Tell me about living in horsham

Very typical situation.

Live inside the m25 (Banstead) with 2 kids and would like a bit more space garage etc etc. That’s not going to happen where we are so considering moving further out.

I work in camberwell wife works in Banstead and due to our fields new jobs are not an option so need to be within reasonable traveling distance.

Horsham looks like it’s more affordable but any real life experience would be appreciated or even suggestions of other commutable “nice” towns.

Ta

Better than Crawley.

But so was Beirut at the time….

Not a Horshamite but I’ve a few work colleagues that live there. They say it’s Getting very built up and will join up with Crawley over the next few years to form “Craw-sham”. Both are looking to move out a bit further to Christs Hospital, Warnham or Southwater.

is it all still lace up beets and carduroys ?

It’s a great little market town with more than it’s fair share of decent properties. Crawley is expanding rapidly (and is a great investment opportunity currently) but is around 6 miles away, Horsham will always keep its identity as the nicest town in its local vacinity.

Good shops, good links north and south, north downs 15mins away, South Downs 15mins away.

I’d prioritise Dorking over Horsham if commuting to London, but either way, I think Horsham is a quiet hidden gem. Driving home from Brixton last night convinced me that moving to West Sussex was best thing we ever did.

I get the feeling it could be quite a good move. Although my wife being brought up in epsom doesn’t see anything wrong with having to cripple yourself with a comedy mortgage to live in surrey….

Southwater seems a fair bit cheaper but thats not close to any commutable station so might mean its a no go.

The Mrs only has to drive up 2 days a week but I will be at least 4.

Very boring question but what about Schools…..

I live in Crawley, so consider Horsham to be a definite step up, but there’s a big area of forest between the two, so I wouldn’t worry about a merger just yet. Either way, West Sussex is much more rural (even if I do live close to Gatwick) than most places inside the M25. Easy access to London if you need it (Southern Rail permitting) but just as quick to the coast and loads of MTB opportunities

The subject of moving to a ‘better neighbourhood’ has been raised on more than one occasion, in the 25 years since we moved from the Midlands, but the truth is that I really don’t want to be saddled with a mortgage again.

(Waves at Ming the Merciless)

Had the same quandary a couple of years back. Ended up in Tonbridge. Love it here. Fast commute (about 40mins) and the town has improved a lot over last couple of years. Nice new cafes and there’s even the odd decent place to eat and drink. Have a mate in Horsham (and I went to school at Christs Hospital) so know the area pretty well. It’s nice enough town and maybe slightly better access to off-road routes (Tonbridge better for road, but close to Bedgebury, which is fun) but the longer commute and shitness of Southern a Rail put me off moving there

Oh, and in terms of schools, Christs Hospital is pretty good…bit of a faff getting sponsorship etc but worth a shot

Come on your getting your prioritys all wrong – it should be about the riding…
30 minutes drive and your at the surrey hills – loads and loads of great singletrack

30 minutes drive to get to trails on the south downs

1hr 30 minutes drive to get to swinley forest (if the traffic is light)

Not much in the way of good riding in Horsham – St Lenoards forest has a few trails – but get really muddy in winter

there are trails at tilgate forest which you could ride to from horsham

Horsham is nice, they’re doing tonnes of building to the north (Broadbridge Heath) and toward Crawley, it genuinely won’t be far off joining Crawley, but will definitely retain its independence. I don’t get Southwater, it’s very popular, but I find it a slightly odd village, no train station as you identify. It’s cheaper than Horsham though.

We’re in Billingshurst, c7 miles south west of Horsham, two stops down the line (although many trains stop at Horsham, so a reduced service). More villagey, similar levels of development always been proposed, but we like it. Ended up here purely by accident (couldn’t afford Guildford/Cranleigh prices), but ended up really liking it and can’t really see where we’d go now.

Dorking would certainly be tempting, but it is a lot more expensive, and the shit bits are a bit shit.

Cheers, I had strangely looked at billingshurst which looks like a a really nice village.

Njee. Are you still part driving part riding into central London? How early/late are your days?

Also, getting on at Horsham in the mornings, do you always get a seat?

Spent a lot of my youth in that area (and surrounding villages). Also had a house down that way when doing my London commute from Horsham (until a few years ago). Still head down that way with the family several times a year.

Excellent market town. Very pedestrianised therefore great for waddling round with younger kids. Park and facilities are very good. Eateries are okay – nothing more. Evenings out are thankfully not as rough as they used to be. Pubs around town aren’t great, but go further out and you’ll find better.

Tanbridge (mixed as opposed to Forest and Millais) is deemed the better school if you’re looking within the town. Christs Hospital is somewhere you’ll need to investigate yourself as it’s more of a boarding school with its own admission procedure. Not the norm for sure. We used to call them “penguins” and found them a very mixed bunch.

Riding locally isn’t great … but N Downs and S Downs are 20 mins and 30-40 mins (typically Chancontbury, Storrington, Devils Dyke) away respectively. I varied my time between the two and that was one of the positives of being in the area.

Njee. Are you still part driving part riding into central London? How early/late are your days?

Also, getting on at Horsham in the mornings, do you always get a seat?

I sort of am, got a 4 week old baby now, so not doing anything, but was until his arrival and plan to once I get my life back on a mildly even keel! I generally leave about 6:20, drive to Mickleham, at desk by 9. Leave 5:30, home about 7:30-8. There’s another chap I do it with, which is good.

Re: seats, you will get one at Horsham, but can’t be overly fussy about where! I suspect in the next 2-3 years it’ll become marginal with all the new development using christ’s hospital, fine from Billingshurst.

I grew up in Horsham, I left to go to uni, then I moved to London for 10 years for work. Moved back to Horsham in 2015 and bought a house.

It has developed a lot over the past few years, with a lot more developments either in progress or being planned, including very big one North of Horsham that has schools etc being built.

It’s a very nice place to live, the are a few good pubs around but not really in the town centre, Malt Shovel is great and our usual pub just outside of the main high street.

Surrey hills are 20-30 mins away, south downs 30 mins, Swinley forest just over an hour away. Quite a few trails in the local st Leonard’s forest of you want to ride from home but only in the dryer months. Also got the downs link if you fancy a bit of mostly flat xc, that runs through southwater and goes from Guildford to Shoreham.

Thanks for the info everyone. Come home tonight to hear the wife isn’t as keen on moving any more…

I give up!

in a years time when she gets itchy feet again i will look up this thread again! Might take a couple of trips down that way to have a look about anyway.

Nee, congrats I think you might find you start to enjoy sleeping on the train more than pedallingall that way!

You do have a great cycling club in the area, Crawley Wheelers, or the Creepy Crawlies as they are affectionately known. A great bunch who’ll be pleased to show you around the trails and tarmac.

OP worth doing some weekend trips with wife and kids when the weather is better to explore a bit, get the research/mind games in early. We lived in Guildford for 20 years and it was a great compromise of town/country amd commute to London. Good schools. Plenty of villages to consider. Down around Horsham Indon’t jnow so well, had friends whomhad a very nice country place outside Heywards Heath (Southern Rail ahve to get sorted sometime surely !)