Moving to Gerrards Cross

[londoner28]

Help! We've found a dream house in Gerrards Cross, but don't know the area very well. After living in London 20 odd years I'm getting the fear that GX will be too quiet and 'soul-less' (not my words... I read this somewhere else on mumsnet!) I'm unsure about the community there as opposed to where we live now (as GX is so much more spacious and not crammed on top of one another!). I have two primary school-aged kids and want to ensure it's the right move for them and us. Can anyone living there give me some reassurance PLEASE!!! :)

Prime commuter belt central, which is a family lifestyle I am sure you can picture.

If that's what you want (and I am not saying its wrong at all, it may chime exactly with your own circs!), then go for it.

(Strictly personally speaking, I found it all rather keeping up with the joneses and not a little bit desperate housewives type vibe. I wouldn't want to live there, but then I am not the target market as I am single and no kids)

GX, Beaconsfield and The Chalfonts is all about keeping up with the Jones’s if you’re looking at houses at £3m+

Just make sure you’re avoiding the HS2 route.

It's pretty boring (but very safe) out there after London, but presumably you been there to have a look, so you know what to expect?
Are you sending the dc private?

Thanks everyone. Food for thought.
@fastliving I was planning to send the kids to a state school. The boredom factor, and the lack of social diversity worries me I must admit. I don't really like the thought of my kids growing up in a socially overprivileged bubble. Maybe I have chosen the wrong place entirely! :) Ha!

You aren't going to get much of the things that you value from a London life....but it will be green and the Chilterns are beautiful,
(And the train to London is very good).
You could get a dog ?

We are moving away from there in the next couple of weeks.
It is quiet, but it’s lovely and very safe.
It’s an older population and not as showy as beaconsfield.

Thanks @fastliving. I have a dog already, but perhaps there will be room for a couple more 😀

Thanks @Karcheer. Can I ask why you’re moving away? (Feel free to tell me to mind my own bloomin’ business 😀)

The Gerrards Cross School is full at the moment in every year. (It used to be plain old Gerrards Cross Combined School). You will need to check which schools in the vicinity have vacancies. Fulmer does at the moment. But it’s an infant school.

I think GX is lovely but most people I’ve known from there made friends via school. The detached houses are: detached! In all sorts of ways. You don’t need £3m to live there. I prefer the villages around Beaconsfield. Beaconsfield has Waitrose and GX has Tesco. Neither are London but Beaconsfield is more chic with yummy mummy’s everywhere! Cafes are better in Bfield.

@londoner28 I grew up in Essex and I miss my family and friends, so we are moving there, but I’m very nervous about it, as I really like it here now. We’ve been here 9 years. I moved here from East london and it was a massive cultural shock, I’m not going to lie!
We wanted to move to beaconsfield initially but in retrospect I’m glad we didn’t. I know most of the shop owners and although it’s a town now, feels quite village like.