Amersham Bucks

[HuntyGirl]

DH and I are looking for a new house in this area. I work in London so will be good for the commute.

Through my research, I see that there is Old Amersham and Amersham on the Hill/New Amersham. Old Amersham is more expensive but New Amersham is more convenient for travel into London etc. We are therefore looking at New Amersham for commutability.

My question is, is Amersham broken down further into smaller areas other than these two? Or is it literally only these two distinct areas? I would be grateful for any guidance on areas to avoid or what is better generally from those who know/have experience. Thanks!

It’s just that Bucks is short of boys’ schools in the private sector.

Back to update - visited over the weekend and as expected, we loved it.

Funnily enough, we preferred Amersham-on-the-Hill to Old Amersham, which we didn't expect. Old Amersham is undeniably beautiful but we would prefer to visit for the shops and restaurants and be in New Amersham for the station. We also loved the New Town town centre. In any event, we can't afford Old Amersham.

We drove past a few of the houses shared on this thread and around different areas. We didn't like the Mortens Wood/Sheepfold Lane area, it felt very cramped and just not nice at all. However, we did notice that the area around there (First Avenue etc) can change quite quickly as you drive around. Some parts are really nice and then others are like Mortens Wood/Sheepfold Lane. That was similar around the New Road area. Completely understand @Ponyclubgirl 's point about that area. The good thing about it though is that it is in the Chestnut Lane/Elangeni catchment.

We drove and walked past the Station Road house a few times. The house itself looks good but DH is massively put off by the main road. However, with our budget we are likely to have to make a big compromise just to get into Amersham. We can then make improvements and hopefully sell for more down the line so we can move to a property we would be more happy with.

We preferred the Stanley Hill house (also went to see), as it is more set back and the road is wider, as @TizerorFizz pointed out. However, the no central heating issue is the big problem. Even if we decided to instal central heating, the cost is likely to spiral from whatever quote we get once the work starts as you cannot know what will be uncovered. We are also concerned as to why they haven't installed central heating after all this time. It indicates to us that there's some sort of issue.

All in all, a very helpful visit and we plan to continue visiting to help us to learn more and clarify what we want/what we are willing to compromise on.

We are also going to book a hotel and stay for a few days so I can do the commute into London as DH is concerned it may be too long and we will have moved for not much better if a commute!

Didn't mean for this post to be so long!

Glad you enjoyed your weekend! The thing I always liked about the new town is that when you have a pushchair, you have pretty much everything you need in a flat, relatively low-traffic area within about five minutes’ reach - library, GP surgery, park, pool, nursery school, shops. I’ve lived in other places with my babies & toddlers and none of them were laid out with mothers quite so much in mind. I wonder what woman-friendly town planner from the 1900s we have to thank for that; they deserve a statue.

Against that, of course, the commute can be tough: the town grew up when people still finished work at 5pm. WFH for some of the week can be one way to take the edge off it.

Looking back on all of the places I have lived, the key test really is: are there other mothers around who would be a good match for me? Maybe next time you are up, head to a playground and do some people-watching. There’s one by the leisure centre & also a nice (greener and more spacious) one up in Hervines Park, just at the end of Hervines Road, well worth a visit.

@HuntyGirl Im still amazed the house on Stanley Hill doesn’t have central heating. As far as I am aware, there is gas available but maybe it’s been owned by a succession of people who wouldn’t pay for installation. Obviously if you had the money, heat pumps and electric would be possible. Not worth it if you are not staying.

Mortens Wood is not in catchment for Chestnut Lane. In that part of Amersham it’s either St Mary’s or St George’s. Chestnut Lane catchment is mostly “above” the railway line.

@Ponyclubgirl yes, that did strike me! It's just so lovely there. I adored the fact that from different points you can see the rolling green hills. So relaxing.

I think the commute would be fine as it's one tube down. I can also wfh 2/3 days a week so as you say, it takes the edge off. Also, not many commuter towns don't have 2/3 changes going into London and that's something I don't really want tbh.

That's a valid point. Something for me to be aware of. I suppose it's always hard making friends when you love to a new area. It's easier when you work there too but I suppose in this case it would be joining clubs/mother and baby classes. I will definitely do as you suggest. Thanks ☺️

@TizerorFizz it's crazy isn't it! Definitely wouldn't be worth it as we wouldn't want it to be our forever home.

The area around New Road would be CL/Elangeni though wouldn't it?

@HuntyGirl Yes New Road is. The roads nearer the A413 are not. Bucks cc has a post code checker.

@LIZS @TizerorFizz - random question but do you know if lorries go down the main roads in Amersham? I imagine not as it's a small town but just wanted to check. Thanks

@HuntyGirl The main arteries for traffic are the A413 to/from the A40 and the A355 to Beaconsfield and the M40. It’s quite busy going out to High Wycombe and through Little Chalfont towards Hertfordshire and M25. HS2 is being built in the area (Misbourne Valley) but mainly accessed from A413. You cannot rule out delivery lorries going to shops but some roads are restricted by railway bridges. You obviously get traffic going from Chesham to Amersham and from Amersham down to A413. I don’t feel Amersham roads are over populated by lorries but HS2 construction clearly makes a difference on main roads in the valley.

Thanks @TizerorFizz - I imagine Station Road doesn't have lorries because of the railway bridges. Will be visiting again soon and booking in some viewings

Station Road really joins the commercial area of Amersham to Old Amersham. Others might have different views but it has the bridge and is mostly used by locals. It does have the grammar school nearby though. I’m not sure what route coaches take!

Hi! I’ve lived just off Station Road (on a teeny-weeny cul de sac called The Avenue) for much of my life - grew up here & then returned after the older generation passed on & left the family home. The bad news is that lorries do rumble up and down Station Road pretty much daily. The good news I guess is that there is a traffic-free footpath route up the hill, tucked away on Highover Park at the bottom, leading up to Bachelor’s Way at the top. And of course there is also the footpath through the woods. I prefer using those to walking along the road.

Thanks @Ponyclubgirl that is disappointing 🥲 DH is very put off by lorries. I thought the bridges at the top of the road would have stopped lorries.

I know it's a main road and therefore likely to be busy. Does it get a lot of traffic? As obviously it's a town main road as opposed to a big city main road. Just trying to weigh up pros and cons

Also, is it like one or two lorries a day or lots and lots? And through the night too? Sorry for all the questions! @Ponyclubgirl

Hi yes, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news there. Lorries are not infrequent: although one of the nice things about this part of Bucks is that the residential areas are not cut up by dual carriageways, ghastly big metal walkways etc, the price that we pay is heavy goods vehicles on residential roads.

Away from the lorry routes, there are some affordable houses on smaller quieter streets: I noticed a 4-bedder on Chestnut Lane the other day, a 3-bed on Milton Lawns & a 3-bed on Darlington Close (handy for the centre). Good luck!

(& yes Station Road does get a fair bit of traffic, increasingly so as the years go by - it’s a main north-south conduit, will be used for example by drivers wanting to get from Beaconsfield to Chesham)

@HuntyGirl Amershsm is not an off the beaten track village! If you don’t want lorries at all, you need to look elsewhere. There are shops in Amersham on the Hill. It’s a route to Chesham. However it’s really not THAT busy! Not when compared to lots of areas quite frankly. But goods arrive via lorries and all those Ocado and Amazon delivery vans! Station Road has Waitrose, M&S and all the shops nearby. It’s not much of a through route unless you want Chesham though. It’s not taking hs2 traffic. Again your budget won’t buy you quiet and perfect. You will have to compromise.

The three main through routes are Stanley Hill (probably the busiest of the three) then Station Road and Rectory Hill.

White Lion Road is very busy at rush hour (particularly with HGVs as there's several industrial estates off it) but it splits after the roundabout so that disperses the traffic somewhat.

Rectory Hill has the narrow entrance at the Old Amersham end so is used mostly by cars. Towns have traffic. It’s inevitable. The station also attracts traffic. There are quite large employers towards Little Chalfont too, eg GE Healthcare. People drive to and from work.

Coming back to add a comment on the tube journey. I occasionally use the Amersham Met line service to get in to London and it's good, but a little slow. It's a popular commuter station so does get busy.

That said, I think the journey to the other end of the Met line could get grating. I used to live around Harrow way and worked in Farringdon for 6 months. I lasted 3 months of doing the commute before I had enough of it and found a job more local. It's a long old trek (52 mins each way according to TFL, using Amersham to Farringdon as an example).

I used to get through a book or two a week on the train (much to the delight of my nearest charity shop!).

I'd definitely recommend giving it a try. Do it one morning to see how busy it is.

If you're not doing it every day like I was it's probably more manageable and obviously if you're already used to commuting, it's probably not too bad. I couldn't do it nowadays - too set in my ways!

@ConsistentlyElectrifiedElves thanks. Getting through so many books sounds like a dream!

Yes, planning to do a test run soon.

I would do it 2/3 days a week (alternate weeks) so think it would be fine. Also, my current commute is just over two hours so it would be an improvement! 😂

The Chiltern line to Marylebone is a lot quicker than the Met, particularly the trains that run straight through from Amersham. If that's helpful when you're looking at journey times.

@sep135 Depends where you need to get to in London. The Met line is a different route.

It's worth knowing about though, particularly given you can change at Harrow. Or get the Bakerloo at Marylebone, or walk 5 minutes to Baker Street.

It's 32 minutes from Amersham to Marylebone on the quick Chilterm service and 48 minutes to Baker Street on the Met (all stations) and 41 on the fast (which generally only run at rush hour).

(I have the joy of the daily commute to London).