Moving to Cambridge (or surrounding areas)

[freestylemummy]

Hi all,

We are a family of 4, and looking to move from Beccles to Cambridge towards the end of the year.

We visit Cambridge a lot and love it there but I understand that visiting for fun is very different to living there.

We'd consider the surrounding areas too as we are lucky that my hubby works from home and I work for the NHS so can find a job anywhere.

We have one child in primary school and one in secondary school so would need an area which has good schools. We have dogs so a nice area to go for walks nearby would be lovely. The kids are quite into their sports so local clubs would be great.

Could anyone recommend an area?

Thanks

We love just north of Peterborough which is lovely, and can happily go for day trips to Cambridge and Milton Keynes along with lots of places that are North of us. Might be worth looking at. For 300K you could get a nice four bed around here.

@Awkwarddough
we live just north of Peterborough which is lovely
Most people dont think Peterborough is lovely. Its regularly cited "worst place to live in the UK"

OP, if you want a village near Cambridge I really do think Cambourne is a great place for families. Our dc used to be very envious of all.their friends who lived there as there is so much going on. However, it isnt for everyone. If you want a more traditional.village with good access to Cambridge you could look at the villages t the north along the guided bus way. Thi house in Over is slightly over your budget but might be worth looking at
I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-92444381.html

And as another pp has said, Ely is worth considering. It's. short train ride to Cambridge and has a lot to offer in it's own right.

@EmmaGrundyForPM

As I said we live north of Peterborough not in the city centre. And if you don’t live there please don’t comment on how nice it is. I wouldn’t want to live in the city, but then again I’m not recommending the OP does either

I would say Ely too. Although if you need a secondary school, I don’t think that it’s as good as SJLHS. I would like to live in Beccles but the lack of accessibility to other places outside of Suffolk/Norfolk means that it’s not an option for us, and Cambridgeshire is much better for that.

Huntingdon is nice, but avoid St Peter's school.

SJLHS is not as good as you'd think unfortunately and has got a lot of issues at the moment. I am much like yourself, it is absolutely beautiful here but I feel like I'm on a desert island sometimes. I need to have the accessibility that a city gives. I'm from London originally so it's been very difficult for me. Thank you for your post, I will also look into Ely.

Cambourne and Over look like lovely places and I'm so grateful for the suggestions. Thank you all 🥰

My knowledge of SJLHS is quite out of date, it’s a pity that it’s not doing as well as it seems. I’ve lived in London and Beccles, along with a few other places, so understand the desert island comparison!

@LivingInTheBackOfBeyond

My knowledge of SJLHS is quite out of date, it’s a pity that it’s not doing as well as it seems. I’ve lived in London and Beccles, along with a few other places, so understand the desert island comparison!

Are you living in Cambridgeshire now? Have you found it better than Beccles? We only moved here 5 years ago and I have really tried but it's just making me miserable. I know that it's a matter of making compromises but as much as I've really tried, I just can't get on :'(

We live on the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border but fairly rurally, so not somewhere that I would necessarily recommend to live but it suits us. However, we have very easy access to Ely and from there to London and Cambridge by train, and much of our lives are based around Ely and to an extent, London, as it’s easy to visit for the day or commute for work. Compared to Beccles, I miss having the broads at the bottom of town, easy access to the coast, and then attractive town centre - it’s much better than it was years ago! We found Beccles to be fairly insular though, with many people having lived there for all of their lives and mainly socialising with their families and school friends - there’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but it can make incomers feel like outsiders - I think that this is due again to it being relatively cut off, unless you can find work locally or in Norwich.

I think that Cambridgeshire would definitely be less of a culture shock coming from London, as although I really like Beccles and find myself wanting to move back when I visit, in reality, I know that it wouldn’t work for us.

@LivingInTheBackOfBeyond

We live on the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border but fairly rurally, so not somewhere that I would necessarily recommend to live but it suits us. However, we have very easy access to Ely and from there to London and Cambridge by train, and much of our lives are based around Ely and to an extent, London, as it’s easy to visit for the day or commute for work. Compared to Beccles, I miss having the broads at the bottom of town, easy access to the coast, and then attractive town centre - it’s much better than it was years ago! We found Beccles to be fairly insular though, with many people having lived there for all of their lives and mainly socialising with their families and school friends - there’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but it can make incomers feel like outsiders - I think that this is due again to it being relatively cut off, unless you can find work locally or in Norwich.

I think that Cambridgeshire would definitely be less of a culture shock coming from London, as although I really like Beccles and find myself wanting to move back when I visit, in reality, I know that it wouldn’t work for us.

Couldn't have put it better myself! Everyone seems to have their friends group and don't need/want to add anyone else in. I'm a really social person so it has had a big impact on me and my confidence. My eldest has struggled too with the same. It is such a shame because I absolutely love the broads, the countryside and amazing walks. Thank you so much for your message, it's really made me feel a lot better because I did start wondering if it was me!!

One of the things that is evident about a lot of the villages in South cambs is that there are a lot of "incomers". So people are very open to mixing and making friends because they dont have the networks they have grown up with.

All the schools in South Cambs are pretty good. The links to London are also good.

I love Cambridge for the social activities, the culture, the music. We live in a village west of Cambridge and we can get to London King's X in less than 45 minutes from St Neots.

We live in a lovely village north of Cambridge and bought a 4 bed for around 350k. It is a 15 min drive into central Cambridge from our house or a 30 min bike ride. Have a look at cottenham, Willingham, longstanton, Over. The further out you go the cheaper it gets and there is a considerable drop off in prices once you get only about 5 miles out.

We love living here by the way. Best of luck with it all.

@KoalasandRabbit

Saffron Walden may be worth a look - there's some 3 beds on for 325k to 350k. Excellent schools, good shops, nice community, very safe and think there's a small hospital there.

Cambridge itself is seriously expensive. Some of the villages you might get something with a bit higher amount and most schools in the county are very good. North of Cambridge is often cheaper than south as harder to get into London from.

Absolutely!

My in-laws live in South Cambs, and we've been wanting to move closer to them since we came back to Britain two years ago. We've been looking at houses close to their villages but honestly, the ones within our budget have been okay, nothing spectacular though.

Out of curiosity, we decided to look just across the border in North Essex (not far from where I was born), and realised that we could get so much more for our money.

We're actually moving to a village just outside Saffron Walden, the week after next. It's only 15 miles from Cambridge. I can't wait! Lots of happy memories of Saffron Walden and Thaxted, too!

@howfarwevecome

You won't get much around here for £300k. Cambridge is over priced. If you don't have to live here, why on earth would you?

That's exactly what my partner says - almost word for word!

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I agree though, that Cambourne could be a good idea for a young family with sociable parents - the new estates seem to have very good amenities. Definitely not my cuppa... but I am not very sociable, and my children are grown up with families of their own! Remote and rural is my idea of heaven!

OP, there are over 200 3-bed houses within your budget, in a 10 mile radius of Cambridge. You're bound to find something! And as I said in my other post, North Essex may be a viable option for you, too.

Good luck - I really hope you find somewhere, and that you're all very happy there.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. We have found a few areas which were recommended and we can find something within our budget. We're going to view them all in the next few weeks hopefully. Thanks again 😊

Good luck

Not a fan of Cambridge, massively overrated and overpriced. York is far lovelier IMO.

Hi. We are looking to move in cambridge area . I need some information about how the area is for parents and kids.... also i need new friends too 🥰