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So after 40 years of being in Dorset, the wife and I are looking to move closer to London. Grown up children and in London and I need to go into the office (currently 2.5 hr commute each way). We have done a weekend trip to the Newbury area, and we really like the area. Especially, Pangboure, Goring ... as the roads seemed quiet and you have the downs nearby (aka, on the King Alfred's way). The big downside though, is the cost of the area and it really is too far out of our price range.
So I was wondering whether something 15 mile radius of Godalming, might be slightly more affordable, but when we took a trip to Guildford some years back, I was surprised at the volume of traffic on the roads.
Our budget is 700k (not a lot for those areas) and we just need a three bed (preferably, non estate) with a small private garden and a nearby trainline ( < 7.5 mile drive) that can get me to London in 45 minutes or less.
I thought I would post, as I suspect there are a great many on here, who live in those areas and can maybe offer a degree of hope that something might be suitable.
During the winter, I turbo and road cycle and when the drier months come, it's gravel and MTB. The gravel and MTB are the preferred choice.
Thanks
Newbury has tonnes and tonnes of gravel/tame riding, but nothing massively exciting. You're within range of the areas around Greenham, Watership down, etc but then not too far from Ridgeway and areas like that.
Goring is WAY more expensive than say newbury, but look at places like Stanmore, Peasmore, Worlds End, even Aldworth etc for more value.
I’m really baffled you could say the roads are quiet down there - it seems like a complete nightmare whenever I visit the area (grandparents and now uncle live near Pangbourne).
I’m Wantage (n of Newbury), for xc trails (bridleways, ridgeway etc) there are lots and lots (very roughly speaking a bit n of Newbury and between the nw of reading and Swindon).
Random ideas - cholsey (vaguely near Goring) has a station, and I used to commute from Mortimer and theale (*when I was commuting and they had 1 or two trains that just stopped at reading and slough so a bit quicker), you could look along the Newbury line stations, but they’re a little bit s of the mass of trails but you might get parking /easy drive to a smaller station.
Is sort of depends what else you want near, pubs, shops, facilities etc
You aren't going to get too many quiet roads around Godalming unless you road ride south(ish) but there is tons of MTB (Surrey Hills) and gravel. I'm not sure of the house prices in Godalming but I'd suspect Horsham or Woking (faster trains to London) would get you better value
Newbury and the Chilterns probably has the best road riding in the country, it's a maze of unclassified roads linking small hamlets and remarkably traffic free because it's bounded by motorways so there's no through traffic (unlike a National Park where the riding might be better, but you're sharing it with a constant stream of traffic).
There is mountain biking, but it's quite tame, definitely the terrain for classic XC bikes rather than anything gnarr.
Godalming, you'll get a lot less for your money. But the mountain biking in the Surrey Hills is great.
Woking is not a bad shout. It's not a particularly great town (only in my opinion of course), but you're close to Surrey Hills for MTB, and Swinley if that's your thing (I live a 10 mins ride from Swinley and it serves its purpose well IMO). Roads are pretty busy for road riding IME. Non stop train from Woking will get you into Waterloo in about 25-30 mins.
Agree with TINAS - Newbury and surrounding areas are brilliant for road riding. I don't get quite that far west very often. One of my favorite loops is west from me (Crowthorne), through Mortimer, Silchester, Aldermaston, Bucklebury, Goring, Watlington, Henley or Marlow, home via Wokingham/Bracknell. There are some stunning roads to ride around here.
Maybe consider places like Farnborough and Basingstoke too. People look down their noses at them but they are more affordable than other parts, both have very good rail links. From Farnborough you can ride to MOD land in almost every direction for some OK MTB.
Especially, Pangboure, Goring … as the roads seemed quiet and you have the downs nearby (aka, on the King Alfred’s way). The big downside though, is the cost of the area and it really is too far out of our price range.
So I was wondering whether something 15 mile radius of Godalming, might be slightly more affordable, but when we took a trip to Guildford some years back, I was surprised at the volume of traffic on the roads.
I used to ride that area fairly regularly and the road rides could be great. Better (quieter) than Guildford and that area. But the highlight of Newbury is the gravel riding into the Wilts Downs, really beautiful. Proper Eric Ravilious country where I spent many weekends doing bivi trips to explore the lanes and byways.
Newbury and the Chilterns probably has the best road riding in the country,
It's very good, but probably the best may be stretching it. Those lanes can be SUV alley at school run time! It has a lot of options and variety but it's also rare to find a long stretch (like a few miles) of continuity compared to somewhere like the Dales, Wales or the SW where that's the norm. But for the SE and in general it's very good. A lot of great small pieces to join up, plenty of variety and scope for exploring. All in all I do love the Wilts/Wessex Downs and Chilterns line of hills.
Thanks all. Some really helpful comments / suggestions. As gravel / fire trail type trail riding is what I really enjoy, I get the sense that the villages that run either side of the A34 from Newbury up towards Didcot could offer both the quick drive to the station and also the out the door onto the quiet roads and great trails.
It's 18 mins from those villages (or the one i PM'd you about anyway) to Didcot station. Mrs Weeksy does it regularly.
Especially, Pangboure, Goring … as the roads seemed quiet and you have the downs nearby
Very expensive, very busy roads, best avoided.
Newbury itself is far nicer. I live in Thatcham, direct trains to London or change at Reading. Great, like really great road riding from the door. Loads of lovely gravel riding (mainly summer months) MTB is pretty tame but you can put good routes together, again mainly drier months.
Godalming local here. Surrey Hills about 20 mins away or link up the trails to ride there. QECP about 20 minutes down the A3 (which my son and I find quite good in winter). Plenty of local trails that are rideable from the doorstep including Devil's punchbowl. About 40 miles commute by bike to central London if you fancy an alternative to the train. Godalming and surrounding villages are expensive - have a look at Farncombe (just North of Godalming) which is more affordable and is a popular commuter choice.
Born in Farnborough, lived in Guildford, then Woking, then brookwood, and now midgham (village between Newbury and pangborne).
Road riding is good round Woking / Guildford. Not quite so good round godalming. However it's Def better around the Newbury area - as mention miles and miles of very low traffic country lanes, nice views, punchy hills. Equally if you want less hills just go south of the A4 and there is loads again.
Haven't done much mtbing round Newbury mainly because there is a lot of clay soil so it's shit show in winter for mtbing. I generally go to swinley (30 minutes) or cwmcarn (90 minutes or so). Area around Guildford and Woking is good for mtbing - you have the mod land, swinley and Surrey hills. All in sand so drains well.
House price wise pangborne is as bad as Guildford. Woking is more reasonable but still up there (as is brookwood). The villages above the A4 in the Newbury area are also pricey but you tend to get more. South of the A4 it's cheaper but avoid tadley. We chose midgham as I can walk from my house to the station in 10 minutes and be in reading 20 minutes later. Or I can drive in the car to Newbury is 15 minutes or so.
If I had infinite money I'd probably buy somewhere near Guildford with a bit of land, but you're looking at a couple of mil for that minimum. If I were prioritising road riding the around Newbury wins. MTB Guildford or Woking wins. Tho around Newbury is not that bad as swinley is there and Wales / wye valley is quick on the M4.
Farnborough shouldn't be ignored - it's cheaper for a reason but good road riding near by and good mtbing on the mod land. Just avoid the centre.
One final thing to note is that Woking has gone bankrupt (or is about to) after some shady property developments in the future. So expect 15% council tax rises!
Farnborough area for some of the best singletrack in south.
Godalming or Dorking if you prefer faster more techy stuff. Lived in Godalming before prices quadrupled and off road riding was excellent. The quality of the tarmac round there is absolutely shocking.
Theres nothing really cheap, avoid Woking its not a nice town. Guildford is a traffic nightmare.
Hindhead, Haslemere, Liphook might float t your boat.
Oi! I live in Tadley, actually the border between Tadley and Pamber Heath which is nice. I concede Taldey has a rep for being a bit rough.
Riding Road and mtb (I include gravel as mtb riding)- it's good. Since living in the Reading area I always rode west in the downs North of Newbury, great road riding and quiet roads. Pangbourne I always found far to busy. On the mtb there is plenty, but nothing too technical. But you are close to the M4 for Wales. Locations: look at areas between Reading and Basingstoke (2 trains/hour to Reading or Basingstoke with usual fast train links). I think Newbury is nice with good Road and train links.
I don't have much experience around Godalming. But when I worked the area in ~2007 it was busy. Rush hour was mental! And also very expensive. It does have the tremendous advantage of being close to the south downs
I'm near Highclere Castle, a few miles South West of Newbury.
It's about a mile away from a decent network of bridleways including the Wayfarers Walk which takes you up to Walbury Hill / Coombe Gibbet (highest point in the South East) and the North Wessex Downs.
The gravel riding is great when it's dry, some tracks get a bit muddy in the winter. The roads are reasonably quiet and it's easy enough to link up a decent ride for an hour or a whole day.
10 min to Newbury Station or Whitchurch Station is 15 min away, both an hour to London. Driving into London will probably be +1hr though.
I moved to haslemere, 50 mins to London and great riding out the door.
On the edge of South downs, and surrey hills half hour away
Having lived near both I'd go for Newbury. Lots of hidden routes, bridleway along the Kennet. Inkpen has the highest mountain (-3) in the south of England. Can also ride the Ridgeway to Goring.
I lived in Fleet for 30+ years and have ridden extensively across the south over the years and would say the quality and variety of riding around Godalming is better than west towards Newbury and Berkshire. From Godalming, over the hill to Hascombe and the Greensand Hills, west to Hindhead and Devil’s Punchbowl or east towards the Surrey Hills, Leith Hill. Ride off-road to the south coast, South and North Downs or go play in the sand at Puttenham, Elstead, Hankley, Frensham regardless of weather. Plenty of tiny little lanes into the Surrey Hills or further afield into West Sussex and Hampshire - easy to create a 160km route with 2,500m+ of ascent without riding the same hill twice. Berkshire off-road in winter can be a clag-fest, or sharing bridleways of bottomless, horse-churned mud.
Godalming, without a shadow of a doubt! You're right in the middle of the north downs with varied off road riding, mostly all weather, in every direction...
An hour to London, the Ferry to France, or Heathrow or Gatwick airports. There are a few good reasons the area is expensive...
Longer commute and look at Petersfield, Liss, Liphook, Haslemere? There was (when I commuted 20 years ago) a sharp drop in prices from Haslemere down and at least that far down you can get a seat 😂.
That puts you near the sandy stuff round Bordon, South Downs, QE country park, north downs and Surrey hills plus Swinley all doable by car sensibly. At a push maybe even those woods behind the Nationwide. Road riding was ok too iirc.
No experience of riding near Newbury to compare to.
I'm in Reading, originally a Dorset boy.
Pangbourne is nice enough but gets busy during rush hours and on Saturdays with local traffic.
There's lots of villages around Newbury and the town itself is nice enough, if I had the choice again I would probably move out that way but I'm happy enough in Reading.
The real money seems to gravitate towards the other side of Reading out towards Sonning and Henley, it's fun to trundle out that way on a bike, but I wouldn't enjoy living round there.
£700k should certainly buy you something pretty decent (presumably a 3 bed with a garden so you can have family to stay?) In the West Berks/South Oxon area, just depends how rural/townie you want to be.
Reading born and bred. Lived Upper Basildon as a teenager. Very good friends in Thatcham (he rides). Pangbourne, Goring all nice to visit but busy and not sure worth the insane prices. Newbury has really improved over the years and with good connections from there to London, but also the ability to get out to Wales, New Forest, SW etc. Nice area. My mates three bed in Thatcham is in your budget (they aren’t currently selling) with change (though ex council with small kitchen).
Have a look at Haslemere, just south of Godalming. It has 900 ft hills either side with some very steep ups and downs. Head north, West or East and you have mile upon mile of sandy common land, rideable in all weathers. Head south and you're in the south downs national park in 5 mins. The south downs head north to meet the north just here and it is right hilly by anyone's standards most of the way down to the coast, with traffic dropping off noticeably south of haslemere. I moved there 8 years ago having spent most of my life near guildford, and the riding is So much better! I don't think anywhere in Berkshire, or anywhere else in the SE, can even think about comparing...
My mates three bed in Thatcham is in your budget
I reckon you could get a three bed for half that budget in Thatcham. FOr 700k you could be looking at 3 beds in places like Upper Bucklebury etc...
Here you go, 4 bedrooms not 3 but beggers can't be choosers
Hampstead Norrys is well posh 😄😄😄
I thought I had made the mind up, but it does appear there is a bit of a split between the two places. Both Newbury / Godalming are comparable regarding journey time to London. Just need to figure out whether it's now quicker to go from Paddington to Liverpool St via the Elizabeth line, or whether the Drain is faster.
Property prices in both the areas seem comparable too. You do appear to get more for your money in the area south of the A4.
I think the area we choose will simply come down to what houses are available when we sell. Not much appears to be going on the market at the moment.
Is that a daily commute to London? And (can't work it out from the OP) how many years to retirement? And how frequently will you want to be visiting your kids? Either of those two areas you'll be too far away to help with future child minding.
Got to confess, for me moving from Dorset to either of those areas would be a very reluctant move I'd only be doing if I really had to.
Have you looked at Bramley?
It's got the essentials i.e. a station, Pub and a couple of shops. I have a couple of friends living there who seem really happy and feel like there's a decent community feel, striking distance of Reading/Newbury/Basingstoke enough quiet lanes for road riding and countryside on your doorstep. It's always seemed like a nice balance of being a rural location without being cut off from larger towns/cities whenever I roll through on a ride...
After proper location considerations, I then consider geology and pick the steeper and better draining area to max out the all-year trail opportunities. So I would pick Godalming for the better draining greensand instead of the chalk/clay/some sand around Newbury.
As many others have said Haslemere, Liss, Liphook or Bordon (dont discount it these days as its a different place these days with most of the military gone) are good options, might stretch your commute out a bit but there's all year round trails, different soil types ridable to in every direction from the sandy commons, chalky south downs and the more clay like Hangers. Good road and gravel options from tiny lanes south towards the downs and sea or out across the wield.
lived very close to goring for 20 years. Commuted to town (daily!) for 15.
the roads are getting busier; didcot/wallingford have expanded exponentially in the last few years (they're outside the AONBs, so can get estates). Obviously all those people need to drive somewhere to work...so use the old narrow country lanes.And with Whitchurch bridge having gone from 20p to 65p, the number of bridge crossings is reduced.
Come weekends, you get people out to the country for the day. It can get busy; walking season is now on us in the village; hoards every weekend - there may be some hyperbole here, but it can feel like it
Having said all that, off-road up the ridgeway is great. And there are loads of little lanes in the Compton area that are quiet (and look how much space around Compton does not have any roads at all. Loads of byways though).
Even road cycling - stay off the main roads, and you'll be fine. I can still go out and see nothing but a tractor over two hours.
I now work locally. Cycle to work occasionally. Ask away!
Around Petersfield gives you a decent mix of cycling options on- and off-road, loads of lovely quiet lanes and climbs around there, plus decent transport links to London.
Have you looked at Bramley?
Bramley seems to have a lot of building work in it (basingstoke seems to be putting it's entire housing allocation there) and is a bit of an issue with the level crossing in the middle of the village. We looked at a few houses there but the crossing put us off as well as lots of stories on the local facebook of trafic chaos whenever the A33 is backed up.
If you decided newbury way i'd be looking north of the A4 - much nicer. Upper bucklebury, midgham, cold ash, bradfield south end are all nice.
If you are commuting I wouldn't use the Elizabeth line as it stops at every station, much better off on the faster trains. Also bear in mind which network you'll be using - into Paddington will be Great Western, Waterloo will be South West Trains. GWR has much nicer trains but is a lot more expensive.