Relocating to Cambridgeshire

[MsPaddy]

We're a family of 4 (mum, dad and kids 4 and 2 year old) living in SW London and are looking to move to Cambridgeshire. We don't have friends or family there so would appreciate some advice on ways to refine our house search. Our budget is c.850, and we'd like a 4 bed detached with good size garden. The main reason for moving is to have more space and a slightly calmer way of life. We would like to live somewhere with a family friendly, community feel, and still be close enough to a town to socialise/shop/eat out.

We have visited and liked Ely, St Ives, St Neots, Godmanchester. And from reading other threads here, like the look of Sawston, Whittlesford and the Shelfords.

Our must haves

-Within walking distance to a pub, cafe, or handful of shops
-Good primary and secondary schools.
-Within 15 drive to a train station with direct links to London - my husband and I will still need to work there 1 day a week.
-Good public transport links into a larger town/place for us and kids to socialise when they are older (we don't want to be ferrying them around as teenagers due to lack of local buses for example)

Nice to haves

-Period properties with pretty market town eg. Saffron Walden, Ely
-Ideally primary school would be within walking distance

Thanks so much for any tips and advice.

No worries at all! My children are currently in Reception & Year 1 so have a while to go until secondary school. Most children at Great Chesterford primary end up going to Saffron Walden County High, and there is a school bus service to and from the village. There are also a couple of other options (Joyce Frankland Academy in Newport, or Sawston College in Sawston).

I know a couple of families that have chosen to send their children to private secondary schools in Cambridge, they catch the train from Great Chesterford to Cambridge station then it’s a short walk from there. So there are a few options around ☺️ it’s a lovely village, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Worth a visit if you’re ever around the area

It really is! 🤩

Saffron Walden county high is pretty good, as is Sawston.

Sawston do a lot of music and performing arts. I've known kids leave private to go there.

I don't know Joyce Frankland.

Comberton is a very good school but if you live there it is more than a 15 min drive to the station unless you leave at 5am, and although it has shop,pub, hairdresser etc there's no cafe and not much social life.

I lived there with teens a while ago and their social life involved a lot of ferrying around to practices, rehearsals etc.

Most kids at comberton come in by bus from the villages around so social life inevitably involves cars.

Exactly this. The same goes for St. Neots (same MAT; both secondaries rated RI).

Hi there I was just reading your post and I wondered where you ended up moving, as we are looking at something similar with you? How are you finding it?

I know this post is old but I can’t tell you how much this made me laugh 😂

Just wanted to know where you ended up moving and what your experience was? We’re thinking of doing the same and we really like Burwell.

I would recommend Cambridge itself 1 a fantastic place to live, and can get somewhere that ticks all your boxes in the city/town itself.

we are still debating it, how is Burwell? We are also now thinking of moving to norwich as cambridge is too expensive! we are finding some fantastic properties right in the middle of the city

the problem is that we dont want to live in a village and we cannot afford cambridge itself.
we are finding some really nice properties in the middle of Norwich so we are thinking about there as well

There are some really, really nice 4 bed properties with good gardens in Cambridge at the moment on Rightmove.

Ah interesting! I mean I like Norfolk but my husband wants to be able to commute to London at the beginning and then probably eventually get a job in Cambridge. We don’t mind village vibes, but will be a radical change for us. I really liked the school in Balsham and haven’t visited the one in Burwell so that’s a question for us to answer. I liked it - but it’s so hard to get a sense of what it’s really like. We like the idea of being not too far from central Cambridge but agree it’s very pricey there! Be interested to look at what Norwich has to offer!

I lived in Cambridge. It's the only place I'd choose to live in Cambridgeshire. Lots to do, great schools, feels like a small town even though it's a city. I'd never felt so safe as I did when I lived there. You can find a decent house there with your budget.

I've lived near Burwell for 25 years, and worked in Cambridge (centre, and now off Huntingdon Rd) for the same.

I previously lived in Norwich, near the prison about 20 mins walk into the centre, and before that various rented places while at UEA.
I loved Norwich, only moved away for jobs and would have happily gone back.

people say it's safe, walkable, 20 mins walk into the centre like you say, great schools, my friends who live there send their babies to forest nurseries, where they spend lots of time outdoors, close to countryside, with lots of independent shops, good art sceene...
all good things, and the only negative is that it's a bit isolated with cambridge its closest city.
i mean, if we have everything we need there, so it doesn't really matter that it's isolated.

thank you, could you link some of those? many thanks x

They're on Rightmove x

We looked at the region when we moved, we ended up in Suffolk (and love it) but things to look at alongside the usual gubbins is the https://www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk flood risk for the area and if (should it get to completion) the East-West railway would be a bonus or an issue https://eastwestrail.co.uk/about-us/project-overview

How is Suffolk? We are thinking of Norfolk, Norwich. I am not sure about flood there or whether the East West Rail project might connect Cambridge and Norwich, but the property prices were much much more affordable

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/164180792#/?channel=RES_BUY

I love Suffolk, we are in a market town with everything we need and want in walking distance and plenty of greenery around so I feel very lucky.

We were moving from (and have family in Bedfordshire) so Norwich was a bit too far for us so we didn't look there but as far as I know although I don't think the new railway will improve things there Norwich is already well connected.

The areas that concerned me flood wise were just outside Ely (which isn't a surprise given that Ely used to be an island) but I am particularly cautious about flooding. I didn't look out that way.

If moving anywhere north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire Fens, all the land is technically artificially pumped and drained except the older saxon parts of towns ending with -ey or -ea.

thank you! lovely but in the middle of nowhere (not close to Ely station) and about 200k above our budget :) But it's gorgeous!!

Sorry that was for the original poster! Ely prices are quite high at the moment but there’s a few nice ones up for sale, what’s your criteria?