Looking for village with good Trainline to London. Somewhere like Twyford (Berks)

[Wheretolivehelppls]

Looking for a place to settle.

We would like a

• nice village with some pubs/shop/cafe.
• Good schools, ideally comprehensive. Both DC are girls (baby and 2yo).
• Countryside for walks and low pollution.
• Good community feel and events.
• Low anti social behaviour. Location relative to London
• We would like to be less than 45 minutes on train to London for work and live near to the station (or a short drive with good parking/low traffic).
• we would ideally like to have good road connections so avoiding the north east/south east of London (avoiding Kent and Essex) Priorities
• We would rather live in an expensive small house in a great location, than a big house.
• We aren't interested in a competitive or judgy community (keeping up with Joneses), we value kindness over possessions/status.

Twyford, Berkshire is a good fit for what we are looking for. Are there any other places like this?

It's tough to find these places as they are small and so often there aren't loads of houses. Ideally, we would look at a few villages/small towns at once to keep our options open and see what houses come on the market. So a list of places similar to Twyford would help us

Thanks

Seer Green looks possible.

But I think the good secondary schools are grammars, which isn't our first choice as we can't be sure whether both the girls would get in to a grammar. My partner and I did well academically but had mild learning difficulties which meant we couldn't get in to grammars at 11 years old, but went on to do well at mixed ability schools

Slightly further, but maybe Wallingford? Station is at Cholsey.

I think Twyford area is a bit Keep up with the Jones's

Thanks, I'll take a look 😊

Perhaps you are right. I've met some local mums there and they don't seem like that. I suppose it's a mindset whether you choose to engage in to that thinking. It was definitely worse where I grew up, so that's what my benchmark is

Pangbourne, Cholsey, Goring & Streatley. All have stations, low crime, community feel and surprisingly rural more so than Twyford Near to these stations are Woodcote, Wallingford and other smaller villages.

We quite liked Twyford because it's often 30 minutes on the train to London, which is pretty fast. I suppose the places in the other side of Reading have the advantage of nicer countryside (further from London) but worse travel. It's a trade-off after all.

What is the commute to London like from places like Pangbourne? Any one experienced it?

Slightly further than 45mins but not by much

Bedwyn. Too small for shops / comprehensives but Marlborough easily accessible. Might be a bit boujee though but like everywhere there’s a mix of people

pewsey is full of “characters” but the train is quicker than bedwyn. Big village so has the shops / pubs you are looking for and a school that is pretty good - Far more nurturing but less academic than St John’s in Marlbs which is a bit marmite

hungerford ? same line as bedwyn but a stop down. Not a village but lots of gorgeous ones nearby e.g Ham / Inkpen / Shalborne

all fairly close to the M4 for easy car travel

You could also consider Caversham @Wheretolivehelppls a nice suburb of Reading. Depending on where you buy, some houses are walking distance to Reading train station with its super fast trains into Paddington & beyond (Elizabeth line, like Twyford).

Caversham has its own shops including Waitrose plus cafes, bars, restaurants etc. And nice walks along the river Thames. Plus good schools.

Some good suggestions to consider.

I was thinking of places like Wendover/Aylesbury too but I don't know this part of the country well. Any tips for this section?

I love Wendover, keep saying I want to live there. It’s such a cosy looking place and I purposely drive through if I’m coming back from Aylesbury just to see the Christmas lights.

I love Wendover too and grew up there, near the station. I’m miles away now but often street view it and it doesn’t look like it’s changed!