Moving to Cambridgeshire?

Narj

Narj

Narj

Soldato
Joined
19 Feb 2010
Posts
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Location
London
I'm looking at possibly moving to Cambridgeshire given that some of my family have made the jump and really like it up there. I'd end up commuting back into London but I'm quite happy to do this for a while with a view to an end-game of finding employment more locally.

The plan is to move and end up with no mortgage with some change. The commute would be expensive but still a lot less than my current mortgage payments.

I'm looking at St Neot's right now and have spent a fair bit of time looking around. Like anywhere there are a few not so great parts but even those are still decent compared to where I'm at now. :D

Anyone fancy filling me in on the commuter experience there? Is there anywhere else I should look at? Ideally I want to be within walking distance of a mainline station and just want better QoL with more open, green space but without sacrificing too many amenities.

Cheers! :)
 
Well I was thinking of spending a week up in the area in a Premier Inn or something and doing the commute into work to figure out how it is. :)

I mentioned St Neot's because that's where my family have moved to. I've read varying comments about the place but I honestly thought the town was quite nice, especially by the bridge and church. There seems to be quite a nice community feel. Having lived in SE London/NW Kent all my life, maybe I'm much more easily pleased than many!

Most of Love's Farm area seems OK if very quiet. I think I'd prefer older housing stock with character, though. There are a few other things I read about that put me off it too.

Godmanchester was mentioned to me but I worry it'll be a bit too quiet. I'm late 30's and single with no commitments so like being able to head out for food/beer. Also are the trains from Huntingdon more frequent than St Neot's services or something?

I thought that Huntingdon might be just outside the commute time threshold and pricing for me but I'll go and have a wander around and check it out. I hadn't considered it and can't remember what it was that put me off.
 
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Tunney said:
What do you do for a living? Everyone I know who works in tech has moved to villages like Waterbeach because it’s the right side of Cambridge for the business/science parks.
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Networks. There seems to be work in Cambridge and also some of the other bigger towns - it'd be nice to eventually ditch London completely...
 
LFL said:
Lived in St Neots for about 7 years and commuted down to London for Work for the past 3 and you have encapsulated St Neots perfectly here - lovely little town, plenty of open park land, decent amount of shops, great places to eat, entertain and only 15 minutes from Cambridge

Ignore the people who are saying "Huntingdon"... Seriously... Absolute **** hole - These people must have honestly opened google maps and pointed out a town that isn't St Neots for the sake of it

Commute is bearable.. you will always get a seat with a little effort on your platform placement! Monthly season ticket to Kings Cross is £500 exactly
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Cheers for the reply - are there any areas to avoid? There's quite a lot of conflicting, not to mention outdated stuff on the web posted by various people. I could probably cycle to the station at a push but would rather be able to walk. No way am I driving to a station, wherever I end up.

Also am I right in saying that the season ticket will cover Moorgate as well? That would get me out of having to get tube on my season ticket as I can walk from there.

Any ideas how the X5 to Cambridge is in rush hour? Just trying to figure out what commute would be like if I were to get work outside of London. :)
 
LFL said:
Loves farm doesn't have the best reputation for various reasons... avoid Duck Lane and surrounding roads... Eaton Ford and parts of Eaton Socon are nice

Longsands and surrounding area nearest the station is probably the best bet for a commuter if its not Loves Farm (Housing is nice albeit at the most expensive end of the spectrum)

Yeah your ticket will cover Moorgate, not sure on the X5 to Cambridge but a drive even during Rush Hour to Cambridge is ok

Feel free to trust if you want any more specific detail
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Cheers buddy, will do if I think of more! I have to look around Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon yet but am not sure whether I can put up with being that far from the Station.

I have family on Loves farm and it seems to vary depending on which part you're on. I've spent enough time visiting family there to suss it out but compared to what I'm used to, even the less desirable parts of the area are fine to me. :D Also heard they'd had issues with vermin because of the way the sewerage was done. But yeah I did eye up Longsands and Priory Park areas.

I need to explore the roads to the north of the town to suss those out as well.

Thanks again! :)
 
taB said:
P.S. do note they're planning to build 10000 homes between St Neots and Sandy plus the Oxford Cambridge rail line will come through either at sandy or nearer St Neots so all worth bearing in mind.
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Looks like that's a proposal with quite a few dependencies so not solid at the moment? I notice on the proposal documentation there are a few different options so that may not happen?

What's the general feeling about it if it happens? I can see it possibly making a commute busier and more of a pain on the way back.

Again, thanks for response, I'm probably going to pop up for a walk around the Longsands and Eaton Ford areas this weekend. :)
 
platypus said:
Well my first advice would be don't :p.

The commuter experience can be awful, depends what line you're (going to be) on. If its Liverpool Street then its absolutely dire, if its Kings Cross it is at least a reasonable train, if not always packed and hellishly expensive.
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Hmm well a family member has commuted to KGX for a year and says it's ok as long as you can stagger your shifts and get an early/late train. Fortunately my hours are flexible so I can accommodate this. :)
I can also work from home sometimes.

I'm only planning a London commute in the interim until I can sort out employment more locally (may even get a payoff if I'm lucky).

As always, thanks very much for all the input :)
 
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