Can anyone tell me which are the nice villages around Tonbridge/Tunbridge Well/Sevenoaks

[CountessDracula]

ie those that would be suitable to live in!

Must have

Good primary school
Shop
Pub (or two or three)
Not be too far from train station
No noise from motorways etc

TIA

Had thought about town, is Tunbridge Wells a nice place to live? I would like a big garden though....

Charliecat that house you love is amazing, sadly not big enough for us but what a location! I had better not show to dh or he will have us in there in a shot just for the dogwalking....

Not too many houses have big gardens in TW unless you've got plenty of the £££ to get it! But the common is nice for walking and there are some nice parks in town too.

I love tunbridge wells even though im poor
I was born here and it feels like home, it is home even.
Feels safe..
Weathers generally nice.
Traffics a pain in the arse at rush hour.
Wouldnt live anywhere else.
Love rusthall for the greenery, the locality to town, the walk for the kids.
In the car its 3/4 mins away from town.

like \link{http://cslinter.net/ibbett/customer/propertydetails.php?id=5002299\this one} from that site charliecat, East Peckham sounds a bit rank coming from s london as I do! Is it nice?

\link{http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.e-travelguide.info/tunbridgewells/images/info/wellington_rocks_340.jpg&imgrefurl=www.e-travelguide.info/tunbridgewells/attract.htm&h=188&w=250&sz=7&tbnid=x8dM7maWxrcoCM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=106&hl=en&start=3&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwellington%2Brocks%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN\that house is near these climbing rocks} LOVE IT

No idea about east peckham im afraid :(

Have you thought about Otford? Largish village with quite a good state school (I believe), 2 private schools, several pubs, a few shops and its own train station. Only 5-10 minutes (by car)to Sevenoaks town centre.

Shoreham is another nice village in the area, but can get a bit busy with tourists at the weekend.

Then there are villages like Sundridge (very handy for the motorway, good school, good pub, decent village shop) and Ide Hill (very attractive, but can get snowed in in the winter time).

I've only been here 4.5yrs Charliecat and its the closest thing to home I've ever found (from Somerset originally) I've never been to a friendlier place and met so many nice people. I too love RHall for the fact its out of town, yet has plenty of local conveniences and greenery, and its only a 20min walk to the TW centre if you fancy, altho with 3 kids that doesnt happen often enough in my case!!

If prices look too scary, you should think about coming over to the Canterbury side of the county? miles better value. Commuter trains slightly longer workwise (well, still 12 carriages actually) - but you can still get from Faversham (the main satation) to Victoria or Cannon St in 70 mins.

Loads of fab villages around Canterbury and plenty of good schools.

Then there's the area round Ashford - Pluckley Village and places like that. At the moment train journeys also about 70-75 mins I think but will be about 40 mins once they finish upgrading the line which I think is planned for 2008.

try these sites for inspiration www.struttandparker.com
www.whbreading.co.uk
www.christopherhodgson.co.uk

But must confess these areas do not have the same 'cachet' of living in the tunbridge area unless you go for somewhere uber-trendy like Whitstable which is kind of like Islington-on-sea. Where are you coming from?

whiffy we are coming from SW london, not at ALL concerned about cachet, more about the length of time to London Bridge tbh!

It is lovely around Faversham, we have friends there, but just too far sadly

can anyone recommend somewhere nice to stay with dd around there?

Have you thought about slightly further out form TW? What about the villages such as Hawkhurst, Goudhurst, Cranbrook? We're just outside Cranbrook and its lovely. Its about 25 mins to either Tunbridge Wells or Hastings (TW decent town/shopping, Hastings good for the sea!)and very nice and rural. DH commutes from Staplehurst, which takes an hour to London Bridge. Good schools, lovely countryside, Cranbrook has good range of everyday shops and pubs, etc

I have thought, but our primary concern is to be within 40 mins of London Bridge assuming we will have a bit of a drive to the station.

Fair enough. We moved over here last year from Crowborough, and much prefer it. We thought about living in TW, but went for the slightly longer commute and lots more countryside around. DH has a 10-15 minute drive to the staion, and just under an hour on the train to London Bridge, I think. Tbh I think he would have preferred a slightly shorter commute, but the pull of Cranbrook school was just too much - we have 2 teenagers about to come out of hideously expensive private schools to go there, and are aiming there with our youngest, so once we added that factor to the equation it was pretty much a done deal. Good luck hunting!

Nice to stay round Tunbridge Wells or round Faversham? If you are househunting or want a break with DD near Faversham area then you should book a fishermans' hut directly on the beach in Whitstable from the Royal Oyster fishery company. B&B provided by the restaurant but I think they have little kitchenettes as well. 01227 276856. Best hotel in Faversham is Reads (though I am biased - I goit married there) - but much better to save Reads for blow out romantic evening with DH than for fun with DD. www.reads.com

In Tunbridge area one of my favourite hotels in the country is hotel du vin (www.hotelduvin.com) but not sure it would rate highly on the kiddie-friendly scale perhaps other MN's would know better...

Hmm not so keen on Hotel du Vin as I used to stay in them for work so have bad travelly worky associations for me! Yes I did mean round Tunbridge Wells or that area.

Dh's parents live not too far so maybe we should stay with them and drive over.

wow those huts look fantastic!

Just a thought CD, you should check what the trains are like in terms of being able to get a seat - agree with silverfrog on Cranbrook being divine place to live and think I remember one of my friends from years ago almost moving out there and justifying it by saying that although the journey was longer you always got a seat.

We live in middle of 200 acre fruit farm on edge of tres nice village nr faversham and we leave the house at 6.45 and get into London Bridge at 8.08, so not too bad a journey compared to 40 minutes plus the drive to station that you are thinking of....

Saying that, if you came round this way and your kids didn't get into the (really good) grammer schools then you really do have to go private, as the comps are much more ropey than in places round Tunbridge/Sevenoaks.

Think we should have a spin-off meet up for city-ladies-who-commute-from-the-sticks in order to discuss pros and cons over a pizza.

what train stataion is cranbrook? Can't find it on the trainline.com

have just been chatting to a colleague who lives in Benenden, he is going to help me too

Silverfrog, now I'm curious as to which hideously exp. private school (s) your children go to?

I'd probably guess from a hint [nosy emoticon]

whiffy thanks for your comments on the getting a seat thing. Has made me re-think area a bit

Also I've heard that parking at some stations on the Sevenoaks line can be difficult, with waiting lists for the season ticket car parks.

Benendens nice, too far out for me though. Would hate it. Need town nearby!

CD - Cranbrook doesn't have a station - nearest is Staplehurst, or you could go from Marden. Benenden is also a lovely village.

Cam - the kids are coming out of boarding school, as we were abroad until recently, so that's where the hideous expense has been incurred - one in Hampshire and one in Somerset. Am soooo looking forward to not getting those bills anymore...