Where to go - Teddington or TunbridgeWells?

[Tootiredtothinkzzz]

Hello
Trying to decide between moving to Teddington and Tunbridge Wells. Like Teddington slightly more as it still has a London vibe, next to Bushy and Richmond Park, good high street but not too busy, good schools, family friendly, on Thames, commute ok. Aware it's expensive though!!
Tunbridge Wells also on the list as good schools, good shops, family friendly, access to lovely countryside, get more for money in house and garden but commute long and I'm nervous about not having the London access. Prefer Teddington but think TW better value.
Can anyone help me decide which one would be better? We plan to stay long term through schools. We currently have £1m but may go up in future. We know people in both places. Unfortunately no close family in either - both about 2.5hr away.

Thanks. Yep know about grammar system - tis a long way off yet so have no idea if kids will be clever enough or not!

I've got family in both and they're very different. Teddington is very 'London' and TW isn't /could be anywhere. You'll certainly get more house for your money there though.

fwiw if you go for TW you need to look carefully at primary schools. They are horribly oversubscribed in some areas. My SIL is stressing over this at the moment. The school 2 mins walk away from her expects to be oversubscribed next Sept and the nearest school that will have places is several miles away and crap.

Teddington every time .

Here's two reasons why. First, the London access as you say that is important to you. If the trains are up the swanney, you have other options for getting into town from Teddington (i.e. bus and tube) and that can be really useful.

Second, schools. If you don't want to be part of the grammar school system (and think how you'd feel about that if your kids turn out to not be academic) come to somewhere that doesn't have it. Mind, even though Teddington is full of good schools you still need to be careful where you end up for secondary if you have boys. Keep to the SE side, near Teddington school, and you'll be fine.

Trains from TW to London only take 20ish mins longer than trains from Tedd to Waterloo. So it's hardly as if TW is hours and hours away and you could still easily come up to London for lunch/ the day/ shopping/ etc (1hr for TW, 40 mins for Tedd). So I wouldn't make that your only/ main deciding factor.

I grew up near Teddington and we considered moving back in that direction for a while. It's a nice part of the world as far as the London suburbs go. But I find all the SW London pushy mums/ stressing about being within 2 feet of the 'right' school/ fighting over nursery/ play group places, etc, really stifling, so we decided to go out of London. Also, I found growing up in the SW London suburbs unbelievably dull and 'samey'.

Thank you! Yes thought there may be some sw London competitive mum syndrome there but less so than say Wimbledon?
Agree train journey times not actually much in it though to tedd far more frequent and other options plus running and cycling too!
For people who live there - do you like it? What's the feel like in both?

We have to stay within striking distance of city - thought these two places seemed like fairly good options with our budget and family friendly priorities. We like being near green space hence the choices. But can't decide which.

I spent my 20's and 30's living in Twickenham, Kingston, Hampton Wick, Surbiton and loved it. I now live near T Wells and also love it.

If I were you I'd go to Teddington, it sounds much more like you want to. Moving out is great, but not for everyone.

SW London is heaving with competitive mums, Teddington included. But you can screen them out - there's plenty of non-pushy mums to be friends with too. (I like to think of myself as sent into Teddington to give the other mums something to feel superior to - it's kind of my charity work.)

I love living in Teddington - great community spirit, safe, good schools, the river, good high street, you don't need to drive if you don't want to... Having said which, I'd probably like Tunbridge Wells too if fate led me there.

Agree that a commute from Teddington is not great. Slow trains - whereas 5 mins further in, in Twickenham, it's much better. I grew up in Teds, doing that commute to school and hated it. I can see the argument for going further out and gaining the benefits of more space etc for basically the same commute.

OTOH, Teddington is a nice, if very suburban, place. When I grew up it was just an ordinary London suburb. Now, because of house prices and demand for good schools, it seems almost a little bit starry, yummy mummy, when it's actually still just a reasonably ordinary London suburb. Love Bushy Park though.

Have you thought about flood risk, in both places.

You may well find that with all those grammar schools there are plenty of pushy yummy mummys in TW too...

You don't say whether you are/plan to work full or part time or where you/your partner need to commute to but I'd say these are determining factors. If you're both doing the commute 4-5 days a week I'd pick somewhere nearer/easier commute.
Personally I wouldn't want my child to be too far away while dp and I were in central London all week.

Moving out of London can mean one of you giving up work, depending on your job/commute. One of the reasons we didn't move out of London was we didn't intend to have a SAHP and wanted dd to attend a school where lots of parents both worked. I didn't want her to feel left out.

Lots to think about it. Both are nice areas though.

I grew up in Teddington and now live with my 2 children in tunbridge wells. They are both so different in terms of what you want.
When I was growing up - 30 years ago it was a much quieter place and was the cheaper place to live in than Richmond and twickenham. Over the last 10 years it has changed and become much more like the rest of SW London suburbs with lots of yummy parents and more coffee shops then you can shake a stick at. However the high street is now full of lovely shops, everything is in walking distance, bushey park is amazing (miss that lots), it has a local hospital and with a ??1 mill budget you can get a nice house in a fairly good street. Bus routes are good and you are a near Kingston for the bigger shops.
Tunbridge wells is a bit more laid back and within a stones throw from the countryside. It is bigger than ted so everything on a slightly bigger scale - shops, hospital, library, restaurants, etc.. You can walk most places (however MUCH more hilly), there is a large park but not on the same scale as bushey or nearly as nice IMHO.
School wise TW is a grammar school area which I am not used to at all. My dd is in yr 1 and the grammar school talk is certainly there in the background and as they move up becomes more fevered. As I have no experience of a grammar school so it does not bother me at all so do not feel pressure to put a child through it.
I am lead to believe that schools in Teddington as as over subscribed as TW and also have tight catchment areas. Perhaps even more so then around here.

I have done the commute from both places and if I was to put my hand in my heart I prefer the TW one. It is fast and comfortable. However it worked for me as I was working near charing cross and then London bridge. With the Teddington commute it feels slower and the trains get really packed. The only thing in the favour of the Teddington commute is that you can get home from town all through the night with a night bus and the last trains run a lot later. Also when it snows in kent the whole train network shuts down and you cannot get anywhere.
My father worked in the city and did the Teddington to bank commute for 20+ years and he found it very handy but would travel v early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

Both are lovely towns and miss Teddington lots but also love where I live now. Whichever choice you make it will not be a wrong one as both have so much to offer.

Prem I grew up in Twickenham, which like Teddington, was completely ordinary and very dull back in the 80s and 90s. Now, on the odd occasion I go back, I'm always amazed by how yummy mummy it is these days - you can barely move for cupcake shops! But it is also much naicer than it was back then and plenty of things to do with children, etc.

OP, you might consider Twickenham if you want an easier/ quicker journey into London. Although you have to be careful re. schools as there are some 'black spots'. Or Surbiton? Super quick to Waterloo, a bit less 'yummy' and still close to river, Bushy Park, etc.

Thank you this is v helpful. I just don't know how to choose and also I'm not even sure these are right! I want kids to not be bored when they grow up wherever we live, but also want them to have countryside or big parks to play in hence choices. Am a bit scared of both as TW far out and when trains down bit of an issue - we will both be working in London. Tedd is def suburb and scared of suburbia! But have to comprimise somewhere? And could be lot worse! TBH I'd like to live in Brighton but commute too long and DH doesn't like Brighton so that's out. We've also thought about staying more in London central but would live in a box if we were to be near the places I like. And schools good in both these places, though scrum like - yuck!
Have looked at Twickenham but def preferred Ted as felt more villagey.

Why don't you get on a property website and search for a house you like in both areas and then research what it'd be like living there in terms of commute, travel card, council tax, schools, shops, parks and things to do etc.

See if either area has a pull on you after that exercise. Maybe book an overnight in each town and spend a weekend there?

Example. Say you like a house such as any of
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36252774.html
3 bed mid terrace for ??975,000
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35960760.html
5 bed semi in Twickenham for over ??975,000

Compare with
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54146921.html
3 bed terrace for ??925,000
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53181806.html
4 bed detached with scope for improvement(!) at ??850,000

See if you can tune in to a bit of a vibe and go from there.

If you're both working in London, then I'd absolutely stay in London. Nothing more stressful than both of you being buggered by train failure trying to get home to pick up DC from nursery, etc.

??1m gives you lots of options. Have you thought about SE London? I like Herne Hill/ Forest Hill/ etc. Villagey, good green space around, less 'yummy', but still very family friendly. And better transport links - importantly, you have multiple options (various train lines, overground in FH, bus at a push).

Where are you at the moment, by the way?

There is no shortage of pushy/stressy mummies in Tunbridge Wells, I can assure you!! Partly because there are a lot of London 'expats' here and partly because the catchments for primary schools are tiny and shrinking, and the grammar system isn't for everyone. There are huge numbers of clubs and things for preschoolers/after school activities - I haven't got teenagers yet so not sure how much there is for them to do....but there is a cinema, bowling, lots of sports clubs etc

We moved out of London 8 years ago now and are really happy. London is easy to get to (although Southeastern is terrible!), the sea is not that far, we have fabulous countryside on the doorstep and it is more suburban than London....it's a relatively small place, it's easy to forget that most people know each other or know of each other!

If you are both working in London - do think about the commute, and how you will meet people - I worked part time in London when we first moved here and found the commute stressful because the trains were often late, so I was often late home for my nanny....and if I wasn't around at all in the week, I think it may have been hard to meet new people....but it depends how sociable you want to be I guess!

If you are planning to work then I would choose a house nearer your job location - so in this case Teddington. I worked in london when I had DD and went back to work full time and found that the commute back home to TW was too much and never really saw her. After 6 months I jacked it in and took a position in tunbridge wells. For me that meant leaving my career behind (as does not really exist down here) and taking a less paid position. In the end it worked out fine and now have a job which I love but only 10mins away from home. This is much more preferable when being a working mum and is the only way I have been able to keep sane.

Teddington can feel very suburban but I do not think that is a bad thing and TBH tw also has that same feel just with a few hills rolled into it. It is only when you leave the town you feel more countryfied with the tractors and animals.

You will need to talk to admissions if you look at either of those Teddington/Twickenham suggestions. The bigger one is on a very busy main road. It is also in a great position if you only have daughters, but the coed school options are more complicated.
The smaller one is right by the station and park, but I believe can be tricky for primary places. Check out the admissions maps on the Richmond borough website.

Citydweller did consider forest hill but didn't really get it, thought herne hill out of price range? Also I do like access out of london hence the teddington option, though maybe should consider south east london. Commute would be a breeze from there. Oh yeah it was the secondary school thing as we didn't want to move regions again.
Re work - it's a bit tricky as I plan to change jobs soon but not sure where too. I work in publishing so london offers most options, particularly if want to stay part time.
So hard!!

What about this one in Herne Hill?? Looks like you'd be in range of decent schools, etc. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36125532.html

Although, I'm not sure actually whether Herne Hill isn't as 'pushy mummy' as SW London 'burbs. I think you might need to go a bit further out (Honor Oak Park, Forest Hill, Crystal Palace, etc) to get a bit more down to earth.

Where do you both work in London? Because this, I think, is the crucial point. Travelling to Teddington isn't a breeze as the trains aren't as frequent as you think or as regular. Travel to/from TW can be mixed in winter as well and the trains aren't as frequent as if you lived in Tonbridge. But like an earlier poster, I think the commute from TW is easier and more straightforward.

If you are interested in grammar schools, it is easier to get into the grammar schools in TW (and some in Tonbridge) than the Tiffin schools/less local Sutton/Wallington ones. I don't know what the comps are like in TW but there are some good ones in Teddington - Teddington and Waldegrave for girls but there are very small catchment areas for both. But there are 2 great private schools if that is your thing - LEH for girls and Hampton for boys but very competitive to get in.

Having seriously considered moving to both Teddington and TW, I would pick TW over Teddington ( I don't live in either area . I think Teddington is overrated (as is most of SW London and I say that as a resident ). A cutsie high street and a few artsie shops and we're suckered in. You get more for your money in TW and I think the housing stock is nicer - gorgeous Victorian villas.

Have you thought about Tonbridge? I know it's not as naice as TW but the commuting is better as you get both the Sandwich/Deal line trains and the Hastings line trains so its only about 30/35 mins from London. Also, there is a nice big park and outdoor swimming pool and it's only 15 mins from TW. Plus your money might go a bit further

wow - maybe will check out herne hill as well. Oh dear! Need to really think about what the essentials and desirables are. Am a bit scared of the pushy mum thing but the benefits of being near proper green space and having nice high street seems to outweigh this.
I'm struggling a bit with knowing if we would be better in city or town/access to countryside, and what kids would prefer - though Tedd is not really city either. But lots of amenities there. Proper rural does appeal but I think the reality would be too isolating.
Do you think crouch end is pushy ville as well? We did think about there as well but that's even more ??????