Areas similar to Richmond?

[Sammymommy]

Hi everyone,

I suffer from stress and anxiety and have decided to move to a quieter area, I need to slow down. I researched heavily online and just fell in love with Richmond, more exactly Ham. I also really like the area around Mount Sheen Primary School. I was absolutely sure I would love living there.

I went a few times before and don't remember being stressed by the plane noise but Holly Molly, this time, when I went to see houses in East Sheen, I ended up with a horrible migraine and so stressed it took me 3 days to recover. And the traffic.... And there are so many people. I might put my big girls pants on and go spend a day in Ham to see how it is like but I am having anxiety just thinking about it. Or any area is the South West really.

I am now back into a spiral of despair, having no idea where to move to. My children are young but I have moved about every 18 months for the past 10 years and I want to settle down and allow my children to have stability for the next 15 years while they are in shcool.

Anyway, I would love it if any of you could tell me of any area I could check?

What I am looking for :

• A quiet, slow life. Bordering on dull, really.
• Activities for children.
• Green spaces. A lot of green spaces. Parks, leafy streets, woods, fields, if there are deers, it's a plus... The more the better. But not rural.
• Walkable and with good buses services, I don't drive.
• Lots of nice playgrounds.
• Cute little shop, libraries, restaurants, cafes, community centre. A small community feel.
• Little streets with villagey feeling to it (like in Hampstead around Christchurch Hill)
• Water. A river or canal. I used to live in Angel and love to walk all the way to Victoria Park.
• We don't need to commute for work so that is not a problem. Any zone in Greater London is good. Or outside of it, actually, we are ready to consider.
• Maybe not too small. I don't want to live in a lovely area of 10 streets but having to be confined to it.
• Flat. I used to live in Crouch End and I loved it but walking is important for me and I don't want to have to climb a hilly street again. Ever.
• Maybe an area surrounded by other areas with a nice feel to it (I used to love that I could go to Muswell Hilll, Highgate, Alexandra Palace, Strout Green, Finsbury Park...)
• I am not really interested in the posh/competitive side of (some of) Richmond so something a bit more low key and diverse is perfect.
• An area with (at least some) large houses (we would be looking for a minimum of 5 bedrooms and I get claustrophobic in narrow houses but Iove Victorian houses rather than modern houses). We have a comfortable budget so not really a problem.
• Not overcrowded.

Neighbourhoods I like to have an idea : Hampstead Garden suburb, Crouch End (around Weston Park/Haringey Park), Strout Green, Swiss Cottage (Eton Avenue and around), Tufnell Park and the area between Tufnell Park Rd and Whittington Park, Ham without the planes :) .

Gosh, I realise I am an over-privileged nightmare. Believe me, I am tired of myself. Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

(If you can find me the house from Practical Magic in a flat Crouch End, I'll owe you one, no question asked ;) ).

With that budget and requirements I’d go central Guildford. Here’s my pick: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134806838#/?channel=RES_BUY

A mil left over for the pension too…

in London - Blackheath and Wimbledon are lovely and village like. i like Teddington but plane noise coukd be an issue. outside London Farnham and Marlow are lovely

@Sammymommy re the traffic, yes I think you need to get some local knowledge. I have never found St Albans too bad but maybe I’ve been lucky. The thing is that if you’re not driving and want to access community/ independent shops I think you may find that you would prefer being in a town rather than a country lane in which case unless you move to a remote Scottish market town there will always be a degree of traffic at certain times of the day. That said it makes me laugh when locals where I live (market town) moan about the terrible traffic- what they mean is that you might be in a queue for 10 minutes. Not 2.5 hours to get down the A3 to the M25 (I also used to live in SW London)! Equally I’ve never been aware of plane noise in Berkhamsted but it just goes to show that you need to hang out in the area a fair bit to see if it’s for you.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137491832#/?channel=RES_BUY

Sounds like you need to be in Marlow.

I live in Whitton near Richmond and the plane noise is horrendous when you're on that flight path (it rotates).

If you like the area, consider a bit further out like Teddington (my fave) or perhaps Kew, St Margaret's, Wimbledon village.

If I had your budget, I'd move to Bray in Berkshire. But that may be because of the restaurants!

Thames Ditton? Not SO far from Ham. Has a quiet villager feel, near the river and some really nice houses

Is there any way you could learn to drive? Most places in London with great transport links are going to be fairly busy/noisy. If you could drive you could move out and be in a village in the Home Counties. It sounds like this is what you’re looking for, but in London with good transport links and flat, which is going to be difficult to find.

Most of the prettiest places in SW London are probably going to be too noisy for you e.g. Kew, Barnes etc. I would maybe look at East Molesey - very pretty but also a bit quieter. Lots of nice places to walk close by.

Further out, Marlow or Henley. If you want even quieter, maybe some of the villages around Guildford or Woking. Though you’d def need to drive everywhere there.

Yes Weybridge, Thames Ditton, East Molesey are worth considering if you want access to London and no need to drive but a more countryish feel.

Thames ditton

Barnes and wandsworh also on same flight path and sheen

Radlett would be perfect

Saturday traffic in St Albans will give you headache. Unless you don't need to go to town on that day at all.

We stumbled across Muswell Hill recently and really loved the area, would recommend checking it out. Think it would tick your boxes

Not sure if it has been said but Ham doesn't usually have plane noise.

Since the ATC meltdown some planes have been flying over Ham but this is not usual. Richmond Kew Isleworth and hounslow etc are directly under the landing path.

Y