Moving from London to Bishop's Stortford...help!

[sikanetter]

Hi there

I'm a mum of two and we currently live in south west London. We've been looking for a house in this area for a while and we realised that we are never going to find a house we like and so we've decided to start looking for houses outside of London.

Whilst looking at various places, I have come across Bishop's Stortford. From first impressions the town and it's surroundings look nice but it's completely different to London i.e. quieter, not a lot of people around (compared to London), less shops and restaurants and well it's just a different life style completely. We're finding it very difficult to take the plunge and leave the London life behind us. DH works near Liverpool St station so from a commuting point of view, BS would be good for him. Also prior to having children I used to work in London and would like to go back to work when the kids start school.

Are there any mums out there who have moved from London to BS? If so how have you found it? Also any mums who live in BS and work in London? How do you cope with commuting and taking kids to school and family life in general? I would really appreciate your opinions/comments.

Looking forward to your reading your posts.

[Kveta]

chocoholic - come and join us here!

[chocoholic73]

Hi,

I've just moved to Bishops Stortford and my feelings are mixed, but that's largely because I've moved to an estate way out of town and I have to use the car for absolutely everything, which is a bugbear. I'm told the town has lots of fantastic schools, but I am seriously struggling to find a decent nursery, which is on par with my last one before we moved. I have visited two so far and was disappointed with both so little one is at home with me at the moment. I'd really appreciate any suggestions for nurseries?

The town is quite self-sufficient and has many main shops, but shopping for clothes is difficult...that isn't a prob as London and Cambridge are close by. Commute into London is popular and takes between 31 -45 mins.

Are there any mums out there who'd like to meet up? I've seen the link to the FB page, but I don't have a FB account.

[FridayMummy]

Bit late joining this thread sorry! I think if you are a city girl at heart definitely go for a town over a village and go for the fast train line option if you can afford to. BS /St Albans have that advantage over say Ware or Hertford. We moved from London to live in a small hamlet a year ago thinking the grass would be greener and it'd be best or the kids, that may well prove to true, but at the moment i feel like we made a very expensive mistake, i.e the commutes a drag, (I'm on a slow line into London) the need to drive everywhere is annoying and village life if I'm being honest, seems a wee bit dull : (

[mrsravelstein]

i moved to b/s from london 2 years ago. it's fabulous. great state schools. nice houses. very friendly people, i felt more at home here within about 3 months than i had done in my whole life in London (and i really liked London!). and the facebook group somebody mentioned upthread is brilliant for meeting people, regardless of whether it was once set up as a netmums thing, there are tons of nice people on it, and lots of stuff going on to help you meet people.

[sikanetter]

Sorry for the delay in replying. I have heard of Hitchin before. I will add it to my list.

allaflutter yes it was crowded but for me crowded is nice. I like living in a town which is buzzing with people. I agree re property, there is hardly anything around at the moment which is why we're considering other areas around St A. We're off on holiday for a good couple of weeks soon. Will carry on looking on our return.

[HalleLouja]

I also like hitchin. A bit further out but a nice vibe.

[allaflutter]

'won't have time to travel'

[allaflutter]

hi OP, I'm interested in St.Albans too so I'm pleased I've randomly looked at BS thread!
The problem is, do you think it can be a good value? I haven't looked yet in RL, but on rightmove there hardly anything there unless you have a big-ish budget. So if you go and look at places, please report here what can you get sizewise for your money - is it cheaper than London suburbs, or if you come across places neraby that's cheaper, please report too! I've been advised to consider Hertford/Harpenden too, but won't have type to trvel and look this month at all, so would be great to hear what you think of these.
Did you not feel St.A was too small/crowded on w.end (i haven't been but heard it is very crowded)?

[sikanetter]

I agree with you nerdsunited and thereinmadnesslies. St Albans felt more like London to me and I felt more content there than in BS. I guess I got so used to the hustle and bustle of London now and I don't think I would like living in a quiet town were you'd have to go everywhere by car.

So my verdict is bye bye BS (no offence to people who live there - it is a very nice place but just not the kind of lifestyle I want to live) and now to carry on researching St A and surrounding areas. And HalleLouja thanks for mentioning Berkhamstead (you don't need to run off and hide ). Remember I'm new to the outside London world so would be nice to hear of all the nice towns around St Albans. {I really should change the name of this thread now}

Thanks so much everyone!

[nerdsunited]

OP we moved from BS to London last year.
I don't have a car but people are still very car dependent out here as the local public transport isn't great. Commuting into London is 40mins to Liverpool St on a fast train or 30mins to Tottenham Hale and then swap onto the Victoria Line.
Although a lot of people do move out of here from the city, it is not like London so you may prefer St Albans. I must admit when we moved here it was different to what we were expecting.

[thereinmadnesslies]

I think St Albans will feel much more like London than BS - Stortford is essentially a market town (now substantially enlarged).

[fishcalledwonder]

We left London for Hertford and love it. We considered St. Albans, as we both really like it there too, but opted to be closer to my mum as was having first baby.

[HalleLouja]

At least you now have options. I would maybe add Berkhamstead into the mix too [runs off and hides]. Good luck.

[sikanetter]

So...we went to St. Albans on Saturday and we loved it. The town is beautiful! Hmmm...i'm thinking of changing the name of this thread to: Moving from London to St. A.....

thereinmadnesslies: I also thought it's a nice place for families. From what we read, most probably we were going to move to the NW part of BS.

Now I'm confused...I guess we need to do a bit more research on BS, St. A and even Harpenden. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Again many thanks everyone

[EmmaGellerGreen]

Oh, is it Netmums? It's not branded? Oh dear, I will leave it straight away.

[thereinmadnesslies]

I live in BS and think its a nice place for families. The town centre is pretty good. Cambridge is only 30 mins away on the M11 for bigger shops and 'cultural' stuff like theatre and concerts. There are lots of activities for children and schools are really good.

I only commute to London occasionally, but its 40mins from BS to London Liverpool St. I'm not sure what sort of housing you are looking for, but most of the newer housing area (thorley park, bishops park, bishops gate and st Michaels mead) are too far to walk to the station.

[HalleLouja]

Helen do you have the power to ban people who admit they were on nethuns?

[HelenMumsnet]

@EmmaGellerGreen

I am in Bishops Stortford.

There is a parents forum that you could join for a chat and views - on facebook. See Bishops stortford mummy meetups.

Crap title but great forum with lots of people who have made the move from London. Its a closed group but admin are quick to let people join.

Um, isn't that a Netmums group?

[HalleLouja]

Both St Albans and Harpenden are lovely places. Go and have a look round. Harpenden is full of of ex-Londoners.

[EmmaGellerGreen]

I am in Bishops Stortford.

There is a parents forum that you could join for a chat and views - on facebook. See Bishops stortford mummy meetups.

Crap title but great forum with lots of people who have made the move from London. Its a closed group but admin are quick to let people join.

[EmmaGellerGreen]

I am in Bishops Stortford.

There is a parents forum that you could join for a chat and views - on facebook. See Bishops stortford mummy meetups.

Crap title but great forum with lots of people who have made the move from London. Its a closed group but admin are quick to let people join.

[sikanetter]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I've had a look at St. Albans and Harpenden and as most of you said, both towns look nice (from online pics) and they seem to have some lovely pubs, nice green spaces etc. We've never been there before. Actually we might have a wonder up there tomorrow to see what it looks like in real life.

So what are your thoughts on these two towns?

[jaynebxl]

I really like BS. I lived there about 20 years ago and it was a good place to live. Easy to get into London plus Cambridge isn't far at all if you fancy a shopping trip or something.

[orangepudding]

I moved out of London to herts, best thing for my family. DH still works in London and its only a 25 train journey.