We are hoping to buy a house in South Oxon this year. A move to Didcot would gain us at least a bedroom compared to some of the villages in the area but everyone I speak to either raises the issue of Didcot maybe not being super-nice or is downright rude about the place. My experience of the town is picking up folk from the station so the thoughts on the informed are welcome.

Its mainly bullshit snobbery. Its not uber posh like many of the sounding villages but its not that bad and as you know has excellent transport links, if I move back to the area I would seriously consider it. (grew up about a mirror image distance the other-side of Wantage but had friends over that way).

To be fair to the place it’s a shit-tip but the power station is set to be decomissioned, and you can regularly see me riding in lycra.

What, this Didcot?

Or some other Didcot that doesn’t have a bleedin’ great power station next to it?

Spent my late teens there, parents still live there. It used to be crap but parents now like the redevelopment with cafes/cinema/normal town shops and feel much safer there now in their 60s than they did 15 years ago when we moved there. It may not be the prettiest place to look at but if you put your back to it you can see lovely country side. It suffers from it’s historical reputation but it is probably the best value for money place to live in the area.

Daily Mail is printed in Didcot 😆

The VFM factor is what appeals to me. We live in Whitchurch on Thames at the moment in a renter and lovely as the village is we really need another bedroom and cannot afford these smart Thameside places on our budget. Think a jaunt to Didcot to have a look around is required. It will either change herself’s mind or affirm what she thinks already.

Not the nicest place, but good amenities. Friends have lived there 20 years and we have seen the improvements. We lived in a village in the Vale of White Horse, which was more expensive but lacked facilities. If you don’t need the transport, I’d look further West. East along the Thames is more expensive.

Didcot is scheduled for considerable further house building in the Oxon plan.

EDIT: Some nice roads in “Old” Didcot, although since it started as a GWR junction, there isn’t a lot of old.

but the power station is set to be decomissioned

Didcot A (coal) is about to be decommissioned. Didcot B (gas) will remain. Admittedly unless there’s a Didcot C, then the cooling towers may well be coming down.

…..and there’ll always be TSY in lycra……

Don’t do it every one is pale!

Buy my house in Chalgrove instead!

Its on a par with Grove, not the nicest but best VFM in that part of the world.

In some lights the power station looks almost beautiful, such as this morning.

It’s OK… however beware the massive pylons everywhere. Basically the LAdygrove estate goes right through Pylon Central. Henece why we put an offer in on a house and pulled out.

Just outside Didcot is East Hagbourne, which is a LOVELY little village, stunning place and where i got married, before moving a couple of miles south to a smaller village.

Didcot is still techincally my local village.

Lots of GREAT riding just 2 miles from Didcot out by Blewbury and over the downs..

The railway is great for commuting if you can use it, but the roads are not great and are only going to get worse. The only decent ‘A’ road out of the town takes you to the A34 which the local authorities will not upgrade as it is not a ‘local’ road but a national road, but the national authorities will not upgrade it either. Whether it improves when more freight takes the rail line which has been upgraded from Southampton to the Midlands only time will tell. Other than that it is all back roads or the road to Wallingford which is now down to a 40 limit. With the extra house being built and absolutely no improvements to the road infrastructure, I think it is going to become a nightmare personally. The railway also divides the town in 2 rather well which makes getting about a bit of a pain.
They are shortly going to redevelop the railway station forecourt which should improve it as well as start the second phase of the shopping centre as long as the money is still there.

General concensus echoes my opinion, namely that there are nicer places if you have the cash and do not have a missus who has to commute into that London at the crack of dawn each day.

gray – Chalgrove is probably very nice but I don’t think the train runs there, sorry.

Remember the power station well as many time trials on the A34 used the social club as event HQ,many a happy Sunday morning spent there after another drag strip pb

Is there nothing more affordable in Pangbourne?

We can only really afford what we need in Bourne Rd in Pang. and I’m reluctant to buy in a road where floods come into folk’s homes.

I wouldn’t, but there are plenty of nicer villages surrounding it, albeit with correspondingly higher prices. I’d recommend Wallingford, Benson, Cholsey, the Stokes, Woodcote even, it’s not much further out of Didcot than Wallingford. Goring and Streatly will be expensive. There is a station at Cholsey, but you’d be getting slow train I think.
I know plenty of people who moved out of Wallingford and onto the Ladygrove estate when they had families, and then regretted it. You get more for your money, but for good reason imho. Didcot town centre is just depressing if you’re shopping, you wouldn’t go there for pubs, there are no decent restaurants, it does have a cinema, but basically you’ll be heading out of town for any leisure activities anyway. The swimming pool is like chav soup, and there are pylons everywhere!

It’s a hole. Don’t do it.

I’ve lived in the area almost all my life, and unless you need to be next to the station I would avoid at all costs.

You can still get reasonable value (for round here) in some of the larger villages. Surely you can get something in Pangbourne? I’d rather move to Caversham (which I did for a while) and now in Sonning Common (Large village).

The riding round Didcot gets boring very quickly, and is almost no go in the winter.

friend of mine lives thereabouts and goes on a group ride every weds night… if you do move there and need a group to ride with.

I’m reluctant to buy in a road where floods come into folk’s homes.

You and the Mrs could always get into watersports?

There is great riding nearby, the town is shite, but only as much as a lot of towns are. Its VFM for sure.

Just make sure your garage is secure.

We have friends who live in the Ladygrove estate and they like it there… we go to a play group at a school there which is nice.

There’s a new development going up to the west of didcot at the moment, may be worth looking there too? It’s perhaps a mile out. Though maybe two.

Wallingford always seems nice, but no train.

Lots of the small villages around are great (but I would say that as we live on one of them)!

Oh, and while the pool is sometimes chavvy, it’s been friendly every time I’ve been (maybe twice a month for the last eight months), and that’s turning up at splash and play time, or whatever they call it.

Before moving anywhere now I’d check the online police crime map for the area, just to see!

MArkie, we must have met without even knowing it, i often take my 3 y’o to swimming there too and like yourself, have no problems with the pool.

It also helps me that there’s a great KTM dealer which is my other passion in Didcot.

I must have seen you both with out knowing it too, fancy a ride out?

To the op I think in the ladygrove estate ke the new one near the a34 would be fine its a bit of a local joke to hate “Didgrot” but its not that bad.

I’m out over Blewbury hill way most weekends, and over the opposite side of it in the back lanes and woods, so yeah, always up for some fun. Not this weekend though as off to my mums on Sat to take her to the Supermarket, then off to Cwmcarn on Sunday to test out the Bionicon.

Weekend after, meeting at Blewbury garage ?

Where are you then Weeksy? See you’re profile says w berkshire, so poss near me.

Im in Blewbury so Blewbury garages suits me fine.

We’ll have a race to the top of the hill 🙂

cool sat 11th, blewbury garage, 09:30?

Didcot town centre has undergone a dramatic series of improvements so the amenities are pretty good. Being one of the cheapest places in Oxfordshire it certainly attracts some interesting types that you may not want to socialise with. You already know about the power station, if you can live with that then that’s your biggest decider. Personally I’d avoid Ladygrove, but there are some nice places on the opposite (West) side of Didcot which would leave you closer to the downs.

I live in Abingdon and ride with Abingdon Freewheeling on a Tuesday night. Friendly bunch, good rides all year round, socially active and there is a road lot too.

Another view of Didcot, from Quainton Hill this morning.

Didcot is on the horizon, where it looks like an atomic bomb has just gone off 😉

Sorry crap camera phone.

If you do a ride from Blewbury on the 11th,let me know and i’ll try to come along aswell.

Oh yeah… the power stations do help to keep Didcot a couple of degrees warmer than the surrounding area… only -6 here this morning.

Lets make it a date for 09:30 then at the station lads.

We looking at a bit of XC and stuff…

3hours suit everyone ?

We’ll be heading over the hill, then out over towards ashampstead then over towards Yattendon, Hampstead Norrys then back over towards Compton then finally back up to the top of Blewb hill…

How’s that all sounding ?

p.s Anyone welcome.

Abingdon has bounced up the list, charlesn. What is it like there? Herself saw this thread and the argument was settled re Didcot.

And less thread hijacking you Blewbury riders 😉

Abingdon isn’t too bad… depends where…as with everywhere.

Try Steventon (and ignore the reservoir talk).

The wife is out in Abingdon tonight on the beer actually.