Bedfordshire/Cambridgeshire/Bucks

[excitedanxiousyorkshire]

Where to move?
Relocating from up north.
Need a well connected market town or largish village with a good bus/train service as I don't drive.
Ideally somewhere with things to do, don't want to be too isolated but also don't want to live in a big town/city. Minimal deprivation a must.
Anyone in Beds/Herts/Bucks/Cams with any tips?
Thanks!

Ely is also nice has train station and facilities but again train goes into Cambridge. Houses in that price range.

Depends on your definition of rough.

There are rough places but outside of Luton and some bits of Bedford absolutely nowhere is that rough. They might like to think they are, but having moved jobs to somewhere with real deprivation, there is nothing here on that level.

I don't think we even lock our door overnight.

However - reliable bus services. In a village it might be once a week. In these parts you need a car.

If you absolutely want minimal deprivation then the prices will be £££ (South Cambs). If you just want normal people in normal villages then most of the area is great but you will die without a car.

Reminding myself where Silsoe is on the map, everywhere around it is nice - Ampthill, Flitwick, Shefford, Hitchin, Letchworth.

Gives you options of Bedford, Luton, Biggleswade or Hitchin/Letchworth for work so well located - but travel is going to be the issue. It's a car economy round here.

I live in a village on beds/bucks border and buses are hourly

It's not quite a drastic as people think out here

Whether they go direct to where u need to go however is another question....

@PrayingandHoping

I live in a village on beds/bucks border and buses are hourly

It's not quite a drastic as people think out here

Whether they go direct to where u need to go however is another question....

That's what I thought! Once hourly isn't too bad! Can I ask where you live? Would you say it's possible to do a daily commute on the bus where you are? Thankyou :-)

Don't really want to give actual village but it's in the whipsnade zoo area.

I have never looked at the bus timetable but I'm sure google would answer for u! I think they go to Dunstable/ Luton or Aylesbury

Our buses are half hourly every day from our village. I wouldn't recommend using it for commuting - think a train would be much more reliable for times and almost everyone uses a car to commute unless walkable or cyclable. It's not impossible though - I would strongly recommend testing the route first and getting a bus earlier than needed incase of heavy traffic / its full / cancelled.

I lived in Wilstead for 7 years and loved it there..but like everywhere it's grown bigger with new houses everywhere. You have to be able to drive to live there as there are no shops but it had a lovely village atmosphere that was only 10 mins from Bedford.

Does the bus go where you want it to go? Are you happy with it always being late? And can you put up with it stopping in every single village en route? are the key questions.

I can drop non-driving DH off at a bus stop where theoretically the bus goes every 30 minutes. Only it doesn't and what is a 30 min car journey is 90 min bus journey.

He hates the bus.

Letchworth has areas of deprivation (I still wouldn't call it rough though) but they're easy to avoid (Jackmans for sure, and technically the Grange and some of the Wilbury area, this is mostly as they have council housing), though they will also include property in your price range (and the Grange for example is full of first-time buyer houses). Letchworth works well as a town wherever you live - it's all walkable to the centre. Hitchin is much bigger.

Baldock might suit you better - less deprivation (if any?), reasonably priced property, not too big.

Out of all the places you mentioned OP, Ampthill is by far the nicest. Silsoe and Barton are both quite a way from the nearest train stations but definitely drive-able. Some parts of Flitwick are nice and you'd then be closer to the train station

Hitchin is lovely and sounds like what you would be after, but I think out of your price range

@loobyloo1234

Out of all the places you mentioned OP, Ampthill is by far the nicest. Silsoe and Barton are both quite a way from the nearest train stations but definitely drive-able. Some parts of Flitwick are nice and you'd then be closer to the train station

Hitchin is lovely and sounds like what you would be after, but I think out of your price range

Thanks for this :-)

Buses are pretty dire. If you want to be nearish to Silsoe but also connected train wise then some parts of Flitwick are ok. Ampthill is better but obviously further to the station. Harlington also on the same train line and worth looking at too. Hitchin isn't rough but it is a town so again chose the part of the town carefully. Further up and down that train line are also worth looking at. Biggleswade will be cheaper and I would say its a town thats improving and getting to be a nice place to live but not as well regarded as Hitchin, again parts of will be better than others. Arlesey I wouldn't chose but I'm sure its actually probably fine, its just historically the poorer alternative to all the nicer surrounding villages in that area.