Nicola1

Is it possible? Please tell me it is?

I haven't lived in England since I was a child. I've never worked in England either, but my husband is the breadwinner and he'll probably need to commute to Canary Wharf side.

From the research we've done, we're loving the Chilterns area in Buckinghamshire and it seems to be commutable - he currently spends an hour in his car to work in the mornings, so being driven on a train is immensely preferable!

Please could you list lovely villages and towns below so that we can have a look? We have two small children as well so quality of education is very important.

PS, I came across a dreadful website called Chavtowns and it's put me off pretty much everywhere I've looked

christmasoompa

Definitely the Chilterns would give you what you're after. We lived there until spring last year, near Amersham. Hubby used to commute every day, and we lived in a little village near there.

Can't recommend it highly enough, gorgeous scenery, next to no crime, great schools (our village school was brilliant, only 14 in my daughter's class so like private school but without paying for it!) including top rated Grammar Schools for secondary, easy commute (Chiltern Line very reliable too, unlike a lot of other train lines, plus of course the tube goes out to Amersham so lots of places have that as well), good community spirit, lots of things on your doorstep i.e. London attractions (free parking on a Sunday and free entry to lots of things as well, so we used to go for family days out to places like the Natural History Museum for just the cost of petrol), the major airports, etc.

Quite an affluent area and not terribly cheap, but worth it imo.

Do just be wary of some of the not so nice areas i.e. High Wycombe, Aylesbury - although you say you want a village so assume you wouldn't be looking at a major town anyway. And the HS2 rail line may go through the Chilterns, so choose your area carefully.

I'm sure there are lots of others commutable nice villages in Kent/Surrey, etc, but I don't know about them, so hopefully others will be able to advise. And if your husband will be working in Canary Wharf then it's possible that another area the other side of London may give a quicker commute as he'll have to get across town from Marylebone if you're in Bucks?

Nicola1

Thank you for your reply, would you mind inboxing me where near Amersham you lived?

I've been reading up with interest about the HS2 line, but from I've read the final routing won't be released until the end of this year?

As I don't the area's, I found the interactive maps of the current proposed routing a little confusing, but will certainly be watching the progress with interest.

Obviously, I'm quite ignorant, but isn't this a better option than another 8 lane motorway down the countryside?

britwhore

Please don't take anything seriously on the chavtowns website - the guy that writes it is an idiot!

christmasoompa

No probs.

Possibly, but I just can't see the need for it personally (and no, I'm not a NIMBY, I don't live anywhere near the route now!). There is a really good train line to Birmingham already, and it's only going to shave about 15 mins off the journey so what's the point in spending billions on that? Just seems a bit pointless to me, and a waste of money at a time when the country can ill afford it.

heartofengland

My husband works in Canary Wharf while we're stuck in the US trying to sell the house.

It's interesting that you're considering Buckinghamshire. I've looked at different maps, train timetables, etc., and always imagined that living that far west/northwest of the city would be a heck of a commute to the east end of London? Perhaps I'm wrong?

Englishmum

I have to agree - it can and does often take quite some time to get across London: a fortnight ago we were in England and my spouse had to work in Canary Wharf. We were heading up to Warwickshire later that day, so I parked in Hounslow (3 Underground stops from Heathrow, West London) and he took the Piccadilly Line.....there were lots of delays that day and I waited for an hour for him!

My spouse used to work at St. Katherine's Dock (adjacent to to Tower Bridge on the Tower of London side of the river and took the Central Line from Epping and then the District Line to Farringdon. After we left to move overseas, most of the company's offices relocated to their new Canary Wharf HQ. They do still have offices in Old Street (the City) where he attends meetings from time to time.

We still have our little house which we bought as newlyweds in a village in the Epping Forest area, to the NE of London: as previously mentioned there is the Central Line Underground station in Epping, which connects at Stratford for the Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf, and there is a large station car park. If the Underground wasn't operating (strikes/engineering etc.) he would go to Harlow mainline station to take an overland train to get to work. You might want to check out villages or hamlets like Moreton, North Weald, Bobbingworth, Toot Hill (!), Greensted, the small town of Chipping Ongar/High Ongar etc.

There are many villages on the Essex/Hertfordshire border which are commutable to London, the mainline trains from say, Sawbridgeworth, Harlow, Broxbourne, Roydon etc. go to Liverpool St. station and the M11/M25 is also nearby.

This interactive map is great - type in a place name or postcode in the UK and it will show a map and where the main stations and roads, points of interest are located:

http://www.pagemost.com/mainpage.aspx

It might also be worth investigating parts of Kent in the M25 vicinity; there are mainline trains with connections to parts of the Underground system for Canary Wharf. It tends to be less expensive 'south of the River' as the Underground network isn't as extensive.

Stormer999

Absolutely +2, also the B,ham station is 15 minutes out of the town centre and will involve taxi transfers to go else where. The lines out of London will then suffer reduced services to make up for the passenger volume lost and hence commuters will suffer a greatly reduced service on the old lines.
With Cross rail, Olympics the UK just cannot afford something that is only an expensive toy of political prestige.

christmasoompa

My cousin commutes to Canary Wharf from Northamptonshire (Wellingborough) on a daily basis!

englishguygoinghome

If it's the village lifestyle you're after (rather than an actual village) then what about a "London village". We're moving in to Surrey Quays which will give me a 10-minute commute through traditional woodland, friendly neighbours, open green spaces where kids play together, decent schools (we hope!) and a price tag which beats most of Kent/Bucks/Herts for a similar property (particularly when you consider the cost of train fares vs my 600per year for the boat). Greenwich is similar (but more parkland than woodland) and can be a slightly longer commute and more expensive as it's better known.

Nicola1

What do you guys consider a heck of a commute? An hour seems very reasonable by train to us, as we're currently doing it by car due to congestion?

We'll be returning in July to have a proper looksee around and try the transport out, but I really, truly do hope to stay in the countryside.

Nicola1

How long is the commute in either direction?

Nicola1

Oh wow, I wasn't aware that there is already an operational line. That's just sad, sorry

Nicola1

Which area's are you focussing on if you don't mind sharing? I'm so fixated on the countryside, I can't get beyond the Chilterns area, it just seems perfect for my needs (plus we don't feel an hour commute is unreasonable).

Tr1boy

Have a look at the area west of Guildford, has tons of villages around the area, very nice. There is a mainline train to Waterloo, about 50 mins (I don't use it as I work in Guildford).