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!

@sep135 Yes I do agree. However the Met goes to Aldgate. I think maybe the op needs that.

@sep135 @TizerorFizz noted both, thank you! @TizerorFizz is right, the Met line would be the best for me but glad to know there's another option if necessary

Just to throw my hat in the mix re independent schools there, both the Beacon and Chesham Prep have very mixed classes in terms of personal wealth. From my experience, it doesn't make a jot of difference. The Beacon school is a bit of a hot house and Chesham Prep is more nurturing but only goes to year 6 whereas the Beacon goes to year 8. Both are very good schools and produce similar results for 11+

@Oohmontydon thanks for this. Will have a look at Chesham Prep too!

@HuntyGirl Id buy a better house. You don’t need private if you buy wisely. Save it for secondary!

Sorry, late to this thread but long-time resident of Amersham.

Without in any way wanting to minimise @Ponyclubgirl 's awful experiences, I don't think there's a systemic issue with maternity services at Stoke Mandeville - my DD2 (who lives with me) had a baby last month. She herself went to Oxford as she's very high risk, but all the mums from her pre-natal group had their babies at Stoke and none of them has any sort of horror story to tell about it.

Re. houses, New Road is perfectly fine. I'm about 5 minutes' walk from there and have a couple of friends who do or did live on it. No issues whatsoever.

DH used to work in Farringdon and honestly although it's a bit of a trek he always got a seat in both directions every day. There's a lot to be said for a journey where you can just sit and get into a book without worrying about changing lines. If your current commute is 2 hours, it's going to seem pretty easy, I would say.

@thing47 Also New Road is catchment for Chestnut Lane and Elangeni. So a very good location.

Hi - Ponyclub girl here, with the name that comes up on my MacBook - legacy account, old password.

I'm glad to hear your daughter was OK at Oxford; high-risk pregnancies can be stressful. And no, people often do not come away with horror stories, in part of course because the patient doesn't always have the training to understand what is going on. Until I qualified as a doctor, which I did (as a mature student) six years after I had my child, I had no real idea of how poor the medical care at Stoke maternity had been.

I didn't realise, for example, that a competent surgeon would not have cut straight into an artery on C-section: with the knowledge that I had already had two previous C-sections, they would have been careful to check for displacement of pelvic organs caused by scar tissue, and judged the point of incision correctly.

Likewise - when the artery re-ruptured in the middle of the night, pooling blood into the interior of my upper leg, the midwife on duty - had she not been negligent - would not have laughed and dismissed me, saying "hah, motherhood is pain". A well-managed and competent midwife would have been briefed when she came on shift that I was a patient at risk of re-rupture, and so would have immediately checked blood pressure and referred for an urgent scan.

Naturally, when I applied to the hospital for copies of my notes, and my baby's notes, they were "lost".

But - don't take my word for it. Read the most recent (2023) report by the CQC, summary attached. https://api.cqc.org.uk/public/v1/reports/61c87d2d-579d-46e3-bd8d-00e2ec0cbcae?20231025080039

That said, of course, it's unfortunately par for the course for most mat services these days - Watford likewise not given a good write-up. Times we live in :(

I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t happy. One or two issues happen everywhere. One poor experience doesn’t mean they all are.

Well, to look at it in a positive way, the OP has a good range of views here to consider. I promise @HuntyGirl btw, we’re a friendly town!

(on the phone again hence name switch)

@Ponyclubgirl MN got in touch with me when I had two names by using a second device. Got a big telling off! Against some rule apparently.

@HuntyGirl I just saw your post on moving to Amersham. Did you find the right house? When we first moved to the Chilterns (looked for ages in Amersham, Chalfont, Chesham, Beaconsfield) we went through the same process of prioritising the primary school (ex-Londoner habit probably!) catchment. Primary schools in this area, in my view, tend to be more than adequate - both our children went to state primaries and got into grammar school without much extra prep. We ended up buying a bigger house in between Amersham and High Wycombe with good schools, shops/amenities and fantastic walks as well as the Bus (Route 1/1A). Luckily, our positioning in Holmer Green meant that secondary school options included all the grammar schools close to Amersham as well as the ones in High Wycombe. Downside is the drive to the station (between 15-20 mins) as we could'nt quite time the bus with the train/tube - but the time to station was similar to the walk from some of the houses we liked around Amersham.

Just to say that most of Holmer Green is not in catchment for Dr Challoners High school. There’s a boundary between Wycombe High and DCGH nearby but Holmer Green is mostly in WHS catchment. This means parents can ask for DCGH but aren’t guaranteed to get it. I’ve not looked at boys schools but Bucks has tried to eliminate overlapping catchments for single sex schools.

@FindingTime we have decided on Chesham as we will get more for our money there.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146666717

This house looks good but we have been told the other side of Chesham near Chartridge Lane is better? Would be great to hear if anyone has any experience/views!

Going towards Chartridge isn’t better in my view. Botley Road is fine. Most roads going out of Chesham are ok. I forget: what schools did you want?

Generally speaking: in Chesham, being on a hill is better than being in the valley. I know Chartridge Lane very well but I think it’s not that appealing. Chartridge itself is also linear. There’s a couple of nice enough roads in that area but that applies to most hill roads out of Chesham.

@TizerorFizz thanks - is Botley Road on a hill? Have booked a viewing but haven't been there yet. I really liked Orchard Leigh when we visited

Any of the Grammars in Bucks

@HuntyGirl Yes. You go up Eskdale Avenue to the grammar school. White Hill and Eskdale Avenue are quite steep as you leave the town centre. Leading off the junction near the grammar school, there’s a variety of roads which are all pleasant. The house you want to look at has views and I think it’s in a good area. Walkable to Chesham Grammar.

@TizerorFizz thank you, that's really helpful 🙂

@HuntyGirl Chesham's nice - houses near the park as well as near CGS if you see something you like within budget. Roads near school (eg Manor Rd etc) get busy on school occasions but further in gets quieter and some nice houses there. It'll be a walk to the station though so the first few roads from the roundabout heading towards Chartridge may also be worth checking out to see if you like them.

@TizerorFizz Yes, Holmer Green has both Wycome and Chiltern streets (we are Chiltern). Most of the kids we know haven't had to worry about catchment - most got places in their top options (i.e. both Challoners, RGS, Wycombe, Beaconsfield, etc). It is possible however, that going forward catchments become tighter as demand increases..

my nans in there so she knows the area well. according to her, old amersham is quite close to new, it's just quieter and more serene (woods, fields etc.) but new amersham is good too if you want to be a walking distance from the shops then don't live at the bottom of the hill (old amersham). stanley hill upwards is alright but old amersham is fine too, apparently a new aldi's coming there too. says you shouldn't worry too much about feeder schools if your DC is not going to a state school.

ps: stowe school is in BUCKINGHAM which is an hour by car and nearly 4 hours by public transport (google time so take traffic into consideration) so not ideal for school runs unless considering boarding. good private schools near are Godstowe in High Wycombe (about 20m) for Primary-Year 8, The Beacon is in amersham (boys only), Chesham prep, the chalfonts in high wycombe, wycombe abbey (prestigious girls but pricey) and Pipers Corner (High Wycombe again but a good girls school).

There are amazing state schools (grammars), like the Royal School (RGS) and Dr Challoners Grammar (boys) and High (girls), Wycombe High (girls), Chesham Grammar , Aylesbury, Beaconsfield Highs.

Amersham has lots of promise with schools so look around although their primary school is limited (8) although you can get into primaries in surrounding areas like Curzon and Holmer Green schools. One particularly good school that seems to get into grammars a lot is Chalfont Valley E-ACT Primary Academy.

if its your personal preference to go private thats fine! but there are lots of good state options too

@HuntyGirl How did viewing go?

Demand in terms of pupil numbers will only increase if there is significant inward migration to the area. The peak of the birth rate was 2012 and numbers drop quite sharply thereafter. The change will come when the schools likely have to reduce PAN and this may require the redefining of some catchment areas.