Moving to the Doncaster area

[starmonkey]

Hi All,

Thought I'd pop in from my normal Berkshire forum to ask a quick question and ask for some local knowledge

My other half has got a job in Halifax but I'm currently working in west London. I've had a look and it's not possible to commute so I'll be staying put for the time being. It's more than likely the next job I get will be London based as well but I'll make sure I only look at stuff that's central (closer to Kings X).

Looking at trains to London/car to Halifax it looks like the Doncaster area is going to be about right for location. So my question is where should I be looking to live in the area? As we're moving from suburbia ideally we'd like a good size house with garden in a small village - only complication is the need for decent broadband which I know can be a bit hit or miss. Also if anyone currently does the London commute how bad is it? I'm not expecting it to be great (it'll probably be all 5 days too)!

Thanks for any advice.

Nick

[starmonkey]

As I'll still need to get to London daily. That means East Coast mainline and any further up than Doncaster makes the commute unworkable.

[starmonkey]

Well apart from the area it doesn't sound like we're in for much fun then!

I'm used to long commutes, I'm currently doing a 2 hour in, 2.5 hour home and that's only to go 35 miles (stopping service + bus)! I'd be looking at a half 6ish train which apparantly gets me in for just after 8. It's 20 mins to Canary Wharf and 10 mins to Westminster so that should cover me for jobs. I realise its still 12 grand for a season ticket though!

My other half is not used to long commutes however (40 mins M4 at the moment) so if it's as bad as you're suggesting to get to Halifax that could be a problem. She'll be working near the train station, so right in the centre - I'm assuming that's the worst place to be

Any other suggestions for locations or am I a bit stuck?

[starmonkey]

Yes we'll rent first before buying. The only problem is I can't seem to see any other options for us, further South is worse for the car commute and further North is too expensive both in time and £ for the train

[starmonkey]

This is all useful stuff! Thanks!

I've checked trains from Halifax and the earliest one is at 6.06 and it doesn't reach London until 09:29 so that doesn't look like an option.

Depressing that it sounds like it'll be 2.5 hours+ to get from Doncaster to Halifax - Google reckons 1 hr 10 in Monday traffic (it's meant to have learnt traffic behaviour etc)

York could be an option, it is £14.5k for a season ticket though!! This looks like a similar time on Google Maps as it is from Doncaster, is this traffic better on the A64/M1 (M62 is still required)?

An option I've just thought of is the other half getting the train to Halifax, only takes 90 mins and only £2.5k...

[starmonkey]

I have looked at Leeds - as we want to be out in the countryside the amount of time it takes to commute in to the station rules it out.

There's also only one train that can get you to London before 9am.

[starmonkey]

Pesty said:

If you are taking that from my post that was both ways so it seems Google agrees with my estimate give or take

Oh! That's not so bad! I'm having to pay 12k and sit on a train for 4 hours a day so an hours drive each way should be ok for her

We could be back on for Doncaster! So far places we've looked at on rightmove are Bawtry and Tickhill, the only thing I've been warned about is to check flood plains for those areas. Does that sounds about right?

[starmonkey]

Yes the other half is from that area originally (another reason to look around Doncaster) but Retford has recently lost some of its regular trains and it's probably just that bit too far from Halifax otherwise we'd be looking at houses in that area.

I could be tempted to drive to Retford though as the tickets are a fair bit cheaper...

[starmonkey]

Wakefield doesn't have any trains that get me into London with enough time to get a tube before 9.

Is it all really as bad as you say? We've got a real problem if so

[starmonkey]

Sorry I meant in terms of travel - I realise that one area of a town won't apply to outlying villages etc!