Looking at moving to Trumpington - any thoughts?

[Earhat]

Hi
We are looking at moving to Trumpington with a view to DD starting nursery at either Perse or Stephen Perse school. I would love hear from anyone living in Trumpington. How long does it take to get into Cambridge. Would I be able to avoid the worst of the traffic to get to her school on Hills rd? Also is the area still as nice now the new builds are going up? Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to write. Any info on the area would be much appreciated:)

The traffic is awful. Walking or cycling is your best bet

Thanks Dove - any info on Trumpington itself?

Imho it lacks character and has ended up just being a place people go through to get to town or Waitrose

Personally I'd rather live closer into town eg Long Rd/Hills Rd or in Shelford

How long does it take to get into Cambridge. Would I be able to avoid the worst of the traffic to get to her school on Hills rd?
Traffic is appalling - it could take up to an hour when really bad - fifteen minutes when not. Pelican pre-prep is over on Glebe Road, off Hills Road, so would be a long queue up Trumpington Road, then Long Road. Stephen Perse, I think, has two sites - Brookside or Madingley. Brookside would be a slow journey up Trumpington Road - Madingley would almost be better (though you often have to queue on the hard shoulder to get off the M11!)
School drop off and pick up times are one of the worst times to travel by car and lots of parents take children to school by bike.
Trumpington is a very mixed area - I would have thought that the new builds have improved the area rather than otherwise!

Dove and Cantuse.. Thank you both so much for your replies. I guess it's conclusive, driving from Trumpington is out. Don't know how likely it is that we will find somewhere to buy near either school without breaking the bank! Back to the drawing board.

Don't drive, use a bike! It's an easy ride from Trumpington to Hills Road, and you can always get a bakfiets to transport small children :) Much easier than driving in bad traffic - same goes for getting into town, especially as car parking is expensive.

Agree with Drayton! It may sound weird to anyone not living in a cycling culture, but people really do cycle their children to school here!

Trumpington park and ride has a fantastic traffic-free walking and cycling route into the train station. Hills Road has got new wide raised cycle lanes to separate cycling from traffic.

The northern guided busway is great for the northern villages. A10 has a cycling campaign which has already improved some sections and is working on more. The national cycle network runs through Stow, Bottisham in the north-east. Shelford has the DNA path to Addenbrookes.

Not yet a Netherlands-style cycling utopia, but its improving, and you will at least be in company.

Definitely agree that cycling is the way to go. I would drive through grantchester to go to work to avoid the Trumpington traffic. Trumpington is ok as an area; the amenities are mostly Waitrose but as the new builds go up there will be more.

I would say that Trumpington, although seems up and coming, is a bit soulless. But then that's what you often get in new build areas so it will hopefully look nicer as it establishes more.

IMO although the traffic is bad into Cambridge the Perse School's are so close that I can't imagine that it would cause that many problems driving? (Stephen Perse is more central Cambridge though). Cycling is definitely a sensible option as well though.

Also, I'm not sure about the prep but the upper school has a school bus that runs from Trumpington park and ride. So they could just walk to that (I'd imagine the prep may have a bus too?).

There are also loads of public buses that must go from Trumpington to near the schools as another option.