North Hampshire locals - would love some help.

[daytoday]

We are looking to relocate and would be incredibly grateful for some help as we don't know the area so well. DH needs to commute to Waterloo daily so we've pin pointed the train line that runs from Hook / Fleet as a good bet. DH grew up in countryside and has lots of friends in Oxfordshire but the commute via Paddington is no good. Looking for 4/5 bed house, with large garden in pretty village. Budget up to £1mill.

Have heard Hartley Witney (spelling?) is lovely. We are planning trips over the summer to get to know area. So any recommendations for great pub lunches / village to drive through - would be great.

Until very recently I lived in that area. I'd suggest you take a look at Odiham (nicer than Hartley Wintney IMO as doesn't have A30 zooming through the middle of it). Crondall also lovely, and is just outside of Fleet/Church Crookham and right beside a good private school, St Nicholas, if you wanted this option. There also some nice places heading towards Reading outside of Hartley Wintney: Heckfield, Sherfield on Lodden, etc.

Farnham is very pretty, but you'd need to go to Fleet for the faster trainline into Waterloo and the traffic can be a bit of a pig.

Fleet/Church Crookham are nice enough, but a bit souless. Plenty of facilities though. Take a look at the house in what is known as the "Blue Triangle" locally. Or the villages around: Crookham, Dogmersfield, etc.

I'd also recommend the villages in and around Guildford, which is a bit out of your search area: Godalming, etc.

Best of luck.

Thank you for posting fourstickymitts. Thats exactly the sort of info I'm looking for. I think we are probably looking for a small village / hamlet. I am really open to looking at small villages / hamlets around both Guildford and Godalming. So do fire across any ideas.

Could you suggest some picturesque places to visit so we could get a feel of the highlights? We are planning to drive down next weekend.

Do you have dcs? Are schools part of the equation? If yes and state schools they are mostly really good but be aware that some schools here oversubscribed so getting a space may be an issue.
All places mentioned nice - HW, Hook, Odiham are quite large but still good community there are loads of lovely surrounding small villages.

Sorry to post late. Def go and and look at hartley wintney. schools are good and lots of family stuff going on, lovely green. Cant personally afford to live there but with your budget you should be fine. Odiham is nice not a lot going on, lots of shops and restaurants shutting. Other villages worth considering are dogmersfield, rotherwick, mattingley. Happy house hunting.

Mapeldurwell and Upton Grey are nice small villages.

How about getting a fast train from Basingstoke rather than stopping train from Hook or Winchfield.

Oh and nice pubs - Game Keepers in Mapledurwell, Falcon in Rotherwick.