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!

ks - gosh, a lot for a 2-bed, even in Busbridge. I wonder who there target market is as surely most people would want at least 3 beds? Doesn't seem to be much on at the moment so holding out for new properties coming on in the Spring; ideally after a character property - 1930s or preferably edw/victorian.
ST - I like Sunningdale, quite nr where we are presently. I think we want to move further away though and to an older town.

btw KS - how are you finding Surrey, weren't you hating it at one stage? Intrigued!

maybe should reconsider the 2-bed-i noticed though that the dressing room interconnects with the master bedrm, not sure I fancy ds1 coming charging through all the time. Garage cd have potential though.
Your head's in the right place then Ks?

just to update (if anyone's interested!), Amersham also a contender. Unfortunately don't think we can afford a large enough house in the old town, but if Amersham-on-the-Hill fits the bill will check out property/schools etc there too as well as Godalming..

My heart goes for Godalming but I think Amersham may turn out to be the more practical option as it's nearer both to where we are now (to maintain current links) and to dh's work; more convenient for travelling round the country - dh's work/visiting friends & relatives.. I think we need to check out both towns in much more detail to be sure..

How have others chose their house & area? How rational a decision do you think it should be??

meant to say, met up with old friend the other night and she snorted into her coffee when I mentioned we were interested in Godalming..! Am I missing something??? I know it has a reputation for being rather "posh" but I didn't find it overly so, just nicely kept. IMO, it's a typical middle-class home counties town, but with a character which makes it rather rare in Surrey. Is there a dark side I should be aware of?!

We chose our first house based on its closeness to work. We both hate commuting. When we moved, we wanted to stay in the same town because we made friends.

good basis, ST. I'm rather a restless soul though and have lived in so many different places that it's instinctive for me to want to move if somewhere no longer feels right (must grow out of this expensive habit!). I've given myself a stern talking to though and we plan to make the next move v long term, hence the angst-ing over it on this thread! We went to Godalming again yesterday and just love it - it really is the only place so far I can see us being happy long-term. Wish I wasn't quite such a fussy bugger sometimes!

had a quick scan - no mention of warfield near bracknell area - so have a look here too. no flight path, 20min to staines through windsor great park, village and great school - whitegrove primary (apparently - sis just sold her house at over asking because of the school!)

Yes Godalming is quite posh I suppose. But I think its more the bits of surrey outside the towns that are so.

The great thing about moving to Guildford for us has been the range of mums at the school gate. As an ex-lawyer it has been so great to meet intelligent, professional woman - woman with full time jobs, part time jobs and given it all up to look after the kids. I suspect you will find the same in the centre of Godalming.

I think maybe moving to middle class subarbia is something that happens to us when we get to a certain age and have kids. I think Guildford/Godalming do have their own idemtity and are not just commuting suburbs of London.

I know London life is rather an insulator from this - still come across a wide cross-section of society even when you do have kids..Godalming sounds more & more tempting but will keep my head and check out a couple of other options further - Warfield too (thanks for the tip!).

I live close to Warfield. Nice area but not much in the way of period property. Mainly built in 90's/00's. Plenty to choose from judging by the local Property rag.

Berks not great either from a culinary (with 1 obvious & rather extreme exception - Fat Duck)and cultural pov, I don't mind too much as long as I@m still on a good train route into town to get to South Bank, West End etc, but definitely big shock at first..

Mumbo - i guess we should check Warfield anyway as so convenient & beautiful location. I would prefer period property but know we may have to compromise..

I agree with ks, I find Surrey from a culinary point of view, appalling.
Warfield area is much better - purely from a food side !!

is it? how curious! it's quite small, isn't it?
I've got my hopes up for Guildford though, surely a uni town must have some half-decent restaurants?

God, I'm starting to sound precious ..
won't really buy a house on the basis of restaurants.. Must get real and consider factors such as my OWN job & commuting distance (in case I go back after mat leave) not just dh's, but that's a whole other issue to angst over.. Hope to wake up one day and come over all decisive!

Godalming is really nice, we're in a village nearby and love it. KS is right tho - culinary genius is sadly lacking round here. DH has had to step up to the plate and take on the Ramsay role.

hi meow - do you find Guildford a good centre to have nr though? I have high hopes for it for p/t courses/theatre/comedy/cafes/restaurants/interesting shops.

and does yr dh deliver??!

er I don't have much life outside work and home , largely cos I have a killer job and commute which render me stupid come 8pm. However the shopping is good, the uni is an OU centre (which I do so is good) and friends are v positive re theatre etc.

DH doesn't deliver further than our sofa I'm afraid. That is defintely something you don't get round here - decent takeaways. Quality of life is much much better tho for us.

that's good to hear, even with yr killer commute!
I'm being rather ambitious myself in expressing several interests - some I'm planning for the long-term (such as evening course or 2) others hope to do now & again like theatre..
dh testing out the commute staines-godalming tonight in rush-hour so will await the verdict..

ooh well I'll wait to hear how that goes then! it shouldn't be too bad, but he may find it snarls up around g'ford. There are ways round that but I ain't telling unless you're moving!!