Making the move from London to Bucks, what is life like there?

[JS201]

Hi

We currently live in Peckham in London, and love it round here. We have our first on its way and considering moving out and particularly are looking at Penn in Bucks.

While we’re after more space we are a bit concerned we’ll be more lonely and miss having such good shops/food/convenience with the move out. That said the space/fresh air looks v appealing for a little one.

If anyone has experiences of what life is like living in Penn or Bucks generally that would be great, and if you made the move from London how it compares?

I think if you still love Peckham Bucks might not be for you! Joke but honestly don’t feel as though you need to move because you “should”. I only moved once I was absolutely sick to the back teeth of our area in London (naice area but still loads of crime (especially car crime), road rage, traffic, expensive etc…). It was an amazing place to raise little kids though- we left when mine were starting secondary.

Parts of Bucks are lovely. Are you going to have to commute to work and are you thinking about state schools? If so things I would think about are travel costs/ commute (I live on the fast line to Birmingham/ Nottingham but some of the lines to Aylesbury etc take an age), the grammar school system is a real mixed blessing (one of my bright kids failed it even with tutoring, so get somewhere with decent comprehensive options), yes you’ll miss elements of London so make sure you like your local town- not just the shops but the people. My town is probably a bit less chi chi than Penn but it’s also much less Tory! Ditto my area is still quite racially mixed which I am happy about. Also bear in mind that somewhere like Penn you’ll need to drive everywhere and will probably need 2 cars, whereas in a bigger town you could probably manage with 1.

In summary we love it now but we were ready for these compromises and we accept them willingly. My house is gorgeous, walks on the doorstep, lovely local activities, kids’ schools are good and it definitely feels safer/ quieter. I commute into London so I don’t miss it. On balance though I would have preferred not to have the Grammar school system and I slightly think we’ve made a rod for our own bank in ferrying the kids about when they do activities so I’d probably have more seriously considered living in town if I did it again.

Have you considered maybe Tring, Berkhamsted or Leighton Buzzard which are very close to Bucks but not in it? All have good non-grammar schools and better transport links IMO.

I know Peckham a little as have family that live nearby and visit once a month. I really like Peckham. I live in South Bucks and have friends that live in Penn. The 2 places our so so different.

You need to think about schools if you're moving to Bucks - it's grammar school system, which I wouldn't be happy with.

Oxfordshire (next door) has lots of great comprehensive secondaries and the Chiltern train line into London.

I moved to Bucks over 20 years ago, from an area of London similar to Peckham. I probably wouldn't go for Penn though (unless I were OK driving to absolutely everything). If I would be happy with the grammar school system (around 30% of DCs go to grammars) I'd go for Chesham (+ surrounding villages) or Amersham. If I wanted to avoid the 11+, I would go for Berkhamstead or Tring or maybe even Thame in Oxfordshire.

Edited as I didn't answer your actual question I like living in Bucks, though I will always miss the grimy area of London we moved from and the convenience of living in zone 2. IWe're in a village between Chesham, Berkhamstead and Tring. We can walk for miles without hitting a road but have a range of restaurants, delis, independent coffee shops etc within a 15 min drive. Living here has been great for the DCs. The schools are good and they had a childhood of dogs, ponies, running wild in the woods, and playing sports. Getting into London is easy. Chesham in particular is pretty multicultural and politically no longer the Conservative stronghold it used to be, so it hasn't felt too 'middle England'.

Hi @JS201
Penn and Peckham are very different.
It would be good to know why you are drawn to Penn?
We moved out of London years ago and have moved since then around Herts and now settled in Berkshire due to Lizzie line and non-grammar county, however, with access to them.

Penn is gorgeous, but very, very different to Peckham, and with a very different pace of life! If that's what you're after, great! But if you'd like somewhere a little more lively and bit less rural then maybe look at Marlow down the road? Marlow has a bit of a feel of a West London suburb to me (it always reminds me slightly of a smaller version of Richmond), but also has gorgeous countryside right on its doorstep, so you can have the best of both worlds.

We know quite a few people who've moved from Peckham / ED / Nunhead out to various parts of the country post kids and they all really miss it.

Personally I think the primaries are great, so many kids and families stay and I am so happy we didn't make the jump.

I moved out of SE London to Kent, it was like moving back to the 70s, attitudes and behaviour were completely different. If you don't mind casual racism, sexism and homophobia you'll be fine.

We moved from London and enjoyed living in Bucks. If commuting into London, Amersham and Chesham are on the tube (Met Line) and served by Chiltern trains into Marylebone. A separate Chiltern route also serves High Wycombe, Beaconsfield into Marylebone. Primary & secondary school options are generally good and these areas are in between several grammar school catchments so many have attended grammar schools technically outside catchment.
Penn doesn't have as many amenities or transport options as nearby Holmer Green and Hazlemere which also have the bus between High Wycombe, Amersham, Chesham and Hemel.

We moved from SW London to Penn a couple of years ago when starting a family and love it here. The primary school is delightful, good nurseries, beautiful countryside and a very social, communal spirit. We've made so many friends from baby / toddler groups and there are many young families about. You do need to drive, we have 2 cars which helps. There are 3 pubs within walking distance to our house and tons of sports clubs which helps to meet people. If you move here, you'll love the sense of community.

One thing to consider (not unique to Penn) when moving out of London is how quiet the winter evenings are. That's been the biggest adjustment. It helps having lovely neighbours who you can rely on for a social.

It's close enough to the amenities of Amersham, High Wycombe and Beaconsfield that kids will have plenty of options for socialising when older.

Good luck with the move

I live in High Wycombe (and apart from a brief spell in South Oxfordshire always have).
We moved to South Oxfordshire for DC's secondary education as my DH and I had both gone to grammar school and didn't think it would suit DC. (DH was pretty chilled about his school experience, I found mine absolutely awful and didn't want to put my DC through it!) The comprehensive in South Oxfordshire (Lord Williams's) was, in our opinion, excellent.
It's pretty easy to get into London from both High Wycombe and Thame (although obviously quicker from High Wycombe) and there are some brilliant amenities in High Wycombe (Wycombe Swan, I'm looking at you) as well as some lovely countryside. Penn is very desirable.
Thame also has a nice vibe and some nice pubs/ restaurants etc. and nice countryside nearby. If I were moving from Peckham I'd consider Thame personally.
(I must add though, I once overheard a conversation in my Thame hairdresser where a customer was sad that they'd moved to Thame from London so the DC could have a more rural upbringing and the DC were bored! Just something to consider.

Tbh, if you love Peckham, I'd stay put!

Thank you! That’s really reassured me.
can I ask which primaries you’d recommend?

It would also be great to get any take on if you need to be living there for a while before kids are school age or if you can always get a space? Just working out when we should make the jump!

Hi, we moved from Wimbledon to Hughenden in Wycombe 10 years ago when we had our second child purely because we wanted more space for kids. Many already mentioned about the grammar schools, Penn etc., and I have to say it's a really large area and there are many good schools and each has different ethos. You can start looking at the areas like Little kingshill combined ( Great Missenden), Booker Hill primary (Booker), Chepping view (Cressex), high wycombe c of e (wycombe). You can also look surrounding areas like flackwell heath and Marlow. Sandygate in Marlow has always been popular, Marlow is pricey but if you are in the area of Booker (closer to M40 and Marlow- Fernie fields/Booker common areas) I know some kids still got places in Marlow. Downly school used to be outstanding but that's like 10 years ago now, they change over time so I recommend you do a further research when the time comes. Good luck with your move.

I would recommend Chesham or Beaconsfield first off. Walking distance to train, shops and life. Then you can move further out for more land and bigger house, Henley maybe.