What's Banbury like to live in?
Discussion
As per the title really ... would you say Banbury was a nice place to live? Contemplating an outside possibility of moving to the area.
Curious to find out more about the cost of living. I'm currently based on the outskirts of North London, so I'm hoping Oxfordshire would be more affordable.
Curious to find out more about the cost of living. I'm currently based on the outskirts of North London, so I'm hoping Oxfordshire would be more affordable.
Edited by Chris71 on Wednesday 19th December 16:11
was born there and travel back to visit relatives, i wouldnt call it upmarket its just a normal town with a lot of history,used to have a cattle market and famous for cakes,fine lady bread,banbury cross, same social issues as any other town good and bad, has changed very much since i was a nipper
no more A&P factory churning out asbestos but still has the aroma of coffee and custard when the wind is blowing in the right direction
nicer out in the suburbs somewere like bloxham or dedington a few nice villages on the outskirts
my grandparents lived in bloxham for many years untill they passed away
no more A&P factory churning out asbestos but still has the aroma of coffee and custard when the wind is blowing in the right direction
nicer out in the suburbs somewere like bloxham or dedington a few nice villages on the outskirts
my grandparents lived in bloxham for many years untill they passed away
Edited by loose cannon on Tuesday 18th December 11:42
Looked into this further and I'm slightly worried that Banbury itself might be a bit on the manky side and the surrounding villages - although lovely - might be a tiny bit too quiet for a young-ish couple?
Admittedly, the first part of that is based purely on what I've read on the web. When I typed 'what's Banbury like?' into Google one of the first sites to come up was ChavTowns.co.uk which wasn't encouraging.
Then I realised it also has such notorious hotspots of anti-social behaviour as Axminster listed. (I grew up in Axminster and about the rowdiest thing that's ever happened in that particular corner of Devon is when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall demonstrated outside of Tesco for his TV show...)
So I can't help wondering if Banbury really is as bad as all that or if it's just shown in a bad light compared to the idyllic villages that surround it? After all, the place where I live currently was on the TV for its riots last summer.
Perhaps this is best tackled as a question: What's the best location within 30 minutes' drive of Bloxham if you want a safe, peaceful environment that still has a bit of life and some relatively affordable houses?
Admittedly, the first part of that is based purely on what I've read on the web. When I typed 'what's Banbury like?' into Google one of the first sites to come up was ChavTowns.co.uk which wasn't encouraging.
Then I realised it also has such notorious hotspots of anti-social behaviour as Axminster listed. (I grew up in Axminster and about the rowdiest thing that's ever happened in that particular corner of Devon is when Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall demonstrated outside of Tesco for his TV show...)
So I can't help wondering if Banbury really is as bad as all that or if it's just shown in a bad light compared to the idyllic villages that surround it? After all, the place where I live currently was on the TV for its riots last summer.
Perhaps this is best tackled as a question: What's the best location within 30 minutes' drive of Bloxham if you want a safe, peaceful environment that still has a bit of life and some relatively affordable houses?
Edited by Chris71 on Wednesday 19th December 11:01
illmonkey said:
Glad you found that out now 
What are you after, quick village, pubs and thatched cottages? Or bigger town with some swanky bars and clubs?
Sort of a bit of both. I think the ideal situation would be living somewhere peaceful and idyllic day-to-day but with easy access to somewhere a bit more lively for the weekends.What are you after, quick village, pubs and thatched cottages? Or bigger town with some swanky bars and clubs?
In general, I'd pick a village pub over a pretentious city centre wine bar, but on the proviso that we're not the only people under 50 in there.
Also, my fiancée and I are both into music, so it'd be good if we had access to some live music venues - not necessarily in the town/village but within half an hour or so. Presumably if we lived somewhere like Bloxham it wouldn't take too long to get into Banbury or even Oxford if one of us was prepared to drive for the evening? From our current house it takes an hour to get into somewhere like Camden for a night out...
Chris71 said:
illmonkey said:
Glad you found that out now
What are you after, quick village, pubs and thatched cottages? Or bigger town with some swanky bars and clubs?
Sort of a bit of both. I think the ideal situation would be living somewhere peaceful and idyllic day-to-day but with easy access to somewhere a bit more lively for the weekends.What are you after, quick village, pubs and thatched cottages? Or bigger town with some swanky bars and clubs?
In general, I'd pick a village pub over a pretentious city centre wine bar, but on the proviso that we're not the only people under 50 in there.
Also, my fiancée and I are both into music, so it'd be good if we had access to some live music venues - not necessarily in the town/village but within half an hour or so. Presumably if we lived somewhere like Bloxham it wouldn't take too long to get into Banbury or even Oxford if one of us was prepared to drive for the evening? From our current house it takes an hour to get into somewhere like Camden for a night out...
Are you buying a house, budget and what do you want?
illmonkey said:
Just live in Oxford! Whats the hang up with Bloxham? Work, family? Living in Oxford you'll be always against the traffic.
Are you buying a house, budget and what do you want?
Work, potentially.Are you buying a house, budget and what do you want?
The logic is just that I'd rather have a stress-free 10 minute daily commute and a 45 minute trip to somewhere I might go for a night out once a fortnight than vice versa.
If we did move we'd probably be renting initially, but looking to buy in the fairly near future. It would be our first house and I haven't sussed out mortgages yet so it's tricky to say what our budget would be ... could probably manage £150-200k at a guess. My girlfriend is a music teacher so that would need to get us somewhere with a spare room (i.e. two bedrooms) and either end of terrace or at least semi-detached to avoid driving the neighbours crazy.
Not much going on in Bloxham. Banbury is a bit chav, avoid if possible. Oxford is the place to be locally: lots going on, good pubs, culture etc. If you want to be reasonably close to Bloxham, then Chipping Norton would be worth a look.
On the positive side, Banbury is cheap so you would get a decent sized place for your budget. The closer you get to Oxford, the more you'll pay.
eta - for live music, Oxford is your only real option.
On the positive side, Banbury is cheap so you would get a decent sized place for your budget. The closer you get to Oxford, the more you'll pay.
eta - for live music, Oxford is your only real option.
Amateurish said:
On the positive side, Banbury is cheap so you would get a decent sized place for your budget. The closer you get to Oxford, the more you'll pay.
Yep, I'm very much coming to that conclusion.Surely there are nice bits of Banbury? I hasten to add my current flat was close enough to the London riots to see the smoke rising last summer. I doubt it'll be too much of a retrograde step.
Oxford does quite appeal, but it'd be a fair distance to commute if I got the job, hence the comment above. According to Google the train from Banbury to Oxford takes half an hour; it takes me longer than that to tube out to gigs in London at present.
I guess the things I need to know are, which are the nicer bits of Banbury? And what other villages/towns in the area are worth considering?
I'm not clued up on the housing areas of Banbury, but if you live there, you'll end up going into the town, which is the bit I've experienced and would avoid.
A 2 bed anything upto £200k is going to be hard in that area (maybe apart from in Banbury!), maybe a 2 bed flat in Headington, which again isn't great. A 2 bed house in Chipping Norton: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
Problem with any of the villages is you're going to have to drive to work and drive when you want to go out. If you were in Bloxham or Oxford you'd only end up either commuting or driving to go out.
Bicester is probably better than Banbury, good links on M40 etc, with the new housing going on there, they can be quite cheap to buy.
A 2 bed anything upto £200k is going to be hard in that area (maybe apart from in Banbury!), maybe a 2 bed flat in Headington, which again isn't great. A 2 bed house in Chipping Norton: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...
Problem with any of the villages is you're going to have to drive to work and drive when you want to go out. If you were in Bloxham or Oxford you'd only end up either commuting or driving to go out.
Bicester is probably better than Banbury, good links on M40 etc, with the new housing going on there, they can be quite cheap to buy.
essayer said:
Chiltern are going to upgrade the Oxford-Bicester line soon, and it will run to London via Bicester/High Wycombe - might be good for house prices if you are in it for a few years.
illmonkey said:
Bicester is probably better than Banbury, good links on M40 etc, with the new housing going on there, they can be quite cheap to buy.
Both good points. The cost of buying a house is all a bit academic until I work out what could be done in the way of a mortgage. Certainly to start with, it seems the £1,300pcm we currently pay for a tiny new-build maisonette would allow us to rent somewhere pretty respectable in Oxfordshire.If and when it does come to buying I'd prefer to find somewhere that was going up rather than down!
I take the point about having to drive everywhere, but having spent the last seven years in suburbia I think a bit of space would come as a blessed relief. It's been way too long since I've been able to go mountain biking from my doorstep...
essayer said:
Not sure whether some of the villages north of Oxford are worth considering, Islip etc; Chiltern are going to upgrade the Oxford-Bicester line soon, and it will run to London via Bicester/High Wycombe - might be good for house prices if you are in it for a few years.
Islip is hugely expensive, for exactly those reasons. Kings Sutton, Lower Heyford and Tackley are villages with stations on the Oxford - Banbury line. All more affordable options.
Chris71 said:
Yep, I'm very much coming to that conclusion.
Surely there are nice bits of Banbury? I hasten to add my current flat was close enough to the London riots to see the smoke rising last summer. I doubt it'll be too much of a retrograde step.
Oxford does quite appeal, but it'd be a fair distance to commute if I got the job, hence the comment above. According to Google the train from Banbury to Oxford takes half an hour; it takes me longer than that to tube out to gigs in London at present.
I guess the things I need to know are, which are the nicer bits of Banbury? And what other villages/towns in the area are worth considering?
Sorry, I don't know the nice bits of Banbury. From what I've seen of the place, all housing is in estates, not particularly nice. There's bound to be some more period housing somewhere, but I haven't seen it. There's a cinema and some decent pubs, but pretty rough to be honest. Surely there are nice bits of Banbury? I hasten to add my current flat was close enough to the London riots to see the smoke rising last summer. I doubt it'll be too much of a retrograde step.
Oxford does quite appeal, but it'd be a fair distance to commute if I got the job, hence the comment above. According to Google the train from Banbury to Oxford takes half an hour; it takes me longer than that to tube out to gigs in London at present.
I guess the things I need to know are, which are the nicer bits of Banbury? And what other villages/towns in the area are worth considering?
The train to Oxford is pretty frequent, although Oxford station is a decent walk from the city centre, and the wrong side of town for music. You'll need to get a bus or cab if you want to go to the Academy.
As for other villages, Kings Sutton is pretty close and has a station so quite useful. Deddington is worth a look - plenty of nice houses and decent local services. Bloxham itself is nice. Hook Norton is a favourite of mine - great community and a fantastic brewery.
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