Advice about Bluntisham, Willingham and Melbourne

[EPatz]

I'm planning to move to Cambridgeshire in the next few months with three little ones (husband has a new job in Cambridge). We've seen potential houses in Bluntisham/Colne, Willingham and Melbourne... Can anyone tell me what these villages are like? Are the primary schools any good? Is there a preschool or playgroup? Are the villages lovely/friendly/well-served? Thanks in advance!

Once again - first question will always be exactly where in Cambridge will your husband be working? Because the answer you get will differ widely depending on whether it's the Science Park or the Biomedical Campus (for example).

He'll be working close to the centre of Cambridge, near Magdalene College. He's not too worried about the commute from the three locations I've mentioned (probably using bus and bike), but we'd really love to hear about what the villages are like. Thank you!

I woukd definitely check the bus timetables becore committing to any of those places as they are all quite far out in terms of public transport. Most buses go on long routes all around the villages.

I grew up in Bluntisham and the local primary St Helen's has always been considered quite good and has a pre school attached. The Green man pub in Colne is good for food, there is a Budgens at the garage in Bluntisham. The bus service is minimal.

I wouldn't recommend Earith for various reasons including flooding.

When I was growing up the secondary catchment area for Abbey college in Ramsey covered the villages of Colne and Bluntisham, but you could get into the Ivo in St. Ives sometimes. Because of the house building in St Ives this probably isn't an option now, so they'd need to go to Abbey college, which has always been a poor school and when I visited recently still seems poor. Ive just bought a house just west of Cambridge for this reason which is a shame because Bluntisham and Colne are otherwise nice villages. I think the Cromwell school in Chatteris is better but is a bit of a trek.

Have you considered Swavesey/Over and along the guided bus route? Good schools that way.

Thanks Easilyflattered, that's SO helpful, especially your thoughts on secondary schools, which I hadn't really considered. Thanks for the Swavesey/Over recommendation. It looks like that might be a good option for us - close enough to Cambridge, but far enough to get a bit more house for our money. Do you know if there's a good sense of community in Swavesey? Is there a nice little high street?

I believe Swavesey has quite a close knit village atmosphere, there's a pub, primary school and a couple of corner shops. Nearest supermarket would be Tesco at Barhill. We strongly considered both Swavesey and Over but when we needed to buy nothing suitable was on market.

Swavesey primary has a great reputation. Swavesey Village College has gone downhill in recent years and is waaaaaay overdue an Ofsted.

Thanks everyone for your input. I've looked at houses and had a good explore of Bluntisham, Willingham and lots of the southern Cambridge villages too this week. I'm going to keep my eyes open for properties in Swavesey (nothing on the market at the moment), but have found some good options in Orwell and a great option in Fowlmere (just about to start a new thread on that!). Who knows where we'll end up! Thanks again x