Chelmsford for a non driver

[ThatCalmRedCrab]

Hi all,

I’ve been reading some old Chelmsford posts which have been really helpful but wondered if anyone could assist with this…

Currently on the outskirts of East London, there’s myself, DH who works in the City, DD6 and DD2. I currently work flexibly for the NHS so could move to Broomfield or travel to other hospitals.

For medical reasons I’m unable to drive but we’re debating a move to the Chelmsford area to get a detached property, more for our money (min 4 bedrooms). Schools are obviously important too. I’d likely be doing the vast majority of the school runs. Are there any areas / villages in Chelmsford that are better for non drivers, that are fairly walkable or have good bus connections?

Many thanks in advance 😊

Chelmsford itself, or Broomfield or Springfield are all good for public transport. Chelmsford is a lot nicer and better than Braintree or Witham too. You’d be fine in Chelmsford. Trains are decent too albeit hard to get a seat on rush hour trains in the week. I live further up the line now, but family are all still around Chelmsford.

I wouldn’t say Broomfield is a great hospital to work at, but none of the Essex ones are really. Some of the London ones are pretty tough as well though so if you’re used to that I don’t think it’ll be terrible. I’m a bit choosy these days!

Transport from anywhere around Chelmsford like Great Baddow is also reasonably good.

Springfield or Beaulieu ( particularly with the new station) the school is outstanding and all through school ( you might struggle to get your 6 year old in to start with ) but the Springfield schools are walkable and there are buses to Chelmsford every 15 mins. As a non driver I wouldn’t consider any villages as transport links are rubbish. Broomfield itself is nice , you could live at the town end and then you can walk to the station / bus to hospital.

Have a look at the top end of Wood Street/ Galleywood Road and Longatomps. Small parade of shops called Hylands Parade. The bus stop is served by the C1 which goes directly to Broomfield Hospital plus 3 other routes that would take you to bus/rail station where you can connect with further routes onto the hospital.

This area puts you in the catchment for Mildmay primary and also Moulsham primary. These schools feed into Great Baddow High School and Moulsham High School.

I live nearby on Moulsham Lodge. It’s a 1960’s housing estate. Great community but you will find the houses too small. Vast majority 3 bedroom. Served by C5 which is a pain in the arse. The number of times the bus disappears off the board is unreal. I have epilepsy so can not drive.

Longstomps had a typo error above

You'll be ok as a non-driver - I lived in Moulsham for a few years before I could drive and it was fine. Check the bus routes to Broomfield if you're planning to work there, as you'll want a direct connection and the traffic up Broomfield Road can be terrible. The buses are ok but not 100% reliable. I would agree that Springfield and Beaulieu are well connected, and you could also look at the roads off Broomfield Road.

I have a non-driving friend who lives in Springfield and works in town, and she's very happy where she is.

Edited - I live on the C2/C3 route and they sometimes disappear off the board too. Very frustrating. I've seen on local groups that there's a shortage of bus drivers.

Thanks so much for your replies all, really helpful. I’m going to look into all of these 😊

Definitely will be ok as a non driver in Chelmsford . I live in Old moulsham which is very central so I rarely use my car. Though if you are working at Broomfield you would probably want to be the other side of the city (Broomfield itself is a good location)

Thank you, that’s great to know 😊