Sonning/Wargrave/Twyford or Maidenhead

[JayP1]

Hi,

I'm thinking of moving to Sonning, Wargrave, Twyford or Maidenhead areas so that I can get access to London Paddington by train and the Mrs can commute to Slough area. Can anyone let me know what it is like to live in these areas, roads to avoid, or perhaps suggestions of other areas nearby that could still be commuter friendly for us.

Thanks a lot

Edited by JayP1 on Wednesday 25th November 14:35

[john_r]

JayP1 said:

Hi,

I'm thinking of moving to Sonning, Wargrave of Twyford areas so that I can get access to London Paddington by train and the Mrs can commute to Slough area. Can anyone let me know what it is like to live in these areas, roads to avoid, or perhaps suggestions of other areas nearby that could still be commuter friendly for us.

Thanks a lot

Sonning is really nice, BUT it is a rat run at rush hour with huge queues for the bridge in both directions and fecking heaving in the Summer months...

Wargrave is again very nice (boat moored there, but not for long as up for sale), but has some rougher areas up the hill away from the river.

Don't know a lot about Twyford, except that it is also a rat run in rush hours if you want to avoid the M4.

[outnumbered]

I have to big up Twyford... we've lived there for 6 years and I think it's an ideal location. It's still got a villagey feel about it, but it's big enough to have pretty much every service you need for day to day life.

Good schools; good transport links (train, M4); Waitrose; multiple decent restaurants; dentists; doctors; opticians; MOT place; chemists; post office; vets; various interiors shops; pubs; travel agents; card shop... I could go on. The high street is walking distance from most of the village. Lots of nice countryside on the doorstep as well.

Biggest downsides I think are 1) some railway and aircraft noise depending on the wind direction 2) the 4-way lights in the village. These can take a few minutes to get through at peak times, but Sonning's worse for traffic generally.

[Craig]

I used to live in Sonning but on the Old Bath Road so not in the village itself. I used to catch the train from Twyford to London which was OK but the station car park was pricey and the train stopped a lot between Twyford and Paddgington especially on the way home. As has been said the village itself is best avoided due to traffic. Wargrave is OK but there's not a lot there and again can be clogged with traffic in the centre. The nice parts of both Sonning and Wargrave are expensive.

Twyford is a better bet for commuting as has been said and also has a lot more shops and restaurants. If you can buy within walking distance of the station then so much the better.

Have you also considered Caversham - you can get a bus (or 20 min walk) to Reading station and good links to London with fast trains. Also close to Reading for shops restaurants and the village itself has a Waitrose and decent pub.

[JayP1]

Craig said:

I used to live in Sonning but on the Old Bath Road so not in the village itself. I used to catch the train from Twyford to London which was OK but the station car park was pricey and the train stopped a lot between Twyford and Paddgington especially on the way home. As has been said the village itself is best avoided due to traffic. Wargrave is OK but there's not a lot there and again can be clogged with traffic in the centre. The nice parts of both Sonning and Wargrave are expensive.

Twyford is a better bet for commuting as has been said and also has a lot more shops and restaurants. If you can buy within walking distance of the station then so much the better.

Have you also considered Caversham - you can get a bus (or 20 min walk) to Reading station and good links to London with fast trains. Also close to Reading for shops restaurants and the village itself has a Waitrose and decent pub.

Thank you for your reply. We were looking at Caversham and Woodcote, but those two bridges are really bad during rush hour - it's ideal for me as I can walk to station as you said, but for her getting to Slough will probably be a nightmare.

I was actually thinking more along the lines of Sonning side near the Bath road like you - that way you can get onto A329. The only thing is I would need to get a scooter and either head to Twyford or back into Reading for the station...

[JayP1]

john_r said:

JayP1 said:

Hi,

I'm thinking of moving to Sonning, Wargrave of Twyford areas so that I can get access to London Paddington by train and the Mrs can commute to Slough area. Can anyone let me know what it is like to live in these areas, roads to avoid, or perhaps suggestions of other areas nearby that could still be commuter friendly for us.

Thanks a lot

Sonning is really nice, BUT it is a rat run at rush hour with huge queues for the bridge in both directions and fecking heaving in the Summer months...

Wargrave is again very nice (boat moored there, but not for long as up for sale), but has some rougher areas up the hill away from the river.

Don't know a lot about Twyford, except that it is also a rat run in rush hours if you want to avoid the M4.

Sounds like it might be worthwhile being around during rush hour to see what traffic is like - thank you. Out of interest, where exactly in Wargrave would you say are the areas to avoid?

[JayP1]

outnumbered said:

I have to big up Twyford... we've lived there for 6 years and I think it's an ideal location. It's still got a villagey feel about it, but it's big enough to have pretty much every service you need for day to day life.

Good schools; good transport links (train, M4); Waitrose; multiple decent restaurants; dentists; doctors; opticians; MOT place; chemists; post office; vets; various interiors shops; pubs; travel agents; card shop... I could go on. The high street is walking distance from most of the village. Lots of nice countryside on the doorstep as well.

Biggest downsides I think are 1) some railway and aircraft noise depending on the wind direction 2) the 4-way lights in the village. These can take a few minutes to get through at peak times, but Sonning's worse for traffic generally.

Thanks Outnumbered - which are nicer areas in Twyford?

[Craig]

JayP1 said:

Craig said:

I used to live in Sonning but on the Old Bath Road so not in the village itself. I used to catch the train from Twyford to London which was OK but the station car park was pricey and the train stopped a lot between Twyford and Paddgington especially on the way home. As has been said the village itself is best avoided due to traffic. Wargrave is OK but there's not a lot there and again can be clogged with traffic in the centre. The nice parts of both Sonning and Wargrave are expensive.

Twyford is a better bet for commuting as has been said and also has a lot more shops and restaurants. If you can buy within walking distance of the station then so much the better.

Have you also considered Caversham - you can get a bus (or 20 min walk) to Reading station and good links to London with fast trains. Also close to Reading for shops restaurants and the village itself has a Waitrose and decent pub.

Thank you for your reply. We were looking at Caversham and Woodcote, but those two bridges are really bad during rush hour - it's ideal for me as I can walk to station as you said, but for her getting to Slough will probably be a nightmare.

I was actually thinking more along the lines of Sonning side near the Bath road like you - that way you can get onto A329. The only thing is I would need to get a scooter and either head to Twyford or back into Reading for the station...

assume the train to Slough is not an option then?

driving from any of these places to Slough in rush hour will not be pleasant but I assume you know that already

in terms of parts of Wargrave to avoid I would assume Victoria road

[JayP1]

To be honest, train for Slough is not really an option, as offices are too far to walk. I have also been looking at Maidenhead - but again not sure what it's like to live or commute to london

[MrChips]

I used to live on the highstreet in Twyford and then for a while a little further out on Broad Hinton.
Both areas are walkable to the train station, although Broad Hinton was a lot better as it's a decent estate with lots of open areas and nice houses.
There used to be a few fast trains in the morning that did Reading-Twyford-Maidenhead-Paddington so the journey was quick, however i'd check the cost of train tickets to paddington as these were quite expensive.

[outnumbered]

JayP1 said:

Thanks Outnumbered - which are nicer areas in Twyford?

Well, where I live is obviously the most desirable I don't think there's anywhere really horrible in Twyford itself. Ruscombe, which adjoins, has most of the remaining "social housing". Best thing is just to drive around the place - won't take more than 10-15 mins and see what you think. There's a pretty wide variety of housing.

There is one non-stop (or one-stop) train into London every morning at 7.10ish. The rest are stoppers and can take 2x as long as the fast trains from Reading (50 mins vs 25)

[Smiler.]

outnumbered said:

I have to big up Twyford... we've lived there for 6 years and I think it's an ideal location. It's still got a villagey feel about it, but it's big enough to have pretty much every service you need for day to day life.

Good schools; good transport links (train, M4); Waitrose; multiple decent restaurants; dentists; doctors; opticians; MOT place; chemists; post office; vets; various interiors shops; pubs; travel agents; card shop... I could go on. The high street is walking distance from most of the village. Lots of nice countryside on the doorstep as well.

Biggest downsides I think are 1) some railway and aircraft noise depending on the wind direction 2) the 4-way lights in the village. These can take a few minutes to get through at peak times, but Sonning's worse for traffic generally.

Pretty good summary

Which side of the railway are you, north or south?

[outnumbered]

North...

Edited by outnumbered on Wednesday 25th November 22:24

[JayP1]

Thanks all - I'll take a little trek around this weekend.

[cloggy]

Burnham train station is nearly on the Slough trading estate if your wife works there.

[Oh Behave]

Have you looked at cookham? Four stop train to paddington and takes under 40 mins. Also easy to get to slough from there. House prices are probably higher than the other places you mention but it is a nice place to live with loads of good pubs in the village etc.

[JayP1]

cloggy said:

Burnham train station is nearly on the Slough trading estate if your wife works there.

she's going to be on the Bath Road, somewhere between Slough and Burnham...annoyingly it's a bit far to walk to either!

[JayP1]

Oh Behave said:

Have you looked at cookham? Four stop train to paddington and takes under 40 mins. Also easy to get to slough from there. House prices are probably higher than the other places you mention but it is a nice place to live with loads of good pubs in the village etc.

I haven't actually - have heard good things about it. Will get onto the primelocation now...cheers

[JayP1]

Thanks all - I'll take a little trek around this weekend.

[Adam B]

outnumbered said:

I don't think there's anywhere really horrible in Twyford itself.

Pennfields / Middlefields is only candidate I can recall from my school days