Okay, so further to my post below, my next question I have posted as a separate thread. We previously lived in Twickenham but would be keen to move further out of London and initially thought of a move to Tunbridge Wells/Sevenoaks as a good commuter option to London. We are looking for a leafy commuter belt with really good schools.

However, a good friend recently suggested Guildford as a better option since TWells is further away?!. Can anyone give any comments on Guildford and recommend areas and/or good schools in the area? Any info would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Semi-pom

Guildford very nice, good schools. I know some people there.
Burpham is a nice area with good schools

Hi semi-pom
We are in Woking near Guildford. I understand the Catholic school St Peters in Merrow nr Guildford is v. good. Dont know the rest of the schools there though. St John the Baptist in Woking has an excellent reputation.

My husband commutes to London from here and its a breeze. Incidentally, we moved here from Tunbridge Wells. The thing you have to watch in Kent is they still have the 11 +. Great if your kids are bright. If they dont make the grade though, some then get sent privately and the rest end up at the secondary school. Therefore in my opinion 2 lots of children get creamed off and then the rest get put in the local school. I wouldnt fancy that for mine. Friends of ours have children at the grammer school there (true grammer, not fee paying as in Surrey) and they are very happy - but their kids are clever. Ours probably wouldnt have made it through.
In Surrey, sure some kids do go privately that are very clever. Most go to the secondary school here. The results were 85% got 5 O levels grade A-C. Pretty fantastic.
Best wishes
Jayne

HI I lived near Guildford.
Its a lovely part of the country, beautiful countryside around, access to London easily.
I like it loads.
No idea about schools though
good luck

Merrow, Burpham, Wood Street are all nice parts of Guildford. Park Barn, Bellfields and Stoughton should be avoided like the plague.

If you want to get into any of the state schools in Burpham or Merrow you will have to live in close proximity to be certain of being in the catchment area and you will pay well for a house there for the privilege.

If you have teenage children I would be wary about letting them out and about Guildford town centre at night unless they are in a big sensible group.

If you have teenage children I would be wary about letting them out and about Guildford town centre at night unless they are in a big sensible group.

Is it an unsafe town at night, Sunbather? Eek, that is a bit scary! Fortunately my kids are under 5 so I am just figuring out where we need to move to in order for them to get into a good school.

Thanks for the info, Jayne. All this schools business gets a bit complicated...very interesting, thanks!

Thanks so much for your replies, Twhurl and Birdynumnum. Really appreciate it! Fingers crossed we end up there...sooner rather than later...hehe

It's like any other town; of course it has issues however nothing to be worried about. Guildford is a pretty area, you have the north Downs close by for walks, Newlands Corner, Shere (a very pretty village, nice tea shop).

I used to live in Merrow and have to say it's a nice place to live. Has a mixture of character houses through to bland housing estates. Burpham is close by, it has a large housing area built in the 80's, all look the same.

The Spectrum is a good lesiure centre, swimming pool, ice rink, gym and bowling alley. Stoke Park is a nice place to go running around and is home to Guilfest every July (music festival).

I now live in Tongham which is about 6 miles outside Guildford. I live near a pretty little town called Farnham, I'm also close to Aldershot which used to have a bit of a reputation, though thats changing now. I like the area where I live at the mo, no real problems with kids etc, has some nice properties that are slightly cheaper as not in the middle of Guildford. Ash Green is a nice little village. Ash is quite a nice area too and also has a train station which is two stops from Guildford.

Traffic in the town centre is a pain in the arse. If it rains on a Friday afternoon during rush hour you can bet your bottom dollar you're be waiting ages to get home.

School wise don't know however if you go to rightmove.co.uk on their front page they have a link to another site where you can find info on certain areas.

They have a larger police presence now after the doorman at Mambos night club was blasted by a yob with a shotgun.

Guildford is quite a pretty place, quite busy, and just magical at Christmas time, but a hell hole at night.


There are some really lovely villages around the area, and the further south you go, the quieter they tend to be.

If you want a pretty commuter place try somewhere like Haslemere, it has a fast train to London a few times a day and it only takes 30 mins to get in to town.

I am doing a list at the mo for someone else about some of the villages around that area, when its done I will send it to you.

I grew up in Guildford and my parents still live there, but spent my adult life living at Milford and then in a village just south of Farnham. I used to hate going back to Guildford, although I can see that is better than a lot of places in the UK. Just the traffic, shopping and aggresive attitude and snobbery there drove me round the bend. If I needed to go to a bigger town than Farnham for say Christmas shopping, I used to go to Basingstoke. Much easier to get in and out of and much easier for parking.

If you are looking for a good school anywhere around the area, then general thumb of rule would be to have a look at estate agents' websites, find two houses very similar but in different suburbs, then pick the most expensive one The cheaper one will be nearer a school that does not have such a good reputation. As anywhere, you pay for the luxury of being in the catchment of a good school.

Ditto !

It's an expensive part of the world, but surrounded by some very pretty countryside and villages. Look outwards from Guildford > A25 > Dorking area, Clandon, or out towards Farnham or Woking directions. The north of the town around Park Barn, etc, is not the most desirable. There are pretty good links to London.

Guildford is no better or worse than many Surrey towns for teen/weekend problems. It's just that bit bigger, so has more in a condensed area ! No where is immune from the anti-social behaviour, unfortunately. Just seems more visible in some places than others.

I know Surrey well. For good links to London, consider the areas to the south of Epsom also, Ashtead, Walton on the Hill, etc. Or head eastwards to the Kent borders - Oxted, Caterham, etc.

Again, I could tell you great or nightmare stories about all of them ! Generally, it's a lovely part of the world. But busy. Happy hunting ...

Ah !! my younger days drinking in the Abinger Hammer ...

do you know The Volunteer?