Moving to Witney, Eynsham or Faringdon - any opinions?

[PaulBrighton333]

Hello all.

My wife and I, plus our 2 year old daughter are considering a move to Witney, Eynsham or Faringdon in Oxfordshire. We live in the vibrant centre of Brighton but are looking for a small town/large village with good schools, community and a good range of shops beyond just a post office and one local store/pub. We both grew up being able to explore the fields and woods in our youths and would like to revisit that experience with our daughter whilst being part of something.
The school results I have looked through for 2013 indicate that the primary and junior schools are good in these locals. Does any mum or dad out there have any thoughts on these places?
Living in central Brighton weve had enough of the late night drunken antics and noise that we were once immune to. Dont mind some, but hoping for a lot less.

Does anyone have any view on these places? Really appreciate any opinions or even other suggestions.

Paul.

PS - I need to commute to Swindon 2-3 times per week, hence these locations.

Paul

Can't comment on these particular areas - I obviously need to do a bit more exploring - but Oxon as a whole is a lovely place to raise a family. Hopefully someone will come along with more specific advice, but I'm sure you'll be very happy when you move :)

Hi Paul

West Oxfordshire is a lovely area - and the places you mention would all be pleasant to live in and have good access to Swindon.

Witney is the larger of the three with a very good range of facilities and schooling for later + lots of Mums/Toddler activities. Easy access to Oxford for the bright lights and a bit of culture - again - lots for families to do/visit in Oxford.

Enysham is a medium sized village with some good small independent shops and I believe a couple of good primary schools + playgroups etc.
Faringdon - quite a lot closer to Swindon that the other two - is a small traditional market town - individual shops - excellent butcher - baker - deli etc. good community spirit - see the Faringdon Community website - and lovely countryside - currently has a Co-Op supermarket and a Tesco Metro.
What sort of house are you looking for by the way?
Hope this helps
Jo

Paul - Forgot to say - Abingdon/Wootton is also good - and worth a look - easy access to A420 for your Swindon run.

Jo

Hi Paul.

I live in Witney. We moved here nearly 2 years. I lived in Central London and Edinburgh before that.

It's a lovely little market town in my opinion and has everything you need really. Good shops, a large sainsburys, Waitrose along with M&S and a Cineworld cinema.

There are lots of groups going on for children your daughters age and I have found lots of friendly faces here. I can't comment too much on the school situation as both mine aren't in school yet but there are some excellent schools.

Eynsham is a lovely village but doesn't have a great deal there. The bus runs through there to Oxford though and to Witney.

You are close to Oxford and Cheltenham and Swindon. The drive to Swindon is quite easy and quick although I'm not sure what it's like at rush hour.

I have a friend that lives just outside of Faringdon and she frequently comes up to Witney but that said Faringdon is a sweet little town.

Do you know what sort of place you are looking for? If you need advice on nice parts of Witney then please just ask and I will try to help.

Hi Jo,
Thank you for the update.
Ideally wed like a period house Edwardian or Victorian as that is what we have now. However, we are also comfortable with 1930s/1950s built house, a largish garden ideally. We would like 4 bedrooms, though 3 could do. Somewhere away from lots of noise.
Ive looked at both Abingdon and Wotton-Under-Edge via Goggle Earth and Rightmove. My wife does not like those as any near as much as to the areas I have proposed on this chat.
We are going to book a holiday up close to Witney in March to have a closer look.
Paul

Hi Preggersbycheggers
Yes, would like to get some ideas on the good parts of Witney to live in. We are looking for a house that has 3-4 bedrooms, with a large garden and away from through traffic and pub noise. Perhaps a period house, though would consider others. House prices in Brighton are quite high so the move would hopefully enable a sizing up in property size for the same money. Close to a good primary so perhaps the North West part of Witney near Tower Hill primary school. Wood Green School in the North East (senior school) seems to have been severely downgraded and under special measures, so not sure what that area is like?
Is there any anti-social behaviour going on? Expect there is in every town, but would like to understand what Witney has.
Paul

Hi Preggersbycheggers,

Apologies, - forgot to say thank you for your reply.

Hi again Paul

There are lots of new houses here in Witney and namely three estates. Madley Park, Deer Park and Thorney Leys. They all have been built in the Cotswold Stone style so look nice. Madley is the newest and is up near Wood Green, Deer Park and Thorney Leys are close to one another.

So areas to look at are:

Burford Road
Woodstock Road
Wood Green
Church Lane
Stanton Harcourt Road
Church Green
Corn Street

Another place to consider is Ducklington which is almost part of Witney. It is a lovely little place and would be good for your commute to Swindon.

I have a friend with children in school at Tower Hill primary so can ask her what she thinks of it so far. As far as Wood Green comprehensive is concerned, it's very strange they have gone into special measures. I'm not sure why as I had heard they were a very good school.

Other good primaries are Batts, Blakes and St Marys cofE.

As far as anti social behaviour goes, I have never experienced anything. I live on one of the new estates I mention above and go into the town frequently. I'm certain there is anti social behaviour however. Can you look at that police data website?

Will think if there is anything else to tell you!

Hi Preggersbycheggers

Thank you. Tower Hill primary seems to be super rated by its results for 2013. It appears to have done so well that it is above any primary in areas we have been interested in, including all the Bighton schools.

I did look previously at the crime stats for Witney and they are far below the area we currently reside in which is the North Laine, central Brighton. Mind you, we are not aware of any serious crime outside our front door, and it must be the low level crime that pushes Brighton up so high where we live. We've not been victims in any capacity (so far).
Witney seems to be just under middle of the road for crime. More anti social behaviour than any thing else.

Are the parks nice and has there been any flooding of late? The stretch of street leading up and past Church Green and onto Saint Mary's church looks lovely.

Paul

We live in Southmoor, a village right in the middle of everything! Easy access routes to Swindon, Oxford, Witney and Abingdon. They are building lots of new houses, but some lovely character properties in the village as well and neighbouring Longworth equally as wonderful! There are lots of primary schools that have good reputations, Longworth, Appleton. Our daughter is 3 and attends Ferndale Prep in Faringdon.

Hi,
I'm a teacher at an Oxford school - can totally recommend Eynsham as a good schooling area - lovely primary and excellent secondary.