Calling Cambridge Mums.

[bluebear]

Can anyone tell me;

Which train company runs trains from Cambridge to London?
How much an annual season ticket might cost?
and, give advice about the better areas around Cambridge - house prices /good schools etc.

Thank you, Thank you.

Its One Railway for Cambridge - London (not sure if there are any others.... GNER or WAGN for instance).
An annual ticket with One from Cambridge-London is £3344

www.onerailway.com/offers/offerdetails.asp?id=1485061&offer_category_id=23&class=1

Do you want to live IN Cambridge? I live outside Cambridge, but work there.

I have a friend who lives in Cambridge, her children go to Kings School, Ely (they're bright kids, so have a scholarship).

Thanks for that MaryBS.

Not sure where we want to live - dh is considering a job based just north east of cambridge, I work in central london, and we live in west london at the moment.
I was wondering how possible a move to Cambridge would be - although in the short term we have discussed dh staying at my mum's house a couple of nights a week (1 hour's drive max, from the job), and then maybe renting out our house and renting somewhere in/near cambridge. Would need to be near a station though as I want as short a commute as possible.
I'll have a look at the train timetables and see what stations there are...All I know is that it is awful trying to drive into cambridge in the rush hour, so I guess not a good idea to live outside and drive to the station.

hm, this is my 3rd attempt, i'm having trouble with this thread.

i live near cambridge, and moved here about 5 years ago, do you want my email?

OK, cherry hinton is the best part of cambridge for getting to the train station, and a family based suburb. trains take about an hour.
how far out of cambridge will dh be?
for estate agents, look at haart website to give you an idea (depends on your budget, of course)

There are actually 2 train companies. WAGN goes from Cambridge to Kings Cross and is significantly faster (50 mins non stop service at peak times). One goes into Liverpool Street and takes longer (Fastest trains about 1h 15). This service does stop at Totteham Hale though, so you can get teh tube from tehir if it's easier for your office. Your annual season ticket can be bought from either company and used on both lines.

Ther aren't any straight through trains from stations North of Cambridge, though there are from some nice villages to the south, but that would mean your dh driving/bussing to work as well (which isn't impossible round the ring road, but isn't exactly quick) We are in great Shelford, which is very lovely, brilliant state primaries and takes 1h 23 minutes to Liverpool Street. Dh does it every day.

Within Cambridge itself, there is an area of v. nice houses around the station (Which is in teh South of teh city), Lyndewode, Tennison, Glisson roads. But it's a bit Fulhamesque - Rows of Town houses/Victorian villas facing onto the road, with long narrow gardens behind. And prices are similar as well - £600k for a nice 4/5 bed house. Hills Road has some v. nice houses, but we were put off by the fact it is a main road into Cambridge (albeit with a 30mph limit) and we figured if we were going to move out of London we may as well move to proper countryside. Good agents for the area are Bidwells, Savills and Tucker Gardner

On Schools - primary village schools seem to be v. good - and all have their own swimming pool! we are going private at Secondary so don't know anything about teh state sector then, but there are some excellent prvate schools in Cambridge (Perse for Girls was 2nd in National League tables) they are all based around the Hills Road/South City area.

If you have any more specific questions let me know - we are very happy to have made the move out, and dh is fine with the commute.

Thanks for perserving kissassangel! - Will look at Cherry Hinton (love the name - very 'countryside'.

Prufrock - wow, when I first posted I was feeling very negative about the move (despite coming from mid-Essex myself - used to go shopping in Cambridge as a nice trip out)..but you've made me feel quite positive about it.
Dh is happy to drive to work (at the moment he is commuting 108 miles of motorway each day so short commute would be an improvement).
Not sure how much our house is worth now - would guess we could run to £600k - have a 4 bed terrace at the moment and wouldn't want to go smaller, would hopefully get more garden out-of-london.
I could look at getting a job in Cambridge as well, but I love the place I'm working at, at the moment.
Am off to look at estate agent sites. (dh will be pleased)

I'm 10 mins walk from Kings Cross, so commute sounds OK.

if you're willing to live in a village, particularly north of camb, you could downsize your mortgage, but still have a nice house. we have a 4 bed detached, with big garden in a 'good' village (ie, good school), worth about £400 k. would that make it possible for you to give up work if you want to, or get something temp/part time closer to camb? (or do 3 long days in london?)

There is somewhere I can work in Cambridge - Trumpington? I think - but would have to wait for a vacancy to come up (and leave lovely job I have).
Would need to consider childcare as well - we have lovely nanny here (who brings her own baby so is a bit cheaper) - I guess out of london the childcare is a bit cheaper too.

Prufrock - Am I right in thinking that some villages south of cambridge have their own stations? Are they all on the same line served by both One and WAGN - or does only One stop?
Getting very excited about this now
But I am squinting at internet maps trying to get my head around it.
Cherry Hinton looks good - but also interested in the villages in the south (Dh will be somewhere on the A10, and it looks possible to avoid the ring road if he heads east before north)
Thank you.

blubear, I like 12 miles from Cambridge. Just up from Trumpington is Great Shelford, is lovely and has a train station with direct liknks to London. Is about 3 miles from city centre. Cherry Hinton is nice and affordable also, it's hit and miss with cambridge really! good bits and bad.

try tucker gardner also.. A10 is awful for traffic ...actually all roads into cambridge are

Well, I've arranged for estate agent to come and value this house, and think I might talk dh into an exploratory trip to look at the area, in a couple of weekends time. luckily not under too much time pressure yet.
have seen one house on web in Great Shelford and it looked v. nice

Hello Bluebear, I can tell it must have been a busy day at work: how could I have missed this thread otherwise . Always get absurdly excited when mumsnetters think about moving to cambridge.

I'd agree with Prufrock re living in town: Glisson Road, Tenison Road, Lyndewood Road all v nice and might prove a good swap for what you have now. There's also some good family houses on the other side of Cherry Hinton Road (on the roads coming off Hills Road such as Rock Road, Marshall Road, Hartingdon Avenue etc) which would be a long walk or sensible bike ride to the station. These have the advantage of being a bit closer to Trumpington if that becomes relevant.

I used to commute into Kings Cross on a WAGN line (more than 5 years ago now so my price info is out of date) and actually it was no worse, time-wise, than my previous commute in from leafy Kingston on Thames. Worth noting though that the quick WAGN trains don't tend to stop at the village stations, unfortunately.

At primary level, there are very few actively bad schools in Cambridge, according to Ofsted. Some of the best are either right in the town centre (eg Park Street, St Matthews), or some of the village primaries (Impington always seems to get a good write up).

If you'd like any more info, or just a cup of coffee if you come up to do some research, do CAT me.

Good luck!

what age group of schools are you looking at? there are some bad schools in cambridge (but not around the areas being recommended). i teach in secondary (but not near cambrisge) & my neighbour is a primary head who did emergency relief at a primary in cambridge, after it failed 2 inspections. the schools do tend to be slightly better in the villages. if you get to the stage of looking at specific areas, i could probably get you some insider information on the school.

also, the roads around cambridge are terrible for traffic. most people leave home at 7 am to get into camb by 8 am where i live - just 15 miles away. after 8 am the journey time goes up to 2 hours on a bad day. i really would suggest you avoid trying to move so that you have to get into and out of camb to get to work.

just read gizmo's post properly - impington has a fantastic school for secondary, and histon (nearby) is beautiful, village green with duckpond, lovely houses, some shops & restuarants, only a couple of mile north of camb. if it wasn't so far from where i work, i would be moving ther (can you tell?)

We live in a village North of Cambridge and prefer to go to Huntingdon to get the train in from there. GNER very fast into London from there.

I grew up in Cambridge (1980's) and went to St Paul's primary, Parkside secondary and Hills Road Sixth Form. They were all then very good schools and I think they still do very well now in league tables (esp Hills Road). They were a lot better than the schools I have to choose from in Norfolk.

I too grew up in Cambridge until the mid-nineties and then returned to do my PGCE, staying there until 2001, before getting a job elsewhere. Cambridge is a very interesting place in terms of property - places which were "rough" when I was young are now becoming bought up by young professionals. However, having lived in several places, "rough" in Cambridge is a hundred times nicer than "rough" anywhere else.

South Cambs villages are indeed lovely. Great Shelford, Little Shelford and Stapleford are easily accessible to their little station, as is Whittlesford (with station), with Duxford just a mile or so away. A 4 bed large detached house in Whittlesford is about £600k.

Village schools do have a good reputation. For Secondary, Bottisham is very good, I believe. There are some good private schools, as mentioned, but also some smaller ones, including a convent school for girls. No idea on standard. St Albans is a catholic primary in centre of town.

Cambridge is great for commuter living - it seems most people live there and work on the Science Park or commute away to London.

I love Cambridge and am aiming to get back there one day. There is nothing more perfect than punting on the cam; enjoying a Pimms on the quay; sitting on Jesus Green; the cosmopolitan mix of people during the Language Student season; the calm of the colleges..... Good Luck!

OOh do come and live up here bluebear - it's lovely really.

Great Shelford is v. close to Trumpington, and there are some really gorgeous houses in the village (one of which is mine natch). We also have a superb deli, butchers, bakers, library, kids shoe shop and our very own department store (Though Harvey Nicks it's not)

Unfortunately it is on the slower One line that goes to Liverpool street, as are the equally lovely villages of Whittlesford and Duxford. The Kings Cross line serves the villages of Foxton, Shepreth and Meldreth to the South, although the stopping service is slow - 1h 15 from Foxton at peak times. But I think those villages are all easy access to the A10 for your DH.

I'll second Gizmo's offer of a cup of coffee and guided tour if you want to come up and see us - my e-mail is prufrock at hotmail dot co dot uk

Thanks everybody! - especially for the offers of coffee. It's obvious that the Cambridge area has the friendliest locals at least
My head is spinning a bit, I've told dh that our house is being valued next Monday and he is happy (although a bit nervous as we have been fixing it up and still have a couple of places with raw plaster on the walls.) He is discussing the new job with someone right now

Won't be able to explore places in real life until at least the weekend after this one so will content myself with the web.
Will be looking North, South and by the station to start with :O

Oh and the 'bear cubs' are 5 (just finishing reception) and 2 so primary schools are of prime concern, but good secondarys would be a bonus.
Bet even a poor school out of london would be equivalent to one of our popular London primaries...I know when I compared our area schools with Bucks (where grandparents live) the Bucks ones were far superior.

Kickassangel - I have strong memories of being stuck in a traffic jam on the way out of Cambridge having travelled there for a day's shopping a few years ago. Think it may be better to aim for getting onto a slower train but with a shorter trip to the station (unless we like places near the main station - but village life is calling to me).

Cambridge is a lovely place to live I was born and raised here, spent 8 years in London then moved back, if you like the hustle and bustle of London then you are best off buying in the city. I am a country girl at heart so prefer my village life

Holler this way if you want more info. The traffic has got bad, but no worse than London. Large parts of the city centre have been pedestrianised so there are very few routes to drive in, so they get clogged.

My dad has commuted to London for 15 years and DH did it until last year.

Do you want to use state or private schools?