Where are the nice places to live within 30 mins train from london?

[QPootle]

Okay, so we're part of the can't afford a house in London for the family brigade. Went to see St Albans at the weekend, which seemed very nice. Woulnd't know which are the nice/nasty bits etc... also any other suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

Hi Christie and welcome madeindevon,

Yes thats the school. I went there too when I was small.

I love it here. Lived here all my life. Nearer a certain green supermarket though before here.

My dc ages are on profile.

Which secondary school did/do your oldest 2 go to?

Madeindevon,

There are loads of nice toddler groups in and around St Albans. Your health visitor should give you a list when baby is born and comes to visit you.
Also there's tumble tots, baby massage, music groups etc.

Too many to afford and fit into one week really.

How much do you envisage paying for a house, QPootle, and of what size?
Some commuter areas seem more expensive than cheaper areas of London - and you have the communting costs, too.

kind of depends on where you need to be in london

e.g. we're 30 mins out of paddington, but prob an hour from canary wharf

Thanks so much to everyone, this is incredibley useful. South east London sounds itneresting, but where in particular... We came very close to buing somewhere about ayear and a half ago, it was an up and coming area, near the Olympics blah but we got cold feet about schools and safety etc, there were shootings in the street as we were doing survey so we pulled out even though we'd spent a money on a full survey.

Blu - Umm feel a bit uncomfortable saying this but we've got about £500,000, not because of salaries but because we bought in an area 15 years ago that became v trendy and got a substantial amount more than we paid for it etc. Currently renting.

Madeindevon - I did a search on "albans" through al the threads and there were a couple from previous mums who were new to St Albans and there was tons of advice about baby/toddler groups etc and how to find them.

Thanks to all.

My sister moved to Harpenden 15 years ago & has never regretted it - though it was initially a wrench as we're Londoners and she didn't really make friends until she got pregnant and joined the NCT. It's lovely, schools are excellent, and she has a very active social life - better than mine in London. Wish I could afford it!

You should be able to find something very nice in Harpenden with £500K

I grew up in Harpenden, and my parents lived there until a few months ago (until of the NW & grandchildren did it's work). I have very fond memories of being there. The centre of town (or the village as locals still call it), is really lovely, lots of trees and bits of grass (plus lots of swanky shops). And Rothamsted park is excellent (the best tobogganing hill in the world!). If I had your budget and needed to relocate to the SE I would def. move back there. Can't comment on the schools now, but many moons ago when I was there they were all pretty good.
PS if you are a church goer then Highstreet Methodist Church has just the best and most ginormous junior church.

sorry that shoud read the 'pull' of the NW!!

Are thet rains as good from harpenden and are thre many houses near the station? Dh doesn't drive so he needs to be able to walk to the station.

I'm originally form Sussex and it would make more sense to move that way as my parents are still there, even though we don't get on we still visit every 6-8 weeks. Just don't trust the transport so much...Are there any thoughts about Guildford, Bromley, Sevenoaks etc...

Bromley area is nice, e.g. Chislehurst, Hayes. Very good train service into London Bridge / Charing Cross. Lots of green spaces and good shopping.

H'den on Thameslink line as is St Albans. H'den just 5 mins further out but I remember that more fast trains just stop at St.A (ie some skip H'den)...it's been a while since I caught the train from there so better of checking on the timetable. Lots of houses near Station.

chelmsford is about 35 mins into liverpool st.

QPootle - really sorry - didn't man to embarrass you - it was a rude q to ask...but it's hard to think of areas out of context of a budget because it makes such a difference.
Will have a think...

Twickenham, Raynes Park (we loved it there but couldn't find something that fitted what we needed), Earlsfield, South Wimbledon....there are loads of places really. Depends where you want to go into London really.

There are places in London where you can get a 4 bed house with garden for well within your budget- in reach of good primaries...but are you wedded to getting right out, do you think?

Bushey (herts), Guildford, Wimbledon, Coulsdon/Caterham, Earlsfield

Thanks christie . Yes he is.
I know kxxxxxxx isn't doing great at the moment but I hope it will sort itself out. Its local and thats really important to me,

I went to Parmiters too!! My brother got in first and we got in because of him. Back then you didn't need to take a test to get in, but had to be interviewed by the head. You did a test once you were in to be streamed. Your dd1 did well to get in.

Berkhamsted and Tring are 30 minutes into Euston. Or Rickmansworth, CHorleywood and Northwood are all on the Met line.

All very nice but quite pricey, what is your budget?

QPootle - you still haven't told us where in London you need to commute to!

madeindevon, many of the doctors surgeries in St Albans organise post-natal classes for new mums - led by a HV and covering child development, first aid, etc but really a way of getting new mums together and hopefully forming friendships - I would really recommend going to these and maybe suggesting the group goes for a coffee afterwards....

The NCT is pretty strong in the SA area too and should have regular coffee mornings for post-natal mums.

Did you go to ante-natal classes? Maybe see if you can get a list of attendees and organise a reunion post-babies....

As others have said, lots of toddler groups in SA - a lot of stuff goes on at Fleetville Community Centre so there is probably one there, (I know there used to be a Steiner one there years ago) also lots of the church halls hold them.

HTH and good luck with the birth!

Wow thanks to all, Can't tell you all how grateful I am. Have to say Guildford sounds interesting.

Blu .. not that embarassing, very sensible question really, just know that it's a v big budget in comparison to some other MNetters and didn't want to seem like a whatever! Not wedded to leaving London at all, would love to stay here more than anything, but are currently in Zone 1-2 borders in the North/North East and just can't find a decent sized house with garden where we are.Moving to zone three starts to mean same kind of commute at St Albans or whatever, but without the bonus of green spaces blah. Then we worry about London secondary schools all the time and so we started to think. Maybe let's just do the out of London move thing now. Also spurred on by someone we know who lives in St Albans and had no idea it was just 20 mins on the train.

Cant sleep, commute is to Kensington style area for DH and I'm freelance but at the moment tend to work in North London. Could be anywhere though, so can't use my job as a dictator, and have to use DHs.

Nogoes, budget at bottom of the thread. Too embarassed to repeat it.

Just seen this thread. We moved to St A about a year ago and love it. We can walk into the centre for shopping but are far enough out so we don't get city centre traffic problems. We have loads of green spaces near us or a short journey away. Property is expensive unfortunately. I visited loads of Primary Schools (dd2 is sen and we didn't necessarily want the nearest one). I didn't see a bad one. I visited the Secondary schools last autumn to get a feel and was also very impressed.

You should find somewhere nice for that in most of the places I mentioned. Good luck .