What is Royston in Hertfordshire like?

[KateRosevear]

Hi,
I'm thinking of moving to Hertfordshire and am interested in Royston, as it seems reasonably priced for housing, and has a good train link to London. It sounds like a nice sized small town with some character, but I wondered if there is a catch. What is it like to live there, are there other places more recommended within the same price bracket, and when looking at houses, are there any parts of town that are better than others, and if so, why? Thanks.

I second Ashwell, Steeple Morden and those little villages but other than that...I can't recommend the area at all. Sorry. I have lovely memories of Ashwell, Steeple Morden and some in Baldock but other than that, I just can't recommend somewhere to live if I wouldn't go back myself.

Thanks for all the info! Lots of people are recommending the nearby villages, but which of the villages to the north of Royston are nicest (and hopefully not too pricy?). Also do any of them have a train station on the line to London and a decent number of shops, cafés etc? I had a look at the house prices in Melbourn and they seemed a bit more than Royston. Is this because they are prettier or due to better facilities, or access to Cambs 2 tier (as opposed to Herts 3 tier) school system? I did have a look at Saffron Walden on line, but train time to London seemed a but long (over an hour I think).

Thanks, Kate.

I'd watch out for the travel time from other stations. The journey time from Royston to Kings Cross can be as little as 38 min (7.29 train) but direct trains from other nearby stations on the line are normally slow/stopping services, for example Meldreth trains at similar times take 1hr 5 min.

I don't know why house prices are higher in some of the villages. I assume it is a supply and demand thing. There are loads of houses in Royston.

The villages north of Royston aren't huge, so don't have many facilities. Melbourn is about the biggest, it has a secondary school, GP surgery, and a few shops. The station is actually in the next village, Meldreth, but easy to cycle to.

Shepreth and Foxton are the next stations up, but Shepreth is a tiny village and Foxton isn't exactly huge. Shelford is a bigger village, but on the Liverpool St line into London, not the Kings Cross.

Hi, thanks for all that advice! Which of the villages to the north of Royston are recommended? I had a look at house prices in Melbourn which looked nice and a bit pricier than Royston. Is it better to have more house for the money in Royston or to be in a village that costs more and looks prettier? Also, ideally we want to be on the train line. Saffron Walden seemed to have over an hour to London, which might be longer than I want. Are the villages more in terms of house prices as they come into Cambs and so have a 2 tier school system instead of the Herts 3 tier system?
Thanks, Kate.

Sorry, posted most of my queries twice there by mistake!
Thanks for all the advice!

hi OP. SW trains (from Audley End) are about 50 mins to Liverpool Street of 40 to Tottenham Hale.

HTH

Sorry by SW i mean Saffron Walden.

It must partly depend on where in London you are trying to commute to. Kings Cross and Liverpool Street are reasonably close to each other, but if one was walking distance to your office and the other was a tube ride and a walk then the extra 13 minutes on the train might be worth it.

Saffron Walden doesn't have a station - Audley End is a fair way out from Saffron Walden, so again it all depends on the commute that you are expecting to do. Newport is quite nice and most houses are probably walking distance to the station. I think that the schooling in Saffron Walden (and possibly Newport) is generally well regarded.

I think that Cambs education might be more highly though of than Royston (though it would be a sweeping generalisation). Cambs villages have access to Hills Road and Long Road for sixth form which have a much stronger reputation than Meridian in Royston.

If you happen to be Catholic then you seem to be able to avoid the 3 tier system in Royston anyway.

Hi Kate.

Came across this thread by chance. I grew up in Steeple Morden (Ashwell and Morden is the station, its one stop closer to Kings X than Royston). A nice village. I'm a bit out of date in terms of family life there, though my mum only moved away last year so we have lots of older family friends there. The primary school is well-respected I think.

I live in Letchworth now, having been in London after university. Wondered if you'd thought of Letchworth? We love it - though like everywhere I guess there are people who don't!

For me villages vs town is a lot down to ease of access to stuff. We decided we didn't want to be in a village as we really enjoy being about to walk or cycle to things, which isn't so feasible in somewhere like Steeple Morden (though there is a pub, school and a post office). Not having to get in the car to get in the station is a big attraction for me, though there are villages where this is possible. Letchworth is very leafy so I don't feel to bad about missing out on that aspect of village life. I suppose the scale of community life is another factor - there is generally going to be a much wider circle of people in town, if that is important to you. I've never experienced the dislike of outsiders which others have said was their experience in the past - either in Steeple Morden or Letchworth. For what its worth my sister went to Bassingbourn Village College and loved it - 15+ years ago now though! As a family we were not locally born and bred and also moved in and out of the village (we lived abroad for some years whilst keeping the house in SM) but didn't experience any antipathy.

Good luck with your decisions :)

Many thanks for the responses. I was a bit concerned that a few people had said that they had had trouble settling in to some of the schools in the south Cambs and Herts areas, as some of the schools had not been welcoming to outsiders moving in. However, some of this may of course have been years ago. Has anyone got recent or current experience of moving into these areas and moving their children to these schools? Hoping to go down at half term and have a look around Royston, Letchworth, Baldock, south Cambs villages, and anywhere else that can be recommended, but although want somewhere nice, somewhere attractive as a market town/large village, want to avoid anywhere either snobby or insular.
Thanks, Kate.

Been looking at Bassingbourn; looks like a nice village, but what is happening with the barracks now and does that cause any problems currently now it is being used differently? Also, does the mental health hospital in the village cause any issues?
Thanks, Kate.

I think the barracks have been sold off.
I'm not sure about the secondary school. my friend lives near there and she is sending her daughter to the perse in camb rather than her catchment school of bassingbourn village college.

I live a few miles north of bassingbourn, my kids go to comberton village college.
I have never heard of problems because of being an outsider, we have lived here for 8 years and its been the friendliest place i've ever lived in.

Thanks for that ihatethecold. Why did your friend decide against Bassingbourne village college? It has good Ofsted report, but that isn't always the whole picture, is it?
Kate.

I don't know why, I will ask her this week when I see her at school.
It could just be personal preference.

Arf at Biggleswade being nicer than anywhere Royston.

Royston is ok, but I think the nicer areas of Letchworth are even better.

Hi Kate Have you considered Hitchin? We moved here last year and love it. We've found it very welcoming and there are fast train links to London. Can't recommend it enough.

Thanks ginzillas, I looked at Hitchin but it looked lovely but a bit pricy, so am now looking at south Cambs villages and also Letchworth. Of course the difficulty is always finding a good school that isn't already full and oversubscribed! I don't want to have to use a not great school just because it is the only one with space, which might be the trouble in Letchworth I think. Our 2 are in years 2 and 3. Any advice?
Kate.

Not much advice for schools from personal experience as DD is not yet two. But I know it's very competitive here with school places and to be honest we did sacrifice a bigger house in order to live practically next door to one of the better primary schools in Hitchin.

Our budget wasn't huge though so you may be ok if you have more to spend. I don't know the rest of Hertfordshire and we only moved here a few months ago so I'm certainly not an expert. But as an outsider moving in (from London), we couldn't have been more welcomed or feel more at home here.

It's very buzzy and friendly there are loads of family activities. I think it feels quite cosmopolitan too - in my view, it doesn't feel 'small town' or insular. So I can't recommend it enough from that point of view.

I've only visited Letchworth a couple of times. There are some lovely houses and lots of green open spaces and apparently one of the good schools is on the Lordship estate which is a seventies estate. I met someone recently who lived there and had kids at the school and was very happy with it.

Thanks ginzillas, that's really helpful!

Hi,

I live in a south cambs village and I love it as only ten minutes drive from Cambridge and the schools are great. We don't have a train station in our village but it is only 15 min cycle to Foxton (however slow trains from there so at least 1 hour to Kings Cross).

I don't know Royston at all but know a couple of people who live in Melbourne/Meldreth and they love it there. The village college in Melbourne is pretty good but Comberton or Sawston (a bit nearer town are better).

The whole area is pretty family friendly with lots to do and loads of places to visit.

Thing is if commuting time is most important you would probably be better looking to live in one of the larger places like Royston or Letchworth as much faster trains.

Hi, I'm now wondering about the villages north of Royston, as so many people have mentioned them, and wondered if anyone had any comments about Orwell and it's primary school, Petersfield. Is the village friendly to outsiders, easy to get from there to shops, etc?
Many thanks,
Kate.

Orwell is very exp I think.
Nice village though.

One thing that is new to me about the Cambridgeshire area, is the presence of several traveller sites in the area. Is this something that causes any issues, crime, etc., or problems within the schools near to the sites?
Thanks,
Kate.

Basing our school is quite good. If you live in ashwell, then you are in catchment for Knoghts Templar in Baldock. Which is a fantastic school, but ashwell is pricey.

Melbourn also a good school. Meridian not bad but not the best.

Living in Cambridgeshire, as opposed to herts, will give you priority for cambs 6th forms. However you can generally apply to any school for 6th form, and living in herts definitely doesn't stop you going to long road or hills road 6th form.

Barracks and psych hospital generally not an issue. Used to be issue with squad dies in the 90s but it's long changed use and recently sold off too.

As I said before, I love it here and happily send my kids to the school in town. So safe too.