anyone help pls with areas to live W.Surrey/S.Bucks/N.Hamps./E.Berks - schools/towns/quality of life

[MissChief]

Just had "serious discussion" with dh and we've decided to look ahead to our next move and would really appreciate any help from others! Since making interim move out of London 2 years ago not quite settled in new town mainly due to its poor state school provision & quality of life locally (it's noisy - under flightpath, loads of cars everywhere, narrow streets, not enough green going on, not restful..).

We basically need the following:

1. to be within 45 mins commuting distance of Staines, Surrey
2. to have access to v good state schools - primary & secondary 2)to be ideally v nr to smallish town (by car or on foot) - with decent stuff going on such as cafes/shops/cinema/theatre/park
3. to escape the Heathrow flightpath! 4)to find somewhere where c.£500k gets you an oldish semi or detached 4-bed house of decent size with garden & parking
4. to find some peace & quiet! Maybe village location

If you're still with me so far is this too much to ask?? Any suggestions of where to look/places to avoid??
TIA!

..most important thing is decent state schools, btw! (Didn't check this out well enough the 1st time..)

bump

Bucks has the grammar school system - how do you feel about that?

This maybe a bit farther than you wanted (at 57 mins) but how about Kingsclere or nearby villages?

Has excellent schools (go to Newbury for great schooling, or good primary within village).

It is a large village, but on bus route to both Newbury (more cultured) and Basingstoke (lots to do!)

Commute should be easy enough - straight down the M3. I know a few people who have done similar commutes!

£500 would buy a fab house certainly a 5 bed.

Or you could go closer towards Reading. There are some great village schools around that area, obviously avoiding Reading and Basingstoke itself!

HTH

Hi Misschief, I'm asking similar qs about Bucks/Beds/Northants. this book, Commuterland might be good, I have a 1998 version, it's useful. What about High Wycombe? I don't know it well but considered it years ago but moved further away from London in the end. Good luck, I know the feeling, I moved from London to Devon to Bristol and now we're considering another move, it' stressful and hard work isn't it? Sympathy.

thx everyone.
WWW- yes, used that book when me moved out 1st - found it really useful but outofdate - would be great if they do an update! Why are you looking to move again then, job-related or disappointed in what you found when you moved out of london (rather the case for me, but maybe was expecting too much)? Good luck with it, anyway, and hope you get some helpful info on yr thread.
Definitely looking at Bucks - Chalfonts, Beaconsfield area, maybe Marlow - rather expensive but seems like these towns have character
For Berks - wondering about area around Ascot/Bracknell - would like to go as far out as W of Reading but realistically too much of a commute for dh to be Newbury way (he doesn't fancy neogtiating London-bound M4 in rush-hour)

What about Hunderford, Wantage Miss Chief? Too far? Basically I haven't found the work I want here and that's the main reason we're off again. There was no work at all worth doing in Devon. Plus Bristol has shite schools and moving will put us nearer ex dh (ds is his and they see him every weekend, it's amicable) and ex mil, who loves both my children, even the one not technically related to her. We are doing a HUGE research job this time because we can't afford to get it wrong again. Start a thread if you want, I'll join you!

WWW, I don't know if you got any response re Bedford itself - I was brought up there - certainly it always used to be a nice town, with a fair amount going on, and a lovely river (Ouse) at the centre of it. Also has 4 very well thought of schools, the Bedford Schools, which are probably purely private, now; but also some other good secondaries. Some of the villages around Bedford are picturesque, although it's flat like E Anglia generally (no hills). And Bedford is on the BedPan line - Thameslink Bedford to St Pancras, which is v fast to London.

yes, like hungerford but again poss toofar. Think will centre around S. Bucks to start - the chalfonts and then work out further if no luck there.

good luck with it www - IKWYM about the scale of the research job - so much to consider with kids and have learnt my lesson from our 1st move out...

Fauve, I think Bedford is pos too far to commute but we will def look there because we need to consider the possibility of having to commute into London at some point in the future, I think we will have to consider it as a possibility.Sorry to hijack Misschief!

Please CAT me MissChief and WWW .

PIL's live in Amersham where a 1930's 3 bed semi goes for between 375 and 400k, so 500k may be realistic for 4 bed, and there are local selective secondary schools and decent primary schools. Not a lot going on in the town iself but within a short drive - 15 minutes to Wycombe and 20 minutes to Watford - of civilisation !! I would personally avoid living in Wycombe itself as it is pretty variable but its Grammar schools are very good.

little chalfont is a lovely area, good primary school,nice walks,close to supermarkets without them being to close iyswim,close to london,

Marlow is nice but wouldn't like to live there somehow dont feel safe
High wycombe most of its nice, good senior schools (grammar), reasonable shops etc but still dont really like living here anymore
try surrounding villages like Denham, little kingshill.

really like both Beaconsfield & Amersham - been there recently, like their character & proximity to countryside, wondering about affordability for somewhere decent though, must check out...
Marlow too - interesting that doesn't feel safe, why is that?
Also saw the Chalfonts - just drove thro Little Cnso didn't get much of an idea- seems blink & you miss it unless you know it's there yet probably place you need to get to know? Don't want to be making snap judgments again, anyway!

also thanks FN - will CAT tomorrow if that's ok.

Amersham generally cheaper than Beaconsfield, wider range of housing too I think.

ok - will check housing in Amersham out.

There are lots of nice places to live here, in east berks. I'm in Ascot, very good schools, villagey feel, handy for reading, guildford and Kingston. 45mins into London. It's not far to staines, we went to the cinema there the other week, and def no flight noise here. We're pretty much surrounded by forest here. I would also look at wokingham, or sunningdale. Defo need a car tho.

hi Kelly - so how do you find ascot to live? How quiet is it, how about state schools etc? thinking probably village around ascot rather than town itself, if go for this area, but nothing definite..

MissChief, we live in Guildford. Your criteria:

1. 45 minutes commuting distance to Staines. I think so. DH commutes to Sunbury, although the extra distance to Staines may push it over the edge. Also, it depends enormously at what time in the morning you set off!

2. Excellent primary schools and one extremely good secondary school. The secondary school - George Abbot, has a rather odd catchment area that includes a small area around it then some of the outlying villages.

3. Guildford is largish rather than smallish but has all that stuff.

4. We moved from Kew for just the reason and there is no or virtually no aircraft noise.

5. I think you could get a house within your price range (random sample in George Abbott catchment area

6. There are a number of very quiet suburbs in Guildford, but you could also look at the villages within the George Abbot catchment area.

try that link again

try www.upmystreet.com they tell you about areas ..i think its .com but obviously try.co.uk if not.hope it helps

misschief, I find ascot very quiet! I live in North ascot which is in the catchment area for ascot heath and charters schools. They are excellent schools. My dd is at ascot heath and I'm planning to stay here for a good few years so I can get the children into charters. if you check out their ofstead report you can see for yourself. Surrounding schools are also very good.

I've not had any problems here, and it feels rural, as I can walk down the road and into woodlands. The high street is tiny, mostly little independant shops, so I go into Reading a lot. Ascot is generally a very wealthy area, mostly full of commuters, but you could def get a nice property for £500k.

It's upmystreet.co.uk. And it's not very reliable! It said my last place was cosmopolitan and trendy - a flat in west croydon. I loved it, but it def wasn't cosmopolitan, it was lively, multicultural, and sky high crime rates! It reckons my current propery is in a dodgy, rough area, in a very quiet back road in ascot.