Wivenhoe and Manningtree Nurseries / Life

[roswill]

Hi Essex / Suffolk borders people

I'm looking to relocate my family from East London to most likely Wivenhoe or Manningtree. I've fallen in love with the Forest nursery in Wivenhoe for my baby who will be one in October but it seems like there's less going on in the town and a slightly more awkward commute.

Manningtree looks great but the nurseries there look like they are only open during term time. Are there any Mumsnetters who live in either place who could share their experience of childcare and also what other things like the commute and general community is like?

Also if anyone wants to sell us their house that would be great 

Thank you!

[cindyloohoo]

Wivenhoe is lovely, nice houses, scenic with the river and very popular on a hot day with tourists/visitor's. It's pretty self contained - once you are in wivenhoe you don't really leave... It has school, shops, library, fire station etc so it's not necessary to leave. And if you do leave them you are in greensted, which is a horrid area or the university - but the big Tesco store in greensted is a big plus. Bit of a dead end, as you don't pass through it to go anywhere - the road to wivenhoe goes to wivenhoe only. This is a plus for some people and a negative for others!

Manningtree is also nice, but feels further out from the town to me (although I'm not sure about the rail connections as this may be very quick).

I prefer wivenhoe as always found manningtree and mistley a bit cliquey - if you aren't from round there then you are deemed suspicious and never welcomed in pubs etc. Whereas wivenhoe are used to tourists, students etc and more welcoming. Used to take DS to baby classes in wivenhoe but afraid I don't know much else about the childcare.

[Wivresident]

This is all so outing that I thought I'd better name change!

We live in Wivenhoe and DS goes to Little Munchkins, which I think is the nursery you mean? We're really happy with it and would really recommend it. I don't know about childcare in Manningtree, though.

We also weighed up Wivenhoe vs Manningtree - though I'm from around here originally, so had some existing knowledge - I'm guessing that if they're your choices then you, like us, have 'near to mainline station' on your list of needs? I'd say one big downside to Manningtree to consider if so is that the station is a little bit out of Manningtree and so living right by it means living in Lawford, which is a perfectly pleasant but quite standard suburb-y place, whereas in Wivenhoe living 5 mins from the station means living centrally and in the pretty bit, which for us was a big plus.

We really love living in Wivenhoe. I'd say the big downside is that it's quite hard to actually get out of - as @cindyloohoo says - there's only main road out and it can be really congested. But in terms of facilities, community, friendliness etc we couldn't be happier.

[roswill]

Thanks @cindyloohoo and @Wivresident that's so helpful!

We will both be commuting to london at least part time so the distance to the station in Manningtree was a concern.

@Wivresident So great to hear your LO attends Little Munchkins and you are pleased with it. It really does look like heaven for kids, especially after seeing the size of outdoor areas in London nurseries. Hopefully I might see you at pick up one day!

I was leaning towards Wivenhoe so it's great to hear from insiders that it's the friendly community it seems.

[HannahHS]

I had to comment as I stumbled upon this little thread whilst googling both Wivenhoe and Manningtree and comparing the two. Also looking to relocate from East London probably early next year and had also seen the nursery with the forest school! From Suffolk originally but looking for somewhere in between London and Suffolk as also needing to commute into London for work. Would love to know if you’ve made a decision/made any progress!

[Roswill]

Hi @HannahHS ! Oh how exciting, yes we have decided Wivenhoe is the one. The comments on this thread really helped. My husband is also from Suffolk and I'm from Sussex so wanted somewhere sort of in between. We're actually going to look at houses in Wivenhoe tomorrow although our flat isn't on the market yet - how the hell to people get their places photoshoot ready with a baby?! But the plan is to try and sell in time for the stamp duty holiday. Where abouts in East London are you? We're in Leyton so already feels like we're practically in Essex. How old is your little one? Perhaps we can exchange emails in case we both end up in Wivenhoe, would be lovely to have a friendly face! Mine is [email protected] if you want to get in touch

[HannahHS]

Oh my goodness we are Leytonstone!! Lived in Leyton for 7 years and Leytonstone the last year. We’ve only just the last month started looking to move out of London and with family still in Suffolk it made sense to find somewhere in between. We are planning over the next month to visit both areas and start properly making decisions so I will definitely send you an email as would love to chat. My daughter is 2 so a bit older than your little one but hasn’t yet started a nursery (London prices eekk), hence why the need for a good nursery/pre school is high on the list! Will drop your an email now too.

[leloo]

Hi there, we are moving to Wivenhoe in the next month or so from London and was also looking at little munchkins nursery (have a 3 and 1 year old). Have you guys made the move? Would be great to hear how it's going...

[Roswill]

@leloo lovely to hear from you! I replied to your email so hopefully we can meet up down the line and have some ready made pals when we do make it to Wivenhoe

[Appletwig]

Hello! We’re exploring options to relocate from east london (Walthamstow) and I came across this thread. Hb is from Cambridgeshire and my family is north of london atm but I can’t resist the pull of the sea. How have you found relocating to Wivenhoe? We really like the area around Manningtree from what we’ve seen but I’m really keen to find a community that we can settle in to as we have such a lovely community where we are now (we’re just tired of the busyness and grit!). Kids are 6 and 3 so we’d need to think about schools too,
Thanks for any reflections on how it’s been.

[Jo131]

Wondering if there was any progress on this thread? I’m also thinking of a relocation to Essex and open for thoughts on wivenhoe and Manningtree. Really like wivenhoe as a town but location wise I prefer Manningtree and it’s surroundings.....also good train link. I like that wivenhoe appears quite an open minded little town and hope Manningtree a bit of the same 😬