Where's best to live if working in Reading? (Goring / Streatley / other suggestions please?!)

[boppy80]

There's a chance we might have to move from Kingston-upon-Thames to the Reading area, if my husband takes a job in Reading.
We don't know the area so would really appreciate any advice / comments on where are the best places to live within a short train commute of Reading? (probably not keen on being in Reading itself)

We currently have one 2-year old and so am keen to be somewhere with good schools, a nice friendly family atmosphere, and things to do.
We'd like somewhere less urban than Reading itself, but am worried about going somewhere too small.

Saying that, have heard good things about Goring and Streatley - does anyone live there and what's it like? My slight worry would be it might feel a bit small for us after Kingston, how do people find it for children growing up?

Any other suggestions? - Schools, good for family, and short train into Reading are the main criteria i think…

Would love to hear from anyone who's made a similar move out of London and how they've got on!

Thanks so much

Bumping for you. I lived there for several years when my DC were small and loved the village. We were then relocated to another part of the country .
More recent inhabitants can update you on what is available for a young family but for me, it was the best place I've ever lived in.
PS I am originally from Kingston area!

Thanks! Which village did you live in? How did you find village life after Kingston?!
We feel so spoilt in Kingston with Richmond Park, the river, all the shops&market, and good schools, I'm feeling a bit like nowhere will live up to it right now. worried about the chance of moving!

Yes - been in Streatley a good while now. There is a difference between the two villages, so what do you prefer? Once the children start going to school, we've found there's less interaction between the villages, as obviously the children mostly play with their classmates.

Lovely places to live - obviously I think Streatley is better, but Goring's not too bad, and has the river still, shops and train line. Streatley has the views, and the better cycling/walking. Both have good pubs. Streatley's recently been designated a 'village' (helpful!) so can't be developed (and it's surrounded by the National Trust land). Goring is a Regional Service Centre, so apparently can! Streatley really is just a village; no shops, just a pub, YHA, and decent hotel Swan. As Streatley is smaller it has a more inclusive feel. You know everyone. Goring is bigger, and noticeably so (albeit still small).

Streatley is in catchment for a better secondary school, but Goring's 'outstanding' as well (but no 6th form). Loads of decent private schools. Streatley fete this weekend... Try School and Preschool

It is a very outdoorsy place (we let the kids play in the woods a lot, building dens), with cycling/walking/boating all incredibly popular. Couple of junior football teams, tennis club, sailing club, rowing club, Nixercise, hotel gym, superb cafes, great pubs and restaurants nearby .

Yesterday we cycled with the kids along a quiet country lane to a pub in the middle of nowhere for pizzas freshly cooked in a wood fired oven. Or burgers made with venison from the woods.

They're an expensive part of the world, and in Streatley especially not many houses come up, so they can go quickly. But it is worth it - superb place to live, and we can see ourselves there for another 25-30 years. We came from SW london, and haven't regretted it.

I lived in Goring - and obviously Goring people thought their village superior. All goes back to Anglo-Saxon times when Goring was in Mercia and Streatley was in Wessex ... or so I was told!
another pub worth visiting
This is making me so sad!

How about Caversham? Nice village atmosphere, good pubs, cafés, shops, the river. Lots of young families. And walking distance to Reading over the bridge (but feels quite different to Reading).

Thanks so much for your replies.
Goring and Streatley do sound really nice. Yes we love cycling / walking and that would be a big plus. Are there any off road / designated cycling trails accessible from there, so you don't have to always cycle on the roads?
Also did they get badly affected by the flooding this year - were houses in Goring flooded?

Thanks too for suggestion of Caversham. Sounds definitely worth a look. If I'm looking on street view which road is the main villagey bit/shops on?

Anyone have other suggestions - have heard of (but don't know much about) Sonning Common, Cholsey, Wallingford, Twyford (know that's good for trains but what's the community like there?) any thoughts ? Any other places that would be good to consider?

Thanks so much for any help!

What about Ascot, Sunningdale or Sunninghill? Similar feel to Kingston and direct train to Reading. Good schools and very family orientated.

For cycling, there are vast numbers of bridleways, and by-ways to cycle along. The Ridgeway and Thames Path both go through the village, and there are many other tracks that you can cycle on. Guess the difference I've noticed in the last 15 years is the move from MTB to road bikes as the thing to do. But I pop up on the ridgeway on a summer's evening, and there's a spot near Roden Downs where you crest the hills and look down over a dry (normally!) valley. You can see possibly 5 miles, and there's not a road or a house in sight. With the setting sun it's delightful. That's a 3 mile cycle maybe.

You have to remember though that roads here aren't like roads in Kingston; on the cycle on Sunday I guess we did 18 miles on road over 3 hours, and were passed by probably 15 cars (maybe 20...)? It is incredibly rural and quiet once you're properly in the Downs; you're more likely to see a horse or tractor than a car.

Flooding; the Swan hotel was hit a bit (a shame, as they'd just done up the restaurant), and Goring had a few riverside houses underwater. Not many (maybe 10 in both villages?). Because the villages are in the Goring Gap, the rise of the hills means you're out of the way (one road in Streatley is possible a quarter mile from the river, but 300ft above it). That's the worst we've seen it in all the time here. To be honest life continued as normal for most people.

Also - it's the inaugural festival this year, using money left over from the jubilee.

Cholsey is pleasant enough, but a bit disparate, and the new development is dragging what there is of a centre away. Wallingford is a nice enough town, bit of a sink estate on one side. Major problem is lack of a train (would be another Marlow if it had the train). Nice independent shops though. Sonning Common is just a suburb of Reading, with all the delights that brings. Twyford ditto, but on the train, and I believe school catchments are tight. Having said that, they will all be lovely in comparison to Kingston.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46479872.html?premiumA=true

This is rather nice!

it is Mumblechum. Backs onto the golf course, with fields opposite. Down a quiet lane, that's also the ridgeway. Couple of new barn 'conversions' just out of view on the right, but they're well done.

Only slight downside is lack of gritting when it gets to -15c. And it does. So most people have a [pretend] 4x4 at least.

I moved into the area a year ago and think it is lovely. I'm still learning about the area, so adding in my newbie thoughts as a recent mover.

There are lots of choice north of Reading so my advice is to think about your wants in a house and area as that will help narrow down your choices. Here are some of the things we considered.

• do you want a town or village? If you want a town you could consider Caversham, Henley or further north Wallingford

• if you want villagey what shopping facilities do you want? For example Sonning Common, Goring and Pangbourne all have more shops than Streatley or Whitchurch Hill

• some of the village schools are small so you may struggle to get in to them e.g. Whitchurch Hill, although I don't know if the area is over subscribed in general (my daughter has just started reception and her class isn't full).

• is the train to Reading a must, and do you need to walk to it? If you want train you are looking at Tilehurst, Pangbourne, Goring / Streatley, Cholsey and Didcot (town where we lived before and my husband commuted to Reading). It maybe worth considering buses as many go to Reading or whether you are happy to drive to the station.

• what is important location or house? Pangbourne, Goring and Streatley can be significantly more expensive than the surrounding villages and as said above not many properties come on the market.

Something that has really pleased me about the area is how much is going on. There are lots of societies and fairs / festivals. I believe lots of the villages have their own websites so once you have a feel for where you'd like to be have a nose around what is going on.

Newbury way is nice. Or Wokingham.

Thanks for all your suggestions and help!

SonT - the cycling and trails sound amazing, would love that. Good that the flooding wasn't too severe either.and I love the sound of the yearly festival.
Thinking about what we'd want from this move I think a real sense of community is high on our list. Somewhere friendly where people look out for each other, (though not in an intrusive way!)

Our biggest motivation is to get better "work life balance" than we have now.Which is why keeping the commute into Reading short and easy is key too. That's why I was thinking close to station and train really. Had heard reading traffic can be a bit of a nightmare - if trying to get into the centre (near the main station) for rush hour?

Twyford station sounds best train wise but not sure of the feel of the place compared to somewhere like Goring?

In terms of town/village - I was thinking town orignally, but Henley looks too expensive, and know Wallingford isn't on the train. So considering large-ish village if it ticks all the other boxes.

Schools definitely very important. Is Goring primary hard to get into even if living in the village?
(And though we don't need this for a while, do the reading grammar schools take people from this area - is it based on selection rather than address?)

Ascot / sunningdale area - I probably have this wrong, but when we've driven through that area briefly it seems a bit houses behind gates/ high-hedges / maybe not giving a close community feel? Feel free to correct me!

Mumblechum1 - wish our budget would stretch to that! But sadly a long way off.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

If any other suggestions come to mind anyone then let me know. Will probably plan a day or two visiting places soon.

I have lived in Goring for almost 9 years and absolutely love it. I think that for a young family (or indeed a retired person) it would be difficult to find a better balance of a very active community, local facilities, countryside, and easy access to major cities. We moved out from Oxford (and still both work their part time) and have never looked back. Of course, you do pay for it - if you are happy to live somewhere without a station (eg Woodcote) then it is noticeably cheaper. But for us, walking distance to station/good school/local shops/pubs etc was essential.

Personally I prefer Goring. There are a few houses in Streatley that I would consider, but not many. The problem with Streatley is that most houses are rather a long walk along narrow pavements to the station and any shops and/or on a fairly busy road. Goring has a far wider choice of houses in quiet locations within a very short walk of everything. However, Son is right that excessive development is potentially an issue.

The primary school in Goring is basically full. If you move once children are school-age then getting in is definitely problematic and you may have to go elsewhere first. If you move before the deadline for applications to reception and you are in the village then you will almost certainly be OK, though there have been exceptions.

Happy to answer more question about Goring/Streatley. Another nearby option is South Stoke which has few facilities of its own apart from a small school so tends to 'share' as is very close. Woodcote also worth thinking about if willing to drive to the station.

Just noted one of your questions. Yes reading grammar schools take from area. There is a very large 'designated area' that gets priority. Within that it is purely based on the results of the entry test. It is very difficult to get in. Only about 1 in 7 of those who take the test get a place - bearing in mind that only those who think they might be one of the 1 in 7 bother to take it in the first place! But both the other state and private schools locally are excellent.

I have been regularly visiting Goring since my parents moved their when my DS was 18 months - its a really nice, large village with lots of community. Walks are lovely. Last time DS was there with grandparents he flew his kite from Larden Chase and the Red kites came down to see what it was. Nice playgrounds too.

Train service to Reading is very good - I would think its quicker to get into Reading from Goring on the train than it is to live in Caversham!

Oh and...

If you visit Goring between now and September, you will find that traffic down the High Street can be very busy at certain times. It's not normally that bad - the bridge at Pangbourne/Whitchurch is currently closed so traffic is being diverted.

Conversely, if you look at Whitchurch (which you should) don't be fooled - the High Street is now silent but is normally pretty busy.

Watching with interest as we're also thinking of moving to Streatley but have only just put our house on the market.

I would really recommend Twyford, lovely houses, pubs, countryside and so easy to get to Reading/ London/Henley on the train plus masses of young families. If you are more about the look of a place and have plenty of ££££ then go for Henley or Streatley but I would spend some time looking into other options! Pangbourne is another one worth looking into. Twyford has a good little centre, (Waitrose!) and you can be in Reading in 10 mins.

Driving into Reading at peak times is a bad idea.

I once met some friends in the centre of Reading at about 6. It took them longer to drive from Caversham than it took me door-to-door from Goring (walk/train/walk).

I am west of Reading down the train line in a small market town, having moved from SW London.

If I could choose again, I'd have gone for Caversham. It has a community feel I think but you have easy access to the facilities offered by Reading. It's those things to do I really miss. And variety of people.

Thanks again..
I think we will definitely look into Caversham and Twyford, as well as Goring/Streatley. Maybe Wokingham too..

Is there much going on for toddlers / small children in Twyford?
is there a good friendly community?

Also definitely won't consider driving the commute into Reading..thanks. how do people generally get into work in the centre if they live somewhere like Sonning Common - imagine any bus routes get jammed up too?

thanks!

I guess it depends what you call a long walk - there's nothing in Streatley more than 20 minutes walk (5 minutes cycle) from the station. Coming from london, that'll be good. Even in Streatley you could be at Reading station in not much more than 30 minutes (and unlike Goring, you won't hear the trains at night!)

And some roads are busy - at the moment - due to the Whitchurch bridge. When that's finished, streatley can go back to being a quiet village; if you think there are basically 5 roads in the village.

The B4009 isn't [normally] that bad - apart from 30 minutes in the morning and evening. You might have to queue for up to 5 minutes.
The A417/A329 are busy; but it bisects the village. And there's not that many houses along it. If you're not going through on that road, you don't notice it.
Rectory Road - very quiet, especially past the Golf Course
Townsend Road - private, expensive, very quiet
The Coombe (and two side roads) - very quiet cul de sacs where kids play in the roads, surrounded by a NT wood.

We're bounded on three sides by National Trust, and on the other by the river; the village will never get much bigger.

School; Streatley C of E I think has ~92 pupils. I think the capacity is 106. The Downs in Compton is the secondary, and is almost full I think, but if you're at Streatley and in catchment you will get in.

I don't want this to be a Streatley/Goring fight, but there are differences, and obviously the residents of each prefer that one - in 15 years I know two couples who've crossed the boundary, and that was pre children.

Thanks SonT (wonder if I know you?). They are both lovely places - and in many respects essentially the same place.

Wasn't meaning to do Streatley down, it was just that your posts were very pro-Streatley so wanted to present the relative advantages of Goring.

(I'd like to see you walk with a child from beyond Streatley Golf Course to the station in 20 minutes, or even without for that matter)

It all really depends on how short you want the short train ride to be, if up to half hour is acceptable you get Newbury, Thatcham, Kintbury and Hungerford house prices are cheaper and they are all good areas for young families.