Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

1.5 miles/ 35 min walk away from town centre

45 replies

deraila · 10/01/2015 22:35

The DH and I have been to view a house today. Its ticks all the boxes (detached/double garage/ room to park 3 cars on the drive/smaller more manageable garden/utility room/close to a parade of local shops including an express tesco type thing) except that it is 1.5 miles away from the town centre and we would have to drive DCs to school.

We currently live about 0.7 miles away from the town centre which takes us 20 mins on foot. We love taking the DCs to the local park beside the town centre which has a coffee place. We are able to walk to school too. In the better weather we are able to walk to a pub which has a fenced beer garden.

I love walking to the shops/park with the DCs and DH loves walking to the pub (not all the time!! Grin).

Its not the right house, is it?

OP posts:
ThePerfect1IThinkNot · 10/01/2015 22:43

We are going through a similar debate and have decided that an easy walking distance is essential for us

Original poster
deraila · 10/01/2015 22:51

Thanks perfect. Its an exciting saturday night topic! I think i might feel that way too. Although I could drive in I don't want to fight for a parking space on a busy saturday etc.

I know Id enjoy the 35 min walk but our DCs are still very small and it would be a hell of a walk in and home again.

There is a bus service but who knows how long it would continue for or whether there is enough demand.

OP posts:
OddFodd · 10/01/2015 22:56

No, it's not the right house. You'll resent it and as your children get older, being closer to stuff will be ever more important.

StrumpersPlunkett · 10/01/2015 22:58

A slightly different perspective is that the children will grow faster than you think and the access to swings will be less important. In 5 years time which will be the better option?

IssyStark · 10/01/2015 23:05

Would cycling rather than walking be an option?

As the kids get older that extra mile won't be such an issue when walking anyway.

123rd · 10/01/2015 23:07

Is biking not an option? We moved about half a mile further out of town. We can walk it still but quite often cycle. DH now has to cycle to the pub

footallsock · 10/01/2015 23:08

For us we paid the premium to be close to village / transport etc. great when DC little but I was thinking about how ace it will be for them once they can walk to school / friends / cafes etc as teens.

Original poster
deraila · 10/01/2015 23:10

Hadn't thought about what it would be like when they are pre teens/tweens or whatever the expression is!

strumpers I think we'd be bargaining with them to walk or driving them to the train station.

Ive always lived within a 20 minute walk to the main town centre whereas DH never has until our current house.

I could live without the walks in to the town but its so nice to walk in for a cake and a cuppa/pint when we have family or a friend staying with us. Its an enjoyable way to fill an afternoon!

OP posts:
Original poster
deraila · 10/01/2015 23:15

Id love to bike in but the main road in has dozens of entrances to other cul de sacs or roads etc. Its a 30 limit but very busy and couldn't ride on the foot paths as a lot of walkers. Its your typical on the edge of town new build estate.

OP posts:
fussychica · 11/01/2015 09:49

I live 15/20 mins lovely walk to a town where I go in almost every day - mainly for the walk and a coffee in Waitrose. If we were to move I don't think I could not be in walking distance. I'm an oldie with no kids at home and it's just as important to me.

specialsubject · 11/01/2015 15:32

they should be able to walk that far by the time they are 9 or 10. So for now you have to drive.

1.5 miles is nothing for anyone able bodied.

PigletJohn · 11/01/2015 16:40

except in heavy rain, snow etc or on a dark and windy night.

roneik · 11/01/2015 16:48

Blimey if 1.5 miles is a problem, no wonder half the country are fat barstewards Grin As well as a car I have a bike and also 2 good legs and a coat waterproof with a hood
Jeez what a load of wimps, I am an old git of seventy and 1.5 miles is a pussy cat for goodness sake

roneik · 11/01/2015 16:50

As for dark windy nights buy your groceries earlier in the day simples Grin

roneik · 11/01/2015 16:50

Buy a torch even

PureMorning · 11/01/2015 16:54

Erm my four year olds nursery is 1.3 miles and he walks it twice aday as do most of the 300 odd kids at the school even in heavy winds, rain and snow.

roneik · 11/01/2015 17:25

PureMorning He will be a hardy little soul too. That's what kids should be doing . Hardens em up

Original poster
deraila · 11/01/2015 17:31

Thanks for more replies. I think walking is engrained in me as I walked home from primary which was a mile away from me and secondary was 1.5 miles. No big deal - just did it and it was fine. I sometimes got a lift home depending on where my parents were but not regularly.

Its just that I have DC1 in particular who hates walking even for 10 minutes and I am a bit worried about how I will manage with a much longer walk - dont want to feel stuck in the house but dont fancy driving in to town and battling to park somewhere.

What do people who live 1.5 miles out of town do with transport for children aged 5 and under?

OP posts:
5madthings · 11/01/2015 17:32

I think that distance is fine. My kids primary is two miles and we walk or cycle. My 6 yr old tends to scooter. It's a 30 min walk into town with the kids, they walk it fine. I guess it depends what you are used to but we walk or cycle everywhere.

5madthings · 11/01/2015 17:35

Madthing5 is just four she sometimes foes in pushchair if I am on time constraints or she scooters, she has just got an isla Cnoc 16, so will be cycling soon, I may get a tag a long as well. Or she can scooter. All the other madthings were out of pushchair and walking/scooting etc at three. She isn't as good a walker as they were but it's partly that I have time constraints etc with elder kids school runs.

I honestly think those distances sound fine op.

ihatethecold · 11/01/2015 17:43

1.5 miles really isn't very far.
Get the kids a scooter and helmet as they get older.

flipchart · 11/01/2015 18:31

1.5 miles an issue for an able bodied family? Jeez.

I live over 2.5m from town centre and have done for over twenty four years which is pre babies. You get used to it. It's really not far and you do have a car for bad days.

I gused it just toughened the toddlers up when they had to walk. I had one walking and the other in a pushchair. Once they were old enough to walk to school by themselves they would collect other kids on the way so a few of them walked the last mile together.

Aren't there buses anyway? We have to walk 50 away from our house to the bus stop.

Sarsparilla · 11/01/2015 18:45

I really think it makes a difference if it is a "nice" walk or not.

We live 2.8 miles from the town centre, and 1.8 miles from the railway station. We can walk along a towpath much of the way, and so it is an attractive walk, and DC manage fine - it takes about 45 minutes to walk to the station that way, and it suits meandering rather than power walking. If we were having to walk along the main road, I know we wouldn't walk into town so often, even though it's a more direct route.

specialsubject · 12/01/2015 11:39

what's the problem with the weather?

heavy rain? Wear a decent coat (not a fashion one)
dark? Carry a torch, wear reflective kit
snow? Wear decent shoes/boots (not fashion ones)

admittedly the walk will be less pleasant than on a warm summer day, but as far as I know no-one is actually made of sugar.

flipchart · 12/01/2015 15:02

I am stunned that some people think 1.5mile walk or an able bodied family is actually an issue. You even have a car so when it is wet dark and horrible you still have the option to drive.

Also it's not like you should need to go to town every Saturday surely?

I think you are overthinking it!