Views on travel between Beds, Herts, Cambs please (work – ho

[seadragon]

Hi All

My partner and I live about 6 miles from where we work in Hertford/Welwyn Garden City and we are considering moving further away, eg, Royston, Steeple Morden, Ashwell, etc etc, about 20 miles or so away. Most of the properties we like are not close to Stevenage, WGC, etc and we don’t want to settle for some boring terraced house or flat, but rather something with a bit of character (no offense to anyone with a boring terraced house or flat).

I guess maybe a silly question but course there is the extra fuel costs but for those who do this trip, or something similar, do you find it a real chore with traffic, costs, also I assume a total nightmare driving in snow/ice and having to deal with traffic jams?

Any views much appreciated.

[Dibs]

Up until a month ago I was commuting from Steeple Morden to WGC. The A1 is a real pain in the mornings (and coming home obviously) as the traffic is very busy between the Stevenage junctions any time after 7am.

I started to go through Graveley into Stevenage to save sitting on the A1 but it's no quicker.

On a Friday (quieter) you can do it in 25 mins otherwise it takes anything from 45 minutes to an hour.

Hope this helps.

Dibs

[Dblue]

Dibs spot on about the A1. No easy way round it and just a fact of life.

The A10 is much better and no real hold ups between Royston and Hertford. You'd need to cut across a bit to get to WGC that way though, through Hertford to get on the A414 or cross country but avoiding the A1.

Wouldn't worry about Snow or a lack of accessibilty. I's not that rural tbh.

Have a look at Barley or Barkway, beautiful picture postcard villages

[KevSeymour]

Definitely get somewhere closer to the A10 than A1, and figure out a route through the lanes from work to the A10 that you can use when the M25 is shut and all the traffic diverts to the A414. I used to work in Hatfield and live in Hoddesdon, i ended up sitting on the 414 for over 2hrs a few times for no other reason than Hertford cannot deal with that level of through traffic.

[nellyleelephant]

My wife has traveled between Ashwell and Welwyn Garden City for years. It's not normally that bad!

I can certainly recommend Ashwell for somewhere to live.

[decadent]

I'd recommend Barley and Barkway as some said earlier on, my parents have just moved to Barkway - lovely village. Even had a welcoming "party" where a couple of people popped over to share local knowledge etc. Barley has a little bit more going on with a shop/post office etc.

A1 is terrible as everyone has said but A10 is better during rush hour. Don't know what the A414 is like during the rush hour, but could pop down A10, A414 and into WGC via Panshanger?

[seadragon]

Great, thanks all for the tips.

Looked at a few properties in Sutton (Beds), Meldreth and also Hitchin but found a lovely place in Cottered in the end (luckily). Seems like a really pretty place and the local pub comes highly recommended. Is only a few miles from the A10 (for winter driving).

During summer I can take the winding road that goes through the nightmare that is Walkern High Street :-).

Thanks again, your views helped.

[decadent]

Good choice, Cottered is on the A507; a great driving road

[seadragon]

Cheers, others in my office come on the A1 and they are late sometimes in Winter whenever there are accidents, so the A10 seems the better option.

Cottered seems nice and my house is just off a bridleway, about 150m from the'High' street, so at least plenty of peace and quiet I am sure, no road noise.

Thanks again