Teddington - commute to London

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Hi all

You might have seen some of my posts before - the search for a new home continues. We fell in love with Teddington - learned about primary schools now by some research and some great feedback from Mumsnet (we will visit them to decide on the catchment area) but now another big question is the commute.

The commute to Waterloo about 35 min does not sound that bad especially I hear that you can find a seat (not sure if you can find it on the way back though). however we would then need to travel to Bank/St Pauls and Maryleborne as both of us work in London. It seems that this journey would be an hour, i.e. to be at work by 9am we should catch 7:49 train (or for 8.30 start 7.28 train) or coming back to pick up our little one from the nursery (or later in school to have more time with him in the evening anyway - as I think we would anyway need to have help to do pick ups from the school) we need to set off from work about 1630 to be there by 1800 or just before 1800 to be there by 1900 ( not sure how the work would feel about these hours haha ).

How do people manage this? and do you feel that it is actually a painful commute and you feel like you are wasting a lot of time just commuting (there might be an option of working from home one or two days a week for me).

I am asking because we are coming from SE where our train takes 12 minutes to London Bridge Station and then we walk another 10 for me 15 for my hubby. so usually it takes about 30-35 min door to door. - before you ask we decided to move out for other reasons even though it is a lovely area -

Thank you

I commute from Teddington to Waterloo, and then a quick bus ride over the river. Yes, the train is 35-40 minutes, but with the travel to and from the station at either end it can stretch to up to 3h commute each day.

To be honest, I think this is quite a normal commute for people who live in the suburbs and work in town? As you say, what makes it easier is that you can (nearly always) get a seat at Teddington, and because there are very frequent trains coming home you can pretty much always get a seat coming home too, and that makes a huge difference. I make it my reading time: I get through a book a week easily thanks to the train journey.

How do I manage it with kids? I work three long days in town, then two days from home within school hours. Not everyone can do this, but it makes the commute very bearable.

Also worth thinking about back-up plans if something goes wrong on the train line. Sometimes it is quicker to get the fast train to either Twickenham or Surbiton and then the bus, depending on time of day and what part of Tedd you live in. If all the trains are down, then bus to Richmond and pick up the tube from there.

maybe this is not a fair question as everyone is different but as a mum/dad would you say choose better commute to an area . options - due to primary schools we are choosing and in order of also the areas we like- are Richmond if we can find a house near vineyard or decide to go to kew prep schools or east sheen for sheen mount with again kew prep back up if we cannot get in. our prefrence is Teddington with Collis or the CoE school . it sounds bearable . I would work 4 days a week or try to do what you are doing . at school we would need someone to pick little one anyway but not the first year we are there

but as someone doing this what would you say . worth it??? ;)

Teddington is very nice. If you can afford it, I'd live in Richmond for a much shorter commute though. I quit my london job as I was tired of a long commute and chasing trains.

Another option could be North Kingston? 28min on train, lots of outstanding schools to choose from.

Surbiton is also a nice area for families and has much faster trains to Waterloo than Teddington.

I was also going to suggest Surbiton. We always leave 1.5 hours for all journeys into London from Teddington area. It is doable but does put pressure on nursery pick ups etc. A couple of mums used to always cycle in as it was quicker and timings were more reliable. I,m not that fit

Personally i wouldn't choose to live in Teddington with both parents commuting into London, especially as you have an additional journey from Waterloo/Vauxhall.

Look at Richmond if budget allows, if not then Surbiton - much faster trains.
Twickenham train is 22mins to Waterloo but not as nice as Teddington and trains are busy.

You need either a good childminder with hours until 6:30pm/even later OR flexibility to work from home for at least one of you, or both. South West trains often get cancelled/delayed.

I work regularly 2 days from home, sometimes 3 days - my workplace offers that kind of flexibility. My childminder works until 6:30pm. She offers wraparound care from 7:30am but I use the breakfast club at school instead.

Teddington is lovely :)

tw11 - what is the cost of that type of a childcare ? 4-5 hours a day ? and is it common?

If the school offers wraparound care and you get a place then it's reasonable, something like £5/hour term time only perhaps - you can find costs on the school websites.

Childminders can be quite expensive, something like £7-10 per hour, but some also charge retainer fees in school holidays, which isn't cheap at all, 50% of the usual weekly term time rate. Mine does charge that kind of fee, and she is not the only one.

I don't know how common the hours are, but I was able to find 2-3 childminders who do pick up from our school and offer wraparound care.

i honestly don't know school age children in childcare for that many hours every day.

maybe an hour or two after school.

those that have 2 parents with full on jobs tend to have a nanny/aupair ime.
(honestly not trying to be inflammatory!)

Would rather live in Surbiton if you both have to commute as the trains are more numerous and faster. Most child minders seem to finish between 6-6.30 pm and I wouldn't trust SWT to get both parents home in time if you finish at 5pm.
Anyone needing childcare after 6.30 here seems to use a nanny or relative (as I did). School wrap around care is term time only and you may not get every day you request (DC school has maximum of 4 days a week).

@tw123: our childminder has several children like that, and I know another childminder with hours until 6:30pm.

A couple of school in TW11 also run afterschool clubs until 6:30pm, an example is Sacred Heart. Hampton Wick is until 6:15. Collis and Stanley until 6pm. There are tens of children in these afterschool clubs and they all have wait lists. So do childminders.

Just because you don't know any it doesn't mean they don't exist... there are working parents in Teddington, some couples, some single parents and not all can afford nannies or au-pairs, or they simply prefer the afterschool clubs for the social aspect and regulations.

www.firmfoundations-cic.co.uk/ Open till 6.30

bloody hell i didn't say they didn't exist.
no need to get snippy.

the reality is when they hit yr2 homework picks up, after school clubs/activities kick off. childminder/club is great for the little ones if they don't get too tired by it but i don't know ANY who go for more than an hour or so before/after school every single day of the week. fact.

the OP has a chance to really think about this now and not make a very expensive mistake in buying a house in Teddington just because it is "nice".

Personally if me and dh were BOTH commuting to Bank/St Pauls and Maryleborne every single day and couldn't afford a nanny i wouldn't bloody choose to live in Teddington with a long slow (and not that regular) train journey.

thank you akl. twick123 you are right. we loved the area but the commute is becoming a big issue . we want to be able to spend time with our child. maybe secondary school stage . I don't know.

we also liked kew schools a lot . new thinking is chiswick which is 5 min on the tube to kew for drop offs . also the commute is on district like . instead of over 1 hour I would do 33 min for example . it is not as near to the river but 10 min to richmond so I hope we can still go down to the river often and cycle etc. we are now researching this optio .

all of you living in Teddington or nearby : you are very lucky . such a beautiful area

in 5 years time how do you imagine your work life to be? Both of you still working full time commuting to London?

I don't know many families who both have full on full time London based jobs. Most parents both work but one is usually freelance / flexible / can work mostly from home. (and not always the mother!) Do you think that maybe in your future?

yes . 4 days a week now but can work from home in the future . and when in school I will try to work 5 days but reduced hours . the commute is still there for at least one of us . however we really liked the prep schools in kew gardens . they are happy schools with lower fees . if we put schooling as a priority combined with commute we felt we shouldnt consider teddington .

There are excellent state primaries in Kew/ Richmond, too if you were considering that. Queens , Marshgate and Kew Riverside all very popular. Good luck.

yes . we heard about them too . vineyard too but out of budget to buy on catchment area . it is tricky to buy a house nearby, pay a premium but then hit a year of siblings and dont get in . we do not want to risk it.

we are leaning towards private but we need to research and visit more state schools before making a decision I suppose