Info on Marlow, Henley, Thame, Chalfonts

[Spanielmad]

Hello, we are thinking of moving into South Buckinghamshire for DH's work. Been looking at the impossible school situation already and earmarked a few areas with good (but oversubscribed) secondary schools.
Before I drive over to visit the area (we are a few hours away) I need to narrow down which towns we might like, as I can't visit them all in a day or two.

We like to be near or on the outskirts of a small town with stuff for my kids (young teen boys) such as a leisure centre, sports clubs, we like hiking in the hills/woods, I'd like a nice town with boutique shops, cafes, art galleries, art clubs etc. Low crime and peaceful would be good too- goes without saying.

Can anyone tell me anything about these towns? What are they like? I already know most of them are pricey- but would like to know more about atmosphere, crime, shops etc....
I have only done online research so far.

Henley,
Shiplake,
Marlow (my fav at the moment but hard to find a house),
Chalfont St Peter,
Chesham,
Thame.

Any thoughts very welcome!! Thank you

chalfont community college has a huge catchment so is a massive school. It has mixed views locally. I'd look Amersham way.
A413 is a more reliable Road then the m40 I think depending where your dh needs to be

thanks for the tip on Wendover, will have a look. Don't really like single sex schools, but John Colet has a good ofsted. Is oversubscribed though so must check out how bad Mandeville is.
Also the HS2 line is worth double checking.

Thanks to someone who suggested Frieth and surrounding villages. Very expensive but in catchment of Marlow schools. You never know what might come up there!

Amersham has good selective schools, single sex though and your elder ds unlikely to find a vacancy. Could you afford prep school for your younger ds for y6 and maybe to y8? Dns went to WR for secondary, one having narrowly missed grammar, did pretty well.

Re your comment on single sex schools, assuming you were thinking of Aylesbury grsmmars. There are 3 grammars in Aylesbury:
Aylesbury Grammar School - boys
Aylesbury High School - girls
Sir Henry Floyd - mixed.

Being brutally honest you won't escape hs2 anywhere on that strip. It's fucking the entire area up. But obviously you can check it's not going to end up chopping your garden enough.

Draw a little line through Chesham.

Amersham would be my preferred location (but I do love Marlow). The old town is gorgeous and has everything you want in terms of boutiques and galleries. Up the hill in the new town you have the sports centre, mainstream shops and tube and mainline into London.

Schools wise you have the OFSTED good Amersham School and the Holy Grail of Grammars in the Dr Challoners Schools.

The train connections from Marlow are what put us off. We are going to be moving to Beaconsfield or Amersham in the next couple of years - we have two girls though.

Dr Challenor's not the Holy Grail if you don't want single sex though. OP doesn't need to get to London so commuting means car not train (probably).

Hi Spaniel, I've replied to your threads before so forgive me if I repeat myself at all! If I could live anywhere I would choose Beaconsfield but it's ££.
I know a few people who have kids at Chalfont and I personally wouldn't send mine there but everyone's different. It's massive, 10 forms per year I think. My friend's daughter says there's often supply teachers so teaching isn't consistent and she struggles to pin down staff if she needs help with a subject.

Are Dr Challoners the holy grail? DCHS has offered OOC to around 10 miles the last few years and DCGS IA to 7 / 8 miles so deffo not as popular as maybe they once were.

Re Thame do bear in mind you're adding 30+ mins to commute compared to Marlow

Thanks everyone, lots to go through! DH would be commuting to Stoke Poges but I wouldn't Mind being able to get to Londonniw and then.

Good to know Chalfonts community might not be so brilliant, thanks. It's one of the few that doesn't seem oversubscribed though.
Mm not sure about Amersham (schools issue) and ok, will cross out Chesham .

Marlow, Henley and Thame left?

Friend of mine has just bought a 3 bed in Marlow for under £600K, she found there was quite a lot of choice.

Have you looked at Hedgerley/Farnham Common/Wexham/Fulmer.
All very near Stoke Poges and the M40 so really easy to get to London.
Farnham Royal also but it's not as nice as the above areas.

We are having 3 small houses built right next to our field (in Frieth), should be completed in a few months.

What sort of size are you looking for? PM me if you want any further info I may be able to put you in touch with the landowner before they go on the market

mumblechum0 are these the ones at the Yew Tree?

The actual town of Marlow is lovely but I find many of the people not very friendly and quite stuck up which is a shame (but obviously you would find similar all over the place). There also doesn't seem to be many houses for sale there at the moment.
Old Amersham seems really nice from what I've seen.

Yep. Right next door. All I need to do is make sure they're ought by nice quiet MNers who would like to share my Gin Shed 😊

Am so pleased something is finally happening- it has been dragging on sooooooo long - hope not too disruptive! (We're not Frieth- just down the hill 😀 )

TBH it's been really lovely to have 3 summers without people yelling in the beer garden till midnight but we're resigned to it.

grumpy arse emoticon

LOL we'll be wanting a big house (we're spoilt right now) 4+ beds and all sorts of extras with a bigger budget . But for now finding the perfect town/area to reduce the search area a bit would be nice.
Hope to visit and drive/walk around soon! If area is chosen we 'only' have to solve the school problem. sigh.....

Spanielmad I've been mulling over your situation and in many ways your best bet is to get yr 9 entry into SWBGS for your oldest and then hope you can swing a late allocation for catchment sibling into year 7 for youngest. Obv there are no guarantees but that seems the most doable.

Watch that HS2 railway in some places such as Great Misseden.

Thame is fab, brilliant senior school - Lord Williams, also although just out of catchment for the Aylesbury grammar schools Thame is well within their intake area, lovely town centre, Friendly, good transport links, well worth a look!

Ollycat, you are too kind! Yes, I also thought I should focus on my eldest, if I get him a place in Y8 somewhere (not Y9) my youngest stands a better chance with a late allocation. So I would be calling schools to find out if they have a Y8 place and if not, how much movement they usually have through the year.
I will definitely be visiting SWBGS and GMS to taste the atmosphere once they open up again.

Thanks woodhill, good point!
Thanks Det54, that is good to know. Nice to hear Lord Williams is a good school, despite it being so big. I hope I can visit the town and see what they've got! Its a bit further for DH to travel and feels a bit 'in the middle' but on the other hand it is close to Oxford and the Chilterns...