Three Bridges area

[Newbie1999]

Does anyone live in the Three Bridges area, and can tell me the best places to live there? Looking at a potential move from Central London. We don’t plan on moving again for a long time (2 small kids) so want to be sure we’re in a nice area, good schools, a few nice pubs etc! 1 mile (ish) max from station.

Any help appreciated!

Bits of random information that might be useful to you:
If you’re within a mile of the station, you probably can’t go too far wrong in terms of areas. Schools there have defined catchment areas, so it’s worth checking the maps on the West Sussex County Council website. Schools in the area are generally all good, but you may Not get to choose one out of your catchment. I’d also try to avoid having to drive for the school run.
Commuter (and even airport) parking can be an issue, so check the street your looking at on a weekday if you can.
If you’re likely to want to use buses, services from Three Bridges station into Crawley are excellent (about 15-20 buses per hour), but the other patches of Pound Hill, Maidenbower etc will only have 2 or 3 buses per hour.
Also, Maidenbower’s had some history of flooding, so check the risk map.

Very helpful, thank you!

My husband would be working from home and I would be walking to station and catching train into London - would definitely want to avoid driving for the school run too. Do you know if Maidenbower/Pound Hill have much in the way of shops, pub etc within walking distance? We are currently bang in the middle of London so don’t want too much of a culture shock!

Yes, the Crawley neighbourhoods were all planned as their own small towns, so they have shopping parades with corner shops, hairdressers, takeaways, post offices, pharmacies, hardware shops and stuff like that. In Pound Hill there’s a shopping parade next to each of the primary school. There are pubs too - the Hillside is the nicest very local one for food.
Lidl and Iceland are both right next to Three Bridges station and there’s a big Tesco Express about 10 minutes walk away.
I know what you mean about culture shock - it would be a big change from central London, but there are fast trains to London Bridge and Victoria and it’s only 30 min to Brighton too.

Should say, with the exception of a few streets of 1930s houses close to the station, most of the houses in Pound Hill will be from the building of the new town, so 1960s ish. Maidenbower was built more recently.
Maidenbower has a great play park, with a cafe. Pound Hill has smaller play parks, playing fields, a nature reserve (with a stream with stepping stones and a Pooh sticks bridge) and a Victorian landscaped park that’s recently been refurbished.
Three Bridges also has a couple of parades of shops and parks too.

Thanks so much for all this!

At the risk of sounding ridiculous, do you know of any particular streets that are more desirable to live on, in both Pound Hill and Maidenbower? We’re not in a rush to move just yet so would be great to know so that we can take a good look around and keep an eye out.

Depends on what you’re looking for (and budget of course). The most expensive streets within a mile of the station would probably be Milton Mount Avenue and Blackwater Lane, but that’s because the houses on those streets tend to be huge. If you’re north of Worth Road and near the station, there aren’t that many 4 bed semis, so there can be a big price jump between 3 beds and 4 beds (because you’re paying for detached etc as well as the extra bedroom). South of Worth Road, there are more terraced houses, rather than semis - even up to 4 bedrooms. There are some bungalows on or around St Mary’s Drive that tend to have big gardens, but they were all originally 2 bed and seem to have been extended/converted in a lot of different ways so layout can be a bit hit and miss.
Generally, I think in that area you pay a bit for proximity to the station but within Pound Hill, price differences mostly come down to the quality of the house/size of garden, rather than having streets that attract a particular premium.

Hi @Newbie1999 are you still after info? Can I recommend Horley. Nicer than 3 Bridges and Crawley. Plus you can walk to Gatwick or get train to Gatwick then train to London if Southern are playing silly buggers. Local state school is good and the sixth form college at Reigate is fab. Or Haywards Heath, which is a bit further out but has good schools and train links.

I'd also throw Furnace Green into the mix. Parts of Furnace Green are a 15 min walk to the station and nearer to the town centre than Pound Hill. You won't be so reliant on a car / buses.