Moving to the isle of wight?

[Pajamadrama]

hi! am posting here for traffic.... We live in Leighton Buzzard and are thinking or relocating to the isle of wight - have 2 children ages 9 and 3 and we are both in our early 40's. Hubby has a job 99% lined up we just need to actually be living there. Has anyone on here done this? would we be crazy moving from somewhere that has everything on our doorstep and leaving behind friends and family etc.
Would love to hear any stories/opinions good or bad? Thanks!

[VeryQuaintIrene]

No advice, but I envy you! I love the Island (but only go there for leisure.)

[Pajamadrama]

Thank you! this is part of the appeal - everyone we speak to says how much they love it there!

[Darkstar4855]

It’s a great place to live but the ferries can be expensive and sometimes get cancelled at short notice. The passenger service (Red Jet/Wightlink Fastcat) is good though. A lot of the jobs are seasonal but if your husband already has a job sorted you’ll be fine.

[lexiconmistress]

It's lovely! Not everyone has 12 fingers and I believe most of them speak English now.

[Sunnyjac]

I live on the island, have three children aged 9, 7 and 4. It is brilliant for them and a great place to live. But. All our family live on the mainland and I do feel cut off. It’s a PITA having to to get ferries to see anyone and they’re expensive. Cost goes up a lot in school holidays although the ferry companies seem to think no one notices! Just things to consider

[CherryPavlova]

We don’t live on the island but have had a house here for about 25 d. years. Our daughter lived here for a couple of years and my husband’s last company had some interest in the island.
I’d say choose your home carefully. Education is very mixed. Some good primaries- Gurnard is meant to do well and has good feel. Secondary has from very good Cowes Enterprise and Christ the King to the more challenged. All suffer from a certain lack of ambition amongst many pupils and some staff - people are out of the door quickly to get to the beach in summer.
Healthcare also compromised by island attitude. Recruitment to both education and health is difficult. Many very good GPs acute care can be less than excellent. Good links to Southampton and Portsmouth hospitals though.
Fantastic countryside with many footpaths, if you enjoy walking. Far, are more rural and much quieter away from main towns than people imagine.
Beautiful beaches. Some big resorts like Ryde with safe shallow waters. Others good for surfing as children want more excitement. A fair number of almost hidden beaches and places without car access. Steephill cove is stunning but very popular with North London set in summer - as is Seaview.
Cowes is a lovely town with the west being slightly smarter than the east. Excellent restaurants and sailing.

[Movinghouseatlast]

I was there for work yesterday. I thought Yarmouth was charming!

[Rockbird]

Lurking. We've had a place there for the last 15 years but don't live there, just visit a lot. We're almost certain that's where we'll go when the children leave home.

[dirtystinkyrats]

No I wouldn't. I live near the south coast. I'm sure its great if you are healthy and have a job and can get a place in a good school. But everything is more limited - school choice, jobs, choice of Drs (and potential need to visit the main land if you need a specialist/second opinion/certain procedures), less shops, just less everything. The landscape on the coasts is lovely - there are benefits to less everything, I just couldn't do it. Also, I don't like ferries.

[springbreak3]

Lovely place to visit. But live there? No.

[LellyMcKelly]

If you can afford it think about living somewhere like Southsea in Portsmouth which has a 20 minute hovercraft over there every half hour or so.

[MatthewBramble]

Personally, I'd prefer to live on the west side of the Island rather than the east. Avoid Godshill like the plague. It's heaving with people in summer. Ventnor is built on the side of a mountain - avoid it unless you like hill walking.

[bridgetreilly]

I would not. I love the island but only for visiting friends and having holidays.

[needmorespace]

Yarmouth every time - beautiful little town.
Definitely west of island is the place
Except for Bembridge on the east side
Beautiful for holidays

[Mummabear2212]

We moved there when I was 7. I left for uni and never went back. My DM then got made redundant a few years later and also left. I love it, will visit with DS regularly, always call it home and forever rave about it with rose tinted glasses on.

However, schools are very mixed and generally secondary education is poor, lack of services, healthcare cuts mean more trips to the mainland, excruciatingly expensive ferries and incredibly busy in the summer with tourists and the road network can't cope with it. 1 hospital, 1 council etc so if there are redundancies then you will have to work and commute to the mainland (if in those industries- my DM worked for social services when cut). There is also a real lack of well paid, stable jobs and if your DC's want education above 18 then they will leave.

On the other hand, it's beautiful, a slower way of life and as a pre teen invade the most wonderful childhood in the summer, beaches and freedom. That changes for teens and in the winter.

I don't want to put you off as I had a wonderful childhood but it is not all sunshine and roses but equally not impossible to live there.

[stillworkingitout]

I’ve not lived on the IOW but I grew up in west Cornwall and I think I would echo everything that SmallPlant has said. You are trading a slower pace of life in a beautiful area for the ease and convenience of mainland life. All the things about education and healthcare ring true - there are undoubtedly skilled and qualified people who will make the same lifestyle job and fill those choices but the hospital will never be as good as a big city hospital. There is a certain island mentality, a lack of ambition. Most ambitious people leave for uni and only a few come back (mostly to teaching or healthcare roles). I’ve not lived in my home town since leaving home at 18, and rarely visit now as it’s a pain to get to.

Despite all of this, we had the best childhood. Outdoors and on the beach, all the time. And if we could get jobs I would love to raise my kids there.

Are you sure you need to live on the island? I know someone who commutes from Southampton

[Vole3]

Or you could relocate to Norfolk with all the beauty and slower pace of life but still on the mainland

[BeanBag7]

Terrible schools on the isle of wight.
Expensive ferries.
Limited choice of supermarkets.
Many places like pubs, cafes etc. Are closed in the winter.

I wouldn't want to live there, although it's lovely to visit for a week in the summer.

Could you live in Portsmouth, Southampton or Lymington and your DH commute to the Island? Obviously I don't know your financial situation but could you have a small flat on the island where he lives during the week and comes home on weekend?

[BellMcEnd]

Beautiful place for a holiday but I could never live there: I have a friend who moved there with her family but she spends a lot of time coming back to London and another friend who was raised there but moved to the mainland the second she was old enough.

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

As others have said, the schools are not great. The ferries are awkward and expensive. There are places with bigger issues (drugs, anti social behaviour etc.) than you might expect from the brochures.

[Superfragile]

I assume it's the house prices that are appealing, but they are cheaper than the rest of the south coast for a reason.
As well as all pp say I think it will be hard to create a good friendship group as adults. If your children were babies I think it would be easier to settle in.

[RHTawneyonabus]

It’s all been said on here. No. We have a cottage there and it’s lovely but I could never live there

[SmallPlant]

I echo previous posters that of your husband is keen on taking the job, consider living on the mainland and commuting. So if the job is in Ryde, look at Portsmouth or Southsea (Southsea is lovely), if the job is in Yarmouth look at Lymington, Cowes look at Southampton etc. If the jobs in Newport he’d have to get a bus the other end. There is only one train line on the island, that connects Ryde Pier with Sandown and Shanklin. Newport would be the most difficult place to commute to really, because you’re looking at a 30-40 min bus once he gets off the ferry.

[Hiddenaspie1973]

I love the i.o.w
One thing. Hospitals. I think it's Southampton general you'd need if any of the family need treatment. You'd be forced to take the ferry, which is expensive. It's only 4 miles at it's narrowest point! In less civilised countries they'd row a boat across.
I don't go much because of the ferry cost.
You're not crazy, as long as it works for you all 🙂