Rrlocating to Saffron Walden?

[Veglib]

Hi, im not sure the best place to post this. Me and my husband and 2 children are looking to relocate from Royston possibly to Saffron Walden,as my dd starts school next year and the schools seem to be very good. I have a lot of questions and was hoping for some help... If we move into the town (and this very much depends on how much we can sell our house for) then which areas should we avoid? Are there any dodgy bits?

Are there many parent and baby groups? Is it easy to fit into local life with children? Is the commute to the station ok by bike or bus?

I'd also like to know which schools are the best- RAB and Katherine Semnar look good, but are there any others? We would also consider Gt Chesterford but I'm not sure which secondary school the primary would feed into and a bit less keen on a faith school.

Sorry for all the questions, husband isn't 100% so i need to convince him that SF will be an improvement.Any selling points would be great.

Hi @Veglib

Saffron Walden does have everything you're looking for. Not much for teenagers but they seem to manage ok!

There aren't really any areas to avoid although some streets/areas are more salubrious than others.

Primary schools are all pretty good. RAB Buttler has the best reputation, followed by Katherine Semar. But they are all good. I am not familiar with any of them though.

If you want to be in the catchment for SW County High (secondary) you do need to be in SW itself. Which is a shame as there are some lovely villages.

Re: the station - catching the bus is the usual. A few cycle but not that many do as there are lots of fast country roads. Lots of people drive but parking is expensive.

Any other questions let me know!

There is a shed load of baby groups in saffron walden, there is also quite a popular Facebook page (rather unfortunately titled “Saffron Walden Yummy Mummies” - although I think the name is tongue in cheek!) which is very active, and people often arrange get togethers, both with and without kids.

I’m not sure about the schools, other than to echo that if you want County High for secondary, you will definitely need to be in town itself. For the surrounding villages, I think it is Joyce Franklin(?) in Newport.

There are no obviously terrible areas to live, but as the previous poster said, there are definitely some more desirable parts. Feel free to ask any other questions. I don’t live in a walden, but one of the villages across the border in Cambridgeshire, so visit a lot and have lots of friends there.

Hello both,

Sorry for my late reply, I didn't get a notification of your responses. These are very much appreciated thank you! Our house is on the market and we are trying to find something in the tow. Within budget. Most of the houses we like are in the catchment for st. Mary's which is a pain as it's a faith school. We'll keep looking though. I may have more questions so really appreciate your help x

Veglib I’m also hoping to move to saffron walden soon, have had an offer on a house accepted so was pleased to see this thread.

We are in London and are super happy here so it feels quite a big step to move out but I’m hoping saffron walden will have a special charm all of its own.

Congrats Camparisafari. Good luck with the move! We've both lived in London in the past and slowly moved more into suburbia. The yummy mummy group mentioned above is really useful to get a feel for local life. I think we may find it hard to adjust from everything we know too, but hoping it'll be worth it in the end :)