Banbury...nice area/ dodgy area?
Discussion
normalbloke said:
Is it coffee? I always thought it was the various chocolate ingredients from the Barry Callebaut factory?
Depending on the wind direction and where you are it’s either coffee, chocolate or bread!I grew up in Adderbury and was there for 18 years before heading off to uni. My mother is only now 20 further years on leaving to be closer to me. As said the surrounding villages are nice but I wouldn’t choose to live in Banbury. It has all the stuff any other towns have (all now sadly in decline) and not sure what the nightlife is like but it’s ok for a town and much like any other.
There are far too many new estates around and it’s edging closer to all the surrounding villages. I expect Adderbury to be connected in the next decade. Bodicote is a village in name only now!
I’m a surveyor and I operate in Banbury and surrounding area. I also lived in the town for 20 years.
Banbury is no worse than any other small town. Brackley, Bicester, rugby, kidlington, Witney, Southam, Daventry all have their good points and bad points. Housing in Banbury is cheaper than Bicester now but is more expensive than Brackley, rugby, Daventry etc.
PM me if you have any specific questions and I’ll answer as impartially as possible.
Banbury is no worse than any other small town. Brackley, Bicester, rugby, kidlington, Witney, Southam, Daventry all have their good points and bad points. Housing in Banbury is cheaper than Bicester now but is more expensive than Brackley, rugby, Daventry etc.
PM me if you have any specific questions and I’ll answer as impartially as possible.
laterontoday said:
I’m a surveyor and I operate in Banbury and surrounding area. I also lived in the town for 20 years.
Banbury is no worse than any other small town. Brackley, Bicester, rugby, kidlington, Witney, Southam, Daventry all have their good points and bad points. Housing in Banbury is cheaper than Bicester now but is more expensive than Brackley, rugby, Daventry etc.
PM me if you have any specific questions and I’ll answer as impartially as possible.
Agreed. I'm local and moved to Banbury from a village in my late teens to meet girls I wasn't so closely related to. Nightlife was great in the 80s, not so much now, but what normal midlands market town is?Banbury is no worse than any other small town. Brackley, Bicester, rugby, kidlington, Witney, Southam, Daventry all have their good points and bad points. Housing in Banbury is cheaper than Bicester now but is more expensive than Brackley, rugby, Daventry etc.
PM me if you have any specific questions and I’ll answer as impartially as possible.
We moved to a South Northants village near Banbury 6 years ago, but we find we rarely go into Banbury, maybe once a month tops, and that's usually for a Screwfix run or similar.
I'd recommend some of the Villages, there's some beautiful stone houses, there's also some bargains to be had thanks to HS2, we're close to HS2 but checked it out enough that we weren't bothered by the long term consequences, if it wasn't for HS2 there's no way we'd have been able to afford the house we now have.
Check out Charwelton, Chipping Warden, Cropredy, Aston le Walls, Boddington etc
What sort of house are you looking for and what's the budget?
I'd recommend some of the Villages, there's some beautiful stone houses, there's also some bargains to be had thanks to HS2, we're close to HS2 but checked it out enough that we weren't bothered by the long term consequences, if it wasn't for HS2 there's no way we'd have been able to afford the house we now have.
Check out Charwelton, Chipping Warden, Cropredy, Aston le Walls, Boddington etc
What sort of house are you looking for and what's the budget?
Thanks all for a plethora of really great feedback.
I think based on the common themes mentioned, we'll steer clear of Banbury and start to look at the surrounding villages and use Banbury station for the occasional (hopefully) commute into London.
Bloxham looks lovely. Will also take a look at some of the other places you've mentioned around Banbury. Just doing a search on Rightmove using the station as the central point.
Budget, not sure yet.
I think based on the common themes mentioned, we'll steer clear of Banbury and start to look at the surrounding villages and use Banbury station for the occasional (hopefully) commute into London.
Bloxham looks lovely. Will also take a look at some of the other places you've mentioned around Banbury. Just doing a search on Rightmove using the station as the central point.
Budget, not sure yet.
Another PHer who lives in a village near Banbury. Did briefly rent a house in town many years ago, and wouldn’t want to go back. It’s a useful place to live near to though.
We’ve never been into the town nightlife scene, but I’m not sure the pubs and clubs are necessarily any worse than other places.
Train service into Marylebone is great and the right train is less than an hour. Plenty of people have moved to Banbury and the villages and commute in. Cross town traffic can be a big issue in normal times. It can take my wife 40 minutes at peak hours to get from the South side to the M40. It takes me 40 mins to get to Coventry.
Road network is great too, with M40 right there, M42, A43 and thus M1 in easy reach. It’s going to be bad once HS2 construction starts in earnest. Lots of new traffic lights over the M40 junction waiting to be turned on.
Plenty of supermarkets, DIY sheds etc. Town is a shadow of its former self, but no different to any other town in these times sadly. The market used to be amazing, but nowadays has a couple of stalls with blokes selling fruit and veg that looks past its best from filthy plastic bowls. Luckily, there are some good farm shops nearby, and a mobile butcher serves lots of villages. Smith & Clay butchers in Brackley very good as well.
We’ve never been into the town nightlife scene, but I’m not sure the pubs and clubs are necessarily any worse than other places.
Train service into Marylebone is great and the right train is less than an hour. Plenty of people have moved to Banbury and the villages and commute in. Cross town traffic can be a big issue in normal times. It can take my wife 40 minutes at peak hours to get from the South side to the M40. It takes me 40 mins to get to Coventry.
Road network is great too, with M40 right there, M42, A43 and thus M1 in easy reach. It’s going to be bad once HS2 construction starts in earnest. Lots of new traffic lights over the M40 junction waiting to be turned on.
Plenty of supermarkets, DIY sheds etc. Town is a shadow of its former self, but no different to any other town in these times sadly. The market used to be amazing, but nowadays has a couple of stalls with blokes selling fruit and veg that looks past its best from filthy plastic bowls. Luckily, there are some good farm shops nearby, and a mobile butcher serves lots of villages. Smith & Clay butchers in Brackley very good as well.
Edited by 595Heaven on Tuesday 23 February 21:24
Luca Brazzi said:
Bloxham looks lovely. Will also take a look at some of the other places you've mentioned around Banbury. Just doing a search on Rightmove using the station as the central point.
Bloxham is a lovely little place. In normal times, you’d need to allow 30 minutes to get from Bloxham to the railway station car park or M40 during rush hour. If you’re visiting in lockdown you’ll get a very false impression!We found Bloxham was fairly pricey compared with villages that have a Northants postcode rather than the Oxford postcode.
Four of our neighbours commute to London from Banbury, they've all loved lockdown thanks to the savings on the rail fairs.
Few for you to look at:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88830649#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88970116#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88393615#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85871353#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98311286#/
Four of our neighbours commute to London from Banbury, they've all loved lockdown thanks to the savings on the rail fairs.
Few for you to look at:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88830649#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88970116#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88393615#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85871353#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98311286#/
I live in a village south of Banbury, along with Bicester it's my nearest town, but I tend to go to Banbury more often than not, not least for the weekly shop at Waitrose...
I'm a town planner and am responsible in small part for some of the development in the town (and some at Bloxham too). I'd agree with much of that posted on this thread, though I don't see Banbury as being particularly worse than many other similar-sized towns in Warwickshire, Northants etc. and I feel it maybe gets a bit of a bad rap. Its nice to see a town that still has working factories! I think its fair to say that Cherwell DC, although based in Banbury, has turned its attention more to Bicester in recent years and the investment in Banbury has perhaps been left a bit wanting, though the canal-side Castle Quay redevelopment (led by the Council) may help to lift the town centre.
I'm a town planner and am responsible in small part for some of the development in the town (and some at Bloxham too). I'd agree with much of that posted on this thread, though I don't see Banbury as being particularly worse than many other similar-sized towns in Warwickshire, Northants etc. and I feel it maybe gets a bit of a bad rap. Its nice to see a town that still has working factories! I think its fair to say that Cherwell DC, although based in Banbury, has turned its attention more to Bicester in recent years and the investment in Banbury has perhaps been left a bit wanting, though the canal-side Castle Quay redevelopment (led by the Council) may help to lift the town centre.
Ozone said:
Churchills? 
More back room at the Cross or Unicorn 
I think much of the town being paid weekly in cash helped the pub trade. IIRC a few firms paid on Thursday rather than Friday which made the pubs busier then too.
South Northants villages have always been cheaper. Banbury prices rose significantly when the M40 extension was announced. At that time a starter home home in Northampton was just over half the price of one in Banbury.
There is a strong Asian community that I would describe as well integrated, there was also a fair London 'over spill' when General Foods was built. Soho House is now doing the same, attracting posher London wannabes.
Luca Brazzi said:
Thanks all for a plethora of really great feedback.
I think based on the common themes mentioned, we'll steer clear of Banbury and start to look at the surrounding villages and use Banbury station for the occasional (hopefully) commute into London.
Bloxham looks lovely. Will also take a look at some of the other places you've mentioned around Banbury. Just doing a search on Rightmove using the station as the central point.
Budget, not sure yet.
I'd echo most points already made. Being close to Banbury is convenient for the motorway, train station, and the shops that a town has. However I agree that some the surrounding villages are lovely. If you are happy with villages, as well as Bloxham & Adderbury to the south, consider Cropredy, Great Bourton, Hanwell etc to the North.I think based on the common themes mentioned, we'll steer clear of Banbury and start to look at the surrounding villages and use Banbury station for the occasional (hopefully) commute into London.
Bloxham looks lovely. Will also take a look at some of the other places you've mentioned around Banbury. Just doing a search on Rightmove using the station as the central point.
Budget, not sure yet.
A really interesting read. I grew up in one of the villages just south of Banbury, leaving for university 25 years ago and essentially never returning.
My parents chose the area when they moved out of London (deciding on a house with land rather than a terrace in Richmond...) as it was convenient for my father to get to the various places around the country when he worked as an IT contractor (no M40 back then). The train service in and out of London was good 40+ years ago.
Frankly the descriptions given above are exactly how I would have described the place 25 years ago..!
My parents chose the area when they moved out of London (deciding on a house with land rather than a terrace in Richmond...) as it was convenient for my father to get to the various places around the country when he worked as an IT contractor (no M40 back then). The train service in and out of London was good 40+ years ago.
Frankly the descriptions given above are exactly how I would have described the place 25 years ago..!
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