Maidenhead round to Bishop's Stortford

Quite the wrong area of the world but our village has a lovely cricket pitch which is very well used in the summer. Get your H to arrange a match down here at the very least!!

Have asked a colleague at work and she recommends - Holyport near Maidenhead (very close to Bray where Heston has two pubs and the Fat Duck) and Eton Wick.

Had to google bishops stortford!!

You are looking just north of where we are - we're looking south of maidenhead, somewhere between m4 and m3.

Maidenhead itself is lovely though, there is a lovely area just outside called Dorney which is b.e.a.utiful and very secluded and lovely.

I'm originally from Ware in Hertfordshire a gorgeous little market town with a mainline station into Liverpool Street. Hertford (slightly bigger than Ware) is 'next door' and has mainline stations into Liverpool Street & Kings Cross.

There are some lovely little villages around that area although I can't say much about cricket pitches but I'm sure there must be some!

Apparently Winkfield is also nice! I'm not a fan of Maidenhead, but that's just because I work here and know too many dodgy people!

Sorry, forgot to add, any indication of house prices around there, please?

South of the river is unlikely to work for us unless we have a complete lifestyle change, AC, which is a shame as there are some lovely places.

Bray etc wil be a reasonable drive to a train then a lengthy train journey in so they're out too, sadly.

Bray is about 3 - 4 miles from Maidenhead train station, Cricks.

Thanks, lovely, will check it out. I think as far out as Maidenhead etc will be a bit too far for the boy but we shall see.

Good shout, thanks! Just had a quick look on Rightmove. Some lovely places around there. There's one in Old Harlow I quite like. I think we'd need to check out the flight paths too.

Ware is going on the list as a starting point for little villages - thank you ?

I think you'll find most of the M11 corridor quite pricey.

I have friends in Burden, near B. Stortford. They live the typical country village life with cricket, village fetes and pubs.

Old Harlow is nice, but is surrounded by New Harlow (not so nice), as is Church Langley.

Sawbridgeworth is nice, as are most places round there really - Chipping Ongar, Much Hadham...

Other places on the north side of the M25 - St Albans, Kings Langley, Redbourne, Cuffley...

There's a cricket pitch outside my back door... ?

This is Most Interesting, young lady. Dorney looks lovely. Taplow might be an option too. Thanks ?

Here Cricks...a dinky cottage for you!

Near Maidenhead and based around a Cricket Green is Littlewick Green not many houses but a nice pub - some lovely villages out towards Fetcham way good local pubs etc... Not sure about the train links to London

OH's uncle lives in Dorney Reach and OH also knows the area pretty well so if you want anything else just shout.

Sawbridgeworth and Bishops Stortford are both very close to Stanstead so you might end up in a flight path. Ware and Hertford are in flight paths I won't lie about that but the planes are that much higher that you hear them but can't see what colour underpants the captain has on that day.

We aren't on any flight paths here in Suffolk and when I go back to Ware (frequently, going back tomorrow) I do hear the planes because I'm not used to them anymore but when I was living there I just didn't notice the noise.

As for prices they are more than here in Suffolk but probably not as much as where you are now (saw you 'crying' about house prices in another thread).

This isnt much help but Bray is lovely!!!! a couple of great pubs! (and restaurants of course!)

I live in Bishop's Stortford! To be honest, houses are fairly expensive, but we have a good service to London (both of us commute everyday), lots of parks and green space, brilliant schools (the best state school in the country is on my road) and so we kind of expect to pay good money to live here. I have to say I wouldn't live in Harlow - I haven't read this whole thread, typically someone WILL live there and be mortally offended by this, but I just wouldn't.

Sawbridgeworth is also nice - bit small for me, not as many shops, restaurants and coffee shops - and I like our river and our parks. Sawbo is much the same pricewise.

It is MUCH cheaper than London, though (well, the nicer bits of London, anyway).

Neither are in the flight path - again, hence the house prices. No extra noise, ten minutes drive from an airport, on the mainline to London, accessible from M11, but still a bit village-y.

I was born in Taplow. It is a gorgeous little village. I grew up in Slough (don't move there, ha!)

A good thing about buying around the maidenhead area is that it will be the westerly starting point for Crossrail. So any commuting into London will be easier and it will increase house prices. They are already going up. Maidenhead as a town at the moment isn't very nice IMO (lots of shops closing and stuff like that). BUT I think they are completely redeveloping the centre, also due to Crossrail. Which is a bonus.

There is also beaconsfield which is lovely, which is a bit further round than Maidenhead and the trains will take you into Marylebone. Good train service too, I've heard. Gerrards Cross is on the same line but a bit nearer to London. You will have a Slough postcode though, so it's not all glamour

Amersham and Chorleywood are nice too if you're not sure about moving out of London totally.

Cant help on the cricket front although my dad used to play cricket a lot around the aa when I was younger. When I see him, I can ask.

Cookham just north of Maidenhead is a lovely village. Has its own station too which is on a branch line out of Maidenhead.

Parts of Maidenhead are lovely. My parents are by the river, quiet, lovely houses. But as with any town other parts aren't so nice. Maidenhead is in a bit of a weird transitional phase at the moment. The town centre is dying a death, but with the Crossrail project on the horizon it's expected that people will start to re-invest at some point.

Ooh just thought of some more... Sarratt, Chorleywood & Berkhamstead.

I was just in Bishops Stortford today to pick up the puppy

It's quite a cute little town, actually. I'd taken to train from Liverpool street when I visited the breeder a few weeks ago, and it wasn't too long. You can get the stanstead express, which only has a couple stops!

I can't really tell you more, though, as we're just inside the M25, but in the southeast. Nice around here, though, and with two of the best schools in Kent I hear.

Thanks very much, ladies, I really appreciate it ?

Bishops Stortford was rated as one of the best places to live in the UK.

That said, as RVS2B says, where she comes from(Ware) is a decent central point. Within a very short distance is Hertford, Hoddesdon(where I live), Broxbourne(where i used to play cricket), Harlow and many other smaller villages all of which have some good eateries. The area is part of the Lea Valley park which is the finger of green belt all the way in to London from Hertford and has really good towpaths for cycling and walking. I lived for a while in Stanstead Abbotts. All around this area are several good cricket teams with decent pitches.

Close enough to the M25 and not too far from the A1.