Tiverton?

[jennyblonde82]

Hi everyone, my husband is interviewing for a job near Tiverton in the next couple of days. We'd always thought about relocating towards Devon/ Cornwall and this seemed to come along at the right time.
Could anyone give me an idea of what it's like to live there? I'd be at home with the kids for the first couple of years so we'd need to have some things to do.
It sounds silly but whenever we look to move somewhere we have a kind of checklist that we see if an area has to see if we'd fit in- kid friendly restaurants (pizza express kind of thing), nice gym for me, Waitrose, some good parks, decent yoga classes, easy walkable transport to nearby city, nice soft plays etc. I'm struggling to find some of these in Tiverton through Google... Does anyone who knows Tiverton know if these things are there?
Thank you so much.

[catgirl2]

Hi there, I grew up in Tiverton and now live in Exeter - about 40 mins away. It sounds like Exeter is more for you if you want this sort of stuff. Tiverton is a small ish market town. Lots of charity shops and sadly has had its town centre affected by large supermarkets. Some of the surrounding villages are lovely but again if you want stuff to do then may be too rural. Definitely worth walking around Tiverton to get a feel for it before you make any decisions. Exeter is awesome in my opinion. Friendly, buzzy, plenty to do, waitrose, John Lewis, David Lloyd, good yoga options plenty of leisure options plus the quay which is lovely for walks. Loads of stuff to do with young children too. Also you are only about 1/2 an hour from the coast. It's a gorgeous part of the world. Property is significantly more expensive in Exeter than Tiverton as you may expect. Devon is a brilliant place to live though, grew up here and moved away for 10 years but it always pulled me back! Feel free to ask any more questions!

[pinkdelight]

I've got family in Tivvy and would echo cats take above. It's very much a 'small pond' kind of place, v limited for restaurants and not so great for shops. My relatives love it and obviously find plenty to do there, but from your list I think you'd struggle and I do find it pretty insular. Exeter definitely sounds more up your street and gives you more schooling options. Of the towns I prefer Honiton to Tiverton but it's probably still not got everything you want. (Although to be fair, most smaller towns won't have, you'd probably have to go over the border to somewhere like Bridport).

[jennyblonde82]

Thanks catgirl2, that had been my feeling from what I could see online. I've been to Exeter before and loved it! How easy is it to get to Exeter from Tiverton? From what I can see from google maps it looks like the station is quite far out of the town... With a pushchair it might be a bit too much? Thanks so much for your help, we're driving down this weekend to have a look at the area. I'm slightly dreading the 8 hour journey with 2 children under 3

[pinkdelight]

You'd have to drive. The trains aren't an option unless you cab it to the station, it's way out of town. Buses aren't great either, typical rural service. No way I'd move to a rural town like that without being able to drive. You'd definitely feel stranded.

[jennyblonde82]

Thanks pinkdelight. I can drive but I'd certainly rather get the train when I'm with the kids to avoid the stress of parking. I'd thought if I could easily get a train to Exeter then I could at least take the kids for a dose of city life when we felt the need. My husband would be working pretty much 24/7 6 days a week and I have a feeling Tiverton may be a bit lonely (and quiet) for me and the kids.

[pinkdelight]

Could you not live in Exeter and your DH commutes to Tiverton. Think that'd suit you much better. Trying to imagine what job in Tiv is 24/7 6 days a week - can only think of vet! Apart from farming which would be 7 days a week. Good luck with the decisions. It is lovely around there, but sounds like you might need to have more going on.

[catgirl2]

Hello I agree with all of the above! You have two options driving from Tiv to Exeter - one windy but pretty A road or dual carriageway and motorway. I have family in Tivvy so regularly go and always use the motorway. Plenty of people commute to / from Tiv to Exeter and vice versa but vast majority would drive because as pink says the station for Tiv is about 7 miles out of town. I could go on about how much I love Exeter all day. Def worth visiting both places to get a feel for them. From your checklist it sounds like Exeter ticks all the boxes! Good luck. Devon is fab.

[jennyblonde82]

Thanks everyone, we're going down this weekend so I can have a look at Tivertonand Exeter with an open mind. Although my husband will have occasional time off during the day/ early evening (he's a teacher in boarding schools) it will be in half hour chunks so a long commute would mean he wouldn't be able to get home. Are there any nice areas in Tiverton to live that I should check out? Thank you all so much for your help!

[pinkdelight]

Ah, Blundells I presume. That makes sense. If you think it's really worth it for him to pop home briefly, definitely rent rather than buy so you can see how it works for you before settling on the Tiverton home option. As for areas, I think you'll very quickly get the sense of where's nice to live, it's really not that big and the nice (and not so nice) bits are obvious. There's some nice bits around Blundells, and generally on the outskirts where the bigger houses are, a few newbuild estates and some pretty older cottages. The area near the school might make sense for you and is close to town and en route to the motorway. Have a drive around and you'll soon get the drift...