moving to Cambridgeshire from London. HELP!!

Hi

We are making the move away from London and looking at the cambridgeshire area. Have 2 girls one of whom is nearly a teen so need things to do and a sense of community as well as buses etc I know I know.... we want country but not isolation! we very much like the St neots and St ives area but anyone got any advice? Any comments on these areas and also 'The deepings' and Bar Hill would be appreciated. Really want to choose a good area for such a big decision.

Thanks

Saz

St Ives nice.
St Neots not as nice.
Bar Hill = Bar Hell

No offence to any Bar Hill-ites, but I'd say avoid there. It's basically one big modern estate, rather than anything particularly nice or rural. I always think it looks like a really depressing place to live.

I used to live in Sawston (about 8 miles south of Cambridge). It didn't suit us personally, but is reasonably rural (while still well catered for in terms of a supermarket and several pubs), and the bus service is reasonable (better than that of a lot of the smaller villages that surround Cambridge).

I'd say come to Cambridge itself. It is much smaller and considerably quieter than London, there's a reasonable amount of stuff to do, lots of green open areas (Parkers Piece, Midsummer Common, Jesus Green etc etc) pubs, the river, etc etc. I heart Cambridge.

i'd agree about bar hill, though i think it would be the one your teen would liek most.

the only way in and out are by the a14 as far as i know and there is one pub in the village (horrible modern thing) and it is essentially a bunch of estates. It has only been post war so if you are looking for the "nicer" aspects of cambs this place is probably out.

Having said that.... it is by far the most accessible to cambridge for a teen... regular buses and only about 5 miles away.

i think if i had a teenager i would prefer them to be going out in cambridge than st ives and certainly st neots. Coming from London, the small town mentality of the 2 sts may be a bit too much... cambridge has bohemian smalltown mentality!

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Don't bother with Market Deeping or Deeping St James, they are reasonably nice villages but the nearest town is peterborough and your kids and your soul will hate you forever.

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North of Cambridge is ok and a bit cheaper than south, the A10 is busy you could try looking south of Ely (trains to London), which is full of life; Newmarket or Bury are also worth a look if you want to travel to London by car.

YES Histon is North City of Cambridge very nice village with everything there, even the A14 M11 A428. good community college, well everything you need really for a nice tick over of life.

I would vote for Histon - lived there for a few months, it seemed to have a lot going on and is v close to Cambridge but presumably not as pricey as central Cambridge. If you've got teens I second any advice to live fairly near somwhere interesting. I still haven't forgiven my parents for chosing to live in a small boring town with only one train an hour to anywhere decent. I don't think I have ever really recovered.

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Yeah, another vote for histon/impington (I never know where one ends and the other starts, so always think of them as one place) if you really don't want to live actually in cambridge. It's really close to cambridge, which will be nice for you and great for your children when they reach their mid teens, as it's a cool place for teens to grow up, and I think most of the ex IVC pupils (There seems to be quite a few of the cambridge natives on here that went there, me included) would probably tell you it's a really good school, one of the best state schools in the area.

I grew up in Histon/Impington and really enjoyed it. The schools (Nursery, primary, Junior, Secondary and sixth form) are pretty good too, but i was there al long time ago, so don't know how they are now. Impingtom village college is/was renowned for it's performing arts and always had lots of activities for the kids to get involved in. Histon itself is pretty big for a village and has all the ameneties required, plus it's a ten minute drive into town, so you don't feel so out of touch with city life yet you can retreat to a slightly more rural setting if you want to. Of course, the knock on effect of all this loveliness is that the house prices are pretty steep and it's a well sort after area.

Good luck with the move. Hope you find just what you're looking for.

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raises a dubious hand... 2 or 3 years above you simon, remember me taking your dinner money? ;-)

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You must have been in my brother's year then, Mr Alternation. Who did you hang about with?

God, English with Ms Swanson. Oh the joys of Far From the Madding Crowd and essays on Dolce et Decorum Est.

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Yeah, she was, though she never taught me. Ms Swanson also taught me Geography. Bit weird. I remember one lesson when Nick Bombar, the class idiot, (rememeber him?) stuck his pen down his throat and threw up all over his book, then Nicola Goldthorpse took one look at it and threw up all over the floor. Needless to say that was the end of the lesson. They both had to clear it up and have a detention. A little harsh on Nicola Goldthorpe i thought.

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The smell was revolting, i'm still surprised no-one else thew up. Imagine; a hot friday afternoon in mid June, last lesson, in one of those mobile classrooms up by the fly-over, the sun beating through the windows melting the plastic chairs as well as our brians, and Nick Bombar and Nicola Goldthorpe's vomit sweetening the thick, sticky air.

"Didn't know you went to IVC, Robadob. When did you finish? I was in the same english class as Mr. Lo, but who else off here went there?"

I was there 1991-1996. I think you may well have been in my sister's year, who was 1989-1994, I think.

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Avoid Bar Hill like the plague, it's awful.

St. Ives and St. Neots are both quite a way from Cambridge, especially for people relying on public transport.

Villages that seem nice to me (mainly from having played cricket matches there) and not too far away include Gt Abington, Gt Wilbraham, Boxworth, Elsworth, Coton, Barton and lots of others I'll probably think of later.

oops... i was 4 years above you simon... i finished in '90.

"You must have been in my brother's year then, Mr Alternation. Who did you hang about with?"

erm dunno really, will clark, howard agarwalla, matthew douglas... a bunch of goths basically... who is your brother?

"What was your sister's name?"

Sarah Lucas. She would have been in Theresa house, I think, so unless you were in Theresa or Dunant, you wouldn't have come into contact with her much

I'm also shocked I remember the 4 houses IVC was divided into

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Haha, he was fantastic, although I think he left shortly after I joined, replaced by Miss Trevenna. Who, if I remember, everyone fancied

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Sorted. Plus, we were 13-14 year olds, we all fancied every woman we saw who wasn't over 50

hmmm... i don't remember my old form tutors name... she was an art techer married to a different teacher but they had different surnames and came in in different cars. i had different form tutors before her but cannae remmber them... think i may have been in Dunant... they brought the "house" thing in at the beginning of my 3rd year.
i only remember a couple of teachers... Mr Sanderson (who was a bit of a wanker but probably for the right reasons), Mrs Sanderson (she married him for some reason) and then 2 oldies... Mr Mitchell and Madame Brew.... Mr M used to live in a gatehouse on the driveway and was ancient...

"Mr Mitchell and Madame Brew.... Mr M used to live in a gatehouse on the driveway and was ancient..."

Mr Mitchell was still around by the time I left, which must've been a good 6 years after you, and still lived in the gatehouse. And yes, we all wondered what the hell someone so old was doing living basically in a school, and never actually worked out if he still worked there in any kind of capacity. I wonder if he's still alive, he looked about 90 when I was there

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Thanks for all your help so far. I really want to find a house in histon now! Sadly there are none available at the moment in our price range. Good village = high prices. Drive myself mad looking at forums and estate agents sites. Do not want to make a huge mistake! 5 bed house in Over for 199,995! Sounds too good to be true so probably is. Never mind we will keep looking and keep posting if you have any more thoughts. If anyone in Histon reads this and fancies selling for less than £200,000 let me know! :-)

Saz

Was looking for more information about a teacher I had at IVC and found this thread. It wasn't him, but funny to see references to Mr Mitchell. He was ancient when I was there, and I left in 1985