Abingdon vs Didcot - where to buy property?

[Orchid22]

Hi,
We're looking to buy a house in either Abingdon or Didcot, we're currently renting in Abingdon where I work, and DH is WFH. Given the great connectivity of Didcot to London and much more value for money (big, new houses) we are kinda swayed towards the town (essentially Great Western Park area) but have been reading mixed reviews online. Abingdon is absolutely lovely but the connectivity / amenities are a challenge. We have a 3 year old so would need a good primary school closeby. We have already looked at Wallingford, Cholsey, Wantage and nearby towns and settled with these final 2 options.. I have tried to search for more recent threads on this topic but only found ones that are few years old and I believe Didcot has developed a lot more since then.
Any insights / recommendations / places to look at / avoid, would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.

Interesting that you’ve discounted Cholsey, Wallingford and Wantage already. You couldn’t pay me enough money to live in Didcot (sorry anyone who lives in Didcot), so out of the two, I’d choose Abingdon. If it was me I’d go for Wantage or one of the villages on the edge of the Berkshire Downs.

(I live in London but grew up near Wantage and went to school in Abingdon. Didcot was an absolute dump in the 80s and 90s but may be better now)

Sorry, that’s not at all helpful. I’m sure someone with more current and specific knowledge will come along soon 😬

I'm with Ypsilanti but I haven't lived round there since 2006 either. We kept trying to move to Didcot but just couldn't face it.

Do schools matter? Again, may well be out of date but I think Abingdon might have better schools? Certainly Didcot's were quite poor when I lived there, we would have been looking at the train to Reading for the grammar (girl's in our case) I think, but that's highly competitive and quite a specific type of school. As it was we moved across the country (to somewhere cheaper!) so not sure what things are like now.

Thank you @Ypsilanti & @Nacreous. Appreciate your honest views :) Wantage doesn't have the best train connectivity unfortunately, closest is Didcot which is about 7-8 miles and the traffic in mornings is not great (from what I've heard). Didcot seems to have new Primary schools with "good" / "outstanding" Ofsted in the last few years. I may re-look at Cholsey now that you're saying :) but the town centre doesn't seem to have any major shops, cafes?
Are the villages around Didcot any better? Harwell, Hagbourne?
Thanks again!

I live in Abingdon and agree with the pp that I wouldn't want to live in Didcot (and certainly not GWP). However, if you need to travel to London regularly, then Didcot is far more convenient. Didcot also has a far superior shops. I can't offer any insight into schools unfortunately.
Have you considered Witney at all? I work there and it is a lovely town. Arguably nicer than Abingdon, but with the shops to rival Didcot.

Blewbury is lovely

We’re Drayton. My dd1 commutes to London-probably a 10 min drive from us to Didcot Parkway. She’s looking at buying a house at Great Western Park. Ladygrove is nice (I think within walking distance of the station) and Blewbury is lovely-a bit further out though. Harwell is nice as well. I quite like Didcot-it has some dodgy areas-like most towns, but they’ve improved the shopping centre and millions are being spent improving the infrastructure. There’s a new secondary school, and a new technical college, not sure about primaries.
Wantage is lovely but I think you’ve heard correctly-the traffic from Wantage into Didcot in the mornings is generally very heavy. I drive to Wantage every morning and am always glad I’m going the other way to everyone else.

Thank you @Helloguvnor. I haven't checked Witney yet but will certainly do now.. how is it? Good shops / cafes / restaurants? Nice family atmosphere?

Thanks @TimeWastingButFun. I checked Blewbury and it looks lovely.. the houses seem to be expensive there? Any idea if the commute into Didcot station would be challenging in the morning traffic?

Thank you @MaisyMary77. I agree with you, every town has some dodgy to-be-avoided areas. Think didcot suffers from a bad reputation in the past and reps die hard. How's Drayton btw? Glad to get your first-hand experience about the traffic from Wantage-Didcot (albeit fron the other side of the road :))

Any other current residents of Harwell, Hagbourne's, Didcot - please can you enlighten me about your experiences in and around the town?

Many thanks!

None of the towns that don't have a train link. The traffic is seriously bad now, it's not worth it.

Long Wittenham is what you need. Excellent primary, close to Didcot but still rural, and close to the train

Abingdon and Didcot were awful 20 years ago. They haven't improved.

Or one of the hagbournes

Witney is definitely worth a look. All the normal- Next/marks/joules/h& m/ waitrose/ sainsbury's etc . Lots of cafes. Very good primary schools. 2 secondaries. Family oriented. Long hanbourough link to London.

Didcot no.... Abingdon ok

Not Witney if you need to commute to London.

Didcot to Paddington = 40 mins
Witney to Paddington = several days.

Seriously though, it's 30 mins to Hanborough, then if you can park its another 1:10 to London.
Alternatively you can spend an hour on a bus to Oxford station, then an hour on the train. Don't do that to yourself

I'm in Didcot. Previously lived in Abingdon and said no way would I move to Didcot but then saw how much more I could get for my money, viewed the house I'm currently in and fell in love. Now I have no idea why I discounted it! The shopping and transport links are FAR better than surrounding towns, the town centre has been developed, there are loads of young families around, plenty of parks, nice walks nearby, decent schools. Personally I'd look on Ladygrove rather than GWP.....houses more spaced out and shorter walk to town and the station.

Used to live in Harwell. It was nice but really boring. No where interesting to walk, had to drive everywhere. We felt trapped in the house.
We are now in a village between Didcot and Abingdon and we love it. The Drayton/Milton/Sutton Courtney/Culham area. We drive to Didcot for our shopping (orchards centre is decent for bits and sainsburys) but also a stone's throw from Abingdon and the independent high street, river walks and Waitrose + other useful shops like B&M, trade shops etc. Decent walks in the village too. We catch trains to Paddington from Didcot, but we do go for trains around 7am which is quiet. They've just built huge parking structures. If you don't mind changing in Oxford or Didcot, then there's also smaller stations like radley and Appleford. Appleford also seems another reasonable village but I haven't spent much time there. Traffic in Abingdon and Didcot is awful at rush hour. GWP is way to American suburbia for my liking, just new houses. Some lovely new builds in the villages between Abingdon and Didcot, as well as older houses. If I were buying in the area, I'd look at the Redrow homes at Milton Hights for quality and style. But not ideal location.

Thanks very much all for the very helpful inputs.. will certainly check Long Whiteman / Witney (being mindful of the drive to the station!) / Hagbournes / Drayton / SC & other areas. Exciting house-hunting begins! :)

@Orchid22 Drayton is lovely. We’ve been here almost 10 years. Very welcoming! It’s changed quite a bit with all the new builds but I think they’ve done a good job with how they’ve laid out the new estates; Edward Park and The Dovecote are really nice.
Have fun house-hunting!! So exciting!

Hello @Orchid22, we are exactly in the same situation as you were a couple months ago. Probably you have done your move already. Can you please give me some advice? We are thinking of Didcot too, but has very mixed reviews and reputation. My partner works in Harwell, and we need a very good primary school too, my daughter is 7. And thinking to buy a new build home. Any insights , recommendations , places to look at / avoid, would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.