anyone moved/moving out of london?

[Greatfun]

We are in SW London. Not the swanky bit just the average bit. DH and I are seriously considering moving away to get more space and better schools. Our house is lovely and the area is lovely but some of the surrounding areas are not. DD is at the local primary which was the best we coudl get into. Its quite mixed in terms of social backgrounds but alot of the parents are what I woudl describe as rough. DH and I just didnt picture this for our kids. We are tentatively looking at either moving further out into Surrey on the SW train line or anywhere out from Victoria or DH may look for a job else where so we will move in the direction of Bristol (very general direction). Sorry I really am ranting on now but my general questions are:

1. Is life as you would expect after moving out? Were the schools really better?
2. How did you adjust or was that not an issue? DH particularly has a great social life courtesy of London so I know he would miss this but says he wants a better life for kids.
3. Do you think kids out of London have more freedom? Thats one of my big things. I really want my kids ot have more freedom as they grow up whereas here I can't imagine that happening.

Thanks. I look forward to your replies.

have you looked at places like Raynes Park or South Wimbledon/Colliers Wood? Even parts of Twickenham or Kingston/Norbiton?

We are already in the Raynes Park area. We have been thinking of Worcester Park but not sure if they have the same issues.

I love raynes park

lots of people from your parts move to places like epsom - don't know what house prices there are like though (have always imagined them to be high)

I'm SW London/N Surrey. (SW16 about 90 seconds away.)
Just some thoughts...
A friend has recently moved to Coulsdon (which is about 15 mins away) and I have been surprised at the difference it has made to her life - she is very impressed with the primary schools (not sure about secondary).
DS has SN and attends a club in the Sanderstead/Warlingham area where a lot of the helpers are teenagers. Really nice, well mannered teenagers. I make a point of asking 'what school tie is that then?' and they are at local schools (OK, some are at Whitgift, not cheap!).
Recently went to a function just off the A22 near Godstone. I'd forgotten how close I was to such beautiful countryside and villages - hard to believe I was still in Surrey.
All these places have a decent link into Victoria.

I have heard Epsom can be a bit rough. Not sure if thats true though. I am off to check out Coulsdon on rightmove .........

lol at epsom being rough

We moved from NW London to a small town in Berkshire.

In almost every way life is better here.

The only negatives are:

Lack of cultural diversity - this is such a white, middle-class place! I miss the variety of people, accents, foods, smells that I grew up with. Also, it's quite a shock for me to learn that most of my new friends had never knowingly met a Jew before, and it's tough on my kids being the only Jews in the school. Not that they're bullied, just that they have nobody with whom they have that in common.

I deeply miss the museums. There's no grabbing a bite of culture on a whim. Everything has to be planned and be a day trip - no dropping into the National Gallery or Science Museum for half an hour.

Woking is great. Trains every 8 mins to Waterloo.

Woking is great. Trains every 8 mins to Waterloo.

Yes we moved to Woking three years ago and like it.

Cece - you could be my neighbour?!

space for kids is a major factor. still have family in london who regularly traipse out for their space fix

sorry just read post. if you are raynes park not sure how much difference you would really get unless you moved to deepest surrey or hampshire way.

regarding cultural diversity. agree with that BUT also have met/mix with much more different people than in london, where our social group was really quite homegenous. our friends now are all ages/incomesgroups/jobs... but very white..

Um, prev was ok. but no more imo and dc was neither happy not unhappy iyswim. now, noticeably more engaged and positive about school. Seeing the difference in her has confirmed that it was the right decision.

We moved out from an area of London similar to Raynes Park to a village. Your ideal image of clean well mannered children going to a quaint school is in our case spot on and without a doubt they do have much more freedom. Nobody here locks their backdoors - it's that kind of place, lots of socialising, all the children know each other. The standard of the primary and secondary school are excellent and our dc's have flourished. However...

I miss London badly. I miss the culture, the hustle and bustle, the multi culture and general open mindedness. I guess we were a fairly typical middle class arty kind of family and fitted in perfectly in London. Here I feel like a fish out of water - can't move back because of the dc's but I'd really like to. DH can't stand the commute either.

Would we do it if we could step back in time - probably not.

Magna and greatfun - holiday house swap?

Yes that sounds good.

I am from London so I think I have a somewhat unrealstic view of life outside London. I imagine everyone being terribly nice to one another and leaving my back door open and cream teas and children running through long grassy fields and no dog poo anywhere ....... you get the idea

There is lots that DH and I like about London not lest our friends and some of your posts have made me see that. DD is currently at nursery so we have to apply to reception by the end of the year. We are apparently not that near any school so who knows where we will end up for schools but Tocca's post re: school has made me feel a bit better.

I think we should look a little further down the train line. Anyone know anything about Surbiton or Ewell?

I looked up Epsom there are alot of people talking about the town having problems due a nearby estate. Does anyone know if this is a load of rubbish?

The search continues

Have you considered the far end of the Metropolitan line (Bucks, Amersham, Beaconfield, Chesham etc). London accessible but you get a nice country feel and good schools

Hello sorry I didn't respond to your question greatfun (was posting via mobile phone whilst pretending to watch a film with DH...) but see you found the answer anyway! The commute is 55 mins from here and DH gets the train before 7am and always gets a seat, but I have heard that any later train means possible standing the whole way (his train doesn't stop at all en route to Waterloo so if you start off standing there's not even a chance of sitting down halfway.

Winchester prices are high but not as high as Putney (where we were before). Eg the house we rent here is a 4 bed in a great location and we pay less rent than we are getting for our 2 bed place that we let out now in Putney (also in good location). Sadly not managed to buy yet here though as moved in a hurry (due to DTs being on the way) and decided to rent first and let out our London house, and then the market went downhill and prices seem to have fallen more in Putney than in Winchester, so not the best time to sell up for us .

I'd swap Greatfun, but you're too near my Mum for comfort .

I quite like Cobham and Weybridge, but pricey.

After touring various counties commutable to London, we settled on Rugby which has great schools (over average results, grammar schools, the lot) and just 50mins commute. Unfortunately we realised the town is too small for us. So we are thinking Oxford and Cambridge now as we want more buzz and cosmopolitanism.

1 Yes, life was what I thought I wanted, but not quite enough excitement/opportunities for me.

1. I started volunteering for nct and other charity and met lots of people straightaway. So making friends is not the issue. Neighbours are also very nice and normal.
2. I live in 'posh' area of town and you can give a bit freedom to kids as it's very safe here and not too much traffic and less crime. We lived in East London so big difference in security.

Think well and hard: rural idyll or small town are very quiet in winter time.

Goldenpeach- Ox and Camb great but don't you find that Camb, in particular, starts to feel a bit student dominated/stuffy/claustrophobic/transient? I have seen both townie and student side.

Otherwise great for family life. maybe things have changed, and there are things to do and international influences so don't let me put you off.

toughdaddy, it depends on somebody's personality. I love reading and learning - and recently started a bit of tutoring as work in the media sector dried up, so a university town would be full of opportunities. My DP studied in both towns, so he will feel at home

goldenpeach- makes much sense. I really like to visit Oxford; more than Camb altho I spent quite a few years there.

Perhaps, I would like it more to live now with kids and diff priorities. I think that I would enjoying living in Bath....

..But don't want to go off thread.

Hope you enjoy the move