Moving to Camberley-ish area

[Tididdy]

My husband and I will shortly be moving from Winchester further up north in Hampshire/Surrey. The main criteria is that I am a short drive away (10-15 mins) from Farnborough so that I can get the train into Waterloo for work. And my husband's criteria is that he is close to the M3 so that he can drive to Portsmouth for work. We don't know much about the areas at all. Someone suggested Camberley. Is this a nice area or would we be better off going to a nearby village (if so, which one?). We are happy to adapt to either town or village life as long as we are close to rail links and restaurants and bars are a short drive away. We're finally in a position to settle down and lay our roots in a nice executive house! We also have a baby girl who by the time we move will need to go to nursery - so recommendations on nurseries in the area would also be really helpful.

Many thanks for your help in advance - we really need it as we're clueless!!

Tididdy - it's really hard isn't it!! I guess you'll just have to come down and have a look for yourself :) As you may have gathered I'm down this way and would be happy to have DD for a few hours/day if you want some time to look on your own. Just PM me - I'm well known under my usual name and know a few MNers who can assure you I'm not some child stealing nut job :)

Rightmove is good - see which house you like then work out how do-able it is. They have that thing where you can draw around the area you are looking in so you can make your search quite personal.

Depending on how much money you have to spend there's not that much around so it may be more determined by the house than the area!

Oh god Tididdy I have so much sympathy for you, my DH is a doc as well and his training area is Kent, Surrey and Sussex which is not a small area! He has just finished commuting to Chichester for a year and luckily has Guildford this year but could have ended up in Kent somewhere.
Is your DH Wessex?

As stated earlier I live in Farnham the north end which is apparently the not so nice end, I say apparently because actually there is nothing wrong with it we have easy access to Farnham Park, Cesears Camp, Rowhills Nature Reserve, Farnborough, Camberley, Guildford, M3, A3 and A31 and the schools which aren't as good as South Farnham according to Ofsted are hardly sink schools.
The latest train I would say to Waterloo from Farnborough in the morning that you could get a gauranteed car space for is the 7:30 HOWEVER if you live in North Farnham you have the option of Aldershot train station as well(sorry don't know what the car parking is like) the train is slightly slower but it does give you another option. Also if you start work at 9 in Canary Wharf you will have to get the 7:30 to be on time.

Aldershot is generally a shit hole but there are some nice areas (look for Cranmore Lane) and next year they are opening a cinema/bowling/resturant complex which wil be fab (I'm addicted to the cinema!)

Oh and depending on where you have lived before Farnham high street/resturants are shit (it could be nice but it needs some independent restuarants and to be pedestrianised.)

Do you have children?

Sorry stupid last question you have a baby girl, the problem with most nurseries around here is that they are 8-6 which with a doc in the family and you working in London are probably not long enough hours. I think Tootsies (in both North and South Farnham) have longer hours (but aren't on way to stations). My DS and DD go to Piggybanks (good lord I have outed myself so much on this thread) and I love it for them (but it is 8-6). There is also a very active NCT and lots of lovely toddler groups (one I go to in town has free homemade cake!).

Thank you ALL so much for your help - lots of information to digest!

Oh one thing for Guildford, there is a new nursery very very close to London Road station. I would probably have gone back to work when my eldest was little if it had existed then, it does slightly longer hours too. You can get to Basinstoke quite easily (A31, Blackwater Valley, M3) I know people who do it the other way.
However I would think you might well need a Nanny wherever you live really (a Doctor won't be much use for child care, emergency child care).

Okay, I used to live in Fleet and can recommend it, with two words of warning. All of the schools are good and they are all over-subscribed, to the extent that one of the housing estates at the end of the town are sending children through to Aldershot. And, there is a lot of building planned both for Fleet and between Fleet and Hartley Wintney. They will essentially end up joined them together through Church Crookham, if they keep building as they have been. Fleet is also very expensive and the station doesn't have parking space after 8AM.

If your husband needs to get to Portsmouth you are going to want the A3 as a preferred route, I believe.

Somebody said there wasn't, but there is a fast train link from Hartley Wintney. Winchfield station is 2 mins by car outside of Hartley Wintney and is one station up from Fleet. About 50 mins to London Waterloo give or take, which is faster than the train from Camberley.

I wouldn't choose Camberly myself, or Farnborough or Aldershot. And as nice as Hartley Wintney is, it has some problems around schooling. This is straight from one of my old neighbours who is a school teacher in Fleet.

If you want superfast train to London and easy access to the A3, I'd suggest Guildford and the surrounding villages, but they are again pricey housewise.

I'd also suggest you take a look at Odiham. Very like Hartley Wintney but no A30 roaring through the middle of it, station close by at Hook and access to the M3 from junction 5.

Happy house hunting.

Never known winchfield to be full, so worth considering if you are a late commuter, most odiham folks use winchfield not hook as it gets full. Also perhaps look for houses striking distance of Basingstoke, which always has parking as well and has fast train to London.

Just to correct the record with schools in Hartley Witney (because I am belligerent old sod) - there are no issues so not sure what fourstickymitts is talking about.

Tididdy - I have exactly the same dilemma that you had back in 2011. (Although without the Portsmouth piece). My husband will work in the Chertsey/Addlestone area.

What did you end up doing?

We are also moving from Winchester and need to be near West End in Woking. We have 4 children and so will be looking at primary and secondary schools. I don' want more than a 20 minute commute. We need entertainment for both young children and nice safe green areas for the younger ones. We have been so spoilt with Winchester we are probably quite picky! WOuld really welcome any suggestions.

You might do best to start your own post.

Are you looking for State or private schools?

If you could find a house adjoining Gordon's school then that would probably suit you perfectly (unless like at least one friend the whole school ethos would be an issue).

There are lots of nice schools and areas. Secondary is more of an issue, but they aren't that bad. Are you Catholic, if so you would have a good choice in that area with St John the Baptist (or St Peter's if you choose somewhere closer to Guildford).

Thanks Mummytime. We are actually moving as I have a job teaching at Gordons school. It is possible in time that we might get accommodation through the school as well. In the meantime though we need good primary schools and no we aren't Catholic. We are home schooling our 14 DS currently due to bullying issues at school and are thinking of sending our 13 DD to Frensham Heights but are still open to suggestions on that front.

I would ask at Gordon's for good primary schools. The schools around there tend to be pretty good. Is you DD going to board? Frensham Heights is a good school but quite a long way from there.

Farnborough is okay and has good infant and junior schools .But the secondary schools are not good . This is why we are moving to Winchester ! Fleet did have quite a lot of fights on a Friday and Saturday night . The schools are good . Don't move to elvetham heath as there are asbo problems (local gossip ) and dcs are sent to aldershot secondary schools . Wavel does have a good reputation .

I just mentioned your post to dh and we have decided that , why move from Winchester ?! There isn't anywhere round here as nice . Actually we could swap as we want to move to Winchester this year !! Farnham is more like Winchester . Traffic is busy though.

Crowthorne is a nice village, 10 mins drive to Camberley or Bracknell, close to A30, M3 and M4, I lived there until we moved abroad 11 years ago

Winchester is lovely but I am biased as have always
lived here. Secondary schools are meant to be outstanding
but we have had problems with 2 out of three of them.
Many children here have a real sense of entitlement,
it is very white middle class with little else in the mix and
it doesn't really do to be different. Whilst I want something
safe for my older ones I would also like something more
inclusive and think anyway it would be good for us
all to have a change. Winchester is a very small place
and it is more like 2 degrees of separation than 6. May well
come back in 5 or so years. Maybe a house swop would
be a good idea! I have many friends who have moved
here from London who love it here so don't let
us put you off in anyway.

Hi
We have viewed a property in Mytchett. Is it a good area to move into?
I need to travel to London and my husband to Shackleford every day so we need good transport links. Low crime rate, high professional residents and good schools are our criteria.
I should be grateful if you would give some feedback about Mytchett.

Hi, Myself and husband with three boys primary school age will be moving to UK after being abroad on jobs assignment for number of years. we are looking for reasonable location to live in with our high priority being the schooling (State schools) and nice area to live in with nearby shops, restaurants, activities for children and nice countryside. I will be looking for teaching job and my husband will be self employed working from home as freelancer. currently looking for area near Camberley, Ascot, Guildford, Farnham, etc. Any suggestions on these areas or others with good primary and then secondary state schools. looking for any advice.

There are nice some very nice parts of Camberley for whoever says it’s a bit of a pit

Have a look at Frimley Green , Bagshot Deepcut, Fleet. There also some very nice older houses in Farnborough.

What’s your budget OP?

our main concern is the schooling, any idea about the schools there.
We are thinking of renting 3 bedroom house to start with to get accustomed to the area and locate nice spots for buying. we would look for 5 bedroom detached house eventually. any idea about the prices