On 5 Oct 2012 at 2:57pm Belle wrote:
Hello, I wonder if anyone can give me further information about commuting to London from Lewes. I have looked at the times and I understand there are trains from London Victoria and London Bridge taking up to 1.10mins.
How do people find the commute? Are there generally seats on the trains in the morning for Lewes passengers or have they already been taken?! Are the trains mostly on time? We love Lewes, have family in the area and are thinking about moving from SE London. Thoughts and advice gratefully received! Thank you!
On 5 Oct 2012 at 3:13pm Commuter wrote:
Times are correct. More direct trains to Victoria than London Bridge and you will always get a seat from Lewes but coming back will be a bit of a lottery. Trains are usually on time but there are occasional blips. Carriages are very crampted by the time you get to Haywards Heath and avoid the "metro" carriages - those with 5 seats across. Toilets are usually smelly and out of order so its best to have a strong bladder. Get a good book and all should be well. Good luck - and ignore the flak you will get from those in Lewes who hate DFL's. Its a great place to live.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 3:19pm Rookie wrote:
7 times a month I get the 06.05 from Lewes to London Bridge. There are always plenty of seats at Lewes and they don't get scarce until Three Bridges. Can't help with other services I'm afraid but I would imagine they get busier. Arriving home 19.50 there are always plenty of seats when I get on at Gatwick
On 5 Oct 2012 at 3:25pm Pete wrote:
Blinkin' heck Rookie, that's a long day !!
On 5 Oct 2012 at 3:29pm TDA wrote:
It's fine, I always get a decent seat.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 3:35pm Irrelevant Steve wrote:
I once rode a donkey on a beach - can't remember where it was exactly - but boy did I enjoy it! I went "WEEEEEEEE" for the whole event! Magical.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 3:43pm Belle wrote:
Thanks all! And I don't think we could be categorised as a DFL's anyway, amongst other things my other half was born and bred in the area. And not got any children called Oscar..yet anyway!! Anyway hopefully we can make the commute work. SE London is fast losing it's appeal. Thanks again.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 4:09pm Ducatipete wrote:
He sounds like a nice boy! You lot will have to sort him out with any future posts.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 4:38pm commuter2 wrote:
The set-up's a bit odd in that most direct rush hour trains travel to and from London Bridge, but daytime trains travel to Victoria. You always get a seat from Lewes unless something has been cancelled or there's some other sort of disaster. Punctuality - if you disregard a 5-10 minute delay then you'd call it pretty punctual.
Can't say it's the favourite part of my life, but I seem to suffer less misery than work colleagues who use South West or South East trains, or First Capital Connect.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 5:16pm Another commuter wrote:
I do it everyday and the only thing I don't like are the Guardian reading types who huff and puff when you ask them to move their backpack so that you can sit down.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 5:49pm Local wrote:
Of course you can be classified as DFLs. You're moving from London, and you're not from round here.
If you own or aspire to any of the following then it's further proof:
Big w*nky three-wheeled pushchair
Big German estate car / Chelsea tractor
Hoxton-fin haircuts
SuperDry clothing
Sailing-type clothing
Difficult glasses
Complicated trainers
Calling bonfire parades and fancy dress
Walking dumbly around the streets whilst stroking, pinching, flicking and generally being obsessed with a smartphone
etc
The sooner you get into woolly tights, foot-shaped shoes, and start to look like you cut your own hair, the better.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 6:28pm Mrs Twine wrote:
I can crochet them some excellent sisal knickerbockers. The dears will look thoroughly Lewesian in no time.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 6:53pm DFLer wrote:
I wonder if 'real Lewes people' ever do anything. Apart from Bonfire.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 8:42pm You lot wrote:
Yep......moan about u lot!
On 5 Oct 2012 at 9:06pm Pete wrote:
Ive done it for 10 years and it's hard. Always get a seat both ways its just very long. I can't believe two parents can do it to be honest. Great town but think hard about the commute.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 9:06pm Pete wrote:
Ive done it for 10 years and it's hard. Always get a seat both ways its just very long. I can't believe two parents can do it to be honest. Great town but think hard about the commute.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 10:26pm Zebedee wrote:
On Fri 5 Oct at: 17:16 Another commuter wrote:
'I do it everyday and the only thing I don't like are the Guardian reading types who huff and puff when you ask them to move their backpack so that you can sit down.'
Paul Newman drops in.
On 5 Oct 2012 at 11:16pm Bruciare il Papa wrote:
Thanks for the larf Local!
On 6 Oct 2012 at 3:05am 17Xs wrote:
More trains to London from Lewes, no return, for all 'DFL's'! 
On 6 Oct 2012 at 9:15am Kettle wrote:
I think it's doable only if one half of a couple has to commute. One person needs to do all of the other practical stuff or you need to get done or you don't get much of a weekend.
On 6 Oct 2012 at 12:00pm Occasional commuter wrote:
I'm lucky that I only have to go into London 5-6 times a month, and can walk from Victoria to meetings. An easy commute and always get a seat. But on the occasions where I have to go in more than a few days in a row I find it a grind. The idea of doing it 5 days a week every week makes me wonder what the point would be in living here. You'd always be knackered. In the winter you'd only see daylight in Lewes on weekends. I'd seriously think hard about that. Ideally see if your company will let you work from home a couple of days a week. Believe me, that will make a huge difference to the quality of your life.
On 6 Oct 2012 at 12:20pm Southover Queen wrote:
I have friends who have done it, and even one or two who still do. Most give up after a year or two for the reasons others give: it's just a huge grind. I've only done for a few weeks in a row, and it really was exhausting.
The commute itself looks okay on paper, but unless you're in really easy walking distance of Lewes station and probably a walk from the London terminus too, it's going to be two hours each way.
If you're still not sure, how about trying it out for a few months? Try renting a place and see whether it's something you can cope with? That way you're not burning bridges and you'll be making a decision based on practical knowledge.
On 6 Oct 2012 at 4:52pm The Tooth Fairy wrote:
If you want to live in Lewes yet still earn a London wage then frankly you deserve all you get. I think you'll find it's called 'having your cake and eating it'
On 6 Oct 2012 at 5:48pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
My sentiments entirely, Tooth Fairy.
On 6 Oct 2012 at 6:52pm Morrigan wrote:
In the early seventies I tried commuting from Hove to Shaftesbury avenue 5 days a week, and ended up a drooling wreck on anti-depressants. And it is very important to forget the idea of earning a London wage while living cheaply in Lewes - forget it. Any minimal financial advantages gained from living out of London will be more than wiped out by increased travelling costs, (and a massiviely increased bar bill)
On 6 Oct 2012 at 8:03pm padster wrote:
Belle, go for it , commuting is tough and you may want to see if you can do some flexible working but compared to SE london ( i lived in lewisham catford and hither green) it is a .... .... and a ....... .... . Lewes is lovely you wont look back. good luck.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 7:09am GhostBike wrote:
I don't understand how you can afford to live in lewes without a london wage. Look at the average property prices and divide by three or four. How many local jobs pay that?
On 7 Oct 2012 at 11:39am Adam wrote:
Yes, Ghostbike, but if you're proper Lewes you'll have got inherited property from your parents and grandparents & won't need to think about buying something & all that expense. Our town is a proper place with proper tradition & not a housing estate for DFL's.
For Independence.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 11:44am Southover Queen wrote:
So the only "proper" Lewesians are those whose grandparents owned land in Lewes eh? Well that's nice to know. What about the 80% or so who 60 or 70 years ago were honest tenants? Are they not "proper" Lewesians? Dear oh dear...
On 7 Oct 2012 at 1:28pm Ed Can Do wrote:
I'm not proper Lewes apparently (My parents both moved here in the 70's) but I just about manage to live here on a local wage. I'm lucky in that where I work I get fed three times a day for free so I spend no more than £50 a month on grocery shopping and my drive to work is less than four miles, so I spend £15 a week on petrol, if that. Admittedly most of my income goes on living expenses (two thirds of it in fact) but I'd rather live in Lewes and have less cash to spend than live in Ringmer or Uckfield and be a bit better off. I'd only spend it in the pub or something anyway.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 2:57pm Hello Trevor wrote:
Belle, don't let the content of this forum put you off moving to Lewes either. The 'you're not from round here' mono-cultural bigotry, intolerance and bitterness often found on here is NOT a good representation of the people of Lewes. There are plenty of open, warm, friendly and welcoming people here also.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 3:26pm Southover Queen wrote:
Exactly right, Trevor. (I get shouted at if I use the word "bigot" but I won't demur) Belle, it's lovely place to live - but you already know that as you have family locally. Maybe some of them are proper!
Presumably a large proportion of those "proper" Lewesians have cashed in by selling their properties at enormously inflated prices to DFLs in the first place, which makes them to blame for this invasion of rich snobs I think.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 4:46pm Kettle wrote:
And ignore the smug types who can afford to buy here without commuting. Probably bought a long time ago and work in the public sector. Good luck to you. Commuting for an hour or two is not 'having your cake and eating it.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 5:26pm Ed Can Do wrote:
If that was aimed at me, I bought my house a year ago and work up to 80 hours a week in the private sector to pay for it. One would have thought that envious streak would be better aimed at the people who never even considered getting a job in their lives and would rather live off the state in a house paid for by the council and whose idea of moving up the property ladder is popping out another kid and demanding an extra bedroom because there's plenty of those in Lewes.
Just saying...
On 7 Oct 2012 at 5:44pm J.Montal wrote:
My parents came from the Isle of Man then they went to live and work in Manchester.
After a little while they then moved to Oxford where I was born.
I worked or not until I was in my 30's then I moved to sussex making Lewes my home for the last 10 years.
I'd like to think that I don't pre-judge anyone, I'd hope they'd do the same.
Do you really mean DFLs or just plain old Snobs?
On 7 Oct 2012 at 5:48pm J.Montal wrote:
I cut my own hair when ever possible.
On 7 Oct 2012 at 6:40pm Southover Queen wrote:
I didn't read it that way at all, Ed.
DFLs or just plain snobs? I don't mean either, to be honest, since I think they're unpleasant, unhelpful and laughably stereotypical terms used by people who like to blame other people for their own shortcomings. Lewes is about as far as from a dormitory suburb for people working in London as anywhere I can think of. Haywards Heath: maybe. Lewes: rubbish. I can't think of anything wrong with wanting to live here either...