mattjg – in your opinion, pending traffic, how long would it take my wife to safely get to one of Dorkings stations in the morning?

not sure im keen to promote her using the A25 to cycle on if its as busy as reported (although the cycle path mentioned may come into play?)
Therefore she may unfortunately require to drive and park. Although, her commute will be around 6:30am, so perhaps the road not quite as busy?

at 0630 you’ll be OK. To Dorking main (or Deepdene), in free flowing traffic:

10 minutes by car

15 minutes by bike

the “cycle path” is useless from that house and the Dorking end is way out of town still, on a muddy farm track. It’s no help really.

There is a footway alongside the road if she’s a nervous cyclist. It’s pretty narrow and it’s dark at that time for several months of the year.

Make sure you’re totally OK with the Dorking commuting bottleneck before you drop the cash, it’s an important factor IMO. The 1-way system is 3 roads in a triangle shape, each feeding in, at bad times it can get virtually gridlocked. And it may get worse as a new Lidls is going in to Vincent Lane.

The only way to be sure is come over at commute time and test for yourself.

(Mail is in profile, mail me and I’ll give u my mobile number if u wanna chat).

From Bookham you could get to Effingham Junction for travel to Waterloo.

This place looks quite decent, for example:

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/26876071?search_identifier=ab1686275c0495d627c744cea649bb95

Rides with the Muddy Moles would be easy as their meets are normally off the A246.

That looks ex-council – not one of Bookham’s more attractive streets anyway. Fetcham and Leatherhead might have better options. There are direct routes to Waterloo via Leatherhead – a few go to London Bridge too.

Muddy Moles meat on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings in Bookham – Tuesday evening road rides too.

Any others in the area want to do road rides? I’m in a local club but would likt to ride with some different people.

That looks ex-council

ex-council can mean big rooms…

Any others in the area want to do road rides? I’m in a local club but would likt to ride with some different people.

If we end up local i’d certainly be up for road riding

Woking is excellent for trains to Waterloo, so you could look within reach of there…

I had a 3 bed semi on a road a little like that near Chipstead – ex-council – sold it in 2000 for 165k, the buyer then sold it for 679k in 2008…

I grew up in Bookham, it’s an ever-expanding soulless dormitory village IMO. Good secondary school, it does have a station but for the house linked above you may as well ride to Leatherhead.

Muddy Moles are good guys.

Is Leatherhead better than Effingham junction as they look about equi-distance.

A ticket from Leatherhead looks slightly cheaper but Effingham common road looks like more of a main drag to the station – perfect for cycling or a scooter.

For trains to London – Leatherhead by a country mile. 2 stops closer, and after Leatherhead only 1/2 the trains from London go to Bookham/EJ, the other half go to Dorking.

EJ’s a bit of a non-place anyway. Leatherhead’s a small town, it’s got a B&Q and everything!

I used to commute from Westcott to the city and drive to Effingham Junc in 12 mins and 38 mins to Waterloo.

Hmm yeah there are other trains out of EJ than those via Leatherhad, fair point I forgot, never use that station anyway.

Still like the position of that house though – good for road riding as easy drop down to the hills either side of the A25 and lots of climbing nearby – plus the Muddy Mole meets and near to North Downs/Ranmore.

And the house itself looks pretty decent and large, with the living room nicely separate from the neighbours for letting it rip with the hifi/home cinema system.

It’s not as good as Westcott for trail access, but better for commuting maybe

There’s the trade off: commute is 20 journeys a week for a working couple, vs how many rides/hikes?

I usually park in Bookham to ride into the City – 22 miles. Nice ride.

along the A24?

Its a 27 miles commute by bike for myself, probably a distance id only cover on special occasions..

I grew up in Leatherhead, moved away and moved back – to Dorking – ten years ago. I’ve got friends who live in Westcott, and rode with Nirvana back in the mid ’90s when Jackie and Simon had just set up.

I’ll talk about what I know, for starters. Leatherhead is worth avoiding, unless you find a fairly secluded part on the outskirts, which is what my parents did back in the 70s.

Westcott is cracking, but not the be-all and end-all, and it probably helps to be comfortable with village life before you move there, for all the reasons given by people who’ve posted before me. The cycle path into town is pretty good, and part of the National Cycle Network. Barring the farm approach (which is being worked on) it’s also well drained.

The villages are fine – and the property prices are a fair bit more reasonable than the towns – but the towns *are* convenient. Everything in Dorking is within walking distance, which does count for a heck of a lot. If you are thinking of having children, this is a serious consideration – being able to walk to a playgroup or nursery with the children is a lot more convenient than loading them into a car, and it will save you a lot of cash. Then there’s the convenience of walking to the shops, rather than climbing into a car. This is more difficult (but not impossible by any stretch) if you live somewhere like Westcott.

Over the years, Mrs Udder and I have commuted by rail and car – including the commute ’round towards Heathrow (Stockley Park, Egham and down the M3 to Hook over the years) and, of course, London. At the moment, Mrs Udder is wrangling the Udderlets full time, and I’m commuting to Wimbledon and riding from there to Chiswick / Hammersmith.

Bear in mind that, pretty much wherever you are, you can get to trails very quickly around here. I used to be able to get onto a bridleway within 20 yards of my childhood home, I can get to Ranmore or Leith (via the path behind Unum and the new NCN bridleway to Westcott) in about 20 minutes, and Westcott is, obviously, right at the bottom of Leith.

If you want to be close-ish to the hills, but also have access to a big choice of pubs, a cinema, shops and a top notch leisure centre / swimming pool all within a short walk, Dorking is a good bet.

We are moving from a three bed terrace in the centre of Dorking to a larger semi a few hundred yards away this Friday, so drop me a line (My email is in my profile) if you want any advice on buying in Dorking. You may have to wait a little longer for a place to come up in town that is spot on, but 350,000 can get you something big enough for two quite comfortably.

I hope all this helps. All of the places listed above by various people are good for biking.

Local riders in a pub would be a good thing, by the way. The Star in Dorking, or the Prisoner at Westcott one evening?

thanks for taking the time to write.
All good advice indeed. For us, we have a 3 year old and plan for at least one more mini Slim within the next couple of years, and have just sold a house that was 1 mile from the local shops so are used to dealing with that. Im totally happy riding a mile or two each way to collect provisions, I think Westcott may well offer just what we are looking for.

But anyways, if this particular house doesnt work out then we will happily consider elsewhere, and thanks to the above advice we have a good basis of where to at least start/continue looking.

Udder – im interested to hear more about your timings on the Egham coomute, ill be aiming for Colnbrook. Currently commuting from Jct 11 M25.

Currently commuting from Jct 11 M25.

pretty near me, and close to my favorite A&E with which I seem to be getting quite familiar with 🙂

ah, the delights of St.Peters on a misty winter evening

Totally with udder on the convenience of town. I drop miniG into the buggy and we walk to shops, nursery, sports centre, library, park, playgroups etc. Almost never use the car for local journeys.

Dorking to Egham *can* take 45 minutes on a good day, but it very much depends on the time of day you set off. I used to leave about 7.15 for an 8.30am start, which left half a hour for any traffic problems – although they very rarely occurred. Leaving 15 minutes later definitely put you in traffic prison.

Quickest route is to go over Ranmore, along Ranmore Common Road / Crocknorth Lane to East Horsley, and from there to Peaslake to join the A3. This is longer than going to Leatherhead to join the M25, but it’s a much more predictable drive, as you’re joining the M25 further along.

If you are going to live in Westcott, the most direct route is to head towards Abinger and drive up White Down – one of the steepest climbs in the area, and quite a narrow sunken lane in places.

Coming back, it’s a toss-up as to what’s quicker, but I generally went via Leatherhead. The A24 around the Mickleham Bends can be horrendous, but there’s not much way of knowing one way or t’other.

I’m actually rather relieved I’m now back on the train and bike, to be honest. 🙂

Let me know where you end up going to, by the way – I know a few families in Westcott with children the age of yours.

and from there to Peaslake to join the A3

He doesn’t mean Peaslake. Wisley?

Often if I’m coming home from a trip AC on the M25 I’ll get off at Wisley and come home over the hills, it’s far nicer, esp if you know the little lane through the hidden valley on Ranmore. These aren’t roads to bling about in a hurry on tho (ref the guy above who says he did Westcott -> EJ in 12 mins!): Cyclists, horses, random dog walkers, blind corners, bad surfaces and narrow in places.

Matt, you’re right – it’s the Wisley junction. God knows why I wrote Peaslake!

I used to love the little bit over Ranmore you just described, although in crumby weather, I found cars wedged in the narrow bit under the bridge on Crocknorth Lane a couple of times.

Leatherhead is worth avoiding, unless you find a fairly secluded part on the outskirts, which is what my parents did back in the 70s.

Yeah the area around where Michael Caine lives is OK…!

I found cars wedged in the narrow bit under the bridge on Crocknorth Lane a couple of times

there was a moment 30-odd years ago when you’d have seen my motorbike in the ditch on the bend just up the hill, and my legs wiggling from out of the hedge

Mudshark, my parents lived around the corner (in the old head gardener’s cottage for the Beaverbrook Estate) from Michael Caine until very recently. I learnt to ride horses bareback there with the children of the caretaker when it was a stables. That bit’s not bad, as you say. Still a load cheaper than Givons Grove – the people that lived there used to look down their noses as us lot from the other side of the bypass. 😀

Woking is excellent for trains to Waterloo, so you could look within reach of there…

Thats all its good for!

Also that House in Bookham is set back from the A246…not a great position and the price reflects that. The one below is in a nice road and only a short walk to the Station, which although quite a slow journey, a lot of locals do it, so it can’t be too bad.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38587610.html?premiumA=true

only a short walk to the Station

I’d say that’s a long walk!

Train to London is around 50 mins and you get a seat unlike people getting on around Epsom. I don’t mind the journey if I’m within a walk of Waterloo/London Bridge but beyond that it’s a pain.

I’d say that’s a long walk!

It’s a long walk, though it’s a pretty quick, downhill all the way, bike ride.

Woking is excellent for trains to Waterloo, so you could look within reach of there…

Thats all its good for!

There’s a lot of young talent knocking around in the evening at weekends, so that is probably not all it is good for!

And it was good enough for HG Wells…

27mins to Waterloo on the fastest trains and 14 trains an hour peak.

If I get to Waterloo and have to wait more than 11mins for a train to Woking then I am pretty hacked off.

Plus the last train back is 1.05am, which is useful if you are working for a bank.

Plus it is a reasonable position for mtbing, 20 mins drive to Swinley/Tunnel Hill, 35 mins drive to Peaslake, 8 miles along canal path to Tunnel Hill, or local loop to Sunningdale across Chobham Common if desperate.

The one below is in a nice road

but the living room butts up against next doors – why don’t they build more semis with central passage ways so you don’t have to worry about noise?

Plus it is a reasonable position for mtbing, 20 mins drive to Swinley/Tunnel Hill, 35 mins drive to Peaslake, 8 miles along canal path to Tunnel Hill

nah … a reasonable position for mtbing is ‘offroad to the heart of Surrey Hills from the end of the street’

nah … a reasonable position for mtbing is ‘offroad to the heart of Surrey Hills from the end of the street

BOOM!

Yep, you can’t beat a ride out the front door 🙂

Dorking is great for that. every direction has different stuff

I am behind Denbies, love those summer evenings through the Vineyard up to the trails…

I need to learn all these trails!

calm down and go and do the ‘seeing with the head’ 😯 house viewing as you have already done the ‘seeing with the heart’ 😆

you and your partner both commuting = 20 journeys a week

the point someone wrote above about driving to Effingham Junction was interesting though, it’s a near straight line from Westcott (tho over a bloody big hill) with no big residential centres in the way.

a reasonable position for mtbing is ‘offroad to the heart of Surrey Hills from the end of the street’

yes, but then commute time to london is not so reasonable.

the point someone wrote above about driving to Effingham Junction was interesting though, it’s a near straight line from Westcott

sameish from Bookham but no hill, could be a breeze with a scooter.