Question For Britsh Folks...

[RicardoZ]

What can you guys tell me about the city of Maidenhead? I'm considering a career opportunity that could take me over there for quite a while and couldn't really find any useful info off of Wikipedia or travel sites other than touristy stuff.

Is it a good place for children to live? Can you walk from place to place or do you need a car? Are the schools any good? How difficult will it be for my wife who doesn't speak English? etc. etc...

Any help would be appreciated.

[Deleted]

i live in maidenhead!

its ok, pretty boring. not much here, you have to go to Slough for anything good, and slough is a shithole.

basically, theres no big supermarket here, theres a small sainsburys and tesco, for a big shop you gotta go slough, the high street is terrible, no good shopping here, you gotta go high wycombe or London. a car is recomended, the busses here are not that great depending on which area you live in and depending on where you live, its a bit of an uphill walk to the town centre.

as for schools, i got no clue, no kids sorry :P


but the town it self isn't that bad, lots of immigrants move here for work because theres quite a lot of businesses around maidenhead and slough.

but its really just a small town without much here, for anything interesting you really have to travel to either Slough, High Wycombe or London. all of which are fairly close.

[RicardoZ]

Well that doesn't sound very interesting. The job would actually be in Reading (which I've been told is quite a dump), which I understand isn't that far away, so maybe I should look closer in, the car thing would be a bit complicated. Thanks for the advice.

[Deleted]

Well that doesn't sound very interesting. The job would actually be in Reading (which I've been told is quite a dump), which I understand isn't that far away, so maybe I should look closer in, the car thing would be a bit complicated. Thanks for the advice.

Reading isn't actually that bad on certain parts.

but as i said, Maidenhead isn't bad, its just a bit boring. but the traffic to reading in the morning is horrible :P

on the other side of reading you have Newbury, which is a nice small town.

I can't help that much though, ive not lived here long so this is my impressions from living here for just under a year.

[Deleted]

Well that doesn't sound very interesting. The job would actually be in Reading (which I've been told is quite a dump), which I understand isn't that far away, so maybe I should look closer in, the car thing would be a bit complicated. Thanks for the advice.

Please bear in mind that a driving licence from the USA may not be valid in the UK for very long, meaning you will need to pay for a driving test.

[TheTaurenOrc]

I lived about 5 miles out from Maidenhead for 10 years. The surrounding area is beautiful, lots of little villages with local pubs and such, upper-middle class neighbourhoods mostly with a few rougher estates. House prices are insane, as is the cost of living. People are typical provincial types, sort of a middle class chav if you know what I mean (think Jersey Shore).

The town centre had a ton of money pumped into it about 15 years ago, built a whole cinema, bar and restaurant complex a short walk from the train station. I have no idea what kind of state its in now. The highstreet shopping was pretty poor back then, as was the mini shopping centre connected to it. Its probably even worse considering the economy. I would recommend a car, as there are some really nice pockets of countryside within a 15-20 min drive.

[Deleted]

Reading is really really nice! People in England have a tendency to not appreciate the areas they live in. Reading is really good, big big town. Very nice Schools, one of the largest music festivals in the country is hosted there once a year so that weekend gets very busy, but its only four days a year. England isn't a very nice to people who cant speak English though. English people seem to think the whole world should speak English so there is no way people shouldn't be able to speak it in our country,.

[TheTaurenOrc]

i live in maidenhead!

its ok, pretty boring. not much here, you have to go to Slough for anything good, and slough is a shithole.

Wow, Slough > Maidenhead now!? Maidenheads gone down hill big time then

[Deleted]

regarding tourism with the UK, for some sad reason, only london is ever advertised, london is nothing but a tourist central city, every other city in the UK is basically an actual city where residence actually live properly...

which is why you dont hear much of anywhere else, the vibe is night and day with everything else outside london, rest of the UK shares nothing in common with london, you will find other cities being somewhat similar feel to each other, even north and south in all fairness.

just bare this in mind, what you hear in london doesnt apply a single way to the rest of the UK, and prices are a lot less as well on spending

[Deleted]

I lived about 5 miles out from Maidenhead for 10 years. The surrounding area is beautiful, lots of little villages with local pubs and such, upper-middle class neighbourhoods mostly with a few rougher estates. House prices are insane, as is the cost of living. People are typical provincial types, sort of a middle class chav if you know what I mean (think Jersey Shore).

The town centre had a ton of money pumped into it about 15 years ago, built a whole cinema, bar and restaurant complex a short walk from the train station. I have no idea what kind of state its in now. The highstreet shopping was pretty poor back then, as was the mini shopping centre connected to it. Its probably even worse considering the economy. I would recommend a car, as there are some really nice pockets of countryside within a 15-20 min drive.

this sounds about right! the surrounding area is very nice though, Bray and marlow are lovely and theres loads of great pubs with amazing food around.

and the high street is still poor, its pretty much just chain stores, pound shops and hairdressers. when ever i go shopping i either go to High Wycombe or London.

[Tradewind]

Please bear in mind that a driving licence from the USA may not be valid in the UK for very long, meaning you will need to pay for a driving test.

They also drive on the wrong side of the road. Strange little island.

[Deleted]

What can you guys tell me about the city of Maidenhead? I'm considering a career opportunity that could take me over there for quite a while and couldn't really find any useful info off of Wikipedia or travel sites other than touristy stuff.

Is it a good place for children to live? Can you walk from place to place or do you need a car? Are the schools any good? How difficult will it be for my wife who doesn't speak English? etc. etc...

Any help would be appreciated.

Maidenhead being in the south is a nice place to live as such, as recommended earlier you have to rely on your own transport unlike London. Maidenhead has some beautiful parks and Victorian architecture including a railway bridge built by the great Sir. Kingdom Brunell.

Is it a good place for children to live: Yes

Are the schools good: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/local-autho...and-maidenhead

Is Reading a dump: NO! and you can take the train there too

Hope that helps.

[Deleted]

Wow, Slough > Maidenhead now!? Maidenheads gone down hill big time then

I wouldn't say Slough is better, i sure wouldn't want to live there. Slough just has more shops, theres no drive through fast food in maidenhead, only supermarkets are a small sainsburys which isn't even 24hours and a waitrose, theres not even a primark!

[Deleted]

They also drive on the wrong side of the road. Strange little island.

We do it correctly, your lot are the illogical ones. It all goes back to the time of knights on horseback and jousting, all very logical and makes sense, no reason to change it other than to be awkward.

[RicardoZ]

Thanks everybody for your advice and opinions, but just as quickly as the opportunity opened up, it closed down. The salary for that job turned out to be a joke, so I'm staying put.

It was kind of fun to consider it for an hour or two though.

[Deleted]

Maidenhead being in the south is a nice place to live as such, as recommended earlier you have to rely on your own transport unlike London. Maidenhead has some beautiful parks and Victorian architecture including a railway bridge built by the great Sir. Kingdom Brunell.

Is it a good place for children to live: Yes

Are the schools good: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/local-autho...and-maidenhead

Is Reading a dump: NO! and you can take the train there too

Hope that helps.

to be fair, some parts of Reading are a dump, but the river area is really nice now, in the last few years its been completely revamped and its pretty nice there.

[Tradewind]

We do it correctly, your lot are the illogical ones. It all goes back to the time of knights on horseback and jousting, all very logical and makes sense, no reason to change it other than to be awkward.

Pffffft. Let me know when a bunch of FIAT Punto's start jousting along the A4

[Deleted]

make sure you take a day to visit me 72 miles up the M40 :P

[Deleted]

Thanks everybody for your advice and opinions, but just as quickly as the opportunity opened up, it closed down. The salary for that job turned out to be a joke, so I'm staying put.

It was kind of fun to consider it for an hour or two though.

Unless you are offered £45K + Relocation and Upper Allowance limit, never accept a expat position in the UK, you will regret it. Honest opinion.

[Deleted]

Pffffft. Let me know when a bunch of FIAT Punto's start jousting along the A4

Know why the rest of the world changed? Napolean was left handed and changed the countries he conquered out of spite, true story.