Having lived in Australia for almost 40 years, Dr Ritter and her husband spent a considerable amount of time and money flying over to Europe to visit their children, five of whom live in the northern hemisphere. Having recently retired, they decided to relocate to England and, after a considerable amount of research and property viewings settled on Shiplake in Oxfordshire – and a new home at Beechcroft’s Manor Gardens.
Set within beautifully landscaped gardens, Manor Gardens comprises just 24 two, three, four and five-bedroom houses, many of which have a balcony as well as a private garden. With the River Thames to the east and The Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the west, Shiplake is a popular place to live. Local amenities include a ‘corner shop,’ a post office and a traditional butcher’s and, with Henley-on-Thames less than four miles away and Reading approximately six miles away, there are plenty of independent retailers and High Street names on hand. From Shiplake station, the rail journey to Henley-on-Thames takes about five minutes, Reading is approximately 20 minutes away by train and London Paddington, via Twyford is about 45 minutes away. Local bus services provide links with Reading, Henley, High Wycombe, Wallingford and Oxford. For the Ritters, the ease of access to Reading and London Heathrow was particularly attractive:
"I come from London originally but went to Australia on a working holiday and stayed there for almost 40 years. When I retired last year, we decided that it would be better to find a home in England so we didn’t have to travel so far to spend time with our family. It makes more sense to fly over to Australia from time to time to visit friends and, of course, our friends are keen to come and stay with us in Shiplake."
“When we visited one of our daughters in January, we really didn’t know where in the UK we wanted to live, although we knew it would have to be within easy reach of local shops and services and a manageable journey to and from London’s Heathrow Airport. We discounted London because it’s so expensive and spent time searching the internet and looking at different areas before settling on Oxfordshire. We focused on new homes rather than older properties that need a lot of work and maintenance, that’s how we came across Beechcroft’s Manor Gardens in Shiplake.”
“From Shiplake there’s a bus to Reading, which has a good range of shops, and the bus stop is just outside the development and, from Reading or Twyford, we can catch the Elizabeth line to Heathrow.”
, Manor Gardens
“We finally moved in May, but we didn’t bring much over from Australia, just a few personal items so we’ve bought a lot of new furniture. Our three-bedroom house has two reasonable-sized bedrooms and the third bedroom we use as an office. We’ve got a nice garden which is important because some of our daughters have dogs that we look after from time to time. The Beechcroft team has been absolutely wonderful, so helpful, and Manor Gardens is a lovely place to live. We’ve met our neighbours and had a drink with them and we feel this will be a really nice community when everyone’s moved in.”
For further information on Manor Gardens, Shiplake where prices start from £975,000 for a three-bedroom house with a sunroom, terrace, balcony and private garden, please contact the Beechcroft sales team on 01491 743007.
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