Do you want to join ‘the set’?
What’s going for it? The Chipping Norton set sounds like a hairdo. But then what do I know about the corridors of power? Apparently it is the epicentre of the very British establishment blown apart by the hacking palaver. Though nobody’s quite located the epicentre. Perhaps somewhere to the left of the golf club, or in the chiller aisle of Budgens. This is where prime ministers, media moguls and curmudgeonly presenters of popular television programmes about cars rub shoulders. In the environs live millionaires like the Bamfords (JCBs, apparently) and rock-stars-cum-cheesemakers like Alex James. Not that you’d know it from the look of the place. Sure, it’s Country Posh, all Cotswold-stone cutesy houses, farmers’ markets and beige slacks. But most of the action takes place at pool parties in secluded barn conversions, leaving the town itself safe for you. There are few hushed conflabs behind the shelves of the cookery section in Jaffé & Neale bookshop, other than on a correct hollandaise. Ordinary people live there and they don’t all scrub floors in the Establishment’s barn conversion. Great theatre, too, and a smashing lido.
The case against The Chipping Norton set. Obviously a little bit expensive and la-di-da.
Well connected? Obviously. But in terms of transport, rather not. The trainline from Worcester to Oxford and thence to London passes by four miles south, stopping at the tiny village of Kingham: hourly trains to Oxford (25-44 mins), and to London (92-106 mins) every one-two hours.
Schools Going state? Really? Of the town’s two primaries, Holy Trinity Catholic gets the best Ofsted write-up: “good”. Better out in villages such as Great Tew and Kingham, both “outstanding”. Secondaries: Chipping Norton is “good”.
Hang out at… Lovely pubs like the Blue Boar. The Kingham Plough has great food. It’s where Rupe met Rebekah, if you’re interested.
Where to buy There is no bad part. There’s everything from medieval to council estates to new-builds. The lovely old “wool-town” millworkers’ stone terraces are my favourites. Anything that smacks of modernity is positively affordable, for here.
Market values Posh barn conversions, £700,000 plus plus plus. Detacheds and town houses, £260,000-£700,000. Terraces and cottages, £160,000-£275,000. Flats, £110,000-£400,000.
Bargain of the week Nice two-bed Victorian terrace, with a decent back garden, £180,000, with Chancellors.
From the streets
Sally Coles “Several good cafes; a wonderful, national-clas bookshop with its own cafe; Chipping Norton Theatre, another national-quality institutio; and a fantastic pantomime. The big threat is Sainsbury’s is building a huge supermarket near the town centre.”
Katrina Clayton “I love the lido, the farmers’ market and Wild Thyme, a tiny restaurant whose owners organise the annual food festival.”
Estelle Brain “Forget the• Chipping Norton set, Chippy is a working town full of real people.”
• Live in Chipping Norton? Join the debate below.
Do you live in Great Missenden and Prestwood, Buckinghamshire? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, please write, by next Tuesday, to lets.move@guardian.co.uk
