dotty

We want to be within an hour of London, but have some green type outlook, and country feel if poss. But also 10 or 15 mins to a good size town centre.

My brother has suggested Godalming as one place in particular anybody know anything about it?

Or suggestions of nice areas down that way?

Jaykay

Hi Dotty

I have lived and worked near Godalming for the last 10 years. Godalming is a really nice little place, but is quite hilly. Most houses are very old, not much new development around there. But it can be expensive (like most places in Surrey). I live in a small village called Bisley which is very green and has a real country feel even though it is within about 10 minutes drive of the M3, 10 minutes to Woking (largish town), 25 minutes to Guildford (much bigger town) and it's 30 minutes on the express train from Woking to Waterloo station.

baloo

A good site to look at for more info & stats on a town/area, is www.upmystreet.com
Just put in the postcode or town name & you'll get loads of useful info. Hope this helps a little bit

Interested

Hi,

Have you thought about Kent ? There are lots of commuter towns, although they tend to be very pricey. Places like Sevenoaks (45 mins away from London ), Tunbridge wells, etc. all very green and pleasant.

NC Penguin

Don't know what your budget is but Kingston upon Thames may fit the bill. If you've got a big budget, there's Richmond too. The two areas are easily accessible to central London and have parks (Bushy and Richmond come to mind).

I don't know if you have children under the age of 16 but if you do, both the boroughs of Richmond and Kingston have academically superior schools.

Don't know if the suggestions are of any use but maybe something worth mulling over.



NC Penguin

Trax

Hi,

We used to live in Godalming until about a year ago. It is one of the nicest places to live outside London, as you do get the sense of being in the country, but also close enough to towns etc.

It is especially good if you have children, as there are some wonderful places such as the Winkworth Arboretum, and Wisley Gardens to take them to for a good run around.

It is only 5 miles from Guildford and about a 25 minute drive from Kingston upon Thames if you need some serious shopping. Otherwise most of the everyday shops you need are there. There are 2 very good supermarkets right in the town.

The town itself is very picturesque - cobbled street etc., with the River Wey running nearby.

The downside is that house prices are high, though the lower end of the market seems to be slowing down. The rental market is also fairly saturated now, so rent is coming down to.

There are some good schools in the area - both state and private.
Surrey has one of the lowest crime levels in the UK, and is really lovely to live in.

Another negative factor is that it takes about 45 minutes to get to London by train, but the route only usually has 2 or 3 stops, so once on, you can open your newspaper and forget about it.

One of the nicest areas of Godalming is called Busbridge, though most of it is pretty good anyhow.

Hope this was of help.