Village Lifestyle within commuting distance to London

[Nix01]

Hi all,

So glad I found this forum.

We're looking for a village lifestyle within commuting distance to London.
Is it possible? Please tell me it is?

I haven't lived in England since I was a child so my memory of some area's is a bit skewed. My husband is the breadwinner and he'll probably need to commute to Canary Wharf side.

From the research we've done, we're loving the Chilterns area in Buckinghamshire and it seems to be commutable - he currently spends an hour in his car to work in the mornings, so being driven on a train is immensely preferable!

We also like some parts of Kent, Hertfordshire and some of Essex.

Please could you list lovely villages and towns below so that we can have a look? We have two small boys (ages 5 and 2 years old) as well so quality of education is very important.

Budget will be around 300 - 350k

PS, I came across a dreadful website called Chavtowns and it's put me off pretty much everywhere I've looked

Thanks in advance.

I used to live in Aston Clinton (down the hill from Tring) - if DH is going to Canary Wharf I think it might make for an easier commute if you lived out east rather than out west, TBH.

Look at Danbury or little baddow(nearest station Chelmsford) or ingatestone. Easy commute to Stratford, then change to canary wharf.

Does anyone know Halstead? There seems to be quite large gap in house pricing?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34345276.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2FHalstead.html%3FsortByPriceDescending%3Dfalse%26minBedrooms%3D3%26retirement%3Dfalse%26index%3D60&onetime_savedPropertyId=34345276#summary34345276

I don't know the area (at all) but I would really like to live in that house!

I used to work in Halstead, its a town not a village and I didn't find there was much of a community feel about it. Although perhaps I didn't get a balanced view as my job involved focusing on the deprived areas, families with problems etc.

Halstead is probably cheaper as it's not very well positioned for public transport - so for commuting you'd have to get the bus/drive to Braintree for an hourly (?) direct train, or drive to Witham for more than one train an hour.

Alternatively you could also drive to Marks Tey - but them you need to factor in parking/petrol costs. I wouldn't choose it for commuting as it would add a good 30 - 45 mins each way onto your journey

If you want a real village feel you could go for either Chappel or Bures - both on the branch line from Marks Tey to Sudbury. Lots of people do this commute. Prices are higher and properties rarer.

Also consider places like Shalford in Surrey or Bourne End in Bucks. Real big villages. Shalford even has a green etc.

How about a village round Grantham, Lincs. Grammar schools and Grantham is on main East coast line. Its under an hour into Kings X.

Oh and cheaper housing that further south.

5 bed detached house in budget

I would really recommend Berkshire. DH has been commuting from Bicester North on the Chiltern line, although we're consiering moving further down the line towards London.

One thing we had never considered before moving here was the quality of the train operator. Having previously used First Great Western, DH is very impressed by Chilterns which is cheaper, more reliable and he always gets a seat - makes such a difference.

If going to Canary Wharf, you can walk a minute from Marylebone to Baker Street and hop straight onto Jubilee Line - assuming everything runs well it can be a really quick journey overall.

There are lots and lots of lovely villages around the mainline stations -you will be spoilt for choice. As mentioned upthread Berkshire has the grammar system but I haven't got my head around that yet!

We're thinking of the area surrounding Thame (lots of villages with school and the secondary looks good too).

And on a more superficial level, it really is very pretty around here - we have totally fallen in love with the area.

Vivalabeaver, thank you! I spent alot of last night looking at Grantham. The houses are nice and big, countryside, really reasonsably priced, commutable etc.

Is there anything wrong with Grantham?

This appears to be really well priced? www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36820028.html?premiumA=true

I like this one too, but the garden isn't big enough: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-22173714.html

Threeisthemagicnumber, I'd never thought about the train service either. I sort of thought they'd be pretty much the same :)

It is such a beautiful area, would love to investigate that area more. I looked into Thame at one stage, will revisit and have a look at the surrounding villages.

Grantham doesn't have much going for it in the way of shops. Its a bit run down imo. But you're not too far from Nottingham for better shopping. Saying that I did go with friends for lunch last year and there's a nice little shopping centre which seems to be doing well.

I have friends who live in Grantham and the outskirts and they all seem to like it.

I think there's meant to be a bit of a rough estate but then all towns have rough eststaes somewhere I guess.

Viva, can you compare Grantham with somewhere else I might have heard of in terms of how run down it is?

Barrowby outside Grantham has an outstanding school report. www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/120513

When you say "rough" estate, how do you know/find out where they are?

Thanks again for your helpfulness :)

I don't know anywhere down south.

Mmmm, let me message one of my mates and get back to you.

Though I think its similar to Melton Mowbray but probably not as run down as there if you know Melton?

Just some of the shops in the high st/centre seem to have closed. I've messaged a friend.

Hi - another suggestion, have a look at the London-Cambridge line, we used to live in a lovely village just north of Royston,, three stops into Cambridge, and about 50 minutes commute to Liverpool Street. All the primaries in the area - Melbourn/Meldreth are really good and the secondaries too, with excellent 6th form in Cambridge. We really liked the area and property prices are not too bad there. Plus you have a wonderful city to explore and not too far from the sea ( well about an hour or so).

I think the first thing you need to do is check out train lines & then you can pick some areas. By checking out train lines, I mean fares, operator reliability & frequency of trains. If there's only one train an hour, your DH is always going to have to allow 5-10 mins buffer time to his journey to ensure he doesn't miss the train whereas if they go every 15 mins or so, it won't matter so much if he misses the train and has to get the next one. He'll also want to know whether he's going to get a seat on the overland train as he's bound to spend his tube journey squashed into someone else. Unless you're going to live within walking distance of a station, check out parking faclities & costs at your local station.

Ideally, your DH will want to get one tube from his overland station to CW as it not only makes his journey faster but cuts down the risk of something going wrong. Check out on a real map (as opposed to a tube map) how close stations are to each other. On a tube map, Cannon St (terminus for trains from lots of bit of Kent) & Bank (beginning of the DLR to CW) but, in real life, they're about a 5 min walk.

Also, bear in mind that there's a big difference between a 60 min commute and, say, a 100 min commute. Yes, he's currently driving which can be stressful but he can leave exactly when he wants rather than depend on someone else's timing (I get so annoyed if I just miss a train as it adds 20 mins to my commute), isn't squashed under someone's armpit, isn't listening to someone else's music blaring out of their iPod. Also, he's also at home that much longer so more help to you in the mornings & evenings (obviously depending on when he comes & goes now).

I live in the Chilterns and commute. I love it here.
Amersham has excellent transport links as does Little Chalfont. Chalfont St Peter is a 30 min walk from the nearest station in Gerrards Cross. Chesham is around 20% cheaper and is more socioeconomically mixed with tube but no trainline. Chorleywood is on the train line into London and is very pretty.

If your husband doesn't mind driving to a station then Chalfont St Giles is pretty as are some of the little villages like Penn and Little Missenden.

Agree with the Sevenoaks comments (although yes it is pricey). There's a really nice village on the outskirts of Sevenoaks called 'Weald' - look it up and see what's for sale there. It's like a village with a great community spirit and a lovely brand new play area and all right next to all the facilities of a town in sevenoaks (plus commutable to London).

We're in the Chilterns too and DH commutes to near Liverpool St. It's rare that he gets through a full week of travel without something going pear-shaped. Luckily most of his fellow commuters have no problems in complaining to Transport for London and getting their fares back! Not that it's any use when you are 45 mins late which means the difference between getting in before DC go to bed and afterwards...

If you are going to CW then I too would say move to the eastern side of London. There are some lovely little places near Billericay and that's a fairly good train line into Liverpool St; you can change at Stratford for DLR. Prob would be better for DH if I didn't need to get to NW London!

I grew up in Wivenhoe. Loved it, great for kids, someone mentioned it above. It's big enough to have faciliities and isn't on the way to anywhere because of the river (stick to the old village/riverside for this reason). Clubs to join and things if you want them and several pubs and a few restaurants. Arty. I spent my childhood in the woods and by the riverside but could get into Colchester easily when older.

This one is in your price range and has excellent links to London and is walkable to the train station. It's also just in London zone 6 making travel costs cheaper. I know the place and it's got some good local shops on hand and has some naice houses as well as less glam ones . It's close to london but also easy to get a countryish feel with a short drive.