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Original poster

Sussex villages/ small towns with train stations

22 replies

Youaresoright · 09/03/2013 11:11

Could anyone help me with views/knowledge/opinions on the following please?

Looking for a village or small town with a good train service to London. Criteria are:

  • Not too expensive (ie good condition detached 4 bed below £380k ish or 3 bed below £260k)
  • Close to train station (within 0.5 miles or just above that at a push)
  • Quiet. ie not close to noisy road, can hear the birds. Green hills in the background etc. Somewhere I can breath and not feel hemmed in by roads/motorways/cars
  • Good primary school (DC1 starts 2014 so really important)
  • Secondary school is fine (not looking that far ahead but don't want to stitch ourselves up).

Currently on my radar are:

  • Billingshurst (but primary school very big and doesn't look great)
  • Pulborough (school looks amazing but hard to be far enough from main road while close to station?)
  • Barnham
  • Uckfield
  • Polegate

Thanks!

OP posts:
NicholasTeakozy · 09/03/2013 12:25

Have you thought about Horsham? Direct trains to London Bridge/Victoria and Waterloo.

Littlehaven (part of Horsham) has a direct line to London Bridge/Victoria.

Warnham is a decent enough village with a direct line to Waterloo (change at Dorking for Victoria)

Storrington is a nice village with trains to Victoria.

nocake · 09/03/2013 14:27

Warnham station is over half a mile from the village and it's a slow line to Victoria ( direct to Victoria and change for Waterloo) so I wouldn't recommend it.

Horsham is lovely but for the prices you're considering you'd be better off near Littlehaven station than Horsham station.

What sort of commuting time are you prepared for? Some of the places you're looking at are quite a long way out.

SandStorm · 09/03/2013 14:29

How long a train journey are you looking for?

ScottyDoc · 09/03/2013 14:30

Shoreham by sea Absolutely gorgeous, lovely beach nearby, green hills and plenty of land, little railway station goes straight both ways to London Victoria and other way to Basingstoke etc

ScottyDoc · 09/03/2013 14:32

Schools are very nice, theres a good selection both private and state. Houses are reasonable but just don't buy one too near the sea because it may lose value in years to come.

fatnfrumpy · 09/03/2013 16:08

Don,t look at Uckfield! My Dsis lives there and its a bit rough she is trying to get council exchange out of there!

Original poster
Youaresoright · 09/03/2013 18:12

Thanks everyone.

Horsham- I'm probably the only person on MN who doesn't like it!

Journey time - up to 1 hr 40mins, at the longer end of that would need to be close to the station and no changing to get to Victoria and certainty of seat on the train.

I will have a closer look at Shoreham thanks Scottydoc. We love to visit the airport there. Is 'Shoreham by Sea' different to 'Shoreham'?

OP posts:
cantspel · 10/03/2013 17:47

How about Goring\Ferring/Angmering.

You could do London on the fast train in 1.20 or the slow about 1.40.

The coast on one side and the sussex downs on the other. Decent schools and a lovely area for families.

Shoreham and shoreham by sea are the same place. Ypu also have shoreham beach but that is quite a bit away from the train station.

Lulabellarama · 10/03/2013 18:31

Billingshurst is soulless
Pulborough is a bit better but I doubt you'd get what you want in budget.

WeAreSix · 10/03/2013 18:48

Shoreham beach isn't far from the station. It's a pain because if you live on the east end of the beach it's a bit of a walk to the footbridge, but once you're over the river it's just the other side of the (small) town. It's hardly worth driving there as the free parking is few & far between, and the train car park is expensive.

Shoreham has some lovely areas, but also areas you wouldn't want to live. Schools are OK, the secondary school is now an academy, following on from a comp that didn't do particularly well. There is one very oversubscribed first school on the beach with a very small catchment area. Lovely vibe on the beach though, would live there again if I could afford it.

Steyning & Storrington are both nice, in fact most of the villages in the downs are. Goring is ok, has a lovely greensward by the beach and walks along the beach in all seasons are fantastic. Not a lot else there though - a small 'high street' (goring road shops) - its nickname locally is Boring Goring!!!

I've been in Worthing for 9 years now and would like to move either to the villages or closer to the sea.... Ridiculous house prices stop us going anywhere, unfortunately.

cantspel · 10/03/2013 19:25

WeAreSix the footbridge is closed and has been since last sept as it is unsafe. It is going to be replaced but so far the opening of the new bridge is given as summer 2013.

IShallWearMidnight · 10/03/2013 19:32

we're further up the Uckfield line, and I wouldn't recommend it for a daily commute - Southern Rail seem to keep that train as a 4 carriage one during rush hours, and even if you get the other line as far as Oxted, you regularly miss the connection, and get to spend another hour in Oxted station. I saw an Uckfield train leaving London Bridge last week, and it was worse than sardines. Just horrible Sad.

Ladyemem · 10/03/2013 21:20

i would look at plumpton / wivelsfield green / hassocks. All lovely villages

not sure what the schools are like.

Ladyemem · 10/03/2013 21:35

and hamsey has a station and a school .Would definately look at villages within 10 miles of the town of lewes (my favourite town in east sussex)

Ladyemem · 10/03/2013 21:42

seeing the comment above by fatnfrumpy, Uckfield is a lovely town!!

nearby you have buxted, eridge, oxted which are fab. again dont know about school there as live nearer polegate.
Polegate i would not recommend to you. nearby Berwick/glynde and firle and lovely places and are on the other side to the town of lewes.

Original poster
Youaresoright · 10/03/2013 21:55

Cantspel - I love love love Ferring (and would be quite happy living in a bungalow Grin) but it isn't close enough to a station.

Angmering bits I like are bit far from the station.

Thanks for the Polegate info Ladyemem (there are some new houses there which were suspiciously cheap...)

Such a shame that we cannot either win the lottery or get DH a new job outside London.

OP posts:
Original poster
Youaresoright · 10/03/2013 21:57

oooo actually the bits of Angmering I was thinking of aren't that far from the station after all. Interesting.....

OP posts:
cantspel · 10/03/2013 22:24

If you like ferring but want to be nearer the station, how about Goring Hall? (the bit between ferring and goring)

Magimedi · 11/03/2013 11:48

The new houses at Polegate are less than 100yards from a very busy road & on a ribbon development road & it would take you at least 20mins to walk to shops/station.

WeAreSix · 11/03/2013 11:56

Would the bridge being closed now put you off looking at the beach houses in the future, cantspel?

cantspel · 11/03/2013 14:10

WeAreSix no but i would delay any move until after a new bridge had been built. At the moment their is a bus service running or you have to walk the 1.5 miles around. The council say summer for the new bridge but the amount of work still to be done would make me think of the road improvements on the A27 and how long that little project over run.

WeAreSix · 11/03/2013 14:30

The A27 is the biggest joke around :) Unless you include Teville Gate of course...

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