CAPITAL COMMUTES
You can reach London by train from these prized towns and villages in under an hour
It is often assumed that the commuter-belt within an hour of London is dull suburbia, as portrayed in 1970s television favourites the Good Life and Reggie Perrin.
Yet, this is quite wrong. Each of the following towns are excellent places to live and have their own distinct personality.
Hungerford, Berkshire
With all the charm of an Ealing comedy, hungerford’s broad high street is lined with independents — pubs, restaurants, cafes, antique shops and a well- stocked bookshop. sports teams flourish and there’s an arts festival. the average price of a house sold last year was £383,000. COMMUTE: 56 minutes to Paddington with 28 trains a day.
Banbury, Oxfordshire
WHILE up the road in Burford, the average house sells for £838,000, in Banbury you will pay a more manageable £291,000. the centre, with its alleys and pubs, is still recognisably a Victorian market town. the wharf and its canal boats are approached through Castle Quay shopping Centre. COMMUTE: 56 minutes to Marylebone with a twice hourly service.
Bedford
IN THE past 20 years, the county town has become more sought-after, thanks to the popularity of its schools. the five primaries and two secondaries, st John’s and st thomas More RC, are deemed ‘outstanding’. the average house price is about £310,000. COMMUTE: 40 minutes into st Pancras.
Great Missenden, Bucks
KNOWN as the village that fuelled the imagination of Roald Dahl, Great Missenden is a sleepy place, which is its attraction. Prices range from £910,000 for a detached house to £450,000 for a terraced. COMMUTE: 46 minutes to London Marylebone, 46 trains a day.
Horley, Surrey
if You want to know why horley is known as ‘nappy valley’, you only have to visit the local park. there you’ll meet millennials by the dozen pushing buggies. And the coast at Brighton is a 40-minute drive away. the average price of a flat in 2023 was £236,000. COMMUTE: 43 minutes to London Victoria, with 16 trains a day.
Bray, Berkshire
WHY did people pay, on average, £909,000 for a house in Bray last year? ‘it’s the choice of Michelin-starred restaurants on your doorstep,’ says John henson, of savills. ‘it’s the river, the independent schools and the village vibe.’
COMMUTE: 26 minutes from nearby Maidenhead to Paddington with 300 trains a day.
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
THERE are few places where the commuter can return home to the salty tang of ozone in the air, but Leigh is one of them. A fishing village with many houses turned into flats, selling for £261,000 on average. COMMUTE: one hour to London fenchurch. there are 215 trains a day.
The clocks go forward on easter Sunday, confirming that spring is here and turning our thoughts to home make- overs. This year, ‘ bedroomscaping’ (revamping the look of a bedroom) is set to be one of the top projects.
But the focus will be as much wellbeing as aesthetics. We want to wake in a beautifully decorated space where we have slept well.
Peaceful slumber is becoming a rare commodity, with up to a third of us sleeping too little or badly.
Indeed, design that promotes sleep is fast becoming a key requirement in new developments.
‘Quality of sleep is an extremely y important p consideration for most of our buyers,’ says Alex Michelin, co-founder and CeO of London developer Valouran.
‘We design our bedrooms with exceptional sleep-enhancing features, which include acoustic protection between floors and within the walls; and windows with noise reduction built in to achieve low decibel levels throughout, but most importantly, in the bedrooms.’
You may not be able to copy all these measures, but you can still embark on a sleep-focused makeover by hanging blackout curtains and using rugs to deaden sound.
You can also adopt feng shui environment-enhancing precepts, adding plants and making sure your bed is positioned so the top of your head is near a solid wall.
Andrew Dunning, of interior design studio London Contemporary, says decluttering should be a priority: ‘ Invest in good storage which will encourage you to tidy everything away. Don’t have a TV in the bedroom and ration the number of chargers for devices.’
his advice reflects the assessment that TVs and devices are responsible for the nation’s weariness. Reed hastings, CeO of Netflix, has even acknowledged this: ‘We compete with sleep . . . and we’re winning.’ You may not be able to stop binge-watching box sets, but you can counteract some of the ill-effects through decor. ‘Go gentle with your colour scheme,’ says Dunning. ‘Pastels will lull you to sleep.’
The ‘ global sleep economy’, which is made up of beds, bed linen, eye masks and other aids for better rest, is forecast to grow to $585 billion by next year.
At John Lewis, you can book a 45- minute sleep appointment in which everything from bedtime routine to lighting is discussed.
Couples with opposing views on mattress firmness may be recommended a ‘ dual tension’ mattress with different levels on either side. Those who are at odds over temperature may be advised to embrace the Scandinavian practice of having separate duvets.
Such is the variety of duvets on offer that it pays to do some research.
Some people are happy to splash out on goose-down duvets — which cost from £230-£430 at The White Company — because they are warm yet breathable and mould to the body.
If you choose a feather-filled duvet, opt for one with ‘ box’ construction — pockets that keep the filling evenly distributed.
Alternatives include the Marks & Spencer Body Temperature Control bedding range, which promises to keep you snug in winter and cool in summer. The 10.5tog duvet costs from £49.50.
Or a wool-filled duvet is said to help you achieve 25 per cent more ReM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Prices at the Woolroom for its washable version start at £139 ( thewoolroom.com).