Anyone live in Dorking/Reigate/Redhill area ??

[Wilko]

A job I am interested in has just come up in Dorking but I do not know anything about the area at all.

Can anyone tell me anything about it: best areas to live, areas to avoid, cost of renting in comparison to Brighton etc ??

Thanks for any help

 

[Minghawk]

Wilco - I live in Dorking.
It's a quiet market town with the usual shops.
Trains to London x 2 /hour - takes about 45mins - 1 hr,
go to Waterloo, Victoria & London Bridge.

Expensive to buy, not sure about renting, but probably similar.

Reigate is very similar to Dorking, although renting should be a bit cheaper, and redhill a bit cheaper still.
Redhill & Reigate slightly livlier (but not much).

dorking has no clubs, but plenty of lively pubs.
Really nice countryside if you enjoy walking, cycling etc

Brand new sports centre & pool. Dorking halls cinema & theatre.
Lots of good restaurants, but its gonna seem really quiet after Btighton!

I moved here from Fulham 5 years ago and love it. Good golf club at Betchworth if you're into golf, and plenty of sports teams and footy teams to join.
Dorking FC doing OK in Rymans - sometimes a laugh to go down, have a few beers whilst watching.

Great town if you have kids, but I won't go into details unless you requst them

 

[Curious Orange]

Ex-Dorking resident here!!

Nice enough town, in a quiet Market Town kind of way. Rental is in the £600 - £1000 range. North Holmwood, the Ashcombe Road area and Pixham are quite nice (although Pixham is known as the Pixham Pong because of its proximity to the sewage works). Places to avoid are Goodwyns, Chart Downs and the Curtis Road area.

Plenty of pubs in town, the good ones are The Kings Arms and The Bulls Head, the kids tend to hang out in The Malt House and (to a lesser extent since it became a Hogshead) The Surrey Yeoman.

Shopping in Dorking isn't great - just Woolworths, Boots, WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Sainsburys etc, however Guildford is only a half hour drive away, or 20 minutes on the train (regular service of at least one train per hour from Dorking Deepdene (irregular service from Dorking West)) and the facilities there (or rather here!) are great.

Who is the job with?

 

[Curious Orange]

P.S. Dorking FC are known as the Chicks.

 

[Wilko]

Thanks for your info guys. It is a teaching job at Ahscombe school.

I am in my mid twenties, not married and no kids so would ideally like to live in the livelier part of town wherever that may be ?

I take it Dorking is outside the London weighting for wages too ?

 

[Sheebo]

wilko ur a chumba muffin

how r u son?

out tonight are u?

 

[Curious Orange]

Thanks for your info guys. It is a teaching job at Ahscombe school.

I am in my mid twenties, not married and no kids so would ideally like to live in the livelier part of town wherever that may be ?

I take it Dorking is outside the London weighting for wages too ?

Anywhere in the vicinity of the High Street would suit you then - to be honest Dorking is fairly small, when I was working there and living in North Holmwood I'd quite happily go out for a few beers after work on a Friday and walk back home afterwards (usually via Dorking Doner), as it was only about 40 minutes away.

Not sure about London weighting, I think it may be borderline.

P.S. I went to school at (what was) Sondes Place School, so you're on enemy territory at Ashcombe!!! But the classier students generally went there.

 

[Minghawk]

I live about 400yds from Ashcombe!
good mate works there as an IT techie

now there'll be 2 brighton fans in Dorking.

i went into the local sports shop & asked why he didn't have any BHa shirts in the window - usual Arsenal, tottenham etc,
and he said he'd never been asked for one.

i spose we're a bit close to the pikey catchment of palarse

 

[Curious Orange]

now there'll be 2 brighton fans in Dorking.

More than that mate, my Mum (a thoroughbred Brightonian) still lives in North Holmwood, and I know another family of Albion fans live just round the corner from her 'cos I've seen their kids hanging around outside the Cabin in the stripes!!! And I bumped into another Albion fan in The Star once (do they still do Toffee Vodka in there?).

 

[Minghawk]

Had a lock-in with ellie at the star a few weeks back - they still do all the shots

I seem to recall getting particularly hammered on the hot chilli lemon ones!

 

[Wilko]

wilko ur a chumba muffin

how r u son?

out tonight are u?

I'm good thanks mate, not going out tonight. Probably be out tomorrow night though if you are in town.

Cheers everyone for their input, have to make a decision soon. I REALLY don't want to leave Hove and the seafront

 

[Curious Orange]

Cheers everyone for their input, have to make a decision soon. I REALLY don't want to leave Hove and the seafront

It's less than an hours drive away you know (an hour from the Golden Ford).

 

[Wilko]

It's less than an hours drive away you know (an hour from the Golden Ford).

What is the traffic like during rush hours though ??

 

[Curious Orange]

The A24 gets very busy on the Dorking bypass, particularly at the North Holmwood and Deepdene roundabouts (Deepdene is the junction with the A25 so its a bit of a double-whammy).

 

[Curious Orange]

For evening matches at Withdean you'd need to leave Dorking at about 5:30.

 

[Minghawk]

its still only an hour - even in early evening -
no excuses to miss that cold, wet, windy December
fixture against Leeds.

please please let leeds come to withdean on a crappy night