Mumsnet Talk

Am about to return to Brighton after 20 years in a Spanish wilderness, now with two teenagers in tow. Don't care how expensive it is: just want them to experience the great vibes that exist in Brighton that I enjoyed so much when I was young - living in cupboards may be cool.

will you all just fuck off back to london and stop forcing up house prices for those of us who live here.

Thanks

Hi, I am another looking to move back to the seaside (currently in SW London)... and have been looking at St Leonard's on Sea and Bexhill on Sea... I see from the comments that Bexhill has a higher average of older folk... not that that worries me, but I am a childminder.. and so need to think of clientele! Would St Leonards be a good bet ivo of me relocating my childcare business there?

The Hastings/brighton route is a nightmare, and bexhill is where people go to die.

I'm also looking at the move down from London. Single mom w 2 kids. arty farty types. The trick for me is one of my daughters will need a place at a special school - for that reason brighton and hove are out (a friend did the research on that and ended up in Lewes w her disabled child going to Chailey - v happy). My other is starting secondary Sept 2013 - likely we will miss the whole placement malarky due to legal issues selling in london (ex husb. ) but my understanding is that it is nothing like the over-subscription in London. Or should I be stressing? If we move down after sept 2012 will we be screwed for sec school?

special schools in bexhill and eastbrn look great. Not sure about Bexhill...might be too quiet for me and the secondary there not brill.

I do love St Leonards and Hastings. I live near Peckham so hey, not worried about 'rough' bits really. I do boxing and running. lol. I need the sea to be close. Have a sight hound that needs to run free. prefer to maintain a relatively carfree life.

Never been to Eastbourne but it sort of looks like it may have more services or is that my imagination? Like the idea of being closer to Brighton and I imagine lots of students in Ebrn. Schools look better in Ebrn...on paper it appears great...but I love the feel of St L/Hastings and 'bang for your buck' element. What does Eastbourne feel like?? someone mentioned 'darkness'...

I guess I also wonder about likelyhood of like EVER finding a partner in small town. lol

will make a trip down soon. have any of the peeps from the beginning of this thread looking to move down done it now?

Never live anywhere where your commute will take you through Worthing or Arundel on the A27. It is the 7th circle of hell.

lowrib, we're about to put our 3 bed maisonette on the market - with 4 dc's and M.E., it's time to move - there's a field at the back of the garden, views of the town hall and Eastbourne College, it's about 8 minutes walk from the station, and we've loved it here! We're now considering Hastings as DH commutes to London, but will be sorry to leave!

I'm pleased to hear its not that bad for the people that live there sparkle as no one was as surprised as me, especially at the ages involved I was very - we were on our way back from Camber Sands to Brighton & were on the road that ran parallel with the coast but about 1/2 mile back, so I can only presume that is a rough bit - mind you, I'm sure if I'd driven down Brightons West street later at night it would have put me right off moving here too - Our friends that live in Hastings & hate it & want to move back are a couple of old Punks & their kids, nothing that unusual in them to look at these days, but they still get a lot of hassel from locals for being different

oh and dont even get me started on getting through arundel at peak time

fucking tourists

chichester is a nice cathedral town, but the commute is not easy it is surrounded by fucking ROUNDABOUTS

and if it rains one lane gets shut down on the 27 becuase some stupid twat planner didn't figure drainage when it was built

Im surprised at rockinhippy's comments. I lived in St Leonards & Hastings for over 33 years & I never saw anything like that. I was never attacked in the street, never broken into etc etc, & ive lived in some well dodgy places. However, the town isnt perfect. There are areas I certainly wouldnt want to live in, but crime happens everywhere. Bexhill Road is a b***h at peak times for traffic. Hopefully they'll put in the link road at some point.

Robsack is not a great area. The school is probably outstanding because the teachers are getting great "value added" despite all the obstacles of having kids with s**t starts in life. Its not somewhere I would send my kids. My dd went to Silverdale, which is one of the better local schools, but we still got parents shouting, swearing & fighting at the gates, smoking & having big ("im so hard I have a rotty") dogs scaring the kids as they came out. Some of my dd's classmates were my old classmates. I know that they were involved in drugs or long term unemployed.

Hastings/St Leonards is lovely, but not for educating your kids. Look at the outside villages as I suggested..

Thanks Rockinhippy - that's all useful as well. I actually really like Shoreham but dad lives in Bexhill so do want to be near as poss to him. I'm looking a bit at St Leonards with rose tinted specs at mo (big house! Sea view!) so we are going to do a week down there next week tbh I'm used to a certain level of anti-social behaviour (currently reside in riot central in London and have lived in Brixton previously) just depends on what scale the anti-social behaviour is really ;) Sparkleprincess - I saw that Robsack Wood sch is currently outstanding but I guess that may be too far? Anyway, thanks for all the info so far - keep it coming!

I don't know Chichester as such, but see it comes up favourably a few times,

I do have friends that commute from Brighton to there for work though & say its an easy commute, so I expect it will be the other way around too

We also have friends with a place in Rottingdean - again close & they love it there too - it is very nice

Shoreham - just along from Brighton - so easy access for you & very up & coming- odd really as apparently it was the British "Hollywood" back in the 30s - it has a lovely feel to it & quite picturesque in places with all the amenities you'll need - we have several friends who have moved there & love it

We also have friends who have moved to Hasting & hate it - we once passed through, got stuck in traffic & in the space of 15 minutes on 1 road saw 2 big fights - 1 involving about 15 people & 3 very young kids break into & steal a car - took me until they drove off to realise what they were actually doing - they looked lucky to be 10 - made me think perhaps its cheap for a reason

Worthing is another place thats cheaper & up and coming apparently - I've friends trying to move there as they prefer it to Brighton - personally love Brighton though

agree with Lewes being lovely, but again its expensive & also prone to serious flooding

There are no good or outstanding state schools in Hastings. Some do have better reps than others, & the primaries are better than the secondaries, but none I was prepared to send mine to hence our move. If I were you id look into small state primaries just outside the area which may well have places in an established year group (you dont know until you ask) & save my money for going private at secondary level. Battle & Langton, (as previously mentioned) is excellent, & quite a large school, so could well have places. During school run time from West St Leonards it would probably take around 15 minutes to get there, traffic dependent. Westfield, Crowhurst, Ninfield & Catsfield all have small village schools worth checking recent Ofsteds on. I dont know personally about recent performance of these schools so please do your research. Good luck.

Thanks Sparkle - so useful, have just looked and it looks great around West St Leonards property wise. Thanks also Jacqueline - I know Battle a bit, but we really are hankering after somewhere within walking distance to seafront (and with hope - a seaview!!)and have kind of fallen in love with the charm (albeit rough round the edges maybe) of St Leonards. All school info is really interesting. My DD1 is about to go into Y2 so am considering private as assuming all good/outstanding state will be full.

Battle is nice, but v expensive though Jaquelinehyde, & tbh I find people in general are not so friendly. (Present company excluded of course ) Most people dont even feel the need to acknowledge a driver who stops for them on a zebra crossing. V odd & v rude! You must drive v slow or have to endure New Trade Road if it takes you 20 minutes to get to Hastings. Lol! I always cut through Netherfield hill & it takes me 10 mins from Battle generally, if that.

Gingermilo, I used to live in West St Leonards near the station. (About a 6 minute walk away) Look up Cavendish Avenue & do a search on 1/4 mile radius. Its really nice there. Direct views to the sea & Beachy Head I had. Was gorgeous! Close to Bexhill too. Battle Abbey Prep is in Bexhill, & Senior in Battle, but id have to say Claremont is nicer imo. I have no idea how easy it is to get into established yeargroups there tbh. I know the senior school section is only opening this year (I think) Prob best to give them a call & check.

If you will consider more inland then Heathfield is a good bet. Very friendly people, excellent state schools, (as good as Battle) & only 10 minutes drive from a station that gets to London in about an hour & 15 mins. Prices are lower because the town doesn't have its own station so you get more for your money. Its only 30 minutes from the coast at Eastbourne, & I can get to Hastings to see my dad in half hour too. There is also a new Sainsbury opening up soon. To be honest though, after living in Hastings I find it a bit rural for me. Depends what you're used to.

I would suggest having a look at Battle, Ginger, direct train links to London, excellent state (Battle and Langton Primary and Claverham Secondary) and private options (Battle Abbey School primary and secondary).

20 mins drive from Hastings and Bexhill, 30ish from Eastbourne. A really lovely place to live, I love it and don't think I will ever move!

Thanks SparklePrincess - really useful! Sorry to ask more questions but are there any areas you would rec nr either station? We still need to be on a train line to London y'see. Also, was Claremont hard to get into? Do you know if you can go in at any year gp? My father lives in Bexill so I know the area a bit- but you never really know anywhere unless you've lived there I guess. Thanks!

I come from St leonards originally, & still visit weekly at least. I think the area has a lot going for it. There are some dodgy parts, but also some really nice ones. I can advise on this if you wish. Only minus part is local state schools, so unfortunately I was forced to move area as private isnt affordable to me. If you can afford private then Claremont is an excellent school. My own niece goes there, & I have friends with children there. Of course property is really cheap there too in comparison to the rest of East Sussex.

I have just found this thread too after searching. We are seriously considering St Leonards/ Hastings to move from London, but have heard some conflicting reports regarding behaviour on streets in both towns, has anyone got any up to date views on this? Also, schoolwise -what's the choice? Are there any decent states? I saw a couple of private options (Claremont/Buckswood?) but did not know if they were competitive to get into? Any replies gratefully received! Quite fancy the seaside after all the riots on the streets tonight....

I too have stumbled across this thread. Like Loulabellewb, we are moving down to BN20 (from CR0 nr Wallington, Sy) and have found a lovely property in Willingdon which I think is around 4 miles outside of Eastbourne. I love the look of the village and the nearest schools seem impressive. I have read through lots of helpful inside info here on local areas as to which places are nice but I would like to know which areas of Eastbourne to avoid. There will be an element of crime everywhere of course but I don't want to live in a road where there will be lots of antisocial behaviour outside my own house. If the Willingdon property falls through, there is another I could view at West Hampden Park but is Hampden Park and West Hampden Pk the same thing and is West ok or no-go?? I wish I had thought of going slightly sooner as we must exchange contracts before my 9 yr old will be accepted at the nearest school (Oct deadline for secondary) and we might live in the same road as school but be late in applying and STILL have to send him somewhere else. So I have the added fear that he will get whatever's left. Our timing could have been better!! Have just learned that East Sussex does not run a grammar system, which in his case is prob not a bad thing since I don't think he would have made the grammars here either.

Hi there, found this thread thanks to google and wanted to ask if anyone knew what BN20 in Eastbourne was like on the whole please? We're thinking of moving down from Bromley for a better life and wondered if anyone had any knowledge on the roads around North Avenue please?!? Thanks )

thanks