Places to live in Cotwolds nr to M40?

[MissChief]

..our relocation saga continutes! As well as still looking within the home counties, we're also seriously considering moving further west with dh commuting in (to Staines, Surrey) and we're now looking at the following spec.:

1. small quiet Cotswold stone market town
2. nr to Oxford-side of A40/M40
3. good state schools
4. 3 -4 bed period property for max £550k
5. good facilities - parks/culture/nice shops/cafes/nice town to walk around/sports
6. ideally good train links to London

I'm looking into Witney & Burford and they seem to fit the spec. Anyone know these or have any other recs? TIA!

Pruni has sucked me in again with Abingdon!

Check out \link{http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6805072.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy\this one!}

Or \link{http://www87.vebra.com/cgi-win/vebra.cgi?details2?src=12&firm=11351&branch=1&prop=110992\another sought-after village,} by the Thames.

oooh, where do I start?

It's just pretty direly expensive to live here, and the council seems to think amenities are luxuries (maybe they are, but I've lived in better places). Rents in the city centre are so high that only chains can afford them, or the odd independent business that then becomes so expensive for the same mediocre rubbish that it hurts to give them your money on principle.

I could go on and on....Basically, my life here is made good by having a good network of friends, rather than by living in a fun place. If you don't have kids and like classical music, it's great. As soon as you need to get round with a pushchair it starts to grate somewhat!

ooh nice, but don't want to give up my dusty victorian for a modern place.

I wanted to move to Abingdon, but DH flatly refused to commute (we live a 15 min walk from his work).
Sigh
And sigh again

\link{http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-11208452.rsp?pa_n=4&tr_t=buy\This} is gorgeous, under offer but it shows what there is and only (!) £400K

oh pruni, sorry to hear that, I'd had this idea of Oxford as a car-free idyll (paradise to me, hate the things!), great for browsing bookshops/cafe-society..obviously out-of-date..
Might you move too then?

that's more like it, (drool)! could put dh in the garden on working from home days, too!

\link{http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-6713671.rsp?pa_n=4&tr_t=buy\The Happy Dick}

that has to be worth buying just for the name.

great name and couldn't be more handy for facilities

Yes MissChief am moving soon.
Car-free??? Ha hahahahahaha it has one of the highest figures for city-centre car-related pollution in Britain.
Goodish bookshops though.

so where are you off to then? Just curious..

what about west sussex horsham, pulborough, billingshurst lots of properties in that price range and nearer and not far to the sea...

oxon is miles to the coast

I knew this would be you before I opened it .

What about Thame? Visited there briefly about a year ago and liked the feel of it, plus it's not far from the M40. It's just across the border from Bucks if you preferred the school system there. Don't know anything about Thame itself, so apologies if wildly unsuitable.

Am off to Edinburgh (not much cheaper these days but proper stuff going on).

dh works in Oxford (Headington) and we live in Kingston on Thames (he only goes in 2-3 times a week, the other days he works from home).

When he drove to work (he now takes the bus as he can work on it) it took 1hr 20mins at 6am to get there and sometimes as long as 2 hrs plus getting home at night. Your dh would be going the other way but the traffic is pretty bad in the evenings so you may want to try it a few times at the specific times of day he will be driving before commiting to the journey.

We have considered moving out there but I don't like Oxford (too many students and almost as expensive as here). Thame is quite a nice town from the times we have visited - not sure about the schools though.

lazycow - we're in Kingston and would like to live in Oxford but can't coz of jobs...maybe we could jobswap...

Unfortunately dh loves his job in Oxford. It is me who works locally so if we moved I'd have to give up work. Not sure I could find another PT job in market research in Oxford. Possible but very unlikely.

But there's big MR companies in Oxford, isn't there?

all the best for yr move up north then Pruni!

these stories of nightmare drives from oxford area really off-putting, dh tried staines-burford on mon and did it in 1 hr 10 so was hopeful, but was v good weather so reckon he must have been lucky. We liked Thame on a drive thro but sec. schools don't seem that good..
will keep researching.

the m40 does suffer from fog in winter too

Oh, you guys are seriously putting me off now!
really, really want to be in cotswold-type town but maybe it is just too impractical? will have to test the commute again and revisit some of those towns.. We're currently nr dh's work but want, as I've said, to escape the hectic life/flight-path. Hate to have to rtn with our tails between our legs, driven back by journey times..