SB

I am thinking of getting out of London and moving to either to Halstead or Witham.
Does anybody here commute into london from either of these areas.
Whats the general opinion of living in these areas.

Any feedback would be appreciated

Cheers

ProperCharlie

whoever said that Witham was close to the ****hole of the universe was definitely exaggerating...

SB

Having been London born and bred I found it quite pleasant, am I mad?

carl

Whereabouts in London do you need to get to? Halstead and Witham are on the A12, which is a nightmare into London (it goes through Ilford and Romford and everything). You either want to be near the A13 or the M11.

ProperCharlie

A couple of years ago I was thinking about moving out of london. We looked at quite a few properties in cambridgeshire, suffolk, essex. didn't really see anything we fancied. Decided to stay in town in the end. I love the idea of 'getting away from it', but the problem is that the whole of the south east is congested, but outside london there isn't any tube . Also, to get significantly cheaper property you have to go to the middle of nowhere or basildon.

Charlie.

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 12/17/2002 11:42:52 AM]

SB

Would be more likely to catching a train peak times me thinks

SB

Dont want to move to Basildon, mum would be round every five minutes LOL.

DJFish

Will you be driving to work or catching a train?

I used to commute on the A12 and it's a nightmare, don't bother.

I live in Colchester and mostly take the train, by the time it gets to Witham it's packed and you won't get a seat, same with Chelmsford.
The times I have to drive in (Christmas/New year etc.) The roads are ok. Best time into Regent St. by car 1hr 5mins.
Best time by train door to door is about 1hr 20mins.

Halstead's lovely, Witham isn't, Colchester town's not all that great either but once you get out of town it's lovely.

If you're going to move out of London I'd suggest one of the little villages around Colchester, this has the benifit of loads of parking at the train station (£500 pa parking/£2500pa season ticket), most of the intercity trains stop there as well as the slower multi-stopper trains.

Plus for the price of a London broom closet you can get yourself a nice Essex mansion complete with fake marble pillars, stone lions on the gateposts and a swimming pool in the shape of a dollar sign.

You know it makes sense.

SB

Fantastic, even the price Dagenham mini mansions has gone ballistic.

For those of you that dont know what a Dagenham Mini Mansion is, it is a council house that has been extended about 14 times.
You also have to of extended your drive to be able to fit at least 2 transits and one 4x4.
Dodgy Tudor beams or HorseCart Wheels implanted in the wall are optional LOL.

carl

Epping has a tube station...

Dirty Wrong'un

Surprising as this may sound, I've never had a problem getting a train out of Witham. Occasionally have problems getting back from London though.

40 odd minutes into Liverpool street isn't bad, use to take me longer than that to drive 10 miles along the A12!