Moving from N.London to Kent - tips on nice towns commutable to London and Chatham!?

[biscottie]

Hi,

My husband and I are thinking about moving out of London to Kent, but as we've lived in North London for years and don't know the county we need some help to decide where!

Does anyone have advice on where's nice - a town NOT a village?? Obvs decent schools and ideally with a nice high street with shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs etc...

It would need to be max an hour train from London, which is where I work, and also less than 60 mins drive to Chatham, where my husband works. There's a possibiity that he'll move back to London for work in the next 5 years, which would mean the two of us commuting into London. So we need to think about balancing travel costs too....

So many things to take into account! It feels quite daunting so any advise would be appreciated!

Faversham? Not sure of the commuting times but pretty small town, great countryside and the sea nearby.

Chatham is an hour to London on the train, could you not look there so you would only need to factor for one commute? Chatham high street is not the best but if you moved nearish to the motorway (Walderslade/lordswood area) then it's just as quick to drive to Maidstone high street which is much nicer.

I posted on your other thread to suggest Rochester. Depending on where you lived/your dh works, he could walk or cycle to work.

Faversham is 30 minutes further from London, and quite pricey..

I wouldn't rate Maidstone for shopping (or anything much, really); Canterbury is much nicer.

Tunbridge Wells? Has good train links into London and can't be more than an hour's drive to Chatham. Lovely High Street with the Pantiles at the end but a modern shopping centre at the other. Lots of cafes and restaurants and very good schools (including excellent grammar schools) I used to live there myself but moved out to a village as love country living 😀

@MissLingoss yes I don't know why I didn't think of Rochester, I've Lived and worked there 😂 definitely agree. I only suggested Maidstone as I don't think Chatham itself has much that the op is after. Also easy to get to bluewater although no idea what the schools in Rochester are like

Bromley, Beckenham, Orpington, Dartford, Sevenoaks (if commuting to Chatham by road)

Thanks for your suggestions everyone! Much appreciated.

I like the sound of Rochester after a bit of reading up, though husband does not like Chatham - hence why we're not looking there! But Rochester sounds like it has a bit more about it with the old high street. I think Faversham is a bit far away for the London commute.

But Bromley and Beckenham are places I'd not thought of.

Thank you!
But

Folkestone?? We moved here a year ago and wish we had done it sooner. Commute still under an hour. And although it is a pricey train journey on HS1 the good service coupled with the amount of property you can get for your money here more than make up for it. The architecture here is stunning, gorgeous countryside abounds and the beaches are to die for. We know most of Kent pretty well and discounted this part of it for years, but so pleased we revisited it and made the leap...

We moved out of town about 3 years ago and looked at both Rochester and Chatham. We ended up in Chatham, live in the centre close to the station and have no regrets.
I believe the grammar schools are good and St. Andrews Nursery gets good results and was in the Times Top 30? Prep Schools a couple of years ago.

Rochester is definitely nicer than Chatham. There is a large housing development (1000+ homes) next to Rochester station which will hopefully mean the town can sustain more high quality bars and restaurants. However the extra housing supply might bring down housing prices and will likely make it trickier to get a seat on the trains to town. The small downside to both Chatham and Rochester are the lack of supermarkets.

Chatham doesn't deserve the reputation it has - I have lived in worse parts of London eg Finsbury Park. The high street (Chatham to Rochester) is getting better with organic food shops, hipster cafes, cake shops, live music bars, real ale micropubs etc opening in the past two years.

Bexleyheath? About half an hour into London and driving distance to Chatham I believe... (Please buy my house XD)

Having lived in this whole area I’d say Faversham or Canterbury. Rochester does sound more up and coming then when I knew it well so wouldn’t rule it out and it’s cheaper than the other two. I’d avoid Chatham and Gillingham and Strood even though they do have some lovely villages around the strood area.

Ashford Kent is 37 minutes by train to St Pancras station in London. The houses in Jemmett Road are only 10 minutes walk to the railway station.

@ashford54321 this is a very old thread but how nice to see someone painting Ashford in a positive light! You didn't mention how fabulous the park is these days.

How about Shooters Hill? Love it here and just down the road to Blackheath