What's it like living in Datchet?

[dewdrop9]

So our house sale fell through in Windsor and we are still looking. Hubby is now considering Datchet as a potential area to move to. He works near Victoria station in London and I basically have to rotate sites for my job every few months so it's between Ealing/Northwick Park/Kew/Chiswick & Hillingdon/Paddington! Kids will be schooling in Windsor starting this Sept.

Ideally, he will drop off kids 2 days a week and hurries off to work and I do the other 3 days a week. So, it would be helpful if we lived in Windsor/near as possible. We saw some lovely homes in Datchet but honestly speaking, the airplanes really feel like they are practically on top of you (do residents really get used to this?! And does everyone have triple glazing ;-)

I thought Windsor was bad for noise but seems that Datchet is worse? Are there any areas where the planes don't fly as close to houses?

And bearing in mind the flood risk... Again, are there any roads that are abit safer from floods than others? Don't really know where to look for this information so hoping there are some helpful MNers who might know! :)

We really like Datchet though - it's a fantastic place, people are friendly and the cafes/shops are great too. And the houses we have seen so far are beautiful.

Would move there in a heartbeat but I just can't seem to reconcile these 2 points in my head and keep worrying if we might end up moving in a year or two because of this!

Any and all opinions would be welcomed! Thank you! Xx

The village is so close to Windsor I cannot see there is much difference in flight noise. They are all close to Heathrow! They are still popular places to live though. I have a friend who lives there and loves it. The local school is difficult to get into so having a school place in Windsor is good. I think you would have to ask the Environment Agency about flooding. There must be records and presumably insurance companies will know if it is a flood risk. I would assume it could be.

It's directly below the Heathrow flight path so noise is terrific. Some of the planes go so low you can practically see people sat in the window seats. Flights come and go pretty much all hours (certainly between 6am and 11pm) and more in summer/peak periods.

Datchet had some really bad flooding recently. Milly is right - check the Environment Agency website for at risk areas.

It is a pretty village with some great houses and cafes etc. but bear in mind the flights and flood risk, plus the possibility of more runway capacity at Heathrow and I reckon it's risky. Good local schools, though.

Good luck

Thanks for the feedback, will definitely look at EA reports and contact them to ask.

Read on a previous thread - some places in Datchet have (slightly) less aircraft noise than other neighbourhoods so was wondering if there were specific roads we could consider.

Tia xx

We considered buying in Datchet as you get a lot of house for your money in the area. However the flight noise is horrific. In many houses you could not have a conversation in the garden. Having previously lived in Chiswick where the noise is also bad, you do get used to it as an owner, but every visitor to the house would react negatively to it and it spoilt family parties and BBQs.

Given the added risk of flooding I would look elsewhere if I was you.

We offered on a house in Datchet. The plane noise wasn't an issue for us as we lived on the flight path previously so were used to it. It was the flooding (and also some other property specific issues) which made us eventually retract our offer. Even though the house we offered on wasn't actually affected by the flooding, it still needed specialist house insurance as it was too close to the river.
Also you might want to check whether there are still any issues with the travellers site in Datchet. There were some well publicized problems and disputes at the time we were offering.

I'm currently completing my Geography A Level Coursework and am basing it in Datchet so I was wondering if you could complete this questionnaire based upon resident's living in Datchet. This will be anonymous so no ones details will be shared within my project. If you know of anyone who lives in Datchet please share this with them! Obviously you don't have to complete is and please don't feel obliges to do so.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1Og9sHXOiLhTnC-1BFttKgc7dwpo1dKYloh_W14ErA6dXHw/viewform?usp=pp_url

Nice village
Easy access via rail to Waterloo and road to M4.
Traffic is regularly difficult because of the two level crossings.
Definitely gets planes flying low over the centre.
Secondary school Churchmead was a bit shit, it was our catchment school but we ended up going to Shepperton instead. I understand it is now much improved.
2 chip shops
Nice church.
Best areas are the centre and going towards the road by the river.

Forgot the flooding. It's worse where I live!

Thank you so much for your response. Would you mind filling out the form with your answers?

@MannatSahota

I'm afraid I live in another village nearby. I just know Datchet very well. I think this precludes me from your survey.

You can still answer the questionnaire as you information will be valuable in my research, you also don't need to answer all the question on it. Just the ones you are able to. 😊

Done