[Closed] That London

Heh I obviously live in a sh*t hole then sensible (well London sensible) Mortgage, 45 minute ride into the centre of town.

One of the CAMRA clubs of the year on my doorstep and a local pub that usually has over a dozen real ales on for £1.99 a pint.

Epping Forest trails less than 10 minutes away.

It's all a bit rough and ready and ungentrified but all the more friendly for it I reckon.

Ride acros town and train is a bit of a drag for Surrey Hills, more so in winter but eminently doable.

By trails I mean hilly wooded singletrack

Yep.

Walton Weybridge Kingston Esher basically North Surrey round there would be my call but I live there so I would say that. Esher is 30 mins to London and leafy but well stocked with the things a person needs. Not cheap I'm afraid but cheaper than a proper London postcode. Surrey Hills 30 mins away and plenty of OK riding on your doorstep.

By trails I mean hilly wooded singletrack
Yep

You do not have anything of similar quality as I have within 10 minutes ride of your front door. Or my name's Fred Dibnah.

Have you ever bin here? Do you actually know what you're talking about?

I can be in Epping Forest in 25 mins. Maybe not as undulating, but loads of fun singletracky stuff.

I also have this within minutes of my front door, do you?

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No. So shut up, you know you've already lost.

To be fair Epping is offroad riding and it's doorstep , it's er not challenging in anyway and pretty much unridable when the clay isn't baked solid.

It is entertaining though especially on a cross bike anything else is pretty much overkill though.

When it's dry and dusty it's mental good fun though just a case of riding everything as fast as you possibly can and not hitting stuff two or three hours of that on a summer evening is magic especially having a stop at the top of Pole Hill and taking the view over town in.

The best bit about London for me is you can wander outside a pub with a beer, try doing that in Newcastle...

Why can't you all just live where you live without being bitches about where you don't live.

Because there's no fun in that. 😀

Folkestone I believe is actually the 37 minute destination and on the North Coast somewhere around Whitstable, agreed Ashford is exactly as you describe it.

wrong ashford is 37 mins folkstone is 57 or 55min on the high speed line.
(great train service, i use it to visit my folks)

Do you actually know what you're talking about?

No, but I knew you'd fill me in 🙂

I already said I liked London but the riding was pants. All you are doing is proving me right 🙂 Epping forest in 25 mins by bike? Hmm. I can be on trails in 10 minutes and I could ride all over Wales on or off road. That's what I'd miss if I lived in London.

Elfinsafety - Member
Steer well clear of Sheppey too unless you are a fan of George Romero.

I have fond memories of The Beautiful Isle of Sheppey from my misspent youth...

You are Joking right Thats pikey holiday town Shoot go there and stitch up your pockets.

If your to use mainline trains do consider how un reliable they are
so check the reliability of the provider.
Especially during winter or for flooding on the line.

If i was to move out of london always make sure there is a plan B to get you into work.

lived in London for 11 years between 96-2007. Tottenham, Finchley, Streatham, Wandsworth, Camden, Dalston. aged 23-35. Good times, bad times. Now in North Wales. I'd never go back to London now, not even for a great satisfying job paying 40 grand. I really mean that. It's not for me personally, where I'm at now and what I want now. Listen to Elf - he knows his apples.

I even went lived darn sarf of the river! gor blimey

I can be on trails in 10 minutes and I could ride all over Wales on or off road.

Is that all you do in your spare time, ride your bike?

I do other things too, hence why I like living in London. 🙂

Besides, you live in Sarf Whales. Norf Whales is much betterer.

No it is so shut up!

Innit Kev?

of course it is!! but, if I got a good super paid job job in Cardiff that not available in North Wales I'd happily move there cos it's a good compromise of culture and countryside I think.

no, changed my mind. North Wales is where it's at.

Why can't you wander outside with a beer in Newcastle? The Tyne, the Free Trade, The Ship, the Cluny are all are great pubs where you can do this, along with countless others. The worst thing about London, which no one seems to have mentioned, are the arseholes that live there. 😆

Crouch End is the best place in London to live.

Go to London! I guarantee you'll either be mugged or not appreciated. Catch the train to London, stopping at Rejection, Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway.

Seriously though London is pretty cool just don't drink the water

Is that all you do in your spare time, ride your bike?

Elf you are not listening.

I said I really like London.

But the riding is not up to much.

So when you talk about all the other non-riding stuff to do, I agree with you.

OP - How important is MTBing to you? How often do you want to do it? Do you want to be able to ride from the door?

Leyton, Leytonstow, Walthamstow, Wanstead all an easy commute to Victoria about 10ish miles each way.

Walthamstow is on the Victoria line so for non bike days it's perfect. The A406/M25/A10/A1 are all easily accessible for trips up North.

You've got Epping on your doorstep so lots of singletrack and forest there's to play in. Plus Thetford and Aston Hill aren't too far either.

Elfinsafety - Member
Have you ever bin here? Do you actually know what you're talking about?

I also have this within minutes of my front door, do you?

No. So shut up, you know you've already lost.

*[i]making assumptions here apologies if you don't actually know them[/i]

MrSmith - Member
Folkestone I believe is actually the 37 minute destination and on the North Coast somewhere around Whitstable, agreed Ashford is exactly as you describe it.
wrong ashford is 37 mins folkstone is 57 or 55min on the high speed line.
(great train service, i use it to visit my folks)

Mr Smith ahem it doesn't take 20 minutes to get from Folkestone to Ashford on a fast bike, I hesitate to play the pedant here, but wrong is somewhere between us, shall we build a bridge and get over it?

It is entertaining though especially on a cross bike anything else is pretty much overkill though.

It was bloody ace fun, far from my normal enjoyment but damn good fun.

derekrides

slanty eye dudes

[b]Racist -[/b] Nick Griffin called he wants you to do his PR as you seem to have the same narrow mindset

Crouch End is the best place in London to live.

...unless you want to use the tube, which means an incredibly packed bus ride at peak times. Good if you cycle though. Except for the hill heading south (I live at the top of it, so easy in the morning, hard in the evening).

nobody want to see that shit

I do.

Tring, live in Tring, Tring is where you should live. It's quite nice and you get to say 'Tring' every time someone asks you where you live. And it's nice to say Tring, I like saying Tring, Tring, Tring, Tring. Live in Tring.

It's probably quite easy to get back North from there as well

Crouch End is the best place in London to live.

...unless you want to use the tube, which means an incredibly packed bus ride at peak times. Good if you cycle though

I cycle everywhere. No tube for N8 please......W7 bus is plenty, you love it. 😉

Tring is where you should live. It's quite nice

...and you'd have the Chilterns on your doorstep, Aston Hill, easy access to Up North/Wales etc etc so worth having a look round there or nearer the Chiltern line - Wendover, Aylesbury etc or further East towards St Albans. Downside apart from the 30-45min commute is that the trains take you to the wrong side of London so you need to use the Tube or have a bike at the station to get you to Victoria, or you can walk - walking across London in the early morning when it's getting ready for work is great on a nice day. Biggest up-side is that it's a lot cheaper than central London which is where you really need to be to enjoy the place. If I were you I'd forget the outer suburbs, some of them are most depressing and soul-destroying places I've been to but if you ask anyone who lives there they'll always say how great it is - "it's got a lovely villagey feel not like the rest of London", yet normal people can't tell where one suburb ends and the next begins.

Thanks for all of this - some really useful suggestions that confirmed some of my thoughts and gave me some new ideas.

I'm reconciled to the fact the riding options will be fewer down there (I'm spoiled for choice right now) but sometimes needs must.

North west Kent was already on the list, as was scary expensive Surrey, but I haven't much experience of the areas north and west of London.

I wouldn't move down there for peanuts so hopefully I'll be able to afford something half decent.

I'll just have to go back to me roots. Don't tell any of me northern mates but I was born in Camden and spent the first year of my life in Walthamstow!

Crouch End is the best place in London to live

Only if you can't afford to live in Muswell Hill, I spose. 😉

Was down in Wapping last week; estate agent's window had ads for properties:

ONEPOINTFIVEMILLIONPAHYNDS for a 2-bedroom flat.....

I'm saving to move back hahaha.

but I was born in Camden and spent the first year of my life in Walthamstow

dangerousdan - not all parts of north surrey are expensive. Esher is pricey, Weybridge is pricey, walton (between the two) isn't so bad.

ONEPOINTFIVEMILLIONPAHYNDS for a 2-bedroom flat..

Thats the price of Wapping worked in many places there don't think its
value for money has very small inside and you get a lot of plaster board
for your money.
But must say very nice when the windows are open and having lunch
over looking the Thames

Mr Smith ahem it doesn't take 20 minutes to get from Folkestone to Ashford on a fast bike, I hesitate to play the pedant here, but wrong is somewhere between us, shall we build a bridge and get over it?

no. you accept that the high speed line timetable is correct and that you are wrong. Folkstone is not 36min away from st Pancaras, Ashford is.
i don't care how long it takes 'on a fast bike', this discussion is about train journey times from kent.

using the high speed train it's 36min from Ashford to St Pancaras, add the 18min for the Ashford-Folkstone Central journey time and the 2 min stop time, this gives the journey time at 56min. check the timetable for yourself.

Thats the price of Wapping worked in many places there don't think its
value for money has very small inside and you get a lot of plaster board
for your money.

Not this place mate. This was one of they old town houses, so proper solid. I dread to think what the whole house would cost. £4-5 million easy.

But yeah, plenty of shoeboxes going for silly, silly money. And plenty of people paying silly, silly money. 😯

Thing to watch out for is postcode variations; mate of mine bought a place in Lewisham. Couple of hundred yards down the road, you cross into Blackheath, which is a different postcode. The same type and size of property suddenly becomes £100,000, £150,000 more. Just because it's got a more 'prestigious' postcode, ffs. It's the same area, same bloody road even! 😯

No one is actually giving the bloke a reasonable answer. Except maybe the guy who mentioned ealing.

There are two questions the OP needs to answer are you buying or renting and do you expect to be able to cycle in the evening ?

The truth is the best riding is too the south of London. Hence most of the people recommending surbition,croydon,esher etc etc

However this does nt tie in with you wanting to be in the north of london to drive back to yorkshire ?

But the north of london doesnt have train lines going straight to victoria in fact as mentioned most of the trains to victoria tend to come from either the south or south east (not even south west). But these areas will be very difficult to get back to leeds from again.

Also do you expect to be able to just get in your car and drive somewhere say at 11am on saturday morning ?

If so I would say you need to be nearish the edge. I lived in Battersea for several years and if you left it late to drive somewhere you just had to sit in traffic for ages. (not all the time admittedly)

Also if you want to be able to cycle in the weekday evening. You need to live a fair way out. For instance I lived near clapham junction but getting a train out in the evening to go cycling was almost impossible due to the number of commuters. Also I would nt have driven out because its meant to be relaxing !

The best option really is to cycle out and I did do this a couple of times during the weekend, but you'd have to be pretty fit to cycle out from say zone 2 and manage to do a decent bit of MTBing of a evening.

No one is actually giving the bloke a reasonable answer

TBH, it's the kind of thing you really need to research yourself, extensively, to find out what will work for you. No point in asking others, as their responses will be laden with personal opinions/prejudices/subjective experience, which isn't really all that helpful I woon't imagine. More confusing than owt else.

Except maybe the guy who mentioned ealing

See, then you'd get others going 'Ealing's crap blah blah blah X is miles better' and so on and so forth, and no answer is 'right'.

I once gave someone on here advice about moving to North Wales. And they took my advice and moved there! 😀

And they love it there too, so maybe I'm the only person qualified to give advice on such matters. 🙂

My advice: don't move to Wapping. Unless you are properly loaded.

Or Thamesmead. Unless you are properly mad.

RE: tags. Just curious- How can you possibly be a "mockney muppet" if you've lived in East London your whole life?

Best bit is Kev; I've never claimed to be a 'Cockney', that's just a label often given to people from London by Foreigners (like, Northerners and them). So how I can be a mock' version of something I don't even claim to be the 'genuine' version of, I have no idea. 😕

'Cockney' isn't the same as 'Geordie' or 'Scouser' or 'Brummie'; it's an outdated and largely redundant idea of a particular type of person from the East End. Hardly any of them left now really; most have either died or moved to Essex or Devon or somewhere. Times change. London's changed.

I don't really see myself as a 'Cockney', just a Londoner, an East End lad. I spose technically I [i]could[/i] call myself a Cockney, but not really bothered.

As for 'Mockney', well, that's quite funny. A 'Mockney' is someone pretending to be of lower class than they actually are, trying to gain a bit of 'street cred'. I grew up on a council estate. I struggle to see how much 'lower' I could pretend to be. 😆

Here's a bit of reading, for the ignorant:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockney

HTH.

X

Hard to give accurate direction without really knowing budget and size of place you are after. From my experiences I would definitly recommend SW over NE london. We are in Barnes which is just the other side of the river from Chiswick. Great place to live, 25 mins to Waterloo, 5 mins from Richmond Park, 35 mins from the Surrey hills for good riding. There are plenty of good areas further out (up to the 1hr commute) but what you save on rental costs you would see a big increase on train fare.

Dude those are pictures are of places they make you go to when you're at school, on a sunny day when you want to be on the beach or riding up the hills, nobody want to see that shit, 'cept Yank tourists, Eurotrash and Slanty eye dudes