on in Shelford/Stapleford than the other villages, but then for things like swimming maybe you'd have to go into the city anyway, so it's not worth getting less house in order to be in Stapleford and then ending up driving all over the place anyway!

May be consider Fulbourn? It's got easy access to town/a11/a14. I live nearby (Cherry Hinton) and it's quite area.

Haslingfield is in the catchment for Comberton, which may be a factor for you? Although maybe not yet if all your children are pre-school. The primary there is very small, as are the primaries in the other villages mentioned. Stapleford always feels to me a bit of a non-village, as it's quite straggly and seems to be a mini-suburb of Shelford (no there's a lovely - but pricey- village). However, to be fair I don't know anyone who lives in Stapleford and it might be very different if you do live there. Is there a reason you need a house south/west of the city? You get more for your money if you go north.

Haslingfield gets my vote. I grew up there and loved the village life, returned recently for a couple of years and my own children loved it. It is in the catchment for Comberton which was fantastic when I was there years ago and has gone on to be a really brilliant school. There were always spates of burglaries even when I was a child and as recently as July this year but neighbours are good at letting you know if anyone has been about The pre school is set to re-open in September which may be of interest if you have pre schoolers and is a great way of getting to know people. Little stars playgroup meets on Fridays during term time at the village hall (centre) and is excellent but busy! The village website is regularly updated. Great families and lots to do. Beautiful village, you'll be made very welcome. Best of luck.

Oh and houses get snapped up super quick in Haslingfield, might be a good idea to get onto estate agents and badger them! friends have even advertised in the village mag for houses. I rented and was lucky to find my place by driving the streets looking for estate agent cars and getting in before signs even went up!

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Cool that worked just realised I needed another name to use local. I Zi think Haslingfield is a lovely village, Little Stars is just fab. I think you would need a car to live there, you can cycle the back way to Granchester and Cambridge though