Thetownend.com

My move from Hampshire to Swindonshire is on (pending actually selling our house).

As a Ciren boy I know some of Swindon, but not that well. West Swindon is just plain confusing to me! So where are the nicer areas to live?

So far we have looked at  (driven round)  Abbeymeads, Heydon Wick and Grange Park. They look OK.

FYI: Our budget is around 200K. We have a 17 month old son so I guess schools may come into play at some point (a little early yet).

TIA.

Batch

PS. Hope I haven't offended anyone,  I am sure the areas deemed not so nice are actually OK. Hell I was brought up on a council estate. But I think I might be turning middle class  :oops: .

Covingham & Liden are nice areas....

I grew up in Grange Park, and it's gone to shit it seems now.  Shaw, Ramleaze, Nine Elms, Peatmoor and Sparcells are good parts of West Swindon, all have shops and parks and pubs within walking distance, and you aren't likely to get mugged walking to them.

Abbeymeads in general is all good, as its new. Parts of it are too close to Penhill for my liking though :wink:

St Andrews Ridge and Priory Vale are good. All a bit samey though, so doesn't matter where you choose.

what about outside ... like Highworth or Blunsdon?

Depends what you want really if your looking for newish houses or older.

I think all these estates like St Andrews Ridge are soulless mazes with identikit houses.But thats just personal taste.

allready planning the lifts into Swindon???

good work fatters

Worth considering. Ta.
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Thanks for the replies above, keep 'em coming - I'll pass them on to the boss so she can start "researching".

Nine Elms is where my parents live....good schools in the form of Lydiard Millicent and Brookfield there.

Broome Manor is one of the best but not sure about house prices there now as they're v high.  I would veer off Grange park as it has gone down hill as some parts are an overflow of a council estate - not good at all.

Yep... that council estate is slowly overflowing into my parents area. My sister just recently had to buy a personal alarm after a mate of hers was relieved of her phone walking to the bus stop.

I guess when the decent kids like me and SiPi left, the rogues took it over. 8)

Theres a load of little sh*ts going round at the moment smashing all bus stops with stones..........my dad thought it would be amusing to video them and call the police................not so cocky now I can assure you!

Bit dangerous .. they will be starting on his house once the police tell them who it was .. and yes they DO do that!

If you want to be within walking distance of civilisation and with good shcools old town is a good call, provided you don't mind less house for your money.  I get the impression the crawl into town is a bit of a bind from the outer suburbs though.  I'd seriously suggest trying to live approximately on the same side of Town as you'll be working cos th hassle of queuing in traffic drives me mad.  I know little of West Swindon or Abbey meads etc, but as souless mazes go Priory Vale isn't so bad, but the main road thamesdown drive is the most frustrating stop start journey you can make.

I blame Rich and his group of vandals  :o

old walcot/lawns

Lower Stratton is skill ...... fact !

Good schools for the rugrats too !

 :thumbs:  :clap:  :thumbs:

 8)

*cough* HEADLANDS *cough*

I class that as Pinehurst spuddy !!!

Look at Kingsdown, grange etc !

Nah Pinehurst starts on the other side of the road.

are you a Headlands lad ?

 :box:  :twak:

Well i live in Liden so i dont think that would have been the closest school to me.

sorry...................just your location says "earth" you sarky cunt !

would probably be ashamed to admit it anyway ! :mrgreen:

headlands is penhill/pinehurst, upper/lower stratton are kingsdown, with the feeder schools of grange/ruskin/st catherines.


upper and lower stratton are both pretty nice areas, should get a decent house for £200k, and the schools are top notch.

I always reming my mrs of the fact that her old school is now the 2nd worst in England.  :mrgreen:

Read the quote spuddy    

LOWER STRATTON
 
Since when was Headlands in Lower Stratton you illiterate !

 :shake:

My mrs lives in Lower Stratton and Headlands is just down the road from here so i put 2 and 2 together and it looks like i got 5. :?

Sparcells/peatmoor aren't bad, good schools, parks and shops. And it feels quite safe.

[/b]
Sure you didnt go to Headlands ?

 :nuts:  :shrug:

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  No.

Or Wootton Bassett  8) Its only a 15 minute drive from Swindon

Old Town.....decent pubs, a couple of clubs, take aways, restaurants and the CG all within a 15 minute walk...plus some good parks like the lawns and town gardens.

 Lethbridge is the highest ranked primary and Commonweal the highest ranked secondary within urban Swindon.

Problem with Old Town tho Reg is:

a) You get a lot less house for your dosh - yeah you can get a house for 200k but you'll get less room etc than you would somewhere else
b) Parking is a nightmare in a lot of Old Town

Basically, I'm just jealous I can't afford to live there!

 True enough.....depends on what you want though doesn't it....if I didn't live in Old Town, I reckon Rodbourne would do me nicely.

For a budget of 200k you could get a nice, reasonable sized house in Woodshaw, Wootton Bassett. But if you only tend to live actually in Swindon then probably Grange Park is your best bet

no real suprise then, that i went to lethbirdge infant and juniors, and commonweal secondary school  8)

tell me reg, did your lads go to these by any chance?

My lads went to Drove as I wanted them to get the enrichment of a wider variety of cultures.....you must have stuck out like a sore thumb at them schools.

thats true although i wouldnt say Grange Park has gone to shit Dave. its not that bad. far better than freshbrook! Peatmoor is nice i went to thew woodlands edge pub there once and managed to walk home without getting mugged

I'm trying to buy a house in Rodbourne at the moment but just got the survey done and the fucking thing is falling down. I really wanted it too, fucking bullshit I tell yer  :cry:

 If you want it buy it...use the survey to knock the price down.

We purchased about 30 houses for clients last year all at lower than market price.  With a budget of 200k we could find you a property with all your needs in the area you wanted (obviously for 200k you wont get a 5 bed in broome manor).  If you need a way in with agents give me a PM.

For example we bought a 5 bed in haydon wick for 170k last month, needs 20k spent on modernising but will be worth around 260 once completed.

I went to commonweal. Were you there when I was? I left in 95.

I have never lived in Swindon but my Gran lives in Moredon which is fairly near a bunch of new houses that look ok.

Not sure if that helps!

Peatmoor is pretty nice. Chavs are rubbish though.

I was born in Harvey Grove, does that come under Rodbourne Cheney? Having not lived there for so long I can't really remember.

If I was going to move back I would probably live in the Rodbourne area, is that still ok or have things changed?

 Rodbourne and Rodbourne Cheney aren't really the same.  Rodbourne being more like Even Swindon....Rodbourne Cheney should of course be pronounced Cheeeney.....not Chainey like the  Ameroican tosser Dick.

 Rodbourne is solid....shame the Even Swindon Hotel had to change its name though.

Cheers Reg, and I always pronounce it as Cheeeeny don't worry.  :D

On a similar subject I lament the loss of Upper Snodshill....I have a collection of old maps and even into the late 50's very early 60's, Upper Snodshill is worthy of naming, yet when the fucking planners pick a name they go for something more user friendly like Eldene.., but Snodshill is now confined to a mention on a roundabout signboard,

 Why because no doubt Snodshill.....a wonderful Saxon name....sounds a bit like snot and you can't have that..

 BTW Snodshill was roughly on the River Ray between Park South and Eldene.

200k would get you a nice sized 3 bed in Lawns, a 4 bed in Convingham, Nythe, Coleview and Stratton Village (which is not a village), or a large 3 bed in Old Town (although you might want to be towards Okus as opposed to being close to the Town Centre side.

Don't like Abbey Meads much (can never get out!) and West Swindon can be abit hit and miss these days.

Liden is ok, but if you have the cash for 200k then Nythe, Covingham and Colview are probably better bets.

The real gem though must be Old Walcot (not to be confused with Walcot, where you could 2 houses for 200k).  Right next to the CG but nice houses and a nice area.  Great chippy in York Rd nearby, you could see the Merlin over the road, or the Grove depending on which end.  Get a nice sized 3 bed for £170k ish in that area.