Weybridge & Shepperton

With motorsport history, scenic riverside walks, café culture and classy pubs on the doorstep, Weybridge is a highly-prized place to live, while Shepperton is home to the famous film studios and a raft of hidden foodie gems

- James Knighton

Found where the Thames meets the Wey, Weybridge is an enthralling mix of river life, cosmopolitan living, and hidden heritage. In some ways, it is a town of many centers too. While Church Street/High Street is the main hub, there are also hot spots at Queen’s Road and Oatlands Village. While it is not a big town by any stretch, there is a hefty amount packed in.

It is, of course, famous for Brooklands, which is just minutes from the town centre. The birthplace of British motorsport and aviation is home to a fascinating time capsule of a museum, with remnants of the famous racetrack looping round the site, and Mercedes Benz World and the luxurious Brooklands Hotel next door. You can even tour a Concorde at the museum, meaning with a little imagination, you can pretend that living the supersonic jet-set life is still the norm.

If you are searching for a slower pace, it is here in abundance too, with so many splendid riverside settings nearby. There is a great National Trust-recommended walk, for instance, which follows the route of the last commercial barges on the Wey Navigations Weybridge to New Haw Lock and back. It is a leisurely five-mile walk that takes you past Thames Lock, the Town Lock, and Coxes Mill among other distinctly Instagrammable sites.

Coxes Mill was the last commercially operated mill in Surrey, only closing in 1983, but is now home to a collection of apartments. It still makes for an impressive and evocative sight on the riverbank. River life is central to the town – there is not one but at least three rowing clubs here, with Weybridge Rowing Club, Weybridge Ladies Amateur Rowing Club and Wayfarers Rowing Club getting people active on the water.