Honest opinions please! Bishop’s Stortford, Saffron Walden or Hitchin for a young family?

[TempsPerdu]

Please be as brutally honest as you like, as we are going round in circles on this decision and have been dithering for several years already!

We’re currently based in an outer north London suburb with DD7 but are looking to move further out into Herts or Essex. We are both born and bred Londoners, but our area has declined significantly over the past few years, and we want something a bit more ‘wholesome’ with better schools for DD, who seems so far to be pretty academic. Our current choice of schools is either super-selective grammar, zero tolerance ‘no excuses’ academy or low-achieving comps, so we’re seeking the holy grail of an academic school that doesn’t require crazy amounts of tutoring to get in.

We were pretty much set on moving to Bishop’s Stortford until a couple of weeks ago, when we visited with DD (having just broken the moving news to her) and saw quite a few things that put us off: the town centre seemed (from what we saw) to be in decline, many areas looked quite shabby and we witnessed a fair bit of anti-social behaviour - basically a lot of the same issues that we see in our current suburb. It also seemed much more built up and hectic than we had previously realised.

Saffron Walden has been on our radar for a long time - we love our visits there and it would be our definite ‘heart’ choice, but we are a little worried about the school options there and accessibility to north London to visit friends and two sets of elderly parents. It feels that bit further out and that bit more of a lifestyle shift, which we would love in some ways (we are ‘joiner inners’ and would be keen to throw ourselves into a new community) but does pose its own issues.

Hitchin keeps coming up as another option, with good schools etc (I like the ideal of single sex schooling, which is why we were so set on Bishop’s Stortford). But we’ve only visited a few times and aren’t that familiar with the area.

Hoping anyone who lives in any of these areas, especially with a young family, can help us out with some honest options about what it’s really like to live there. Our top budget would be about £900K (although ideally a bit less) and commuting isn’t too much of an issue as DP only needs to be in the office 1/2 days a week and I have a role that’s easily transferable.

Ideally we’re looking for decent schools, a good sense of community, walkability, green space/fairly outdoorsy lifestyle and a place where DD can have a bit of independence as she grows up in a fairly safe setting (like I said, the holy grail!)

We don't live in these areas as we live in Braintree but for many of our peers (we're all young families) have saffron Walden as the goal for their next move
Closely followed by great Dunmow but that might be too far for you

Lots of our friends are working on promotions to reach that aim

@StressedoutforeverThanks for replying, that’s interesting - we were actually there yesterday and people were queueing up to look in the estate agents’ windows, so clearly a popular place! I imagine being picked as The Times’ best place to live this year has had an effect too. SW does feel a bit like being in a bubble, but a nice one!

Hitchin has fantastic schools. Pretty much all of the primaries are outstanding and the two single sex schools are too. There are lots of activities and clubs for young families, a thriving and long established scouting community which is great. Lots of people move to Hitchin with young families and it is a really great place to bring up kids

I have friends who work at saffron Walden high school.

seems a good school.

That sounds promising, thanks. Hitchin keeps being recommended to me as a good ‘escaping London’ location so I think we should probably visit again to get more of a feel for the area. From what I’ve heard it’s a bit more connected to London and a bit less of a potential lifestyle shift/culture shock than Saffron Walden.

Thanks, that’s good to hear.

both myself and DH found Hitchin a bit simple but I’m a city girl. Have you looked round it?

There is often a bit of a trade-off between “pretty” and “amenities”.

Saffron Walden is nice but you will need to either drive or cycle to the station at Audley End every day and the journey is that bit longer. So I wouldn’t pick it if you’re planning to commute into London more than a couple of times a week. You will have less choice of schools here, I think.

Hitchin is the best connected by rail into London - and also easy access to the A1 if that’s relevant. I don’t know the schools, though. We liked it when we visited some years ago but couldn’t get the kind of house we wanted for our money. You will get less for your money house-wise here than in either of the other locations, I think.

Bishops Stortford isn’t run down! I’d visit again. What I would say is that there has been a lot of building work around the town in the last few years. The schooling provision has increased (two new primaries and a secondary, all within the same academy trust and not to everyone’s taste) but the healthcare provision hasn’t; there has also been a knock-on effect on traffic. It is a great place to live and easy access to London via Tottenham Hale/Liverpool Street/Stratford and the M11. There is no significant problem with anti-social behaviour. There are a number of secondaries, some more selective than others. Good facilities and anything you can’t get in town, you can probably get in Harlow.

You could also look at Newport, which is a bit further up the train line - smaller than Stortford and might be a culture shock after London but has a good school (JFAN) and a railway station.

Feel free to DM me if you’d like to.

I'm from rural South Cambridgeshire. As well as Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock are popular. As are lots of the larger villages around Cambridge itself like Impington. I did move to London to escape the peace and quiet! But that's where it is if you want it.
My dear departed Grandmother always said she would never live in Stevenage! Makes me laugh everytime I go through it on the train, seems nice to me. Gran also warned me against Harlow. I think it was because the government tried to move the working class of which Gran was a proud member, out of London to these overspill towns. This was post war, so nothing to worry about today. I assume.

Bishop’s Stortford has outstanding single sex secondaries, which are non-selective and offer a really broad education. Can’t speak highly enough of the girls school and results achieved there. If you live reasonably close you will get in. More generally I find that Stortford provides a nice life (places to eat, range of shops, green spaces, local arts space & comedy club, some thriving sporting groups) and for me the quick & easy rail link into London and Cambridge is valuable. Have family in Saffron Walden and I do really like it, but it does feel further out and the train station is not walkable, which would bother me. Stortford has grown a lot recently and that has had an impact. I’m hoping in particular that the area by the Station will see improvements once the development has finished - as it is in a strange mid-way point at the moment.

I lived in Stortford about 20 years ago when my dc were young. We stayed for 2 years and moved on as we were bored with the place. Our children didn’t attend any schools as they were too young. We used to visit Saffron W a lot, it’s lovely to visit but the lack of train station would put me off living there.

For your budget I’d recommend Leigh on Sea, well connected and access to outstanding grammar schools which are accessible to local kids. Thorpe Bay ditto L on S re: schools or Chelmsford.
The grammar school in Chelmsford is more selective that the Southend grammars however, I don’t know what the comps are like. It has a lovely town centre and I would much prefer to live there than Stortford. It seems more vibrant.

@Notgoodatpoetrybutgreatatlit
@VerbenaGirl

Thanks so much for your insights on Bishop’s Stortford - they’re really helpful. I think perhaps we picked a bad day to visit; the high street just seemed a bit sad and shabby to us as we walked through, there was an awful lot of traffic and poor/dangerous driving around (boy racers!) and kids doing wheelies on electric bikes down main roads. But we’ve liked it on previous visits so probably just an unfortunate snapshot. I’ve joined a couple of the Stortford social media groups as well and must say they’ve put me off a bit - lots of complaining about crime (mainly vandalism and stolen cars/bikes) and how the area used to be so much nicer/calmer. But I guess that’s what the majority of neighbourhood groups are like in reality!

Another potential issue is that ideally we don’t really want to live on an estate, and there seems to be quite limited housing stock in Stortford that would suit us (I’ve been signed up to Rightmove updates for about 5 years now and the properties I’ve liked enough to potentially buy have been few and far between).

If we did move there we’d definitely want Herts and Essex for DD - we’ve done a lot of research (I’m a teacher myself) and it does look amazing, plus a couple of friends’ daughters have been through the school and loved it. But admissions wise it’s potentially a bit of a headache due to combo of feeder schools + location. There are currently no places for DD’s year in the town or village feeder schools and we definitely wouldn’t want any of the new Avanti schools. One pro of Saffron Walden is that as long as you’re in town and fairly the school you’re basically a shoo-in for SWCHS. For H&E I think we’d have to get DD to have a go at the music aptitude test as well as a back-up.

I think we probably need to visit all three places again and spend a bit more time there to get a proper feel for them.

@PrimaniTuThanks for the reply - hadn’t considered either of those areas before but will look into them. I do like the sound of a grammar school, which the other locations we’re considering lack. Also quite intrigued by Chelmsford as it popped up recently as one of the Times’ best places to live - looks like the shopping is good and there’s an Everyman cinema (which probably shouldn’t be my main criteria for moving there but I must say do appeal! )

I've lived near Hitchin, can't comment on schools as no kids, but it's a lovely area, very green lots of lovely walks and pubs. Town centre is nice, a market a few days a week, and there's often events in the market square. Letchworth is spitting distance and also lovely. I've family in NW London and it's a really easy drive in under 40 mins on a good day or outside of rush hour. Trains pretty reliable and I could be at the office in the city in around an hour.
Harpenden might also be a good option for you, more expensive but it's really nice.

For anyone else reading this thread and thinking about moving to Bishop’s Stortford - we moved here from London in 2023. Both my kids go to Avanti primary schools and will almost definitely go on to Avanti Grange for secondary.

What I really love about the Avanti schools is the focus on Spiritual Insight. The kids do daily meditation and weekly yoga, and I honestly feel like it’s helping them grow up grounded and confident.

The recent Ofsted for Avanti Grange was Outstanding and is genuinely the best one I’ve ever read (and I read loads when we were deciding where to move!). I’m just really happy knowing my children will get such a well-rounded education with high academic standards too.

Hi

this is so nice to read! Trying to find out whatever I can on the avanti schools both primary, have a DD going into year 3 sept and secondary school, a DD starting secondary in sept. We are looking to move to BS after being completely priced out of our current London neighbourhood. If we did in year admissions my worry would be we wouldn’t get a place. We are looking to buy in the estates the schools are on. Any info would be greatly appreciated

Hitchin is lovely, fab schools. Stortford good schools but I dont like the town as much, plus so many new builds!

OP- where did you move in the end?

@7238SM Apologies for a very late response - been distracted by our house move, which is finally happening, and we will be moving in two weeks to Saffron Walden.

It’s been a long slog but we’re very excited; have sorted a primary school place for DD and a rental, and yesterday had our offer on a house there accepted.

While we still like both of the other locations we chose SW in the end because we really wanted to live somewhere attractive and characterful, with a strong community vibe and its own local identity - we felt that both Hitchin and Bishop’s Stortford felt more similar to London, and wanted something a bit different.

I would add the caveat that finding a suitable onward purchase in SW has been a huge struggle; it’s fine if you have an unlimited budget or are happy to live in a neighbouring village, but in the town itself there’s a real shortage of family houses that have the usual ‘tick boxes’ of quiet road, drive/parking, decent living space and OK-ish garden. We’ve found that there’s a lot of very expensive or very poky (Tudor) period housing and a lot of boxy new builds, but very little in the ‘spacious mid-priced family home’ category. The house we’ve just secured is very nice, but involves a fair few compromises and certainly isn’t what we thought we’d end up buying!

Congrats, I hope the new move goes well x