Need to escape the smoke but where do normal people live??

confused31_2

gooner63 wrote: »

What about Royston ?...........40 mins from Kings Cross and about 12 miles south of Cambridge ! :rolleyes:

royston vesey ?:D

confused

clairehi

following on from the person who suggested Royston you could look at this and other towns/villages in North Herts (not Stevenage). fast train links to Kings Cross, some good schools - check Ofsted, upmystreet etc. we get a lot of people moving here from London for better quality of life.

edit to say - OH can get from home to his desk nr London Bridge in an hour, faster than many of his colleagues who live in London!

LadyIndecisive

I'm originally from Letchworth and have lived in Hitchin - I would recommend both really. Hitchin is better for commuting by train as the line splits towards Peterborough and Cambridge after Hitchin. It's become a bit Star-bucked lately but is a nice market town with old coaching-inn style pubs (I am a coffee and beer fan!).

Prices are (to my mind but I live in London now too) reasonable. Letchworth is the original Garden City (before Welwyn) and less snobby, very green - worth a look!

geoffky

come to glorious Cheshire......amazing places

feesh

I live in a small village on the outskirts of Berkhamsted - Berkhamsted's not as snobby as you make out! It's great because Ashridge is only a short walk away, and we can be in the Chilterns walking through forests or up on hills in minutes. PM me if you want more info.

The only other place I'd consider living in round here is Wendover.

morg_monster

What about chalfont / amersham, that kind of area? Really lovely and villagey areas, still on the metropolitan line but guess may still have the snobby/overly posh factor.

mlz1413

Get a map out, photocopy it, put a big X where work is and In-Laws live, then highlight the train tracks. Then list all the places you can find within the 1 hour / 25 mile road / 50 mile train journey.

Check the list of places on rightmove for house prices, reduce list by places you can't afford (do not guess where you can/can't afford - research it)

Then make an effort every weekend to visit every place on the list - put away your pre-conceptions and actually go into coffee shops, parks, shopping centres and then have a meal in a pub / resturant before you leave.
Chat to the locals and give everywhere a mark out of 10.

When you have seen everywhere get you and OH to list the places you remember as good and as bad, compare and then go back to top 3 on list.

If your not just plain exhausted you should make a good choice!!

rs82uk

Not Kent please we already have too many london commuters ramping property prices and turning our towns and villages into Ghost Towns.

hethmar

Dont any "normal people" live in London now then

Oh rsootarsing - DITTO re Norfolk. Londoners/big city people are changing the face of our lovely little towns.

Why dont you look at Essex?

gingin_2

LadyIndecisive wrote: »

I'm originally from Letchworth and have lived in Hitchin - I would recommend both really. Hitchin is better for commuting by train as the line splits towards Peterborough and Cambridge after Hitchin. It's become a bit Star-bucked lately but is a nice market town with old coaching-inn style pubs (I am a coffee and beer fan!).

Me too!

I vowed never to live in Letchworth again, just because it is a little too suburban and soulless but Hitchin has always seemed to have a little more going for it and the villages around it are nice (with the nice pubs ). I like St Albans, it doesn't have the same "Ladies who lunch" feel to it as Berkhampstead, Radlett etc....

I am in Cambridge now, we love it here, it's safe, green, a little offbeat, great for kids, fantastic schools, but, it's just so expensive, commuting costs around £500pm into London and houses are still ridiculously priced.

Edit : Forgot Ashwell and the villages around there are worth looking at.