Living within one hour of Cardiff

[Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear]

We currently live in Newport but plan to move within the next 18mo to 2 years. DH needs to be within an hour of Cardiff for work and needs to be able to get to London fairly easily on occasion.

We have a 5yo DS so don't want to be too remote.

Where if you could live anywhere within an hour of Cardiff would you live? We love Monmouthshire but I worry it wouldn't be great for a teen. I feel that there are probably some areas around Cardiff which are lovely but which I know nothing about as didn't grow up in South Wales.

Cowbridge will be crsp for teens as public transport dire, unless you want to spend that stage if your kids lives doing endless lifts.
Pick somewhere with a train station close by. Llantwit Major over Cowbridge any day, fir the train albeit, its the slow train into Cardiff.

So Monmouthshire seems to be out due to lack of Welsh medium education. We will probably move that way when DS is an adult.

DH is warming towards being near Cardiff but still wants to be a bit rural. His office will be on the West Side of Cardiff so he is keen on areas around Penarth such as Sully. Online Sully looks quite nice and has a beach, a couple of pubs etc. Anyone know anything about it? No train station but a good bus service into Cardiff.

Is Dinas Powys nice?

Ysgol Pen Y Garth would be the catchment school, looks nice and has a good rating.

as you correctly say, Sully is well served by buses into Cardiff, and is roughly equidistant between Pen y Garth and Bro Morgannwg (Welsh language comprehensive situated in Barry). In non covid times the Urdd run a lot of extra curricular activities to offer Welsh outside the classroom, and Menter Bro Morgannwg run summer camps too

Property prices will run at a premium (not quite as high as Penarth, but not far off it). There's a lot of new builds currently under way and more in the pipe line so no shortage of housing stock. Houses there are predominantly more modern (mostly 1930s onwards)

As a village, there won't be masses in the way of teen friendly entertainment, but with Cardiff easily reachable by a 20 minute bus ride you wouldn't have to feel like you were running a taxi service either.

With Penarth, Barry and Cardiff all more on less on your doorstep it is a lovely place to base yourself

Sully is pleasant but there are not many amenities there, not even a supermarket. You do get more for your money there than in Cardiff or Penarth.

Dinas Powys is very nice and there are more traditional houses there near the village or newer more reasonable homes on the outskirts. It is more built up than Sully. Only problem there is the traffic into Cardiff is a nightmare (and from Sully for that matter in the mornings) but it is not so bad at the moment due to lockdown and schools closed.

Dinas Powys is also a village, but bigger than Sully with a greater range of shops, pubs, eateries. Well served by buses and trains. Distance wise again very conveniently distanced from the Welsh primary and secondary.

Parts of it are liable to flood so if you do choose to buy there you will need to do your research carefully

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/75450732#/
I think you would like Penarth.

Thanks all :) DH really wants rural while I really want easy public transport access to a large town or city so Sully and Dinas Powys seem to meet these criteria! We are looking at the new builds on Cog Road in Sully which seem to offer what we want for our budget :)

I worte a long reply but couldn't post op. I suggested ponty as well, I'm an hour away, the other side slof swansea and rarely go to Cardiff now because we have the gower and other places such as tenby and saundersfoot 45 min away. My friend lived in sully, and I have friends in dinas powys. Nice location and not to far from beaches etc.

Yes Ponty is definitely worth a look. Some great properties there. Not sure what the Welsh scho would be though: both Garth Olwg and Cymer pretty close.

It has lots of history, a fab park, a university and the Lido. Town centre not great though. Excellent links and relatively cheap and varied housing

Thanks all :) Can't wait until lockdown is over and we can actually visit places and see what they are like.

We are interested in this development in Sully at the moment so will make it a priority to visit once we are allowed.

www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-74066877.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-74066874.html

You might like this too www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/vale-of-glamorgan/h721401-scholars-park/plot-71/ Seems to be the last house though!

Bassaleg/rogerstone? Outskirts of Newport but decent transport links to Cardiff, and secondary WM at duffyrn now. Rural but still has a small lot of shops. Easy access to M4

I loved living in Tongwynlais. It's Cardiff, but it definitely thinks it's a village and has a lovely community (especially with children).

DD went to Welsh medium school in Gwaelod y Garth just down the road and loved it there. We're definitely more country than town people (went into the centre perhaps once a year!) and there are lovely walks up the Garth, Forest Fawr, down the Taff Trail etc.

Really good bus service into the centre, easy access to M4 and you can cycle into the centre off road pretty much the whole way. House prices much more reasonable than the Vale I think - you could get a nice house for £400k

Swansea. I grew up in Gowerton. Train station to Swansea which has a direct route to London. Gateway to the Gower. Two comprehensives with good reputations, English and Welsh. Newly built primary school. Sports centre, Chinese and Indian takeaways, chip shop, GP surgery, Harvester, Co-op, vets, pubs, on the Wales cycle track, golf course.

If you want value for money but convenience for Cardiff I’d suggest Caerphilly, or Cwmbran

@UnconsideredTrifles

I loved living in Tongwynlais. It's Cardiff, but it definitely thinks it's a village and has a lovely community (especially with children).

DD went to Welsh medium school in Gwaelod y Garth just down the road and loved it there. We're definitely more country than town people (went into the centre perhaps once a year!) and there are lovely walks up the Garth, Forest Fawr, down the Taff Trail etc.

Really good bus service into the centre, easy access to M4 and you can cycle into the centre off road pretty much the whole way. House prices much more reasonable than the Vale I think - you could get a nice house for £400k

I grew up there. 💕

Absolutely a village, even with all the additional housing built in the last 20-30 years. I went to the primary school in the 80s - there were 16 of us in my year. Still in touch with most of the kids I grew up with too. Something very special about it.

Welsh medium primary next village to Gowerton. Gowerton also has a Tesco Express and other shops.

Creigiau and Pentyrch are lovely areas but they don't have good transport links. There's not a lot going on for a teenager and you'd be playing taxi if he wanted to go anywhere. Radyr is nice and easy to commute into Cardiff plus it's the same catchment area for schools as Creigiau and Pentyrch.

I’d avoid Caldicot, Magor and Langstone . Just large housing estates with zero amenities

I don't think £400k will get you much in Cowbridge, have you thought about Bridgend? There are some really lovely parts and it's on the main London train line. Added bonus that Ogmore and Porthcawl are on your doorstep.

Cowbridge IS lovely, and prices are always going to reflect that. But on the verges of the Vale there are places like Llanharan, Llantrisant and Talbot Green, and even Bridgend which have better rail links and amenities and may still fit the brief.

OP is spoilt for choice. Looks as though she's keen on Sully which is another good choice.

I live in Dinas Powys. No links to the area whatsoever previously (neither of us are Welsh) and we love it. Looked at Sully before settling here with three DC and planning ahead, wanted now teens to be reasonably self sufficient travel wise so proximity to train station swung it as Sully doesn’t have that.
One child still in primary but not Welsh medium but lots of my DC’s friends have gone to Pen y Garth and secondary to Bro M and both seem great.
Dinas Powys still has a village feel in that you get to know people pretty quickly but all benefits of being near sea and city centre. Plus the woodlands are spectacular.

Thanks all. Once lockdown is over we will be visiting all the main places in the Vale. Definitely not decided on Sully, really interested in Dinas Powys, Cowbridge and Llantwit Major too. Both DH and I are keen on a new build and we have seen some nice ones in budget in all those places :) excited to have a choice of so many lovely places!

Neath?
Ystalyfera has a good reputation as far as I know.
Bryncoch, Cadoxton, Pontardawe, Tonna, Skewen.
Neath is 40 mins by train from Cardiff on Swansea Paddington line, and you'll get a lot for your money.

Watching this thread with interest as we have just sold our house in Llanishen and have the same budget and requirements as you OP! There really doesn't seem to be much coming on the market at the moment. We really like Lisvane, Rhiwbina and Radyr in the North Cardiff belt, but as others have said they're expensive areas (for good reason!) so you just don't get a lot of house for the price. Ditto Cowbridge. We're subsequently looking outside of Cardiff to get more for our budget but then finding it hard to work out whether elsewhere would feel too quiet given we're used to living in Cardiff now. Best of luck with your search when the time comes!