Princes Risborough

PRINCES RISBOROUGH is a pleasant market town with the relaxed feel of an overgrown village. The High Street is an attractive place to shop and stroll, but it is abandoned for the city each day by at least half the population. The annual town festival in July is the highlight of the summer calendar. Human-scale architecture is here in plenty – no large modern estates, just a few mellow 16th- and 17th-century houses set along little roads and cul-de-sacs. There are some Victorian terraced homes, not always in the best locations, costing from £215,000. Thirties’ to Seventies’ detached family houses cost from £300,000 for four bedrooms. Local schools take children through from toddler to late-teens, and local clubs include tennis and bowls. The most prestigious area is Whiteleaf, right on the flank of the Chilterns. It has a few cottages and a pub and a whole regiment of expensive houses with large grounds and paddocks, for which you should expect to pay at least £950,000. These tend to be owned by business people who belong to the local golf and cricket clubs.