What's it like to live in Ware? (Where? Yes, Ware! ho ho)

[thell]

Hello Hertfordshirites :o

So some time ago I was asking about Hitchin - we were all excited and beginning to tell people we were looking there...DH started to go a bit lukewarm on the idea and then has been positively grumbly.
It seems the idea of the commute has been putting him off, so last night he proposed Ware instead (Liverpool St better location than Kings Cross).

So - tell me please! Is it 'Hertfordshire's best kept secret'?
We are a mixed couple in terms of style - I'm quite lentil-weavery, he quite competitive parent

Schools nice?

Any info gratefully received!

Anyone?

Can't speak quite first hand but my brother lives in Ware and my mum teaches in one of the secondary schools there so some experience...

In fact I was visiting a couple of weeks ago - pub lunch then a wander around the town and along the lovely river - and said to my husband what a lovely place it would be to live and bring up a family! (It did help that it was lovely and warm and we live in the frozen north.) I especially spied a fab-looking playground (next to the Priory) and had to prevent myself from waking up the toddler to go and have a play... Also lovely pubs, shops and excellent garden centre (Van Hages) which is very popular with my little boy due to the mini-zoo they have there. My mum's school certainly has a very good reputation and I expect the feeder primaries would be similar.

In a nutshell I would definitely consider living there. Good luck with the house hunting!

Hi - have some family who live in Lt Hadham, just outside Ware, it is a lovely area, schools are good - the girls went to HS in Ware and did very well - there are some lovely places around, lots of nice pubs etc. The ONLY blot on the landscape, as far as we can see, is Stansted, the air traffic noise is non stop - so you might need to consider whereabouts you live in relation to that. Im sure locals will have more insight about this.

Used to live near Ware so a few comments.

I think the commute from Ware is slow - better to drive to Harlow for faster link. Certainly we were nearer Ware than Harlow and never used the station there.

Girls secondary is good, not such good options for boys I think. Probably need to travel to Hertford. Don't know about primaries in Ware itself but most of the surrounding village ones are pretty good.

Local paper seemed to suggest a higher level of drunken weekend behaviour than I would have expected, but then maybe no higher than elsewhere. We tended to go in the day and it all seemed very pleasant.

ahem, may i suggest stortford rather than ware?

fast trains to liv st, near the airport but not bothered by it, nice family area

Thanks everyone.
We visited today and weren't blown away, but maybe the grey day and sunday-deserted streets didn't show it off to it's best.

We'll continue to check out the area - Hertford and maybe Stortford then.

it's a boring place imo. okay for pensioners or those that like climbing up hills

Trains from Hertford (both stations) are really slow and Ware is one stop further up the line. It's a nice little town though if you're happy to live somewhere that's fairly quiet.

Ware is a lovely town, I know quite a few people who live there. However the one train line is slow and when I used it to travel, appeared to be badly delayed or cancelled minimum once a week - whereas Hitchin is served by a few different lines, I believe, including one into Moorgate, just round the corner from Liverpool Street.

One of my famous people from the other thread lives near that garden centre!