do you live in kingston in surrey?

[zebramummy]

have recently starting to consider moving there and would be v grateful for some advice.

how cut-off it feels from london and which zone it is in (if any at all?)

i originally considered barnes though I was put off by the aircraft noise - does kingston have a similar issue?

what are the state primaries and secondaries like (ds is 4) and are catchment areas v tight?

is it all chain stores or are there some nice independant shops too such as cafes, ethnic food shops?

which areas or roads are a safe bet in terms of schools and moving away if i absolutely hate it?

i considered parts of surrey and herts (you may remember some previous posts) though i was put off by the whole 'white middle-class' thing. i want ds to grow up feeling that he is in a multicultural society and for him to be able to hold his own amongst the london kids!

many thanks

Great big raspberry back!!!
Eastbourne is fab-I love it and it is never ever dull.
Dame Helen Mirren was filming down here only last week, don't you know.......!!

Eastbourne is fabulous! I love it here.
Loads and loads for children to do.

Eyeballs - I worked at Raynes Park,Wimbledon, Morden & Morden Park libraries as well as West Barnes (Motspur Park) between 1982 & 1987 - were you there then? I may have stamped your books

I used to help the librarian in the children's library in Surbiton during the summer hols. No pay, obviously but she bought me some lovely smellies from M & S and a bag of gold coins as a thank-you. I must have been about 12.

In fact this is what I looked like just before I left... I'm the pregnant one in the middle.

Can't believe I ever actually wore that!

Does anyone know what Raynes Park High is like?

...I did a little bit of research a while ago but all I remember finding was some light-hearted (ie no blood drawn) bullying on YouTube filmed on a phone

Ursuline Convent & Ricards Lodge used to riot! That was a while ago though and in Wimbledon. I can remember sitting on the top of the 131 bus and a brick sailing through the window. Aahh happy days!!!

Goodness yes I used all those libraries! We moved to Motspur Park in 1988 so didn't use that one till then but I lived in Raynes Park and Wimbledon libraries. In fact I think I still owe fines to Wimbledon... Haven't been in Raynes Park library since the rebuild. Looks v posh from the train

Rustybear is that Lynda La Plante wearing the red clogs??

I went to the Ursuline and one day the whole school was kept behind after 3.30 because a hoard of Rickards girls were making their way down Worple Road to get us all because of some lad. It made the Irish papers ffs. My aunts and uncles there were scandalised!

The Ursuline is v v v multicultural now. It always was but even more so now.

@ Cybil - no, her name was Di (actually probably still is, though I haven't seen her for about 20 years) She always was an original dresser. Oddly enough was thinking about her earlier today as I sorted my books - she introduced me to the delights of Elsie Dinsmore....

Didn't know they'd rebuilt Raynes Park - it needed it even when I was there over 25 years ago! It was my first job in the borough, but I was only there about 6 months covering maternity leave, then I went to Morden & did a lot of cover at various libraries for about 2 years before going to Motspur Park as branch librarian. DH changed jobs during my maternity leave so I never went back except for a couple of short visits. I also remember Raynes Park in those days as being full of widows of Empire builders, living in houses called Pondicherry Lodge & Durbar Cottage....

Lizzz-I agree Eastbourb=ne is fantastic for children. We are so lucky to live where we do. I love the sea, I love the countryside. I love the fact that we have a village feel as well once the day trippers and students have left!

Eastbourb=ne???? by the sea??
Fat fingers not working properly.

well, i thought i'd report back - i visited kingston today (only for a couple of hours in the late afternoon so i never saw a single house or school). but i saw plenty of shops and was blown away by them all really. from what i could see, i liked the community too - multicultural enough, lots of people sounding v similar to myself; that is a rarity in my neighbourhood these days. and it was very sparkly and clean (even the loos at 4pm at john lewis) which was a bit of a novelty - you should come and see our local ones. never made it to surbiton though may do eventually - not planning viewings yet as we need to sort out our own house but feeling really positive atm

Glad you liked it Zebra!

And I can't remember whether I said before but re the black cabs thing DH drives one and could drive 24/7/365 he's so busy so I guess us suburbanites do take black cabs after all

only negative we found was the cost of the parking - about 4.75 for 2 hours - surely we chose the rip-off place, right?

Where did you park?

Most parking in town is veh expensive

well, round the corner from a road with a large church selling christmas cards - i think it was a single storey outdoor car park with a machine that took credit cards. i'm sure that is not v helpful and it was the first carpark dh found - ds had just thrown up in the car so we were def not in the mood to hunt for a cheaper one - it was only later on that we realised that there was parking on top of bentall's

7 kings is the cheapest I think. Or sainsburys £1 for an hour but you get refund if you do your shopping there.

if you come again, look for SEVEN KINGS car park, really near to town, not sure if its cheaper but its ususally got spaces

x post cybil!

thanks - i am determined never to pay that much again!! we intend to travel in from waterloo in the future as we would only consider houses within walking distance anyway - any road suggestions?

I think the Bentalls Centre is about £2.50 for 2 hours. I always park there. There is a big car park (not multi story) at the opposite end of the main shopping street, behind Primark which is about £12 per 30 mins so avoid like the plague!