Hitchin or Letchworth????

[Azzurro]

Hi there,
Can anyone local comment on pros and contra of Hitchin and Letchworth?
I am primarily interest on where is best life with a child aged 3 and beyond....nurseries, schools, recreational activities, entertainment for the family, sport facilities, shopping (mainly food) etc.
Dh and I will relocate to that area in Spring....houses look cheaper in Letchworth but there is so little "high street" life.....just read few data in Zoopla and Hitchin seems definitely better?
Thanks :)

Letchworth gets my vote - but then I chose to move here rather than Hitchin 6 years ago :)

The commuting time is pretty similar, though there are a few more trains an hour in Hitchin. I love the walkability, spaciousness and greenness of Letchworth and that's what really attracted us.

Hitchin town centre is a good deal more lively but Letchworth does have a really active community life, you just can't see it so easily from walking the streets. But once you're here, there are loads of family activities, fantastic parks, lots of nice families and of course a super art deco cinema. There are also quite a lot of plans for the town centre. Can't be certain they will all come to fruition, but it is definitely something people here want to change.

A friend described Letchworth as being more down to earth than Hitchin. I think that is quite a good description. I think it has a great mix of people who have lived here their whole lives, and people who have moved in, mainly having been attracted by the space and great facilities for families. Everyone seems to rub along together really well, which I like. The principles on which Letchworth was founded (trying to combine the best of the country and the town) are still very much alive in people's minds. It's certainly not perfect, but for us as a family it has been great, and we plan to stay here long term. We moved within the town 2 years ago for a bigger house and didn't consider looking anywhere else.

we have done now the commute a couple of time and it seem that Letchworth wins re location; Hitchin is very pretty through but we love the open spaces in Letchworth; I am a bit concerned about the schools though as some posts here sys schools are not that good in Letchworth?

So can you say where we really should not be looking at?

another question, what do you think of Letchworth north of the station?

Are you talking about primary or secondary?
The best school in L'worth for primary is Lordship. The Grange is one of the roughest and has a lot of children with SN.
If you can afford private then there is st Francis for girls or co-ed St Chris.

There are far better primary schools in Hitchin- William Ransom, St Andrews, Ickleford, Samuel Lucas.

State secs in Hitchin are better too but very much dependent on catchment areas.

Personally I don't like letchworth because I feel as a new town it has no real 'heart' it hasn't evolved and it only has recent history.

L'worth north of the station- you mean bordering Norton? Nice houses but that's about it.

High field school in letchworth is a good secondary school with good management team/ behaviour policies (I've taught there). The single sex schools in Hitchin are excellent and have great reputation (friends kids go there). Letchworth has great stuff like norton common and the cinema and Hitchin has lovely feel to it with walking into lively town (lived there 10 years). I prefer Hitchin but it's personal choice. St ippolyts is nice village nearby. Morning commute to Cambridge way is bloody hard. (Did if 5 years!) and drive towards London also tricky with busy A1 but timing is all - you may find if ok to go early come back early etc

I live in north letchworth nr norton common. It is a lovely place to live. I have just started looking at nursery / infant schools. I was a little worried at first as 3 of my local catchment schools are in..well let's just say not my 1st choice areas - the grange and another mainly council area. However, from what I have seen so far and from other parents views, the schools actually seem good. Our local school ( icknield infants ) has just been inspected through ofsted and has found to be good. Another fantastic local school is norton st nicholas.. But it is a church school so the rules are different. I am not worried about secondaries right now but highfield I think is a good school and fearnhill is improving..you can be considered for secondaries in hitchin and baldock too...We are close to the town / station and have the common nr by. We feel so lucky as it is very much having the best of both worlds...My neighbours are lovely and the families in letchworth are lovely. Another great area is lordship but I personally prefer older style houses.

Actually I have recently been on another thread trying to get information from other parents whose children go to school north of letchworth and I have found it so helpful...it's on the main hertfordshire site where it says ' find your local mumsnet - hertfordshire and then click on local talk. ( sorry that's prob not the best description ) there is quite a lot of info on that thread about infant / junior schools north letchworth. I think in general schools in hitchin are better but for some of the good schools they can be very oversubscribed. I think letchworth schools are improving.

Thank you olivemegmog, will definitely check the thred you mentioned! All these comments are so useful!

No problem... Hitchin is a great little town, if you can move to a good area. My heart sometimes sinks when people call letchworth ' soulless'. It really isn't soulless IMO...I have been off on maternity leave and have explored letchworth a lot. There is lots going on and the people are very friendly. It's a great town if you have kids. X

OP - Where did you move to and how do you find it?

Has anyone got any updated opinions on this topic? We're currently trying to make this decision ourselves...

OP, almost a decade later, how did your move go? Where did you decide and what can you share about trying to choose one over the other looking back in hindsight?