Where to live??

[LouE]

Hi,
My husband has just got a new job in London (Canary Wharf) and we now need to move from the New Forest to somewhere commutable (i.e. within an hour of waterloo). At the moment our best bet of choosing somewhere is by sticking a pin in a map!! I have no idea where is nice to bring up children (I have a 1 year old daughter and definitely am planning more!), with good schools and a nice area in general.

Can anyone recommend anywhere? PLEASE??!

Thanks and sorry to be so vague!!

Lou

East Sheen - lots of lovely people {grin], good primary schools, 20 mins to Waterloo, walking distance to Richmond Park (no I am not an estate agent, nor selling my house....)

Waterloo ain't a great commute to Docklands - why not go E into Essex?

Petersfield and surrounding areas are LOVELY!

i grew up in liphook
still seems friendly
on main train line to waterloo and portsmouth
good luck with your move
my parents are still there years and years on

Hi Lou - I'm from New Forest too! But have lived in London (now Kent) for last 10 years. I would say anywhere around East Sussex area would be nice - not as expensive as Surrey, but still quite green and countryfied. Or, anywhere around Tunbridge Wells or Sevenoaks in Kent is nice? Depends on how much you have to spend on a house really!

Ha, and there's me thinking of moving back!

I think you need to say what yr rough budget is, and what are the deal breakers (big garden, small commute, good deli) are.

new job in canary wharf
what about Essex
DLR goes straight into the wharf - DH used to hop on the central line and then the DLR - less than an hour
essex is great - you have Epping FOrest, great transport links (M25 and M11), lakeside (for shopping) - all good stuff

budget and requirements please

Message withdrawn

loue-Hi,I'm in the new forest aswell.I have friends in Battle ,East Sussex which is really nice.Not sure of the commute.

What about around the Arundel area,also lovely.

I would move closer than 1 hour if you can. Every minute spent commuting is less time at home. A 1 hour commute is 14 hours a week. what about essex or herts so he doesnt have to go accross London?

See what trainlines go direct to Canary Wharf, trace the line back through all the towns under one hour away, Google the OFSTED reports for their schools, and don't buy anything either a) near a river, or b) within 30 feet of a London plane tree looks ruefully at subsidence

Message withdrawn

kookaburra are you an sw14er??

LouE
How about Winchester
or Alton
or Kent on the Line to London Bridge so Tunbridge Wells etc
or Brighton
or Lewes (not sure about the commute)

there are a zillion threads in the archives on this

actually, that wasn't very helpful was it

without knowing your budget, tis impossible to tell

but if you have loads of dosh, somewhere in north london on the jubilee line would be vaaaaary nice

CD - yes am SW14-er - u2?
Re-emphasise the one-hour ish commute, because getting home for bedtime as often as possible gets more important as the DC get bigger, and if dads can do at least some of the bedtime stories it is magical for them and the DC. My DS1 (9) is quite self- sufficinet normally and the little bits we glean from him about his worries etc are from the quick convo he has with DH at bedtime on the 2-3 times a week he gets home in time...

yes I am
there are lots of us!

Thanks everyone for your advice. Will begin my search!!!!

We live in Kelvdon - voted 2nd best commuter hotspot in the Evening STandard on Friday!

Is 45 minutes from Liverpool Street but the trains stop at Stratford so you can cross onto the DLR.

Is small village near enough to Colchester for lovely shops and lots of things for the kids. Loads of open space and fresh air!

The local school is very small and fantastic - better than my DDs last Catholic School which I didn't think could be beaten.

There is a nursery for little ones, a church, doctors, dentist, co-op, deli and a few pubs - to be honest we are just getting to know the place and settling in but it is lovely compared to SE London where we used to live.