Moving to the cambridgeshire area advice needed.

[mim64]

Hi all, we are moving to the cambridgeshire area (this is the 2nd in 10 months, we moved from Berkshire to York last May so want to make sure we make the right choice),and was hoping that someone could help us with our choice of where to move to. We have a 5 year old son so our decision mainly will be made on where the good primary schools are.
We don't want to move to central cambridge, preferably a village about 10 to 15 miles outside of cambridge (pref west or north).

I would appreciate any help.

Look forward to your replies.

Hi mim, I know the area West of Cambridge fairly well so hope this helps.

There is Cambourne 10 miles out West - a big new village (it is only 10 years old and still being built) where there are three good primary schools and is in catchment for a v good secondary school. Lots of houses being built. Its split into 3 - Lower, Great and Upper Cambourne. Great C is more highly though of as it is the oldest bit and therefore more established and a bit nicer laid out. Lower is ok but furthest from the village amenities (supermarket, chemist, pub, library, etc). Upper is the newest bit and is still a bit of a building site. All of it is v family friendly, three parks, lots of after school acitivities, etc.

Hardwick is quite a nice village about 5 miles West from Cambridge, there is a good primary, shop, post office and a pub. Its much nicer than the main road past it suggests. There is a big 60s estate which is v family friendly with lots of green space etc.

Both of these are on a decent bus route into Cambridge and to St Neots which is a medium sized town about 15 miles west of Cambridge (St Neots has good train links to London and the North if you need them).

Other nice villages along the same route are Caldecote/Highfields, Caxton, Bourne, Eltisley but I don't know them very well.

There is also Dry Drayton which is about the same distance out as Hardwick. It is quite nice, has a primary school, pub and shop. Don't know it v well but have heard good things about it.

Closer in to town are Madingley and Coton, both v pretty villages but they don't have much in the way of facilities. I don't think Madingley has a school either but am not 100% sure.

There are also some quite nice villages closer to St Neots - The Gransdens are v quaint but again I don't know them all to well.

HTH

Be warned though - Cambourne won't be catchment for Comberton college for much longer - they will be building a secondary school here.

We are just moving away from Cambourne, south of Cambridge (for DH's work) but we did look closer to Camrbidge on the west side - the problem being there isn't much up for sale. Coton and Madingley are gorgeous - we found a house in Madingley last autumn, but it was ont he market for 24 hours and sold for 50k OVER the asking price.

Hardwick seems lovely and Bourn is really nice - has a good primary (which is still catchment for comberton) and post office/pub etc.

The villages on that road into cambridge are all lovely too - Toft, Barton, Comberton. And all have good ofsteds. But again, housing difficult to come by in them (at any price). I do know of someone who took their little boy out of barton school a couple of years ago and sent him to the Perse as he wasn't being pushed enough - they were excellent with the children who were struggling apparently but lacking in those that needed a bit extra.

Gransden is lovely too! We have friends that live in Great Gransden.

Thank you both for the info, it was very informative and helpful.

I am 50/50 about moving, it took a while to settle in York, now we are moving again, luckily we are renting up here so nothing to sell, we are going to try and buy in Cambridgeshire but will wait for as long as it takes to find the right property, I don't want to rush into anything as we have before.

Thank you again x

Hi Mim,

I feel for you, moving is stressful at the best of times let alone moving to a completely new area (again).

There are a lot of rental agencies if you want to rent at first and there is a good website for private landlords - www.brettward.co.uk/canb/

Happy to help if you need any further info.

Hi runningmonkey,

Thank you for that x

I hope you find a nice place to live, can empathise as am going through move myself, but there are so many things for families judging by the threads on this site (people are very full of helpful info i must say)so I hope like me you find that heartening. we arent there yet but heading for village 20 miles south of Cambs. applying for school which is full eek

Hi rabbitears,

I can't wait till the searching is over, not stressed yet, but I can see it happening soon. We have had some good feedback from my husbands future boss, the ladies on this site was helpful too.

Hope your move goes well.

X

I am in one of the north-east villages (near Burwell), let me know if you want any info about that area.

I'm in Waterbeach let me know if you want any info!!

Thankyou, any info is helpful.

We are going to do a rekki of the area in the half term hols, so any areas worth a look let us know.

What is Ely like? My neighbour says her aunt lives there and it is nice!

Cambourne is v good, I live here now. Regarding Comberton, it will still be the school here as they're building a new one but it is attached to Comberton. It will be the same school iyswim so still good results etc.

i've only been to the shopping bit but it is nice, not many shops but it has the basics and there is a supermarket (tesco i think) and there is a fantastic toy shop. nice on the river

probably cheaper to buy a house than cambridge villages but close enough to have the cambridge faclities

i also find it 'friendlier' than cambridge!!

Cambourne has very nice walks, local shops, 2 lakes and a fields for walking, large hill, small woods, all within walking distance and it's lovely having the open spaces right around the corner. There is a Morrisons, pub, chip shop, Indian, chinese/pizza takeaway, Hair dressers, estate agents, building society, doctors with health centre and library in, building a fire station, small police office but it's mainly in one area. You also have the hotel (Belfry) with resturant, spa, nice view of swans in their small lake, they have social events too.

Overall I'm glad to have made the move from London. Cambridge city centre is a short drive/bus away as is St Neots (in the other direction) for other shopping, large Tesco at Bar Hill (short drive), so much to do here really.

Thank you very much ladies.

All the feedback has been great. My husband's ex work colleague lives in Cambourne so will definately be checking the area out.

We also have a dog, so open spaces is good, and a wooded area as she does like to rummage. We are abit spoilt here as we have a wood directly opposite the cottage.

That's good to here about comberton being linked to the new school being built in Cambourne, I know my son is only 5 and things could change in the next 6 years.

We have a dog too and it's lovely for walks here, plus there a LOADS of dog walkers and it's really friendly. Lots of chances for dogs to meet other dogs and have runs etc. It really is ideal for dogs and children. I'm in Lower Cambourne so the lakes and open space, hill, paths etc are just round the back from me but one wood is a 5 min walk away and my children's primary is about 15 mins away (1 mile). It's a nice walk with the dog in morning, pick up times too, quite a few take their dogs also.

There is also going to be another primary school, the secondary will be built near the business park here but afaik it's all been agreed. Comberton is definitely going to be linked to the new one, if you want to email me I can tell you how I know [email protected], not sure I should post it publicly. I have an almost 8 year old dd, 6 year old ds1 and 3 year old ds2 and they really love it here.

If you want anymore info just ask

Ely is lovely. The city lies on the top of the hill and runs down to the river.

On the river front you have the Maltings which is an arts cinema/restaurant and a couple of good pubs/restaurants (as well as the BEST tea shop). There's also a large Tesco, the train station, a big DIY shop and a bowling alley/soft play.

The two main routes up the hill lead to the cathedral which is essentially the 'heart' of the city. The main shopping area has a Waitrose as well as numerous independent and high street shops/cafes. You can't go clothes shopping in Ely but you can get most other things (house/garden/kids shoes etc). They have a market on a Thursday & Saturday in the centre and there is a decent library.

There are three vet practices, two doctors' surgeries, a small hospital that offers some A&E type services, and numerous dental practices. Ely is also home to a museum, the cathedral (obviously!), several churches of differing denominations and Oliver Cromwell's house and visitor centre.

Ely itself is essentially surrounded by fields and farmland, so in addition to the open parks/greens in the centre I'm sure you'd find somewhere to walk your dog (and in fact you find a lot of dogs quite oddly in the 'city' centre).

The school situation is a tricky one - there are three primary schools attached to the main housing areas, a school catering for special needs, a private school and then a college. A story in the local paper only last week was saying that the schools were massively oversubscribed, but this is true for a lot of Cambridgeshire so shouldn't necessary be a deciding factor.

Property wise there are older Victorian style properties running through the city centre, then a number of new build housing estates on the outskirts. You certainly get a lot more for your money, and Ely is small enough that you're never far from the centre.