Northampton

The outskirts areas are nice. Grange Park etc. The town centre, unfortunately, has suffered and many shops are closed.

Personally my top choice would be Market Harborough, fast train to London and plenty going on in a very pleasant market town.

Kettering, more sprawling but very good value, also fast train to London.

Or go a bit east and consider St Neots. Quite a bit of new build, but beautiful by the river. Train to London under an hour.

DD lives in Letchworth Garden City, closer to London, but the world's first Garden City. It is less than 5 miles from Stevenage for all the big shops and facilities but has a nice town centre of its own with lots of independent shops.

As befits its name, lots of houses with gardens within easy reach of the shops and station and there is a Heritage Trust that owns the town centre and has the first say in any development in the garden city as a whole that ensures that no inappropriate development takes place.

I am sure it is lovely but I really find it depressing

What do you want out of your retired life? why Northampton in particular? and what is your budget and what sort of property do you want within budget?

Sorry if that is bossy I live very near to Letchworth Monica and I LOVE it, I just love the architecture and space but it is a bit boring

Northamptonshire has countless beautiful villages, and wonderful countryside. Don't tell anyone though, as we want to keep it secret ?

If you aren't wanting to live in the town itself, perhaps consider one of the villages, such as Long Buckby which has its own small station - or any of the other villages which are an easy car drive from there.

Shopping in Northampton itself isn't great (but that's the case in any towns these days, isn't it!), but Milton Keynes isn't far away, and I know quite a few people who regularly travel to Oxford to shop too.

Northampton does have a good theatre, if that is something you like.

JaneJudge One of the advantages of Letchworth is that it is very easy to get away from it in all directions. Close to the A1, good trains and good communications west and East!

I've lived 10 miles away from Northampton all my life.
It used to be good for shopping but lots of the good shops have closed down.
I wouldn't want to live in the town if someone paid me.
There's some gorgeous villages around Northampton and we have beautiful countryside. There's Cogenhoe, Easton Maudit, Brafield -on- the- Green, Castle Ashby, Brackley to name a few.
Where I live it's an hour train ride to London.. !0 minutes to get into Kettering, next stop Market Harborough.
Half an hour drive to Milton Keynes. A lovely shopping centre there.
If I was you I would definitely pick the outskirts of Northampton.

I loved living in Milton Keynes, so much going on. And Leighton Buzzard fits your bill.

Northants as a county is lovely, with varied landscapes and lovely villages. The town is quite a sad place, like a lot of towns nowadays. Harborough is a much nicer town, in my opinion, with more independent shops.

Thank you all for these helpful replies. I love the idea of living in a village or seaside town but don't think it would work for me as I gave up driving years ago. I have been looking at places within reach of London. Came across what appears to be the perfect property in central Northampton. The prices in Northants are well within budget but I have never been there. Your answers have given me a "feel" for the county.

If you want a town with all the amenities and a village feel, then it has to be Harborough.

You’ll have to get used to people you don’t know having conversations with you, stopping their cars to let you cross the road, giving way in queues if you’ve only got a couple of things and generally being pleasant and polite to each other.

I’ve had to mend my manners a bit??

I agree with Chardy. Leighton Buzzard is just right.

Also Olney is simply beautiful but you’d have to go into Milton Keynes or Bedford for the train to London.

Elliesgran As others have said Northamptonshire is fine and there are lots of nice places, but central Northampton is not one of them. Like many towns, it is nowhere near as nice as it used to be. It's not only your London area which has changed. Don't move to a town centre unless you are absolutely certain what you're letting yourself in for. If you have no friends or relatives there, and the area is not as nice as you'd hoped it could be isolating. Be careful. Check the area out carefully including a day visit wandering around the town centre to get a feel of the place. Check bus routes, doctor, dentist and shops as these are critical for someone with no car. Make sure you can get prescriptions, bread, milk etc. locally, and what about a Post Office.
I would suggest there are much nicer places than Northampton within a fairly short train ride of London, so look around.

If you can't drive (are you never going to drive again?) then don't move to a village in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire or Bucks (or any shire?) public transport just doesn't exist regular enough to get anywhere. I remember looking at getting a bus where one of my children went to school as my car was in for service and instead of the 25 minute drive, I had to catch 2 buses and it was going to take 2 1/2hours! and taxis really are expensive. I know if I have been out for the evening in London (pre covid) and I have got a taxi back the 5 minute drive it has been almost £20!

I don't know what your budget is but picking up on what Monica says, Hitchin is nice. It has good transport links, a nice town and market and is a big enough town to have enough going on without travelling about too much. St Neots is further out of London but a nice town too. Then there are actually some lovely towns outside of Peterborough (which has a good train link into London - I can't remember now if you wanted this as a requirement ) Stamford for example is very nice - I wouldn't mind living there myself!

Sorry Peasblossom I hadn't realised you'd suggested St Neots too

I with you on Hitchin too. Except I thought it might be too expensive ?

Peasblossom

I with you on Hitchin too. Except I thought it might be too expensive ?

Yes there is that, that are so many lovely towns but some of them are eye wateringly expensive!

Thank you all for the further replies.I have only just made the decision to move away from London and I am examining the alternatives as thoroughly as I can while travel is banned. I'm quite enjoying learning about towns I never heard of before and you Grans have given lovely descriptions of your surroundings. JaneJudge, I definitely don't want to go back to driving, I have not missed my car for a minute since I got rid of it (always thought finding a parking space took longer than most journeys and the parking charges are daylight robbery where I live). I think a town is the right place for me but I do worry when I see places with boarded up graffiti covered frontages. It is a big decision but I don't need to rush into anything. Finding the perfect property in the right place was never going to be easy but I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

Most of my family live in or around Northampton and as far as the town is concerned, there are good and bad points to every area. Some of the older parts and especially the older villages are lovely. My sister lives in Earls Barton, a largish village that has a lovely community atmosphere but very hilly!
The town of Rushden is another place that I regularly visit. Like many towns, the actual town centre isn't what it was but there is the Rushden Lakes Shopping Outlet about 10 minutes away (apparently it is walkable, but haven't done it yet!) that has shops, restaurants, a cinema as well as a lovely walking area around the lake.
You really need to decide exactly what you want - many of the villages and some areas are not covered by public transport. But also many have what you might need - GP surgeries, libraries, shops etc. Railway stations are Northampton, Kettering and Wellingborough. Just make sure you do your research and possibly make a visit for a few days to check out your options before planning anything and chat to local people if you can - Northants people are pretty friendly on the whole !
I live over the border in Bedfordshire, and that is a different story!