Reading?

[KobaniDaughters]

I don’t know much about Reading at all but found there are several schools that teach Mandarin there (we’re moving from abroad and year 8 son wants to continue with Mandarin over a European language) and I’ve never considered it aside from passing through on the train - are the edges of the town nice enough? DH wants to rural but teen kids need to be Independant so trying to find somewhere with a happy medium. Just never considered Reading so any locals got any feedback?

The villages around Reading are quite nice (Sonning, Pangbourne). The city itself is increasingly just London overflow with the associated problems that brings, violent crime has risen dramatically (trippled) in the last 5 years. Traffic is terrible but always has been, shopping is pretty good though.

Have a look at Twyford, it's one stop on the train to Reading for schools, best of both worlds but priced accordingly.

We have recently moved away from the area, selling to Londonders, as it was getting far too crowded, services were being overwhelmed and the building of new houses with no new infrastructure continues at a fast pace.

Thanks @TheNoonBell I appreciate your feedback

I think it's a good balance. Town centre has plenty of good shops and restaurants. Great university. Excellent schools of both types - states mostly have results very close to private in the area.

Short hop into London on a fast train, and will be able to go straight to Oxford Street when the Victoria Line opens.
Close to Heathrow. Close to lovely towns like Henley, Marlow, Windsor for days out etc.

Outskirts and villages are lovely but highly sought-after, especially if you want to be close to a train link.

Building work is going on around the area but there is still plenty of green belt left to enjoy.

Central Reading had some dodgy areas (the Oxford Road side) so avoid there, but I guess you'd find that most places.

Overall, I think it offers a really good mix of rural & town & schools & access.

I'd recommend you take a look at Wokingham, and nearby villages like Arborfield, Winnersh, Finchampstead, Eversley, Sandhurst etc. Plenty of kids get the train between Wokingham and Reading for schools, and the smaller villages might tick the rural box for your husband. Depending on the school they might run a coach too.

Oh lovely, thanks for being so specific! Will start a bit of Rightmove hunt. The schools we need to research are Willink, Reading, Piggott and Highdown. Literally all I know is they teach mandarin 😆

@TheNoonBell Hi, we are considering moving to Twyford before my DS starts reception.
What are the upside and downside of Twyford? Any other villages to recommend?