Whitton?

[JadeFeather]

Hi

Anyone living in this area? Would be interested in hearing how you find it. We are a young couple living in Surrey at the moment and commuting into the city. Want to be closer to my family who live out west. Twickenham is not in our budget. Whitton sounds nice. Any thoughts on the area are appreciated!

Thanks

Hi - I used to live in Whitton and always enjoy going back. It has a very good small high street which has most shops you could want and a decent train service to Waterloo. Its a very friendly place and there are lots of people whose families are originally from the area and never moved away which makes for a strong community. Houses are mostly 1930s and good value compared to Twickenham/Teddington etc. If you are on Facebook search for and join Whitton Village which will tell you lots more about it and what goes on.

Sounds good!
Just wondering how the trains are from here in the mornings. Is it possible to get a seat?

I'm not sure as it's been a while! I would ask on the Facebook page, they should be able to tell you.

I know lots of people in the area JadeFeather. Whitton high street underwent major improvements recently to "smarten" up for the Rugby world cup and re-development of the train station is almost complete.

A small Sainsburys has just moved in, I hear a Starbucks is on its way and a few independent restaurants have also opened.

You certainly get more for your money than in Twickenham/Teddington and as a result Whitton seems to be more popular recently.

Can't help re: a seat on the trains I'm afraid!

Not sure about seats on trains from Whitton, but if possible you probably better off getting the train from Twickenham as the fast service goes through there. You could get the train from Whitton and change at Twickenham or Richmond, and the 281 bus goes from the Nelson Road end of the High Street to the station.

It may not be your concern yet, but there are some good schools in the area, especially Chase Bridge.

Thanks. Seems like there are also two fast trains an hour from Whitton (the Windsor and Eton one). Glad to know the primary schools are good as that is also a priority.

Hi,

I have been living in Whitton for over 5 years and love it. It's pretty much impossible to get a seat on the trains to Waterloo though between 7am and 8:45am.

The busiest trains are the 7:50 and 8am - sometimes you can't even get on those trains. This has changed a lot - when I first moved here it was much easier to get a seat.

You get a lot more for your money than Twickenham; there are lots of groups and activities for children. Nelson Primary School is also very good.

It is very easy to get on the M3 or M4 and get out.

We moved here to be closer to relatives but now I won't leave. Everyone is so friendly.

Hi all
Thanks for your responses so far.
I wanted to ask how important catchment area is for primary schools in this area? Will
you only get the nearest school to your house? Thanks

Google London Borough of Richmond primary school allocations and you will see how far people lived to schools to get in.

Don't know about Whitton specifically but school situation in the borough is generally bonkers. This link shows you how places were allocated in 2015 at non-faith schools including Chase Bridge. Nelson isn't on there but perhaps that means it's not oversubscribed?

Oops great minds

Thanks for the link! Rightmove also has a schools checker so it will show you whether "many" or only "few" children in the vicinity go to a school. An example is this property which is right next to Nelson but also has many kids at Chase bridge. If we brought something like this, could they just allocate us Nelson even though it is in the catchment for Chase Bridge?
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/nearby-schools/property-39435819.html

If you put Chase Bridge as your number 1 choice then you will get it provided there are still spaces once they've allocated spaces to siblings, applicants who live nearer to the school than you and other priority groups eg looked-after children. There aren't catchment areas as such, they just work down the applicants in order of distance. None of the schools know where you've ranked them, they just have to tell the council yes/no based on their admissions criteria and then the council allocates you the space at the first school on your list that will take you. Although there are always a few people every year who get none of their 6 choices initially (may not even get a space at all ).