Moving to Bridport area

[jmm499]

Hello all

We have recently had an offer accepted on a house in Burton Bradstock. We will be moving down from London and have fallen in love with Bridport and the surrounding area. Whenever I mention our plans, people’s first response is often ‘Dorset is beautiful but isn’t it full of retirees?’ We have visited local schools and seen lots of families around but I’m hoping for a bit of reassurance that we will be able to meet people of our own age/with young children when we move (we’re in our late 30s with a 19 month old son).

Would love to hear your views on this - or from anyone who has made the move and how they’ve found it.

Thank you so much,
Jane x

[arousingcheer]

Lots of families in the Bridport area (as well as a lot of artsy middle-aged folk). Friends of mine moved down from the SE when in their thirties (with their young son) and have never looked back. We (50ish) have bought a small house in Bridport and find it very mixed agewise. Maybe your friends are thinking of Bournemouth.

[jmm499]

😊 Thank you v much arousingcheer - it sounds like a lovely mix! Excited! X

[holidayparkquestion]

I love Bridport! (Bournemouth on the other hand is full of stag parties/hen parties/shoppers) I wouldn't do central Bournemouth!

Enjoy the move. A huge change from London.

[cricketbat]

I live near Bridport, and we LOVE it !

[cricketbat]

Yesterday I tried 3 times to post here, but was hindered by West Dorset internet speed ! You've been warned!
So.... - internet speeds can be rubbish, mobile phone signal patchy, no big local employers, little/ no public transport, nearest hospital Dorchester / Yeovil, nearest station Dorchestrer / Crewkerne. You will have to drive everywhere, the car will be filthy, kids will be muddy, wellies permanently at the ready. You need to be able to reverse your car well. Few private schools if that's your thing.
We get to spend our Saturday nights picking up our drunk teenagers from a field in the middle of nowhere.
We moved from Greater London when our kids were about to start primary school... the last one is now in 6th form. The local primary school was great and had 90 kids total. We love the outdoors and Bridport has everything you need. BB has a nice beach, but not suitable for toddler swimming - it shelves steeply. We're not all old and are mostly friendly, and there is loads going on. If you make the effort to join in you'll be fine.

[arousingcheer]

Actually that's a good point about mobile signal. I was with 3 for years but had to switch to Giffgaff to get any service at all. (We don't seem to have any issue with our internet service luckily.)

[jmm499]

Thanks holidaypark - it is a huge change! But one I think we’re ready for :)

Thanks so much cricketbat - you make lots of good points and it’s important to go in to the move with your eyes open (as much as I get dizzy when I look at the photos I’ve taken on our weekends down there!) Internet speed is a good one as I’m planning to work from home and travel in to London occasionally. Might need some more thought there! Best practise my reversing too! Thanks again for sharing - really appreciate it x

P.s getting drunk in a field reminds me of my youth!!

[IamPaulsMum]

You'll love it - easy walk to the beach, great pubs for eating and drinking. Can't go wrong. Happy house move!

[IamPaulsMum]

PS School is great, community is great and you can easily get Broadband speeds of 52Mbps - depends on where you are in the village.

[Lowdoorinthewal1]

As long as you understand that West Dorset is totally, utterly unrecognisable from London and prepare yourself for the sort of culture shock you get moving to another country, you will be fine.

It is SLOW here. Everything takes time. You can't eat at 4.30pm with a toddler, nowhere is open. Forget it's Sunday and miss the 4pm deadline to grab a bottle of wine some milk and you are screwed. You will have a choice of 4 or 5 cafes. If you want clothes from Mountain Warehouse, all good. Anything else will be an hours drive. There's nothing to do in the rain. It rains a lot. There are no roads, it takes forever to get anywhere.

Your overstimulated eyes and minds will take time to wind down into Dorset gear. But when you get there, and you realise that suddenly you and the kids are happy to just be, and you don't need to hunt for a day out or a new thing to buy, I think you will be so much happier.

[jmm499]

Ah sorry I’ve only just seen your replies IamPaulsMum and Lowdoorinthewal1! Thank you for taking the time to reply :) We actually exchanged last week so the move is really happening now!

PaulsMum - that’s all really great to hear. We loved the school when we visited despite being a little apprehensive because of the Ofsted rating - but it had a lovely, caring feel. Do you have children there?

Lowdoor - this is all really good advice and I love your point about letting our over stimulated eyes and minds wind down. We are in search of a slower way of life so I really hope we settle in to the Dorset way :)

Thank you again for sharing x

[DylanBuckleyPaul]

Hi.
Do you mind me asking how you’ve found the first few months of your move?
We’re planning a similar move - SE London to Bridport - with our toddler.

[Fadingawayagain]

Hi I know this is an old thread.

I would just like to comment that I moved from London to bridport in November last year and I agree with everything that has already been posted, hardly any signal, massive culture shock, could only use giff gaff, rains ALL the time, EVERYONE is slow, you have to be able to drive. But it’s a lovely area, so far from the aggressive London and the schools are fantastic! I still miss the city life but I love living in bridport! It’s a much less stressful life and people are generally welcoming and happy.