Thinking about moving to Bedford...

[daphnebubbles]

I'm fed up living in North London - I work full-time so maybe that's why I'm finding it virtually impossible to make new friends. All of my old ones have p'd off to Brighton, Surrey, Edinburgh etc.
All of my mates with older kids told me that once my ds started school, we'd meet loads of fun people. Despite all my best efforts to invite other kids around to my house, we rarely get an invitation back and recently my son was admonished at one house for taking a cookie (the child whose house it was had 2 in his gob and a fistful in each hand at the time!)
So we're thinking about moving to Bedford. I know you may be thinking that with my obvious lack of social skills (and my ds's uncontrollable lust for cookies), Bedford is going to be just as lonely as North London, but hey, a change is as good as a rest!
So, would anybody out there recommend the sunny town of Bedford?
Let me know!!!!!!

Agree with other posters;Bedford is grim.

Hitchin is much nicer (and a bit cheaper than St Albans).

Another vote for Hitchin here.

Agree St Albans stupidly expensive.

Here's an example in Hitchin within walking distance to station and with a study for your dh to work from.

Or a bigger one up the road in Letchworth, within walking distance of station.

hi. we are selling a georgian house in the town of st. neots. which is 15 mins away from bedford. the next stop from huntingdon (as flowery bean bag mentioned) on the way to london. so under 45mins to kings cross.
lovely town, big river and walks and parks. not too bad a shops. big tesco. 5 primarys, 2 secondarys. not perfect, get some riff raff but generally a sociable place.

3 bed detached. georgian. large working fire place in lounge and small one in dining room. smallish kitchen which will proberly need redoing, but has room to extend forward.
parking for 5 cars. loft suitable for conversation aswell. we went on the market last week and desperate to sell as found the house we want.

so please come buy my house!!!!!

no pressure!!!!

Bedford is horrible but lots of places surrounding it are not. Where I live is the one of the most expensive parts but I confess, I loathed it when I first moved here (also from North London) but I do love it now.

Mmmmm, well, that's nearly a vote for Bedford. I feel a bit better for it now but think I am cured of wanting to live there!
Hitchin looks nice and I'll have look at St. Neots too....
St Albans is nice but wildly overpriced... Starting to look at my little semi-d in dull North London a bit more kindly....

Harpenden is a lovely friendly place to live with young children. St Albans is a good place to live too.

Ware always gets lots of votes as a really good place to live though I don't know it myself.

I don't personally care for Letchworth or Hitchin or Stevenage - pretty though some bits of them are, they are very odd places. welwyn Garden City is weirdy weird too. Perhaps it's something to do with their Quaker influence?

You would be really happy in Harpenden.
Am off to rightmove to look for a house for you!

How old are your children?

DONT DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT!!!!

Bedford is grim grim grim!! Went for a uni open day there with my mate, we walked up to the uni (after having wandered round the town for a couple of hours), realised the whole place was a hell hole, and ran back to catch the quickest train home!!

I grew up in St Neots so if you want any more on that including schools/areas to live/not to live there do let me know...

i live in st neots, moved here 20 years ago and love it. not keen on bedford but luton is far worse in my view!!

i live in st neots, moved here 20 years ago and love it. not keen on bedford but luton is far worse in my view!!

ExH was from Bedford - I have no good memories of the place at all.

As a current Bedford resident I kind of agree with some of the comments here (though it's not as bad as some make out) - I've lived here for nearly 10 years, and it took me several years before I started to like it. Considering the number of private schools there are in Bedford, the town centre does not reflect the fact that there is a lot of wealth around. And I would agree with frogs that these schools have a detrimental effect on the state schools, particularly at senior school (13+) level. IMO it suffers from its proximity to Milton Keynes, which you may want to consider instead of Bedford. There are some very nice (but pricey) villages around, and the countryside is quite pretty, the lower and middle schools are good (to age 13)and the schools' music provision is excellent (though that may change with the abolition of the county council , but given your budget I wouldn't move here as there are nicer places.

As a current Bedford resident I kind of agree with some of the comments here (though it's not as bad as some make out) - I've lived here for nearly 10 years, and it took me several years before I started to like it. Considering the number of private schools there are in Bedford, the town centre does not reflect the fact that there is a lot of wealth around. And I would agree with frogs that these schools have a detrimental effect on the state schools, particularly at senior school (13+) level. IMO it suffers from its proximity to Milton Keynes, which you may want to consider instead of Bedford. There are some very nice (but pricey) villages around, and the countryside is quite pretty, the lower and middle schools are good (to age 13)and the schools' music provision is excellent (though that may change with the abolition of the county council , but given your budget I wouldn't move here as there are nicer places.

What about Sandy? Is it nice there?
I used to live in Watford and I loved it there, now I live in Nortamptonshire and hate it. Can't no longer afford Watford.

Why have you resurrected a thread from 2008?

Just asking! What do you mean, if I knew, Bedford or villages like Sandy, wouldn't ask, doh! Are you from Bedford? Don't seem to be friendly

Hi Daphnebubbles, I know how you feel about living in North London.
I know Hemel, Dunstable, St Albans and Watford very well.
There are nice areas to live in Hemel, St Albans it's just too expensive.
Dunstable it's alright and there are very nice areas with decent size houses for about £250,000/280,000. Easy to commute to Hemel for your shopping needs. Easy access to London and a descent Hospital ( Dunstable/ Luton).
I lived there for a short while and there is nothing wrong with it as long as you don't go to Luton Town centre. Dunstable Downs is fantastic if you got children and the schools in Dunstable are bit better than Hemel.
Hope this Helps:-)

Bedford is alright. I felt safe enough there as a teenager. I didn't actually live in the town though, I lived in one of the nice nearby villages and I didn't go to school in Bedford either.

Your money would go quite far in Leighton Buzzard. Not my cup of tea but I know people who are very happy living there. It has a high street with a collection of shops, some of which are useful (Boots, Clarks, Argos, cheaper chain clothes shops). And it has Waitrose, Morrisons and Tesco. Fast frequent trains to London, and beautiful countryside close by.

I've never met anyone who professed a love for Bedford I have to say.

This is a very old thread. I wonder where the OP ended up and whether Bedford has improved at all over the past 8 years.

You are advising Daphnebubbles on a question she posed 8 years ago? Okay..pretty sure she is still stuck around looking for advice on this. It is not the done thing on MUmsnet to resurrect what Mumsnet calls "zombie" threads. if you want advice the best thing to do is start your own thread. Otherwise people think this is a new thread and keep advising the original poster.

Ok, got your point. New to mumsnet. Didn't even realise that. Why this old thread still there? Never mind, thanks for telling me