Looking for advice on South Cam Villages - Foxton - Little Eversdon - Harston

[Earhat]

Hi All,

We are moving to South Cam with a view to having access to primary school in central Cam (Stephen Perse). DH needs tp commute and so cannot come further in than Harston. Currently looking at Foxton and Shepreth. Could anyone give me a clue as to how long it would take to get in to school each day? Any advice on villages and facilities would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.

IIRC the Perse runs minibuses from the Trumpington Park and Ride into their campuses - don't know if these are age-limited. Otherwise I think you'd be mad to try and deliver a child to central Cambridge from the villages every day - traffic is horrific and will take you best part of an hour.

All the villages around there are lovely - Meldreth, Foxton, Shepreth, Fowlmere all good places. Most have a pub, school and playgroup. Shepreth has a good pub but can smell a bit - there's a pig farm near the station.

Thank you for taking the time to answer Drgeek, that is very useful information. Where would you recommend living in Cam if you hope to attend either Perse or Steph Perse school from nursery?

I'd live someplace within cycling distance of the Perse/Stephen Perse, if I could afford it! I wouldn't want my young children having long commutes - more bearable at secondary age though. That said, there are people who do drive their children into Cambridge, so you wouldn't be the only one if you did drive in. Seriously, traffic in Cambridge is really bad - the whole stretch from the A10/M11 roundabout through to the centre of town is stop/start early in the morning.

The A603/Barton side of town may be slighty more bearable traffic wise in the morning but then you're not really close to any train station if you need to commute to London. I take it you are set on private? The state primaries are generally good. Some children do go private at 7 though.

Thanks - Don't need train but DH is commuting out by car and is keen to keep commute to 45 min or under. It may be the compromise that he has to make in the end if we decide on one of those schools. I agree that while they are very young a drive longer than 20 mins (even that would be a stretch) is really too much.
We live in Letchworth at the moment - St Fancis looks like a good school and easy to get to but DH is keen on Perse school later on. I figured if she started at nursery we may avoid the pressure of entrance exams in the future, plus St Francis is all girls and I think it is nice to go to a mixed school, at least while they are young.

If you're looking at the Perse Upper for later on then somewhere along the train line would be ideal as then your son/daughter could travel in on their own and walk from Cambridge station to the school. You'd still have a lot of years of driving them in though for the primary years so not ideal.

I am also looking for transport advice. We are looking to move to Foxton and looking at commute to Fulbourn - is that also likely to be slow because of traffic?

Accidents that shut the A14 are pretty common. Even routes that are normally okay can expect disruptions as soon as any other route is affected, because there is no spare capacity.

Cannot over-emphasise how bad it is to drive around Cambridge. It's a city with a old layout of roads, many of which are very narrow. The constrictions on the inside affect everything coming in, and backs up even to things going around.

It has lots of, and growing, employment. There just isn't the space.

If you can possibly find a commute that doesn't use a car, do it.

Foxton/Fulbourn should be about 30-40 minutes, RicePudding - unless the A505 is jammed solid with Abington Granta Park traffic, in which case, it's anyone's guess.

Hi All!
Looking for a substitute for Histon.
Somewhere with a primary and secondary in the village?
Anywhere around Cambridge really. Does anyone know what secondary serves Harston?
Somewhere with good public transport/on the guided busway preferred. Thanks!

Harston is catchment for Melbourn Village College, I think, although you might swing Comberton or Trumpington CC. Primary school in village and it’s an easy cycle to Addenbrookes/Cambridge. Buses along the A10 too.