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[BellsBellsBells]

DH has been offered a great job in South Cambridge- initially to be based near Great Abington (ample car parking) then Addenbrooke's (car free site) in 2017.
I am yet to find a job in the area, but there may be a suitable position in the city centre- but I am looking in South Cambridge/North Essex.

We are a family of 4. DD is 2 and DS is 2 months old. I am on maternity leave currently. I plan on RTW when DS is 6m old, serving my notice period then moving down with the two children.

We currently live in the NW of England where your money certainly does go further in terms of houses!

We are looking for a 3/4 bedroom house in a village/town/suburb of Cambridge which has nearby school, shops, cafes/pub, amenities for children and hopefully a sense of community.
Our budget is a reluctant 500-550k (with help from family).

In all of our research, South Cambridge ranks as one of the top places to live in the UK for a great quality of life, however in the same breath, it is renowned for having awful traffic with long commutes to the city and very high house prices.

Whilst this job is a great opportunity with a salary increase, it looks like this increase will be swallowed up by higher mortgage payments and the need to run 2 cars insead of our current one. We worry that our family life will be compromised by a very long commute.

We are both likely to be working reasonably long hours with average finishes of 6pm making childcare an important consideration.
Our current nursery opens 7.30-6.30 but I know this is longer than your average nursery.

To cut it short, can any local Mumsnetters give and location suggestions with a approximate commute time to the given locations?
We love the look of Saffron Walden, but ther are so few houses on the market and from what we hear, they often go above the asking price due to demand.

We are losing sleep thinking about the ifs and buts and DD doesnt feel in a position to quiz his prospective employer about these finer details.

Please help!!
Thanks
(posted in SW and Cambridgeshire boards for increased traffic)

We moved from the North West (Golden Triangle) to Linton. Village has:
Schools - up to 16
Increasing range of shops including butchers, artisan bakers, coffee shop, organic veg shop.
3 pubs (2 with restaurants).
Straight commute on bus or by car up to Addenbrookes ... time taken depends on time you go in (any time after 7:30 am in morning = rush hour when it takes 45 mins or so to get to Addenbrookes. Outside rush hour traffic is fine.
15 mins max to Granta Park. Bus also available (stop in Gt Abington with footpath through to Granta Park.
Lots of local activities and young families.
Can't help on nurseries etc as children are grown up - there is one at Granta Park and at Babraham.
Cambridge traffic is appalling - cycling from the park and ride is always a possibility.

Typical family house though for your budget you could get something with more character.

Suggest finding a nursery near work rather than near home, to make drop offs and pick ups easier if you're doing long hours. Or you might find a child minder who offers longer hours.

Have you looked at Sawston? Eminently cyclable into the city, and amenities for all.

Thanks Notmyusual- Linton looks lovely and looks like it would work for DH.
How long would you estimate it takes to drive to the city centre in the morning at this time? I may have no option but to drive particulalry if I am doing drop off/pick up nearer the city rather than locally

Thanks Chesterton- sawston is where we were thinking of renting to "test drive" the area. What about time into the city?
I think with our timings we may end up considering a childminder or nursery nearer work.

We have heard that the cycle network is much better to the north of the city and that the roads to the south are too fast and dangerous. Is this true? Are there cycle paths that head to the centre of Cambridge or navigate East/West?

Thanks all

Hiya - I live in Abington - bit nearer town than Linton. DH works at Addenbrooke's and traffic means he can either be in work in 15mins or 45! Rush hour is horrible. I work 35-40mins away and I did look at perhaps trying to move my job to the centre of Cambridge but quickly realised that it would still take me at least that to get there.
Not sure about nurseries near here as we moved when one was at school and we had the younger one in nursery near to the school (in Cambridge).
There is a Kids Unlimited nursery at Addenbrooke's which both of ours went to at various times. It was good in that it was handy for DH's work, but not fantastic. Patacake nursery was fantastic (the one near Grange Road).
Property is tricky - family homes get snapped up very quickly, and as you say, often over asking price. Whittlesford is nice too. As is Sawston!
Shelford is lovely but you are talking more money as closer still to town and has a bit of a reputation as being very nice! (which it is - lovely deli!)

I would prioritise looking at nurseries near where you will work. Many have waiting lists and it would be best to get on them now. I have friends who's children are at seperate ones as they couldn't get their youngest in to the one their eldest was already at. Alternatively look into childminders.

I don't know much about housing as we lived North of the city and cycled in to the city.

Thanks Growlygus- I've heard lovely things about Shelford but assumed it would be out of our budget- worth keeping an eye out maybe, but am under no illusion that there are bargains to be found!
Will investigate Whittlesford further and as PP suggested sawston.

The nursery issue is playing on my mind. Locally we had to put DD's name on the waiting list while I was 20w pregnant! Even then other fitness didn't get places!
Good to know a few recommendations. Once my job is secure it makes sense to arrange things then, maybe with a childminder to tide us over till places available.

We've decided this evening to make the trip down tomorrow to investigate the areas. V excited!!!

We liked Whittlesford for the links it has - there is a station there with direct access to London, as well as good bus links. Thinking ahead for when the DSs are big enough to be out and about!
Unfortunately the house we were going to buy there fell through - but we ended up just down the road. I love Abington!

AZ? Loads of people moving, it's causing chaos for school entries as well in South Cambs.

Most big employers (academia/industry) here have nurseries on site. The Kids Unlimited at Addenbrookes does not have a good rep butost other places are good to excellent.

I would aim to be cycling distance to Addenbrookes and drive to Abingdon. The A10 is getting a new cycleway which opens up most places as far south as Royston, and the A505 will get you to Abingdon quickly.

Price wise I would put the villages mentioned from cheapest to most expensive as Sawston, Linton, Whittlesford and the Abingtons with Shelford as the most expensive.
We moved in the late 90s and found that the housing stock was much poorer in quality than Cheshire and that it was almost impossible to buy anything unless we were renting first. We like the Abingtons and there is a good community feel there but amenities there are more limited than Linton.
Agree with Growlygus about the journey into Cambridge in the morning - and it isn't going to get better unfortunately.

Stapleford could give you that 'almost Great Shelford' location, and make cycling to Addenbrooke's quicker.

With that budget you can definitely afford a nice three bedroom in Shelford, Trumpington or even in the city.
I would put their names down for rainbow nursery in Trumpington, kids unlimited addenbrookes, sawston nursery and then pick one depending on where you end up living.

We have a a mega day of drive by village shopping. Love love loved Great Shelford and SW. Did not love the traffic from Addenbrookes to town. Ouch!!!!!

Great idea about speculative nursery reservations! Thank you for the recommendations.

Currently enjoying cold glass of wine in the city in the sunshine imagining life down here.

I think you get to know the traffic. A lot of people start work early / late to avoid the traffic jams.

If you like Saffron Walden, maybe also look at some of the surrounding villages like Newport and Clavering.

Bell, it's a great day to visit Cambridge!
Weather is not always as pleasant as today though

We live in Melbourn. I know people who commute from here to Addenbrookes and say it's fine. You can also get the guided bus to Addenbrookes from the Trumpington park & ride. We have a station in Meldreth, so you can get into Cambridge by train, but the station isn't very central. I'm not sure how easy it is to get to Abingdon from here. There are nurseries in Whaddon, Royston and other villages that do longish hours as some commute to London from the Royston area.

have you thought about moving east, north/east rather than south? Bury St Edmunds is lovely and not too far away - house prices possibly a bit better.

I drive from Shelford to South Cambridge every day. Leaving at 7:30 gets me to Long Road at 7:45. Leaving at 7:45 gets me there at 8:10, leaving at 8 means it's more like 8:45. From there into town is busier, and it took me 40 minutes to get from Downing Street to Hills Road at 4pm on Thursday! But during the day I can do Shelford - central Cambridge in 12 minutes - you do have to learn to time your journeys. But biking is perfectly possible south of the city - there are a couple of pinch points on the Sawston-Shelford path, but once in Shelford you can cycle on a dedicated cycle path next to the railway (and in the middle of fields most of the way) all the way to Addenbrookes.

AbingTon! It's AbingTon!! With a "T" not a "D".
Abingdon is near Oxford...!!

Hi Bells,

We moved to Stapledord from the NW 3 years ago in August. We didn't know a whole lot about the area but we really like it. We rented for two years before we bought; your money certainly goes much further up north and house prices get crazier by the day here. We looked at a lot of villages around here, as houses we could afford are few and far between. Whittlesford and Duxford are also nice, as are Barrington and Shepreth (off the A10).

Stapleford's an easy, almost entirely off road cycle (15-20 minutes) to Addenbrooke's and the council is extending/improving the cycle network southwards from Whittlesford Parkway station. We use the shops in Shelford regularly and we have a nice real ale pub in the village.

Nursery-wise, we're expecting our first later this year and are on the waiting list at Sawston nursery. We visited Rainbow Day nursery in Trumpington and it was ok, but we didn't like it as much as Sawston. Unless you work in the city centre, it's going to be out of your way and a congested commute to get there from Addenbrooke's/Abington. If you get a job at the University, you can go on the waiting list for their nurseries, which seem really good, but are massively oversubscribed. A neighbor recommended the nursery in Newton as well, but it only takes over 2s--perhaps a possibility for your older child?

Sawston does seem to have the most housing stock at the moment and there are plans to build more. There are quite a few shops and it's a similar distance between Addenbrooke's and Abington (slightly closer to Addenbrooke's). It would be a decent place to rent while you're looking to buy if you're having trouble finding somewhere else. Best of luck to you.

Hi Bells,
From your description, it sounds like your DH is part of the MedImmune/AstraZeneca relocation. Granta Park now, then BioMed campus. (I used to work there).
For a budget of £500K+, you can get nice houses in the south villages. We moved a couple of years ago and that was our budget. We have a large detached 4 bed house in Duxford (needs a bit of work, but plenty of space for 3DC). 3 pubs, shop, school, rec with playground, plenty of community village feel.
Access to Granta Park is super-easy from Great Abington, Linton, Hildersham, Babraham, Pampisford, Stapleford, Sawston, Whittlesford, Duxford, Great Chesterford; also Haverhill is much better value for money housing wise, if you don't mind being a bit further out. I have lots of colleagues who live there.
Access to Addenbrookes is always a bit tricky wherever you live, unless you go early.
I can personally recommend Great Abington primary school - all mine went there and it was fabulous. DC3 now goes to Duxford primary school which is also great.
The really good thing about the S. Cambs villages is that there really isn't a duff school or nursery, so you are likely to find what you want wherever you buy a house :)

PS regarding the commutes, Cambridge is far less bad than London or Manchester or Leicester, in my experience, which actually makes it the least bad place for traffic that I've lived in! Cambridge centre is very small and the roads do snarl up, but a 'terrible jam' is often only 20 mins of slow moving traffic. It all depends what you're used to. Having said that, if there's an accident that closes the M11, the situation is entirely different.
If you end up with a job in the city centre, the park and ride sites are very good.

Thanks all for the invaluable advice. Just for that small matter of securing a job for me and find somewhere to rent while we look for a house to buy....

So.... A second visit to the area and we're now considering Balsham.
The village looks beautiful and has a PO/shop, school, playground, couple of pubs.
The house prices look to have fallen bucking the trend for Cambridge itself and also seem quite a bit cheaper than other S Cams villages.

Are we missing something?
What's the catch?

Should we move to Balsham?

The 'catch' is that Balsham primary school went into special measures a while back.

BUT......don't necessarily be put off by that. I know people who have children there who say that the new head is excellent and is turning it around fast, and they are happy that their children are well catered for. It will almost certainly get a better rating next Ofsted.

I would go for it :)