Where on earth can we live?

[secretbookcase]

DH and I live in a wealthy commuter village. Not our sort of place really and we need to sell up and find somewhere cheaper now DC are grown.
We both work from home but I have meetings in London once, sometimes twice a week, so would like to be within reachable distance (1.5 hours max ideally).

We're looking for somewhere that has a very good cultural life (bookshops, indie cinemas, a theatre etc) and is not obsessed with money and status. Would need a station with reasonably easy access to London. DH wants close access to greenery so not a big city. More a market town perhaps.

We have about £600k and want 4 beds and a big garden which seems increasingly hard to find.

Do you live in a place like this or know of one?

East Midlands - around Newark (1hr 15 to King's X) or around Lincoln.

Tunbridge Wells maybe?

Or the surrounding villages/outskirts of Andover or Whitchurch in Hampshire. Waterloo is direct in approx 1hr.

Faversham council is Lib Dem dominated

If you’re going to be using the A303 to get into London…and live in Frome or Bruton. Then that’s a horrible horrible commute with single lane traffic and always accidents etc.

@ivykaty44

I’m also Curie, as the other pp was - what’s laughable about Leamington 😂

I don't know. I asked him and he shrugged and said, 'Isn't that where all the Warwick students live?' as though that was an answer.

I'm going to look into Leamington because it sounds pretty and it's near to Birmingham and Stratford to culture fixes.

Lots of Warwick uni students live in one part of Leamington, yes. But so do lots of people who work at JLR, Aston Martin, WMG, MTC and all the big Coventry employers, also people who work in Birmingham because of the train. Look at the house prices, students can't afford those!

(Mosy of the students live in the area closest to the station). Some parts of North Leamington in particular are very posh, although part of Whitnash are also very desirable

Chester, may push the commute a little but lovely rural location

Uckfield is lovely. Look at Sussex, lots of nice places in east and West Sussex.
Horsham is nice and ticks your wish list but you won’t get a four bed with big garden for £600K

I know Sussex well and would much prefer Lewes to Uckfield.
Lewes has history, and proximity to Brighton.
Where are your grown up children living?

Grown up DC are London and Cotswolds but could move often. Not settled yet.

Some of the places suggested on here are lovely but out of our price range.

@Time40

Folkestone? I don't know how good the cultural life is there, but there is at least something of one.

I came here to say exactly the same! Folkestone is lovely - good choice of beautiful housing stock, creative vibe (complete with a great live music venue called The Quarterhouse), gorgeous walks through the Victorian botanical gardens. Plenty of independent restaurants and little pubs/bars springing up, too.

Have you though about Stamford, although saying that it might push your budget.

Norwich? Plenty within budget. Direct trains to London are often more like 2 hours but there are some 90 minute services. Great access to countryside and amazing beaches, indie cinema and theatre, art school has good exhibitions.

Vale of Belvoir. It's 10 mins from Newark/Grantham stations which are 1 hour to London on the east coast line.

Beautiful countryside on your doorstep, Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham cities within 40 mins drive.

Foodie heaven. Stilton, pork pies etc are all made here.

I was going to suggest Norwich as well but though it would be too far. But it's a great place to live with the Norwich lanes, independent theatres and cinemas as well as easy reach to countryside, the broads and the coast.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110037011#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110037011#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114459311#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113752040#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112173035#/media?channel=RES_BUY&id=media1

West bridgford, close to nottinghsm but has its own decent high street with good restaurants, nice parks, cafe culture, great schools. Also good for sports like football,cricket, water sports

Or what about Diss and surrounding villages, I always think it's a hidden gem.
Hour and a half to London on the train, easy drive to Bury St Edmunds and 20 odd minutes on the train to Norwich if you fancy the theatre etc and don't want to drive.

York

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112423703#/?channel=RES_BUY

Bodicote is a nice village just outside Banbury

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114837353#/?channel=RES_BUY

@justaweeone

Or what about Diss and surrounding villages, I always think it's a hidden gem. Hour and a half to London on the train, easy drive to Bury St Edmunds and 20 odd minutes on the train to Norwich if you fancy the theatre etc and don't want to drive.

I had relatives who lived in Diss and they adored it. Were really sad when they had to move because of work. I never visited but everyone else in the family did and loved it. Thank you for the suggestion. Off to RightMove it.

Good luck Op
I'm biased but I really do think this part of Norfolk is undiscovered ( sshh don't tell anyone😁)

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/59937583/?search_identifier=1e729cd0bed43f46a21f229e36973953

Big problems with drugs in Stroud, the public toilets were closed for ages because of people using them to inject. Keith Allen lives locally ( not in Stroud itself) and his wife had a lovely little diner in one of the nicer streets. Criminals smashed all the windows of the shops there. I live in a nearby village and sometimes go in for a concert at the sub rooms or to the farmers market but I wouldn't want to live there. For anyone with a family it is OK if you can get your children into the grammar schools but the comps are very mixed