Relocating to Reading area

[loranna]

We are moving South from Glasgow for my husband's job and we're trying to identify the best area to live.

Ideally looking for no more than 30 minute commute to Reading. Not sure if we want old/new house, village or town. HAs anyone any experience of Elvetham Heath in Fleet - is it heaven or hell? What about Hook? Am I way off the mark?

All suggestions are welcome?
Thanks

hi loranna,

don't really know the places you are looking at, but I think that from Hook you may have to drive through Bracknell / A329 to get to Reading and that may take longer than 30 minutes.

I'm sure there are some posters from round that way who can help.

Hook is a good area. Its a village/small town, schools have good reputation, an average sized tescos, close to Basingstoke, a train station, very well thought after Indian restaurant and some really nice surrounding village pubs.

HTH

try wokingham - very nice town - has tesco, waitrose, small M&S and loads of nice restaurants and pubs. Schools good. 7 mins on train to Reading or about 15 - 20 mins by car.

Wokingham is nice - schools are some the highest performing in the country.

I'd also suggest SW of reading - Mortimer, Burghfield way - still easy commute to Reading (by train or car) but area is much cheaper as the commute to London is so much harder.

Whereabouts in Reading is work - Reading traffic is v bad and if the commute is going to be by car, then it might determine the side of Reading you consider.

HTH!

Elvethem Heath is posh nobs paradise! over priced, better off buying in Church Crookham, Crookham Village, Hartley Wintney is idyllic too, if you can afford an expensive house then go for older village.... Elv Heath will sink in 20 years its biult on filled swampland! And deforested wetlands.... buy in a nicer older village, come buy my flat LOl we're moving to Lincoln..
No seriously great place to live, the Fleet area.

Another vote here for Fleet, although it can get busy on the main road into Reading in the morning.
A ( slightly ) cheaper area is Aldershot / North Camp, which is on the main train line into Reading.
There are some lovely villages just south of Reading which are worth checking out - Arborfield, Burghfield and the wonderfully named Stratford Turgis!!

My friend lives in Newbury and takes the train into Reading for work, which I'm sure is under 30 mins. It feels very countrysidey there. Her latest excitement is the new big Waitrose about to open!

That Waitrose is going to be huge - and only a week to go before it opens !

As an ex-Reading worker, I totally agree with Batgirl's comments about choosing where you live in relation to which side of Reading your dh will be based.

It is horrendous to cross at peak times (which seem to go on most of the day !) My 18 mile journey from a village north of town to work in the south used to take an hour on a good day, and the first 16 miles would take around 20 mins....

Can you give us some idea of where he will be based, will he need to be mobile or can he use public transport and what you would be looking for in terms of pre-schools, schools etc ?

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Hi Loranna,

What about Twyford? I had my dd there and the health visitors/doctors were lovely.

It has a small town with a good train station and local links to reading, london and henley on thames also has a lovely waitrose, butchers, flower shop, card and book shop, video rental plus others and lots of nice takeaway places plus one or two good family friendly pubs/restuarants

I could even introuduce you to my old mums group if you do to Twyford!

It's a 10 minute train drive to reading.

Let me know if you need any more info. My email address is [email protected]

Hope this helps,

Jules x