HEMINGFORD GREY, CAMBS

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Does anyone know about this vilage or villages.
The Hemingfords, the grey and the abbots, are reputed to be two of the most beautiful and sought after locations in Cambridgeshire.
I am potentially interested in buying an early victorian property in Hemingford Grey, consequently I would like to know about the area.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I know them.
Indeed both villages are very sought after locations and are full of listed property and are both equally beautiful.
If you can afford to buy there you are very lucky indeed,

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, yes these both are lovely villages. We relocated to Cambridgershire from Wales 1 and half year ago and looked at most of the villages. However what we liked here was well out of our budget. There are lots of lovely houses, listed, thatched, the hugest thatched houses you have ever seen!! with the sports cars to match in the driveways. There is a village school and pub, but for more ammenities there is St Ives nearby, a small riverside market town, lovely individual shops, pubs, cafes and takeaways. Not many big high street names, but Huntingdon is only a short drive away. But i love towns like this, its what makes it so nice, the boats and barges near the river, perfect in summer!!
My husband is stationed at nearby RAF Wyton, so we know the area. If you need any more information, just email.
Good luck,
Paula

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry that should read Cambridgeshire NOT Cambridgershire!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Just found this great site!

I do know the Hemingfords.
We visited while travelling through Cambs last year.
They are fantastic villages, both the grey and abbots.
The Regatta in Hemingford Grey is indeed the oldest of its kind in the country.
Property there rarely appears on the market apparently so if you are buying I would get in quick.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi thanks for the info!

Yes I know how expensive the property in Hemingford Grey is...Ive been looking!
Property in the Old part of the village near the river would appear to have a premium on it but then again anywhere here seems to have a premium.
A bit of a golden postcode for the Hemingfords it would seem.
Still I have heard alot about the villages and the area in general so Im determined to find something.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello, just spent a day in St Ives, coffeee by the river and feeding the ducks with the children. stopping to look in every estate agents window, well i can dream cant i!!! Not sure what size of property or type you are looking for, but there was one 3 bed semi victorian house in Hemmingford(cant remember which one). Its on sale with Thomas Morris for £295000, looks ok resonable size livling accomodation.
Will keep you posted if i see anything else,
Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

So, Edward. Would it be true to say that you've become something of a Hemingford Grey fanatic?

 

[Anonymous]

lol..tis true i guess...well i have heard so much about the place and its history that yes i am quite keen.
I think the location of the village is perfect too..situated not far from the A1 and A14 and near the beautiful city of Cambridge.
It fits all my criteria really.

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice looking Villages, the Wife and I looked at two thatch cottages there 4 years ago. We have close friends in St Ives and my wife used to live in Huntingdon so we know the area well.

We liked the cottages but decided against it. As the whole area is too densly populated and set to get more so with 580,000 homes planned for the region over the next 15 years.

The villages do get very busy in the summer particularly, as with many a popular tourist place you have to put up with people snooping at your garden and in your windows also parking becomes a nightmare, the A14 is noisy and the whole area is very prone to flooding, look on the environmental agency site. Also everyone we spoke to there seemed to be something in the city (Jiles and Henryetta a Porche a gardener and two holidays a year) "OK yar" fine if you like that type, lots of curtin twitching, the greys look down on the abbotts and vice versa, as for the parish councils, forget to clip your hedge and they will have you. We ended up near Newmarket, the villages are just as attractive (if not more so) and apart from the town its tourist free, also due to the huge amount of land owned by the studs its protected from overdevelopment, its not built up, there is loads of open country and far fewer people, we are sooo glad we didnt move to the Hemmongfords. But each to there own, best of luck in your search.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that info.
Im sure what you say is right but to be honest that sort of thing dose'nt bother me.
That the Hemingfords are beautiful is in no doubt and from an investment point of view, they two of the best in Cambs.
Ok you pay a lot to live there but you are equally insulated from any downturn in the market because they are premium villages.
The Newmarket area is very nice to I know but I prefer the access to the Hemingfords.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Edward

This may be helpful:

Work starts on new flood defences

Work on a multi-million pound scheme to protect parts of Cambridgeshire from flooding started on Friday. The planned new flood defences aim to cut the risk of flooding in St Ives and the Hemingfords.

The Environment Agency said that once the scheme was completed there would only be a 1% chance in any one year of properties in the area flooding.

The Easter 1998 floods affected over 60 homes and in January 2003, 40 properties flooded.

Following these floods the Environment Agency began to work out plans to improve flood defences in St Ives, Hemmingford Grey and Hemmingford Abbots.

The plans involve raising and strengthening existing defences as well as building new flood walls and banks. The Agency hopes a new land drainage pumping station will protect the low lying ground around Victoria Terrace in Hemmingford Grey.
Work is expected to be completed by March 2007.

Do bare in mind that the A14 to Cambridge is the most congested road in the country with the highest accident rate, it really is the road to hell. They are planning a guided bus system so this should help.

As for Newmarket area, its where I was born, it is as yet largely undiscovered and this combined with the vast amount of protected stud and greenbelt land has kept the whole area peaceful and rural which suits me, so the fewer people that find out the better.

The 580,000 homes targeted for the East of England, the mijority are targeted for a new town at Longstanton near Cambridge and expansion of Stanstead, including a new runway (madness) Bishops Stortford, St Ives, Huntingdon, Bedford, Peterborough, and Milton Kynes, this whole area is going to get very very busy

 

[Anonymous]

You don't sound like someone who has used the A14 much!

Have you heard Chris Rea's song "The Road to Hell"? OK - he wrote it about the M25 but the description fits the A14 just as well - particularly on the stretch between Cambridge and Huntingdon. What's more, there's a huge widening plan for that whole stretch due to start in a year or two (can't remember the date) that will cause the biggest almighty cludge-up in the history of the motor car.

Just a balancing view to put on the other end of the scales!

 

[Anonymous]

I agree, that area is awful for the traffic and is only getting worse by the week with all the lorries fro the east coast etc.

My wifes assistant lives in said place and she has a bad drive just up the road into N Cambridge each morning, we are near Saffron Walden and get into city centre quicker than her, and with much less fuss.

I spent a week on a course in Huntingdon and it took me 1 1/2 hrs for 3 of the 5 days from Junc 10 M11 to the North side of the town never again!!! and once you are in Huntingdon you want to leave as it is dull - you will then spend £20 a day to park in the Grafton Centre in Cambridge to go shopping or use that poor excuse for a park and ride.

Only in the UK are we made to pay for this service even in the USA the park and ride is free and nothing is free over there!!!

 

[Anonymous]

true traffic can be very bad in that area but thats life.
In this country there are areas like this everywhere it seems albeit some are worse than others.
I have been to Saffron Walden and found the one way system a pain in preverbial.
Also in the evening being a small town its full of louts pub crawling. Once again this could be said of many of the places in this country also.
Hemingford Grey is a little oasis and the fact that the A14 is bad right now is not enough to put me off.
Life is about the rough and the smooth my friend

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info.
Yes the A14 is bad but so are so many roads in the UK and before long everywhere will be effected by new housing im afraid.
Not to sound controversial but there are 250'000(legal) immigrants entering the UK every year now and our population is the fastest growing in Europe because of it, new housing is inevitable.

 

[Anonymous]

Aah! Philosophy!

Can't say I've experienced much smooth on the A14.

 

[Anonymous]

Good luck to Edward I say, he clearly is in love with the Hemingford’s and why not they really are very attractive villages. Lets hope he finds his dream home.

As for the A14 it’s a victim of its own success the Cambridge to Huntingdon stretch is officially the worst road in the country.

Sadly it could be the fate of the whole region to grind to a halt, because it’s already overpopulated and more expansion simply isn't sustainable

I just wish people would stop relocating down here, I haven’t herd a local accent in Cambridge for ages. We should put up a sign saying “East Anglia is full please stay away” before the whole region snaps under the weight of population and sinks on to the channel.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I don't disagree with what you say. And yet, as I sit here in a little village near Sudbury, there are no crowds, traffic noise, congestion, wholesale demolition, tower-block building, motorway construction, or any of those issues.

Of course, the other question is: where does East Anglia start? I'm afraid I don't really regard Cambridge as East Anglia - the *proper* EA region is Suffolk and Norfolk. Cambridgeshire and Essex are just wannabes! (That should earn me a few flames!)

 

[Anonymous]

Buildings at Risk though - St Bartholomew's Priory Farmhouse and Associated Outbuildings Sudbury

Listed Grade II* is the chapel and barn, and the farmhouse II...