Botley, Hampshire

[Winterfel]

DH may have a new job near Botley. Anyone know the area? Is it nice? Schools any good? Any areas to avoid?

Botley is nice, some lovely houses in the village. Its near Hedge End which is mostly a HUGE housing estate, but not bad for it, cheap (for south Hampshire) and good schools. Whiteley is also just just a big housing estate, although it has a new shopping centre, cheaper, but don't think it has very good public transport.

Swanwick, Hamble and Warsash are quite nice and have lots of boaty people, but Hamble is a pain to get in and out of.

If you have more £££ to spend you could look out towards Wickham and Bishops Waltham which are very nice.

There are plans in to build a huge development near Knowle (or there was about a year ago when I was last looking) so if you are looking in that area worth checking if it is going ahead.

If you have teens, you might want to look at public transport as these areas aren't brilliant so you might end up driving your children everywhere.

Botley is a nice area, the primary school there is supposed to be good and also right next to Hedge End which has good primary schools (all outstanding) and a good secondary. There is also fair oak and bishops waltham very close which has good schools.

I live over the cheaper side of southampton as all we can afford but would move to hedge end/ botley area if i could afford to.

Southampton/Eastleigh/Chandlers Ford/Winchester/Fair Oak/ Bishops Waltham/ Whitely/Curdridge/Curbridge/West End are all within 5 miles of Botley so really depends what your budget is.

You can also access Manor Farm country park from Botley (and Hedge End) which is a lovely place to take kids.

I have spotted an outstanding secondary school, Wildern, while browsing on Rightmove, cheered me right up!

Thanks all for your advice. Am considering looking further north between Bishops Waltham, East Meon and Alresford, or even Winchester because if you have to move you might as well go for the best schools. DH will have a bit of a commute.

Its so hard to get a real idea until I've had a good look around so am going by schools really.

I know the area quite well as I grew up here and am soon moving back. It can be busy with traffic and feel quite built up but depends on what you are used to. Further north towards Winchester is more rural and prettier but you get less house for your money!

I phoned around many of the primary schools and decided to live where the places for our eldest children (4 and 6) are.
Wildern School has a very good reputation and many families seem to stay in a certain part of Hedge End for catchment. It really depends on the type of house/garden you want for your money as there's a lot of estates of varying age and appeal. We went for a 1960s non-estate house as we wanted indoor space (3ds) and to be close to the park and school.