Last week I wrote a post about Sutton in Surrey, inspired by an article I read in Harper’s Magazine about New York City. I must confess I never expected my post to be read by so many people so soon, and many of them even left some comments.
Most of the readers said I should have mentioned some more of the pros of living in Sutton, which is fair enough I guess.
Some of the feedback was that there are plenty of positives to living in Sutton, not all is doom and gloom. I can’t agree more, and proof of this is that I’m still here, going strong for seven years now!
On my private Facebook account some of my friends told me I should attempt writing an article about the pros of living in Sutton. So here it is, I’ve compiled a hopefully comprehensive list of why anyone should consider moving to Sutton in Surrey.
My Reasons to Move to Sutton in Surrey
When I graduated from Napier University in 2010 I moved back to Hungary for a while to work for Agence France-Presse as their English language foreign correspondent in Budapest.
That job only lasted for nine months and after doing a few months of freelancing I decided it was time to make a move again.
I picked London for no particular reason other than the job market. I never really “dreamed” of living here – in fact I cannot stand big cities with the crowds and all the rest.
At first I started working for a hotel in central London to cover the rent but I was also applying for various journalism jobs at the same time.
About three weeks after arriving I got a call from a head hunter who told me about a company in Sutton. I’d never heard of this place before, let alone the company so I did a bit of research. It turned out the company was a price reporting agency based at Quadrant House in Sutton, just by the railway station.
Pros of Living in Sutton
To cut a long story short, I got the job and decided to move to Sutton instead of commuting in from Battersea Park. I am not the commuter kind of guy, can’t imagine a bigger waste of time than sitting on a train to go to work when you don’t even get paid for it.
I found a flat in Sutton and have been living here in the same place ever since (with a short break moving to Hastings). I must admit I’ve thought about moving a couple of times but then I put pros against cons on paper and concluded there is no place like Sutton in London!
One Regret
One regret I have is not buying a flat here back in 2011 when I had the money. At the time I found a small studio apartment down Brighton Road for £105,000. Had I bought it I would have almost doubled my money in the past seven years! Now of course I don’t want to buy anything here or anywhere in the UK seeing all the chaos and directionless that comes with Brexit.
I bought a flat in Hastings three years ago and spent most of my time there for two years, but then decided to sell it when I realized how much it increased in value. Also, commuting to London from Hastings was an absolute nightmare, especially through the train driver strikes.
So here is my first pro for Sutton: good transport links!
You can literally get to anywhere in London from Sutton by train or bus and it has easy connections to all major airports except those in Essex.
There are direct trains from Sutton railway station to the following:
- London Victoria
- London Bridge
- Wimbledon
- Luton Airport
- St Albans
- Horsham
- Dorking
- Epsom
- Croydon
If you need to get to an airport from here your job is super simple! The X26 takes you directly to Heathrow for £1.30 in little over an hour (if there is no traffic).
The 420 and the A3 go directly to Gatwick Airport 24 hours a day for under £10 each way.
Then you can travel to Luton directly by train from early morning to late in the evening – but make sure you get the correct ticket otherwise you will get a fine like I did!
If you need to get to an airport at night and there is no direct link, you take the N44 night bus to Victoria Coach station and get a connecting National Express bus from there. Alternatively, there are a couple of private hire firms here offering shuttles to Gatwick (£29) and Heathrow (£39).
Nowadays with Uber you can also go to either of these airports for pretty much the same price. The M25 is also within reach, providing easy access to the UK motorway network and all the airports. For example, Stansted Airport is just an hour and a half away by car from Sutton on the M25, which is not bad at all!
Since I travel quite a lot I decided to stick around here given these excellent transport links.
Fresh Fruits And Vegetables
My other favourite in Sutton is the fresh fruit and vegetable stall on High Street. I’ve been buying fruits there for years as the fruits are always more ripe than the stuff in Morrisons.
The owner of the stall has been selling on the High Street for 45 years and this week he told me his family have been doing the same for 100 years! Now that is something!
My recent favourite is his mangoes from Pakistan as they are so sweet like honey!
Another High Street favourite of mine is Manze’s Pie and Mash store at the bottom of the street near Asda.
Apparently this is London’s oldest pie shop, and they have two other outlets – one at Tower Bridge and another in Peckham. I’ve only ever been to the one in Sutton but I am sure the other two are just as good.
They sell jellied and stewed eels too but I’ve never tried them. When I go there I mostly eat the pie and mash with their special liquor sauce and chilli vinegar.
Cycle Paths and Parks In Sutton
Sutton is also very well connected in terms of bicycle paths. I’ve cycled into London on many occasions, mostly along canal routes and dedicated cycle ways.
My favourite route to London is along the River Wandle which actually forms part of a European cycle network. Back in the day when I lived in Edinburgh I remember cycling along a path to University which is part of the same network! Maybe one day I will try and cross Europe cycling along this same track!
Then of course there are literally dozens of parks around here. My favourite is Cheam Park with the views over the central London skyline and its forest trails.
Rosehill Park East also provides some nice vistas over Sutton and the valley where I’ve cycled on a number of occasions during weekends.
St Helier Hospital in Sutton
Just behind Rosehill Park East is St Helier Hospital, where I’ve been for treatments. I am always grateful for having the NHS, especially when coming back from countries like the US or South America where there is no free (at point of delivery) universal health care.
True, it’s not exactly free in the UK either, as I’m paying for it through my (high) taxes but at least I can walk in and get the treatment I need pretty quickly. In contrast, when I lived in Chile or the US I had to have private insurance and every time I visited the doctor or hospital I had to ask in advance if my insurance covered the treatment!
It was absolute bonkers and even when I had the insurance I had to pay the excess a couple of times. Plus, when I went to Chile for the second time I just wanted something quick so instead of waiting in line I paid a fee at the hospital using my credit card and got treated.
Health care in the US it is also quite fascinating to say the least. When I turned up at the A&E with serious burns in Miami the first thing they asked was to see my credit card! Never mind guys I am ready to collapse here, let me first dig out my credit card so you can take a preauthorisation!
That treatment cost me a little over $100 but if I hadn’t had the insurance they would have charged me nearly $10,000! Compare this to the NHS where I just turn up, hand over my driver’s license to check the address and that’s it!
The Mayfield Lavender Fields
One of my other favourite past time activities in Sutton is cycling down to the lavender fields. Until my boss told me about this place I had no idea it even existed! It was a nice warm day and she decided to take us all down to picknick at the Lavender fields and I’ve been going back ever since.
It is absolutely amazing to walk down the paths between the rows of lavender plants, smelling the beautiful scent of the flowers. The best is that it’s not even very far from Sutton, literally just down the road through the forest.
Something else people mentioned on Twitter and Facebook was the fact that Sutton is very safe. I can literally go out any time of night or day and never worry about getting mugged.
Tree Lined Streets Of Sutton
Most of the streets are tree lined and housing is relatively affordable as well. The last I looked property developers were building 5,000 new apartments in Sutton very near the train station so I expect an influx of people in the future from central London and other areas of the capital.
London Victoria and London Bridge stations are less than 30 minutes away if you get the fast train, so I guess if people can afford property in Sutton they will move here to sleep after work.
Schools And Football In Sutton
Another person mentioned the good schools in Sutton although I cannot comment as I have no children or involvement with any of them.
Someone then commented about the local football club called Sutton United. This is something else that has completely evaded my attention as I am not a football fan. Although, having looked on the map the field is not very far from Sutton so I might just pop in one weekend to see what it’s all about.
The refurbished cinema is also a pro in Sutton. I admit I completely forgot to mention it in my previous post, but The Empire Cinema was completely done up not long ago and it’s absolutely fab now.
The seats are very comfortable, the screen is huge and the sound quality is something else. I am normally a cheapo so I get the standard seat but even sitting there it feels like I am part of the action. So far I’ve only tried the 2D movies but next time I visit I will get a 3D ticket in the sofa to see what it’s like.
Pensioner Activities In Sutton
There is plenty to do here for pensioners too, for example. I myself have visited the local Bingo hall a couple of times just for fun on Sunday morning and I even won on both occasions!
The library across the road has thousands of books and DVDs and the college offers many evening courses.
An added bonus is New Malden and its Korean restaurants within 20 minutes from Sutton and a huge IKEA in nearby Croydon.
Last but not least there are plenty of gyms and swimming pools in the area so there really is nothing to stop you from moving to Sutton if that’s what you’ve been thinking about!
