Moving out of London

[Crumpet]

We're thinking of making the move out of London, and have seen a house in Faringdon nr Oxford. Bit of a long shot, but I don't suppose that any of you know of it and have any thoughts have you? Not an area we know well, but seems to tick the boxes in terms of

• large village/small town so can walk to shops/schools etc
• near to places where I could find work if can't continue with having to work in London a few times a week

Crumpet, I'm not too close but have family near there.

It's lovely!! Great countryside, but also very close to Oxford, or also Swindon (for work). Close to the A34 for commuting up and down the country.

Wantage is nearby and Abingdon, both nice small towns.

If I was moving out of London, I would be more than happy with the Faringdon area.

Thanks Bluesky - we've put an offer in and are waiting to see what happens! It's also reassuring to see no-one has leaped in with horror stories!

It is a great area of the country. I live near Oxfordshire, not far from the Faringdon area and I commuted into London. It is definately worth commuting to London if need be to live is such a peaceful and beautiful area. Hope this helps - good luck with your offer hope it is accepted.

we moved from London 4 years ago to Warwickshire, and love it. DH still commutes daily into London, but no different from when we lived there and relied on the tube!!
Good luck

How long does it take to commute to London from there? - we are thinking of moving to that general area too

sorry mean Faringdon

a very helpful book for anyone thinking of moving out of London or Greater London is 'Escape from London - Idyllic Places to live within an hour of the capital' by Dennis Watts published by Allison and Busby. Price is £10.99 but £7.69 on Amazon. It got a very good review by the Daily Mail Property Correspondent.

Hi there. I know Faringdon pretty well. It's lovely. It's a nice size town - big enough to have a variety of people with different interests etc, for you to find people you have someone in common with, but small enough to have a community feel. Big enough for you to stay anonymous if you want, but small enough to meet people if you want. Good variety of shops, including great butcher's and fab cheese shop, and a couple of nice cafes/restaurants. It seems quite vibrant - I know there's a floursihing amateur dramatics scene! and the town has declared itself a "fair trade" zone - it really doesn't seem "red-neck" - which might be important to you if you're moving from London. It's VERY pretty and has a good variety of housing, - some beautiful old town-houses and some new-builds too. Lots of country-side. Oxford is about 25 minutes drive away and has everything you could want from a city. My schooling info maybe a bit out of date. Rather, it IS out of date. But, going back a few years the comp was good - but had a high proportion of people leaving after o levels (yep, I am out of date) - partly because, I am led to understand, the place has a very high employment rate and a lot of people went into skilled work age 16. Having said that I think the 6th form was good - I know two people who went there and went on to top univerisities. Abingdon school is the local public school and I know people who went there too. If I ever move out of London I would want to go somewhere like Faringdon