Henley-On-Thames as a potential move from SW19

[user1496555930]

Hi, would be keen to hear your thoughts on Henley as a place to live and to commute to London from.
We are thinking of a move out of London but honestly have no idea where we would like to go!
We have been to Henley and loved it, hence why I'm curious.
We have 2 x DS, 2.5 and 3.5 so thinking if schools too.
Thanks!

Henley is great, commute is a nightmare, even if you work in a west London. I know a few people who tried it and a couple who managed it for a couple of years but it's awful. No one felt it was sustainable.

Henley is a gorgeous little town, very expensive though and the problem is the bridge, getting in and out at certain times is a nightmare. There are direct trains to Paddington ie straight through no need to change... Lots of people do commute frome there.

Look at Marlow just as lovely, close to henely, and has far better traffic flow also has train for commute or areas around there.

I live in Maidenhead - so down the road from Henley. Not as pretty as Henley, but much more practical for commuting to London (and Crossrail will make this even more so). Great community and good schools. Another local place to look at is Beconsfield. Beautiful and also direct line into Marylebone.

Henley is wonderful but can get very congested. Look at some of the villages just outside. I can guarantee you are likely to have wonderful neighbours

Thank you for your suggestions! Really helpful x

Yes I'd probably look at going just into Bucks too especially if you have children as Bucks is still a grammar area.

Why not go south from SW19, I think the commute would be easier.

I love Henley and it's one place outside London I could live. It feels very much like Richmond/Wimbledon but with cheaper property. I have agree about the commute though. It's such a shame there's no direct line to London.

I think commuting from Sevenoaks or Guildford is much more doable.
Sevenoaks is a bit small, but it's only 30mins to London Bridge/Victoria. And there are very good schools in the area - it's still got its grammar schools. Guildford, again 30 mins on the fast train. Guildford has very good shops.

Henley is nice but Marlow is my preference- I work in Henley and live in Marlow.

Marlow you have train options into Paddington or drive to Wycombe and super fast to Marlybone.

Marlow smaller then Henley and prob more expensive and better shops. Houses more expensive Marlow.

Henley = Oxfordshire = comprehensive schools = Gillotts v good comp (no rowing)

Marlow = Buckinghamshire = 11+ = 100% selective- Sir William Botlase's Grammar School and Great Marlow School - both amazing. (Both row)

Any things in particular you'd like to know?

Sorry my post rather garbled- houses are more expensive in Marlow then Henley.

Marylebone not Marlybone

Sigh at my lousy typing ^ Sir William Borlase's Grammar School

We're 4 miles from Marlow, 6 from Henley and we MUCH prefer Marlow, it's a lovely, family friendly town with v v good schools. I don't like Henley as even though it has a similar demographic, it takes forever to get anywhere and parking' an utter nightmare.

Come to Marlow or one of the beautiful villages around here.

duckstar never found anyone else from my area :-)

mumblechum0 waves back - I think we must live very close by!!

I agree that Marlow is much nicer then Henley- shops / restaurants fantastic, Pub in the Park was great. Henley is nightmare during Festival and Regatta (although both are ace). Marlow Regatta is fab - my teens love the fair.

Marlow deffo feels a safer town.

Traffic on Reading Road is always ghastly!!

Henley has bigger Waitrose

Great insights-much appreciated. I want to avoid Guildford really, as I know we would prefer a smaller market town. Sevenoaks is lovely but not really on our radar as we are often in Cornwall with family so would prefer to live West of London for ease sake.
Marlow sounds like a good option, does anyone have thoughts on Cookham?

Cookham is lovely at the moment but do bear in mind that in the near future, they will probably build over most of the fields that connect it to Maidenhead. Although they've been threatening that for years so maybe it's to keep the slightly over zealous local planning committee busy...

Marlow is nice but is just getting busier and busier. The Higginson play park is almost unusable on hot days because you can't move for children and you really need to be in a certain area of Marlow for the good primaries.

What's your budget? What do you need from that budget? What sort of things are you looking for?

Ooooh good to know. Well we are looking for a 4 bed house with a decent sized garden. Not far from a train station and in a good school catchment area...where would you recommend and where would you avoid?

Is the HS2 going through that way? Lots of the Chilterns will be badly affected.

No, thankfully HS2 is over on the other side towards Great Missenden, Amersham etc. That said, we're going to have to deal with Heathrow expansion. The plane noise is something you get used to but it's going to get a crap load worse.

What's your budget? Four beds around here are pricey (nothing compared to London though )

Marlow has one primary which has always been looked down on. Essentially it is a very small town and catchment areas aren't large - Bucks CC have catchment maps and postcode checkers and will show distance offered to.

Price wise realistically I would say £800k+ to get somewhere nice - there is very little in the 800-1m range and a lot is silly money

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E916&minBedrooms=4&sortType=1

Marlow Bottom is cheaper and popular with many - it has an excellent music shop.

PearlyPinkNails no HS2 in Marlow

How far is not far from a train station to you guys? The good primaries in Marlow are oversubscribed so you won't get in them out of catchment and the train station is on the other side of Marlow (so not far but a walk nonetheless). One school merges with the RC primary by sending some of the children out to Little Marlow infant which is 3 miles from Marlow. It's a lovely school but means you have to drive and at some point would end up with one child outside Marlow and one inside.

Where you look will totally depend on budget! Train station wise, Marlow would easily be over an hour I would say. Cookham is lovely in the old part but you'd probably want Cookham Rise for the station commute. It is still lovely and far enough away from the development sites. Although not so much of a town, that's in the old bit. I would far prefer Cookham to Beaconsfield. Has more of a soul and has lovely riverside walks.

Cookham is nice. I think Marlow is nicer but schools-wise with oversubscribed schools etc in Marlow it's definitely something to consider.

Worth knowing that cookham, Marlow and Bourne end are all a train ride to maidenhead and then change to go to paddington. The marlow-bourne end- cookham- furze platt- maindenhead line only goes once an hour each day during the day, there are a couple more during rush hour (and potentially one straight through train onto paddington). Lots of people use it.