Nice areas around Colchester?

pippa80

Colch can be a bit like that, but I think most towns of that size do have a bit of that element! There are lovely bits though. If and when we move back there from London the shortlist is: Dutch quarter, Roman and Castle Roads (lovely and good for the commute) or Wivenhoe (lovely, close to mates but not so good for the comute).

Kind of depends what sort of thing you're after. Wivenhoe won't have any of the rough edges (but you won't have the amenities). Coggeshall is also nice. Depends if you're looking for Guardian or Telegraph reading neighbours

ERICS_MUM

hazyjo wrote: »

Why around Colchester? Cos it's cheaper? Just thinking out loud... the fares will be pricier the further out you go. Can you afford Chelmsford? Such a good option for commuting, and a nice enough place to live for most age groups. Are you in town on a regular basis, or an occasional one? Couldn't really tell from your post.

Jx

You beat me to it! I movd to Chelmsford from east London and it transformed my life, it's such a lovely place to live. I commuted to the city for years from here - around 60 mins each way which was worth it for the benefits of living here.

My mum and then my sister and family have now moved down here - they liked it so much when they visited me!

I'm happy to answer any questions

(PS one thing - property isn't cheap)

Linda xx

pippa80

Here are some houses that I would look at - but no idea what size etc you're looking for:


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-19941930.html

If you buy this one and refuse to sell it to me in 10 years I'll scratch out your eyes :P

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29474137.html

If you're rich:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32527028.html

Imagine!

yanda

hazyjo wrote: »

Why around Colchester? Cos it's cheaper? Just thinking out loud... the fares will be pricier the further out you go. Can you afford Chelmsford? Such a good option for commuting, and a nice enough place to live for most age groups. Are you in town on a regular basis, or an occasional one? Couldn't really tell from your post.

Jx

Its more the surrounding villages/areas around colchester that we like, with the bonus of being able to go into Colchester itself for shopping if needed (or to get my Guardian and hummous fix pippa80 ) . I work from home the majority of the time and wife is looking after our DS so only need to go into London for meetings 2-3 times a month.

With Chelmsford (and Shenfield, Brentwood etc) you seem to be paying for the convenience of being in prime commuting distance, when in reality I don't really require it.

Budgetwise i'm looking for a 3-4 bed for upto 400k

pippa80

I think Wivenhoe sounds like the go for you. Good transport links when you need them. Wiv has lots of interesting folks who don't commute out and will be around in the town during the week (artists, academics and others) so it won't feel deserted when you nip out to the shops etc. You certainly won't need to go into Colch for your hummus and Guardian fix!

If you did want to go for an even less 'town' atmosphere Copford and Rowhedge could be interesting and are also close to Colch (much worse commute though).

Southend1

BornAtTheRightTime wrote: »

Trains from Witham and Hatfield Peverel are good. Witham's not so nice but is surrounded by lovely villages - Langford, Ulting, Wickham Bishops, Terling. All are within easy reach of Colchester, Chelmsford and Maldon.

I'd agree with this! :money:

pinkteapot

The commute time is actually the same in both Wivenhoe and Manningtree. From Wivenhoe you're on the slow trains whereas Manningtree gets the Norwich intercities so the journey time is nigh on identical.

We bought in Colchester last year (were both commuting daily to London at the time) and were looking at houses in Colchester, Wivenhoe and Manningtree. We gave up with Wivenhoe in the end as we just couldn't find houses that we liked. Period houses were over our budget and everything was either 1960s or nearly-new, neither of which we like. Your budget is bigger than ours was though so you should have more luck. Manningtree had the style of house for us, as did the Turner Rise estate in Colchester, near the main station. In the end, the right house came up in Colchester first so we went for that.

Wivenhoe has decent train links but is a bit of a pain by road for visitors. They have to come off the A12 at Colchester then get down the A133 through Colchester which gets REALLY congested. Plus they get the fun of the magic roundabout at Greenstead. Having said that though, it's closer to Colchester town centre than Manningtree and the waterfront is lovely - I always felt like I was on holiday when wandering around.

Some parts of Wivenhoe are student letting central as it's so close to Essex University. However, with your budget you should be looking at different areas.

Manningtree is a bigger place than Wivenhoe - has it's own High Street and also has a waterfront. It's also close to the Dedham area which has beautiful countryside, lots of nice walks etc. If you like a nicer class of place, look at Dedham! But it's REALLY expensive lol.

As others have said, Colchester has nice areas and chavtastic cr*p areas, same as any large town. It really depends whether you want a smaller, more community-minded feel or want the amenities of living in a large town.

EDIT: Just had a nose and for comedy value:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30695950.html
We viewed this in October 2009 when the asking price was £315k. It's got a shoddily built extension that looks in serious need of remedial work. We looked at sold prices and couldn't see any justification for paying more than £250k for it. It's been on and off the market ever since.

This was one thing that wound us up in Wivenhoe. The estate agents are seriously stuck at 2007 peak prices. Most houses for sale there for the 18 months we were house-hunting just went off the market unsold as they were really overpriced. Wivenhoe's nice. We didn't feel it was nice enough to justify the prices.

pinkteapot

Southend1 wrote: »

I'd agree with this! :money:

Ditto - I used to live in Witham and I wouldn't recommend it. Great Totham is one of the really nice places and has one of the best primary schools in the area. Got friends who live there and it's lovely.

merlin68

We live in Greenstead and it's fine. To be fair we also lived in Lexden, which was awful. the favourite part i have lived in is St Mary's. Which are old houses of crouch street. Never had any trouble down there.
Cambridge road was awful complete with pedos and drunks and mental health patients. Lot's of the big old houses are now flats for HA's and centre's.

BornAtTheRightTime

pinkteapot wrote: »

Ditto - I used to live in Witham and I wouldn't recommend it. Great Totham is one of the really nice places and has one of the best primary schools in the area. Got friends who live there and it's lovely.

As well as having one of the best primary schools in the area, Great Totham/Wickham Bishops are perfectly placed for both Chelmsford and Colchester Grammars if your child is gifted enough to get in and have access to excellent secondary modern schools for the 4 in 5 kids that don't make it.

Although the OP hasn't mentioned kids or schooling - but possibly something to think about for the future!