We spoke to Parish Council Chair David Truesdale MBE to get his views on what makes Haddenham such a desirable place
We’re spoilt for choice in London if we want to move out to a commuter town or village. People choose to make the move for a variety of reasons: living costs, proximity to nature, or even just to escape the hectic nature of the capital.
London’s main stations serve an abundance of towns within spitting distance of Zone 1. Haddenham, in Buckinghamshire, is absolutely one of those places.
It’s a place where the average home sets you back £509,581 according to Rightmove, a healthy whack less than the London average of £656,668. But it’s not just cheaper housing that’s left Haddenham on The Telegraph’s list of the best 100 commuter spots from London.
Haddenham has a good ‘sense of community’, country walks, and is steeped in ‘over 1,000 years of history’. MyLondon spoke to Parish Council Chair David Truesdale MBE about life in the town of just shy of 6,000 residents.
Cllr Truesdale has lived in the area for over 30 years. He spoke highly of the Haddenham Conservation Area, which ‘covers a large proportion of the village’.
He said: “Its heart is a church that goes back with a history of 1,000 years. There are lots of heritage buildings, 120 of them are listed, including one at Grade I. Many of the older buildings are constructed of a particular building material, which gives a lot of character to the place, and this building material is Wychert.
“It’s a form of rammed earth, and so a lot of the older buildings are made of this earth material, and typically those buildings are surrounded by quite high, six-foot or more, walls which are built up on a stone base known as a grumpling and are capped with tiles. So that gives quite a lot of character to the conservation area.”
The countryside there is also splendid, said Cllr Truesdale. There are ‘lots of walks I think and lots of public footpaths’. So that is good for ‘those keen on getting out, getting exercise, or dog walking’.
“Accessible is probably the best way to think of it, and it became very apparent during the pandemic,” he said. “Many, many people were out walking and (it) was a great opportunity to be able to wave to people and wave to neighbours, some of whom you might never have seen previously.”
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place where there are so many activities’
Cllr Truesdale also sang Haddenham’s praises for having a lot of activities on offer. He said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place where there are so many activities that one can get involved in. Everything from sort of arts and crafts to local theatre, to sport and leisure groups. We have active football, junior football and senior football. We have active cricketers, active tennis.”
‘Well connected’
Cllr Truesdale also told MyLondon that Haddenham has been made an appealing place due to some of the ‘excellent’ transport links. He said: “Transport is well-connected. We have an excellent rail service from Chiltern Railways, which has been one of the more successful of the train operating companies.
“They provide a great service in London, but these days, not only in and out of London. That service goes right up to Birmingham and goes through to Oxford as well. You can go into the centre of Oxford from here far quicker than it could be in the car.”
‘Some of the infrastructure provision lags behind growth’
But despite speaking so highly of his home of three decades, Cllr Truesdale was very open about the infrastructure ‘lagging behind’ the population explosion in the area. He said that it is particularly affecting schools, meaning kids can’t always go to a local one, which is where a lot of community spirit is built, in his view.
Cllr Truesdale told said that in the last few years, 1,200 homes have been built, which has seen the population rocket from 4,500 in 2011 to ‘nearly 7,000 today’. So it’s not a case of newcomers being unwelcome, but local concerns over whether the infrastructure can cope with the population increase. He said Haddenham has three schools, ‘that’s two infants and one junior’. He said: “The schools are all full to bursting, so at the moment they cannot take more people, they can’t take more kids, but we are still growing.
“That suggests that some of those now who will be moving in aren’t able necessarily to send their younger children to Haddenham schools, which is a real shame because so much interaction happens at the school gate – really important point for coming together of a community.”
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
