UKC

Although not a climbing question I do generally respect ukc opinion so thought id give it a go here.
I'm looking to buy a house in Bedford near town center (moving from bishops stortford). Reason for move is to be as north as possible but able to commute to london.

Do any UKC'ers know bedford well who can offer me any pointers on areas to avoid/ favour and anything else it would be good to know? Heading there on sat with the mrs to explore and view a few houses.

All thoughts welcomed! Cheers

In reply to timmy a:

Can't offer location advice but had a long term girlfriend from Bedford and was pleasantly surprised by some of the areas. Others seem pretty shocking. So yes, choose carefully!

In reply to A Longleat Boulderer:
I think it's quite nice in places. I think I would indeed suggest an explore to get a feel yourself.

Edit: Northampton maybe worth a look if you don't work in the City proper and thus gain from Thameslink? Getting on at a terminus (Euston) is that bit more civilised than the Thameslink bunfight.

Neil

In reply to timmy a:

Hi, I moved from Bedford to the Peak nearly 20 years ago so not exactly sure on how it's changed but areas near to the train station were nice just down the road towards the town centre , new apartment at the time, slightly further out along Bromham road was also nice, depends on what type of house you are looking for really. If you need to be close to a station you could look at villages along the line, some nice rural areas with access to the trains. Feel free to email me if you want some more info, neil

In reply to timmy a:

Brought up there. Centralish but not that close to train station is Castle Road- Victorian terraces, many bigger than they look. Generally a nice area, close in and river front views larger and more expensive. Local shops still extant despite being walking distance from town centre. Biddenham nice expensive dormitory type village. Turvey further out and more expensive still. Bromham Road, Kimbolton Road and Goldington Roads also had nice houses in my day.

Far too many private schools for the size of town, decent scholarships/bursaries didn't help the local comprehensives much. Not sure if that is still the case.

Watch for flood risk on the non town centre side of town Great Ouse had its moments in my youth.

Very culturally diverse- Strong Italian community since WW2 & brickworks etc kept up the tradition. Food varied and good as a result.

Shopping ok, despite proximity to Milton Keynes and Northampton. Lots of supermarkets and decent choice. Parents thought too much ethnic selection, I was well jealous when visiting from Devon!

Good road links to M1 and A1 thanks to bypass.

In reply to timmy a:

I grew up in Kempston - I'd echo what others have said really, kimbolton rd/goldington rd areas are nice if my memory serves. My gran lived in putnoe which also seemed nice enough, but that was going back a bit and my childhood eyes may not have seen what it was actually like (though on the plus side its quite near some countryside)!

Wootton and Bromham are also quite quaint if you're into your quiet village type thing.

Queens Park (by the train station) was thought of being a bit dodgy when i was younger, dont know what its like now though.

In reply to timmy a:

yhm

In reply to timmy a:


Is that a commute by car? How long does it take?

I ask only because I was surprised to see how quickly one can get from Leicester to London by train. No idea what the costs are, and you'd probably need to be living fairly close to the station to make it viable, but if "as north as possible" is important, you could consider it.
I live a 4 minute walk from Loughborough train station and can reach St Pancras in 1h15m. I would not personally want to do this every day but I know plenty of people who have commutes of well over an hour each way every day. I could probably get a job in London and still live in my house. 1h15m drive from Straggler Mansions to the parking at any Eastern Grit


Anyway not trying to deter from Bedford at all. I was just wondering what the commute time would be! Sorry this post doesn't at all help or answer anything

In reply to timmy a:

youtube.com/watch?v=8Fvz-eGZRwg&

In reply to timmy a:

In the 'good to know' bracket, the Wellington Arms is the only good pub I've been to in Bedford.