The little commuter town on the Underground despite being 25 miles from London

A beautiful market town is reachable via the London Underground despite being some 25 miles from Charing Cross.

Chesham is one of the network’s lesser-known stations tucked away in the top left of the tube map in Zone 9, and despite being on the “underground” network, large stretches of the journey remain above ground.

Passengers boarding at the station in Buckinghamshire, wait around 25 miles and almost an hour before seeing any sign of going subterranean.

After leaving Chesham the first tunnel appears between Finchley Road and Baker Street.

Chesham was previously part of the Metropolitan Railway, the predecessor of the magenta Metropolitan Line.

The railway was the first Underground of its kind, connecting North West London to the City and stretching into the countryside as far as Verney Junction near Milton Keynes, some 46 miles from Central London, as per MyLondon.

Chesham is known as for its enviable position on the commuter belt and has become a sought after destination for retirees.

But it also has a sizable offering of shopping opportunities and restaurants, with highlights including Elgiva theatre and the century-old Chesham Moor Open Air Swimming Pool supplied by local spring water.

It’s also a great way to see the Chilterns Area of Outstanding National Beauty, which covers more than 300 square miles of rolling chalk downlands, gorgeous riversides and woodlands across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire.

But as you’d expect from a beautiful village with such easy links to the capital, homes aren’t cheap. Properties in the town had an overall average price of £515,033 over the last year, according to online property portal Rightmove. 

The majority of sales during the last year were terraced properties, selling for £407,288 on average. Meanwhile, detached properties sold for an average price of £770,974, and semi-detached properties went for £533,133.

Sold prices in the last year were up 8% on the previous year.

The town also has a number of outstanding schools, including Brushwood Junior School, in Brushwood Road, which was inspected in June this year was rated Oustanding by Ofsted, finding that it offered pupils a “phenomenal education.

Chesham Grammar School and Chesnut Lane School are among others with the top rating, though their last inspections took place in 2014.