I’ve looked at this myself. Work in London and family up North. We ended up just outside Milton Keynes (not my choice!!). Commute to London (by Bank) is about 2 hours door to door.
Riding wise we have Woburn, Chicksands and Aston Hill a reasonable distance away. For the kids I have a 16 mile gravel ride through the countryside that is car free. Also you get a lot more house and land for your money than Tring and Berkhamatead. From my door there is a couple of great walks, through countryside that for now at least is green belt. MK is good for the kids, but I’m happy to be living 7 miles outside the town in a semi rural location.
My choice was Crewe/Stafford/Shrewsbury area. Commutable and access to Wales. House Prices were very good when we looked, but I was over ruled!
Warminster or perhaps Salisbury could work, ~50min train to Southampton from former, then jump on the Waterloo train that takes ~75mins.
Some great hills around Longleat just up the road, while Mendips are just ~20-odd miles away.
York seems popular with occasional London commuters, at least a lot join the train at York when I rarely venture South. Flat in the city but cycle paths everywhere and you can see The Moors in one direction and The Dales in the other. About 2 hours to KX on the train. I don't know whether you go underground or Thameslink to Bank from there.
Salisbury is a great city but the commute is a teensy bit long to Bank if doing it every day. Between Andover and Basingstoke worth a look. Whitchurch and Overton stations (latter has free parking), plenty of good pubs, plenty of lovely natural singletrack. Nothing gnar locally, but Tidworth is within easy distance, and A34/M4 for swift trips to Wales.
Live within Brompton range of a station, and Robert's you mother's brother.
Streatley or Goring
Got the river (paddleboard heaven at the moment). Loads of road cycling in the Chilterns and Wessex Downs. Loads of Mountain biking up the ridgeway, and millions of bridleways. Not long slow drags, but very short and sharp. If you're into long distance running, I think there's four different centurions a year here.
loads of culture and suff as well, obviously less this year. Pointless at the moment, but got the pub of the year just up the ridgeway
Easy to commute to town; I commuted to bank everyday for 12 years from here. Trains direct in about 45 minutes.
During lockdown it's been bliss being able to walk out the door, walk for 15km and not see anyone. Busy now, as those in the cities are coming out for the country.
Anaecdotally it's very busy on the housing market; mates have just put their house on (thursday night), 12 viewings on the saturday, sold on the Monday. Another took slightly longer (two weeks?) but has now gone.
http://www.visitgoringandstreatley.co.uk/
Sheffield is ace but it sounds like a really long day.
I think Surrey would work. Some great country side close to London. You can get down to the coast for water sports.
Wendover is a nice town with good hills. The downside is the clay isn't great for riding in the winter.
The area round me would work. If we take Woburn as your biking destination then we'll look at options round there. Woburn gets more use in the winter than summer as it drains so well. If your happy to drive to the station then you could live in a lovely small town or village with good walking and biking on you door step. Station would be Flitwick so good for Black Friars etc.
Now I might get laughed at
Or you could live in South Milton Keynes. You'd still be near the woods. Loads of traffic free cycling including cycling to the station. Good climbing walls. Good road scene. Loads for kids and families to do. Theatre. 2 hours to the peaks so you can cycle or climb there on a day trip. I grew up there. Its mad. You can have a house on a village high street or over looking a lake and be 2 miles traffic free bike ride from a station with quick trains to London and a vast shopping centre
Or Hitchin. Families love Hitchin. Brilliant but not techy biking on your door step. Loads going on. Easy rail access to london
Reading (Caversham)
Wendover is going to be wrecked by HS2 though
Berkhamsted is best described as ‘full of angry people driving range rovers’
My sister lives in Berko. Its a horrible place with far too many cars on the road, far too many Range Rover, massively overpriced houses and very little sense of community. Relatively nice countryside around buts its no National Park. Its classic commuter belt.
Stroud valleys.
Easy commute on the train, lumpy enough to keep you amused most of the time, FoD nearby, South Wales near enough for weekend jaunts.
Large variety of human life around there, from super posh to super scuzzy and everything in between.
I am still struggling to think there are *only* jobs in London.
Surely they exist elsewhere - even if lower wages, you can save thousands a year in commuting and house costs by finding a nicer place to live and play...?
Wendover is going to be wrecked by HS2 though
Whilst the work is being done yes but at the end of the day no more wrecked than what the bypass or existing train line has already done.
+1 for Chesham if you can manage the lack of outdoorsyness that the Chilterns present
I am still struggling to think there are *only* jobs in London.
There are some very specific niche jobs that are only in London. That's not to say they won't move / change post covid, but at the moment you don't get too many wholesale banking (for instance) jobs outside of the city. There's a few in Edinburgh, and Dublin but that would be a complete lifestyle change - something few people are brave enough to countenance (me included).
We've considered moving to the Surrey Hills before but it would mean my wife leaving a job she enjoys, for a limited benefit.
I'm just going to buy an e-bike instead so I can do a full 80km loop down to Peaslake without being knackered when I get there 🙂 .
depending on the outdoors stuff you want, hassocks and the surrounding villages are adjacent to\in the south downs national park, can be at victoria station in under an hour from here, so I guess hour and 10 minutes door-to-door would be achievable. Brighton is bigger, has more sea-based stuff (obivously), but further from the hills. Decent biking, but not world class. Houses here are expensive though - 2 bed flat near a station is probably half a million.
There's not really any point living in a outdoorsy town if you cant make use of it during the week cos you're sat on a train the whole time. maybe somewhere with good travel connections and a shorter commute (such as reading) - then just spend the weekends away from home
Winchester or Micheldever for stations. Loads of lovely villages around and Winch features in the 'best place to live' competition, River Itchen for walks and prettiness, watercress beds aplenty, start of the SDW. Would also echo what CFH said.
The average journey time between London Paddington and Bath Spa is 1 hour 30 minutes . On an average weekday, there are 56 trains travelling from London Paddington to Bath Spa. The journey time may be longer on weekends and holidays.
[strong]TheBrick[/strong] wrote:
Abergavenny? (spelling!)
My first thought, but train links are crap as you have to do 3o mins to Newport and then change. You'd maybe better served in Newport itself, there are plenty of nice suburbs, despite the reputation of the town itself. Trouble would be time getting to the station as it is in the town centre. I am not sure if the fast train to London stops in Caldicot or Chepstow (suspect the former yes, the latter no) as they would be great options too.
I live just outside Newbury, some people commute into London from here, ****ing madness if you ask me but then I am terminally unambitious. Road riding from Newbury is bloody exceptional, out towards Lambourne or Coombe, Watership, loads of great stuff. Also got Chilterns back towards Reading, Henley etc, busier but nice. Mountain biking from the door is good in the dry season, gravel biking style is bonkers good. Its also cheaper than the likes of Reading for houses and much cheaper than Henley, Marlow etc.
Cambridge.
