Hello folks who live in those areas, what are they like? We're looking at houses in these areas, so need to know what the schools are like, the commute (says from Aylesford do you go to West Malling?) and the general feel of the area?
My girlfriend's family comes from Snodland so I'm familiar with the area more than I am the others. But she said...
Aylesford: You have a travellers site so there is quite a few of them that live there. You have a mini retail park opposite Preston Hall, which is right by the M20 so easy to get to other places when driving.
Schools: The secondary school is Aylesford Sports College which she hasn't heard anything bad from. It's a direct train from either Snodland or Maidstone, which a lot of the kids do that trip.
Snodland: A fairly quiet and friendly area. You have the main high street with a co-op, bakers, smaller stores, bookies, chip shop, etc. There are 3 pubs, one including the Snodland Working Man's Club which is nice but is members only. Otherwise there is The Free Masons or The Munks Head, both public house. You have a large community centre with a big playing field. Most things are within walking distance, 20-30 minutes from one side of Snodland to the other. However, if you are needed to get to other places, such as a supermarket, having a car is necessary. The nearest is Tesco and Morrisons, both in Larkfield. Otherwise if you don't drive, you can get a train into Maidstone, Aylesford, Chatham etc..
Schools: Primary schools are good, my girlfriend went to Snodland Church of England primary, which is on Roberts Road. The other primary is St Katherine's. Holmesdale Techonology College is the secondary school which is along Malling Road nearer the Shell garage heading towards the M20, but she's never heard anything too good about the school. However, Malling School is the second closest secondary to Holmesdale which most people go to, a direct bus journey goes right outside.
Maidstone: A mid-point between Aylesford/Snodland and London in terms of its a lot busier, more diverse with different cultures, it has a lot of transport links, 3 train stations (East, West and Barracks), has quite a few restruants, a shopping centre, pubs and clubs with a fairly big night life. Right near M20, so easy access to London, M2, A2 etc.
Schools: Mid Kent College has a campus in Gillingham and Maidstone. There are two grammar schools, MGGS (Maidstone Girls Grammar School), and MGS (Maidstone Grammar School)
Obviously for the schools, googling them you'll find out a lot more, both primary and secondary, Ofsted results will be on each of their websites.
Main cons: Just as you get everywhere, there are always going to be some kind of idiots about, you can't help it. There probably isn't as much to do as there compared to what there is up here. You may have to plan ahead and make some kind of travel arrangements to go to the cinema for example. But that's always going to be the way when you're moving further away from London.
They recently put in a few fast trains on the Ebbsfleet line so decent for commuters. Wifey drives to Enbsfleet to get to London. A2 can be pants though.
Holborough itself is really nice. Peaceful and friendly. Prices went up 10% with the announcement of the above mentioned trains.
Snodland station is being upgraded too.
Perfectly situated between m20 and a2 if you're driving anywhere.
Shit choice of takeaways though. Awesome Chinese 10 mins away in west Malling.
Snodland is a real hills have eyes village. Nothing really goes on there. Rubbish place if you ask me, with nothing really going for it.
Aylesford is nice, and a lot closer to Maidstone town centre. The pikey site is no where near the village, it's nearer the retail park, up towards the motorway exit, but you never get any bother from them really. Keep themselves to themselves.
Maidstone is good. There's a couple of areas on the edge of it that are a bit rough, park wood, tovil and shepway, but as a town it's good stuff. Plenty of lively bars, clubs, a good selection of restaurants, eateries, shops etc. Got all you need really. Nice river going through it. The annual river festival gets a bit messy. Also, not rough like the other Medway towns, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood etc but not up itself either like Sevenoaks, T.Wells etc.
Re schools, all the primary schools are pretty good from what I've heard. There's a couple in allington (just along from aylesford towards Maidstone) that are really good. That's where my two youngest went. Aylesford sports college isn't great to be honest, my eldest went there and the only thing he came away with was an addiction to nicotine and a couple of std's. It's not got a good reputation, although he left there nearly 5 years ago now so they might have bucked their ideas up a bit since then. The grammar schools have a really good reputation. My daughters just got in to MGGS and starting there in September.
Snodland is a real hills have eyes village. Nothing really goes on there. Rubbish place of you ask me, with nothing really going for it.
Aylesford is nice, and a lot closer to Maidstone town centre. The pikey site is no where near the village, it's nearer the retail park, up towards the motorway exit, but you never get any bother from them really. Keep themselves to themselves.
Maidstone is good. There's a couple of areas on the edge of it that are a bit rough, park wood, tovil and shepway, but as a town it's good stuff. Plenty of lively bars, clubs, a good selection of restaurants, eateries, shops etc. Got all you need really. Nice river going through it. The annual river festival gets a bit messy. Also, not rough like the other Medway towns, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood etc but not up itself either like Sevenoaks, T.Wells etc.
It's a good place to live and raise your kids.
I assure you Snodland is nothing like that. Yes it's quiet and it doesn't have masses going on, but it's exactly what you expect from a very small area in Kent. The people are friendly and never really any trouble. My girlfriend lived there for 11 years and her extended family still do. If it was that bad they would've moved out.
Getting to and from London on the Maidstone lines is a pain in the cock. Snodland is pretty accurately described above but the house prices are sensible and I think it's ok
Aylesford is nice, some lovely places and a nice part of Kent to live in. Leybourne lakes on your doorstep for Snodland and not far at all from Aylesford.
Maidstone is a mixed bag. Some really, really nice parts but some proper shitholes too ask anyone about Tovil. For a night out I love maidstone, it's also not bad for shopping. Getting around it in rush hour is a nightmare all around the towns.
Snodland I think for someone used to life a bit more metropolitan will be boring and as @MillwallFan describes. Out of the three I'd choose Aylesford we nearly moved there a few years ago but got into a silly bidding war.
My mate runs the bush pub there and the hengist is a smashing place to eat
Snodland is a real hills have eyes village. Nothing really goes on there. Rubbish place of you ask me, with nothing really going for it.
Aylesford is nice, and a lot closer to Maidstone town centre. The pikey site is no where near the village, it's nearer the retail park, up towards the motorway exit, but you never get any bother from them really. Keep themselves to themselves.
Maidstone is good. There's a couple of areas on the edge of it that are a bit rough, park wood, tovil and shepway, but as a town it's good stuff. Plenty of lively bars, clubs, a good selection of restaurants, eateries, shops etc. Got all you need really. Nice river going through it. The annual river festival gets a bit messy. Also, not rough like the other Medway towns, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood etc but not up itself either like Sevenoaks, T.Wells etc.
It's a good place to live and raise your kids.
I assure you Snodland is nothing like that. Yes it's quiet and it doesn't have masses going on, but it's exactly what you expect from a very small area in Kent. The people are friendly and never really any trouble. My girlfriend lived there for 11 years and her extended family still do. If it was that bad they would've moved out.
Mate, I've lived in the area for years, a lot more than 11, and know Snodland well. That's my opinion of it. You have your opinion and that's fine too.
Rubbish village in my opinion, full of odd balls. There's so many beautiful little villages in the area, and then Maidstone itself, why would anyone choose to live in Snodland? God knows. Cheap I suppose. In fact, look at the house prices for Snodland and compare them to the rest of the area, that'll tell you all you need to know about Snodland!
Snodland is a real hills have eyes village. Nothing really goes on there. Rubbish place of you ask me, with nothing really going for it.
Aylesford is nice, and a lot closer to Maidstone town centre. The pikey site is no where near the village, it's nearer the retail park, up towards the motorway exit, but you never get any bother from them really. Keep themselves to themselves.
Maidstone is good. There's a couple of areas on the edge of it that are a bit rough, park wood, tovil and shepway, but as a town it's good stuff. Plenty of lively bars, clubs, a good selection of restaurants, eateries, shops etc. Got all you need really. Nice river going through it. The annual river festival gets a bit messy. Also, not rough like the other Medway towns, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood etc but not up itself either like Sevenoaks, T.Wells etc.
It's a good place to live and raise your kids.
I assure you Snodland is nothing like that. Yes it's quiet and it doesn't have masses going on, but it's exactly what you expect from a very small area in Kent. The people are friendly and never really any trouble. My girlfriend lived there for 11 years and her extended family still do. If it was that bad they would've moved out.
Mate, I've lived in the area for years, a lot more than 11, and know Snodland well. That's my opinion of it. You have your opinion and that's fine too.
Rubbish village in my opinion, full of odd balls. There's so many beautiful little villages in the area, and then Maidstone itself, why would anyone choose to live in Snodland? God knows. Cheap I suppose. In fact, look at the house prices for Snodland and compare them to the rest of the area, that'll tell you all you need to know about Snodland!
As I said it's quiet and doesn't have a lot going on, it's a small area. I'm not claiming for it to be something amazing because trust me it's not, I wouldn't choose to live there, I am a typical city man. I agree it's not for the metropolitan life, I just don't believe it's as bad as how you first made it out to be.
Cheers for the info, all very useful, the preference at the moment is a place just off Gighill Road between the M20 and the Lakes in Aylesford, just the garden is small and while the house is huge
Snodland is a real hills have eyes village. Nothing really goes on there. Rubbish place of you ask me, with nothing really going for it.
Aylesford is nice, and a lot closer to Maidstone town centre. The pikey site is no where near the village, it's nearer the retail park, up towards the motorway exit, but you never get any bother from them really. Keep themselves to themselves.
Maidstone is good. There's a couple of areas on the edge of it that are a bit rough, park wood, tovil and shepway, but as a town it's good stuff. Plenty of lively bars, clubs, a good selection of restaurants, eateries, shops etc. Got all you need really. Nice river going through it. The annual river festival gets a bit messy. Also, not rough like the other Medway towns, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood etc but not up itself either like Sevenoaks, T.Wells etc.
It's a good place to live and raise your kids.
I assure you Snodland is nothing like that. Yes it's quiet and it doesn't have masses going on, but it's exactly what you expect from a very small area in Kent. The people are friendly and never really any trouble. My girlfriend lived there for 11 years and her extended family still do. If it was that bad they would've moved out.
Mate, I've lived in the area for years, a lot more than 11, and know Snodland well. That's my opinion of it. You have your opinion and that's fine too.
Rubbish village in my opinion, full of odd balls. There's so many beautiful little villages in the area, and then Maidstone itself, why would anyone choose to live in Snodland? God knows. Cheap I suppose. In fact, look at the house prices for Snodland and compare them to the rest of the area, that'll tell you all you need to know about Snodland!
As I said it's quiet and doesn't have a lot going on, it's a small area. I'm not claiming for it to be something amazing because trust me it's not, I wouldn't choose to live there, I am a typical city man. I agree it's not for the metropolitan life, I just don't believe it's as bad as how you first made it out to be.
I don't mind quiet areas, but at least with surrounding villages like Aylesford, Bearsted, Barming etc you're only a few minutes from the town. Snodland is just stuck out on its own not really near anything. And as far as villages go it's pretty ugly, and big, for a village anyway. In fact it was a town up until recent times, but got downgraded to a village. But despite being big nothing really goes on there. That's the problem I think with Snodland, it doesn't know what it is!
And in my opinion the people seem a bit weird. My sons team used to play Snodland Nomads FC a lot (or No Mates as he called them) and all the parents who turned up used to look related, with barely a full set of teeth between them. (Cue the "that's how we feel when we go to Millwall" quips). Caused loads of shit as well from the sidelines. Nightmare playing that mob. Weird place.
Go down Mcarther Glen at Ashford and you'll get all the info you need within about 5 minutes
There's a few traveller types and wannabes who stray in from the surrounding areas I mentioned, parkwood, shepway and tovil, but by and large most people are friendly enough. Much nicer than the likes of Chatham, Gillingham etc
Oh, and ashford is over 20 plus miles away from Maidstone
Cheers for the info, all very useful, the preference at the moment is a place just off Gighill Road between the M20 and the Lakes in Aylesford, just the garden is small and while the house is huge
Other places you might want to look at, Bearsted is a lovely village with a couple of really nice restaurants and pubs and a big green. It's the other side of Maidstone to Aylesford but still close to the town. West Malling is a blinding village too. Quite lively on a Friday and Saturday night as far as villages go. A fair bit further away from Maidstone though, nearer to Snodland funny enough, but Plenty of trains directly in to London from there too. Penenden Heath too, see Bearsted, very close to Maidstone town, big park and green, couple of nice pubs.
Ashford is not Maidstone - it's about 20 miles away!
The cheap RL and Superdry is what lures em the 20 miles or so. Jacamo won't deliver to Maidstone postcodes, shot emselves in the foot a bit, they'd make a fortune..
I live just outside Maidstone in a small village. If you fancy the area you will have to be fond of high levels of traffic and a gridlocked town. Which will get worse as KCC have decided to build about six new estates (five on greenfield sites) to house our ever increasing population.
Brexit came to late for Maidstone.....................
Comments
Aylesford:
You have a travellers site so there is quite a few of them that live there. You have a mini retail park opposite Preston Hall, which is right by the M20 so easy to get to other places when driving.
Schools:
The secondary school is Aylesford Sports College which she hasn't heard anything bad from. It's a direct train from either Snodland or Maidstone, which a lot of the kids do that trip.
Snodland:
A fairly quiet and friendly area. You have the main high street with a co-op, bakers, smaller stores, bookies, chip shop, etc. There are 3 pubs, one including the Snodland Working Man's Club which is nice but is members only. Otherwise there is The Free Masons or The Munks Head, both public house. You have a large community centre with a big playing field. Most things are within walking distance, 20-30 minutes from one side of Snodland to the other. However, if you are needed to get to other places, such as a supermarket, having a car is necessary. The nearest is Tesco and Morrisons, both in Larkfield. Otherwise if you don't drive, you can get a train into Maidstone, Aylesford, Chatham etc..
Schools:
Primary schools are good, my girlfriend went to Snodland Church of England primary, which is on Roberts Road. The other primary is St Katherine's.
Holmesdale Techonology College is the secondary school which is along Malling Road nearer the Shell garage heading towards the M20, but she's never heard anything too good about the school.
However, Malling School is the second closest secondary to Holmesdale which most people go to, a direct bus journey goes right outside.
Maidstone:
A mid-point between Aylesford/Snodland and London in terms of its a lot busier, more diverse with different cultures, it has a lot of transport links, 3 train stations (East, West and Barracks), has quite a few restruants, a shopping centre, pubs and clubs with a fairly big night life. Right near M20, so easy access to London, M2, A2 etc.
Schools:
Mid Kent College has a campus in Gillingham and Maidstone.
There are two grammar schools, MGGS (Maidstone Girls Grammar School), and MGS (Maidstone Grammar School)
Obviously for the schools, googling them you'll find out a lot more, both primary and secondary, Ofsted results will be on each of their websites.
Main cons:
Just as you get everywhere, there are always going to be some kind of idiots about, you can't help it. There probably isn't as much to do as there compared to what there is up here. You may have to plan ahead and make some kind of travel arrangements to go to the cinema for example. But that's always going to be the way when you're moving further away from London.
Good luck and hope this information has helps.
They recently put in a few fast trains on the Ebbsfleet line so decent for commuters. Wifey drives to Enbsfleet to get to London. A2 can be pants though.
Holborough itself is really nice. Peaceful and friendly. Prices went up 10% with the announcement of the above mentioned trains.
Snodland station is being upgraded too.
Perfectly situated between m20 and a2 if you're driving anywhere.
Shit choice of takeaways though. Awesome Chinese 10 mins away in west Malling.
Aylesford is nice, and a lot closer to Maidstone town centre. The pikey site is no where near the village, it's nearer the retail park, up towards the motorway exit, but you never get any bother from them really. Keep themselves to themselves.
Maidstone is good. There's a couple of areas on the edge of it that are a bit rough, park wood, tovil and shepway, but as a town it's good stuff. Plenty of lively bars, clubs, a good selection of restaurants, eateries, shops etc. Got all you need really. Nice river going through it. The annual river festival gets a bit messy. Also, not rough like the other Medway towns, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood etc but not up itself either like Sevenoaks, T.Wells etc.
It's a good place to live and raise your kids.
The grammar schools have a really good reputation. My daughters just got in to MGGS and starting there in September.
Aylesford is nice, some lovely places and a nice part of Kent to live in. Leybourne lakes on your doorstep for Snodland and not far at all from Aylesford.
Maidstone is a mixed bag. Some really, really nice parts but some proper shitholes too ask anyone about Tovil. For a night out I love maidstone, it's also not bad for shopping. Getting around it in rush hour is a nightmare all around the towns.
Snodland I think for someone used to life a bit more metropolitan will be boring and as @MillwallFan describes. Out of the three I'd choose Aylesford we nearly moved there a few years ago but got into a silly bidding war.
My mate runs the bush pub there and the hengist is a smashing place to eat
Rubbish village in my opinion, full of odd balls. There's so many beautiful little villages in the area, and then Maidstone itself, why would anyone choose to live in Snodland? God knows. Cheap I suppose. In fact, look at the house prices for Snodland and compare them to the rest of the area, that'll tell you all you need to know about Snodland!
And odd balls is right - everyone is related to everyone there, as my work mates who live there openly confirm.
There's two types of person from Maidstone:
1- Travelers
2- People that wanna be travellers
Go down Mcarther Glen at Ashford and you'll get all the info you need within about 5 minutes
And in my opinion the people seem a bit weird. My sons team used to play Snodland Nomads FC a lot (or No Mates as he called them) and all the parents who turned up used to look related, with barely a full set of teeth between them. (Cue the "that's how we feel when we go to Millwall" quips). Caused loads of shit as well from the sidelines. Nightmare playing that mob. Weird place.
Oh, and ashford is over 20 plus miles away from Maidstone
Brexit came to late for Maidstone.....................