So moving on from my threads http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/moving-back-to-the-uk and http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/what-to-look-out-for-when-moving-back-to-uk I have been offered a nice job, in which the company is based in Grays, Essex.

Not know the area at all (being a Malvern lad) I shall be over next month to start looking at where to ride both road and off road, oh yeah, and also for properties to rent, and Primary school for the children.
Any suggestion on where to live, and where to avoid?

Regards,
Travis

Not in Grays would be my advice 🙂

Hadleigh Olympic course isn’t that far away (but possibly a drive rather than a somewhat urban trawl along some godawful Essex ports).

Immediately around Grays, it’s pancake flat and pretty uninspiring. there’s probably an offroiadish way of getting to Thornden (Brentwood), but other than that you’re looking at a Danbury or Epping north of the river.

Potentially some riding south of the river in Kent, but would need one of them south southerners to advise

which is a good point to mention. Would commuting over the river every day be worth it, for both riding and other stuff?

I used to commute over the river for a while when we lived in Greenwich but were working in the Woodford/Barkingside area. A few months of that were enough to persuade me to buy something north of the river!

I’ve been in Essex for nearly two years now – although further in. Not had a chance to do any mountain bike riding yet but I’ve been quite impressed with the road riding in the area north of Brentwood.

which is a good point to mention. Would commuting over the river every day be worth it, for both riding and other stuff?

NO. Mainly because Kent is no nicer, and using the crossing for such a short journey twice a day will be purgatory.

Most of south Essex is a pylon-covered shithole. You could go further out towards Hadleigh which is slightly better, or up to Brentwood/Shenfield/Billericay which are all reasonable commuter towns, if uninspiring, overpriced and full of fake tan. Avoid Basildon/Pitsea/Canvey/Wickford.

As you go north it gets better, but the commute gets to be more of a PITA.

What’s Chatham like? Is it possible to take a ferry like Google Maps say, or is it a right pain?

I commute from Bromley to Laindon (near Basildon) daily.
it is 29 miles door to door – through the enchanted tunnel in the morning and home over the magic bridge.

The journey is approx. 40 mins each way – but generally allow an hour if I need to be in on time/home at a certain time.

Commuting Kent-Essex in the morning is the better way to do it.. and Essex-Kent is much better in the evenings.

I’m not suggesting you do it – but it does work.

Most of south Essex is a pylon-covered shithole. You could go further out towards Hadleigh which is slightly better, or up to Brentwood/Shenfield/Billericay which are all reasonable commuter towns, if uninspiring, overpriced and full of fake tan. Avoid Basildon/Pitsea/Canvey/Wickford.

^+1

I know South Essex pretty well – it gets a lot nicer north of the A127…

What’s Chatham like? Is it possible to take a ferry like Google Maps say, or is it a right pain?

Chatham, like most Medway towns is a bit s**t.
Once of our guys commutes from Lords wood (not too far from Chatham) to Laindon daily – and has been doing it for 20+ years.

Don’t know about the ferry – but never heard anyone at work mention it.

*waves to epicsteve*

I know someone who crosses the river with the ferry service and it doesn’t take a lot to make it a pain in the butt. Admittedly she does the reverse journey than you would be doing.
Mountain biking, Thorndon is local and fun, Thetford forest is 1.5hrs away. Road cycling from my doorstep is great (I live in Brentwood) and I have a roadie as a next door neighbour. Town wise the house prices are on the rise due to crossrail, schools are great and the town does have some nice pubs and the dreaded Sugarhut.
Places to avoid (keeping it easy) – anywhere south of the A127.
Any questions just ask

Grays and Purfleet are dire. Cheap and cheap for a reason

i am a Lincolnshire immigrant, living in Billericay. the thing you never get used to is the volume of traffic. its horrendous and people talk about a town being x minutes away not x miles.

i was told when i moved here “never live below the a127” and i think broadly, that is a correct assumption. there are pockets of nice in among the grimness but you have to find them.

Brentwood is ok, but expensive and orange. Traffic is shit. Chelmford is ok, but expensive and maybe a touch less orange. Traffic is shit. Basildon is a bit grim. Laindon is a bit grim. Pitsea is as bad as it sounds, if not worse. Billericay is ok but expensive and a little orange. Oh, traffic is shit. People turn their noses up at Stanford-no-Hope and places like that but i have never been there so i can’t comment

mtbing – epping is about 30 mins and has a ton of stuff, thordon is 5 mins ok if you dive into the bushes and look for it, langdon hills has about 15 miles of traffic free if you look for it, danbury common is ok too.

As above – any questions let us know. I recommend you rent a room somewhere whilst you work out whats what that might save you a few quid in the longrun.

Orsett is a nice little village. Got a few mates that live and it seems to have a sense of community about it. Had a few nights in the pub and it feels like you’re in the country even though it’s spitting distance from Grays. Think the school situation is ok.

Personally i’d head towards Southend and Leigh, or as mentioned before Brentwood and the surrounding villages.

Travis – have you checked out what houses are to rent here? you might be a little shocked tbh.

Yes, Orsett is nice.

We’ve only visited Southend once so far but it was much nicer than I’d expected, especially the Leigh-on-Sea bit. There are some lovely villages just north of Brentwood – I’ve cycled through Blackmore a few times and it seems really nice, as did Chipping Ongar. Google maps say they’re about 20 miles/40 minutes from Grays so not sure if you’d want to commute that far – Southend/Leigh-on-Sea is probably about the same distance but might be quicker.

I live on the London/Essex border in the Woodford Green/Chigwell area. It’s nice but expensive. It’s also a little over 20 miles away by road (which would mostly be against the flow of traffic)

yeah, coming from China, house prices are cough cough.. a little bit more.

I shall be Air BnB it for a month or so, before the family come over. That should give me time to find the right place.
Traffic maybe is okay for me, as in China, it’s just shite.
I would like to be in cycle distance to work, but this maybe a tall order (and I’m not used to rain)
At the end of the day, Id like somewhere a little green so the lad and girl can go out on their bikes (they’ve never seen a green park or common land before) and preferably with an atmosphere. I grew up in Malvern, so I’m used to good pubs, and good cycling, I’d love to find the same in Essex, but getting the family settled somewhere nice (and a reasonable school for the children) is good too.
May consider moving again later (when we decide to buy) but not straight away, as moving the children from China to England maybe tough on them (or maybe not)

I’d definitely look at Orsett if that’s the case. Very short commute by bike, and as i said a bit of a village feel.

Riding is a bit poor to be honest in that part of Essex. Flat and dull, but on the road you could find some nice riding if you head north or over the river. I live on the south coast and recently rode to my folks in Essex using the Tilbury ferry. Nice little adventure and there’s some cracking country on the North Downs. Sadly the worst part of the whole ride was the Essex bit, and that’s coming from a born and bred Essex boy.

I grew up in Grays. It is a scheißloch…..

That said it is a little better than some of the surrounding towns. Basildon, Tilbury, Ockendon, Etc are horrid. Or should that be ‘orrid.

Some nice villages around there. West Tilbury, Orsett, Horndon.

Naff all riding around Grays itself. I used to mess around in the pits (now Chafford Hundred) and learnt to ride steep and slippery stuff.

Riding around Langford Hills. The Olympic venue is OK, but not exciting enough to slog along the A13 for the best part of an hour.

I do not envy you…. Sorry.

I’m a Chelmsfordian and it’s really not that bad. It’s a pretty good location for riding from – Danbury is easy reach and can be got to off-road.

Thornden can be reached pretty much off road as well.

Epping isn’t too far away and neither is Hadleigh.

Road riding in the lanes is pretty good once you’ve found the nice quiet roads – sometimes you won’t see anyone else at all for hours. I agree with the others though – venture south of the A127 and, well, we have warned you!

I wonder if you could rent in the Chav-Ford Chafford Hundreds and bike in to save a bit of cash in the short run. It’s a very mediocre estate, but I’m guessing you need time to explore and find somewhere that fits the bill*

*your dream of Malvern, sadly, will go unfulfilled.

The pub in horndon on the hill does consistently good food and the last few times i went in, i didnt see any orange, which was nice. looks like a nice village too. i dread to think what they want for a house though

That’s another reason I have been looking at Chatham, Cobham (on the map by the way), it looks green and nice to ride around.
China is pretty kak as a whole, but it does have some nice riding, to which I have become used to.
I ride 3 or 4 times a week to work, which is around 40 miles (it’s dry as a bone here)

You can pretty much split Essex into two halves…. The A127. Below it is generally with a few exceptions shite. North of it is, with a few exceptions (Harlow), half decent.

Warley is also a nice village with decent pubs and not too far from Grays. Same for West Horndon.
Also near to Thorndon Park for riding.

I’m in Munich and my folks are in Chelmsford. I’m always shocked at the state of traffic.

Try and avoid travelling on the M25, the A13 or the A127.

Avoid the bridge/tunnel at all costs.

is it really that orange out there?

Unfortunately Porter Jamie is right about the Tango Orange of Brentwood but it’s only really bad on a Friday and Sat night in town.
Everywhere is bloody expensive though unless you want to live in a S******e

Don’t think I’ll be going out on a Friday/Saturday night for a while, not with 3 little children.
Rather get up early and go riding is more my thing.

🙂 there is a girl at work who is universally known as orange girl, but tbh these days its more cuprinol. i lived in liverpool for a while and its not as bad as that.

if you want a good laugh have a pedal up norsey road in billericay – it’s where the wannabee footballers wifes live – it’s laugh out loud gaudy and ostentatious, complete with flood lights and waterfeatures in the front garden. also be prepared for national lampoons christmas vacation levels of lights going on in december.

oh… Children will love that… never seen anything like it before…. 😀

I am an emigrant of the area and as porter_jamie says the general rule is live above the A127 (i lived my childhood below it). Also, as said if you do live below it Orsett is nice, Horndon on the Hill is ok, and the right part of Langdon Hills is ok. Also, As mentioned, Brentwood (used to be good commute towards grays) and Billericay. Villages north of Billericay are nice.

Importantly places to avoid (apologies to those who live there) Laindon, Basildon, Pitsea, Grays, Tilbury.

Caveat to the above, I haven’t lived there for over 15 years, do visit family, and things may have changed.

epping forest is worth investigating then – high beech has a massive free carpark with a tea hut which does disgusting tasty sausage rolls (you shouldn’t like them but you do) and if you get there for 8.30/9am its basically empty. we were there this weekend with a bus load of kids and dogs and so on and had a great time.

Also, personally disagree with the benfleet to southend stretch, very overcrowded and crazy traffic. If a bit of a commute is OK, I really would look to the smaller villages further north, up towards A12. I would guess they are a bit cheaper than the southend area, but could be wrong.

I live near Grays have done for 25 years…there’s nice and not so nice parts, if your children are school age then you may want to have a think about school catchment areas. There’s a new link road being built that’s going through Orsett so be careful of that. Off road riding is pretty poor, road is fine if you head north. In general it’s a very busy area.

I live 6 miles North of Brentwood and would agree with most of the comments regarding South of the A127. Brentwood itself is a nice town but it is where they film “The Only Way Is Essex” and the High Road is very lively in the evening/night. Billercay is a bit smaller and quieter (generally) than Brentwood so also worth considering.

I guess it really depends how much you want to fork out in rent and how far you are prepared to cycle on your commute. I used to work in Basildon and rode there quite often and there are plenty of quiet-ish country roads to take even in the rush hour.

Would second Thorndon for cycling and also Weald Country Park is where we ride to once a week. Smaller than Thorndon but a nice interval workout with a few short, sharp climbs. It was to be the venue for the Olympic XC course in 2012 but was switched to Hadleigh.

p.s. Never ever go to a pub in the basildon, pitsea, laindon, grays, tilbury areas, unless your a fervent believer in a night out not being a good one without a friendly broken glass fight. In fact do not get out of your car if you are in those areas. Its like shaun of the dead.

The oft articulated rule “never drink in a pub with a flat roof” has never been more pertinent

I live 6 miles North of Brentwood

I take it that’s somewhere around the Blackmore area. I’ve done a bit of cycling and walking round there and it is very nice. Lots of nice pubs as well.

Not got much to add from the informed posts above but

and a reasonable school for the children

You make this bit sound easy … almost an after thought ??

Sorry not having a pop …. but this may well turn out to be your biggest hurdle

Good luck

Good old Blackmore…it’s a favourite cycling club destination.

I really would look to the smaller villages further north, up towards A12. I would guess they are a bit cheaper than the southend area, but could be wrong.

I doubt it. All the proper village stuff will be at a premium. In Southend you can pick up a former crack den for peanuts.

As someone who grew up in Billericay, some of the comments are making me laugh. Haven’t been back for a few years, so I expect it’s even worse than I remember.

Doubtless the place will be crawling with Grammars under the new tory education revolution, but the best schools are in Chelmsford, Southend and Brentwood (private). There’s always the Penile Academy in Brentwood for a killer combination of cultery and table tennis.