Bournemouth and surrounding area

[Yendell1]

Need some advice!

Due to my husband's job, we are in the very early stages of relocating from Cambridgeshire to the Bournemouth/Christchurch area. Neither of us know much about the area and are after advice of good places to base ourselves.

We have children aged 23 months and 4 weeks, so although neither is at school currently, good local schools will be important to us, as will local amenities (supermarkets, libraries, children's clubs/play centres etc).

We both love village life, but are not opposed to a bit of town/city living.
Can anyone suggest some areas to which we can start our search??

Thank you!

[poshtottie]

Christchurch is a lovely town but the traffic always seems to heavy but I live a little further in West Dorset.

Have friends who live in Bransgore which is a nice area and close to Christchurch and has a good primary school.

[poshtottie]

Forgot to add I did live in Branksome park area of Bournemouth for two years which is very nice but properties are quite pricey.
Close to Westbourne, beaches, library etc.

[dreamingofsun]

we live near bournemouth which would be a bit too built up for us. we love this area - like many people who move here we will never leave. it usually comes out near the top in lenght of life and low crime surveys. not sure about primaries, there are grammar schools in bournemouth/poole but i've always got the impression the other secondaries aren't that great - might be wrong. as well as great beaches, you also have the new forest on your doorstep. plus theres interesting towns such as salisbury and good shopping in southampton. and its not too far from london - many people work there during the week. guess you need to decide if you want to live in a very large town (bournemouth or poole) or village - plus there are market towns like wimborne and ringwood that might suite

[GodRestYeMerryMummyLin]

I live in Bournemouth and would suggest Bransgore,Ringwood,Wimborne all nice small places to live if that is what you prefer.you have the added bonus in the summer at Wimborne having the folk festival which is great, and lasts 4 days. But In Bournemouth we have the beaches,the lovely parks,The air show and Thousands of visitors ,including lots of foreign students,there are good and bad schools around.Bournemouth has Grammar schools for boys and girls as well as several secondry schools,We also have a Uni here. From Bournemouth or any of the places i have mentioned really ,you can travel to some lovely surrounding places,such as Swanage,Lulworth,New Forest and many more.

[brimfull]

Hi , I live in Ringwood a market town about 10miles from Bournemouth.
Schools , primary and secondary are very good , outstanding according to ofsted

We have a waitrose and a sainsburys. There are quite a few mother and toddler groups but not sure what you mean by play centre. There is a play site /soft play thing at the local recreation centre.
Library is very good but not huge ,has good kids section which I think is going to be enlarged soon.

Quite good for teens as well as they are a bus ride away from bournemouth when they are old enough. grammar schools in Salisbury and Bournemouth also have bus pick up points in Ringwood.

House prices are high here but less than they were a few yrs ago.
4 bed family house about near us just sold for £312,000 a few months ago. It was on the market for ages for £350.000 so things are cheaper atm.

[GodRestYeMerryMummyLin]

i love getting to Ringwood when we are travelling back from anywhere ,i know i am nearly home then !

[tinalane]

I live in Bournemouth most of my life until I moved oop north a few years ago.

It all depends what you can afford. There are some nice places around the edges of Bournemouth & Poole.

Southbourne can be nice, Moordown is ok, both mid-priced areas, Wimborne is lovely but more expensive.

Ringwood & Fordingbridge are quite nice, but more pricey too.

If you are millionaires, Sandbanks & surrounding areas are lovely!

[MummylinQueenoftheslatterns]

my dd lives in Southbourne and my brother in Moordown ! i too am saving to move to Sandbanks !!! I want harry redknap for my neighbour

[dreamingofsun]

i'm not an expert on bournemouth as we live outside, but when we were thinking of buying a flat a few years ago people mentioned to look out for subsidence in southbourne - due to soil type - people still buy there - just be aware. some areas of boscombe are nice, but it was historically a red light district. it now has a new surf reef and lots of money being spent - so could be a good investment i guess. i'd be jumping for joy to be told i was relocating here

[MummylinQueenoftheslatterns]

i would not choose to live in Boscombe ,there are so many drug and drink related things ,though they have been trying to clean it up for a long while ,but its still there.

[Yendell1]

Thank you everyone for all the info. It's really difficult to even know where to begin when you are not familiar with the area.

You've definitely given us something to go on, and Ringwood sounds pretty interesting.

To be really honest, I'd love to live in a small village with a good primary school, but am conscious we will probably end up paying a premium for that - are there any suggestions you can make?

Thanks again, didn't expect to get so much info!!

[MummylinQueenoftheslatterns]

Cant help you with the schools in Ringwood ,i lived there for a while years ago,but had no children then.Its a lovely little place and they have a weekly market there,its also easy enough to get to Bournemouth either by car or by bus.

[Flamesparrow]

I'm in Charminster. I think given the choice I would move to Southbourne - nice and close to the beach, far enough from town centre to stop students etc. I would have to move DD's school with me though

[littlerach]

I grew up in Bournemouth and loved it

I lived in charminster as a teen (Hi Fame!)which was v handy for buses etc into town.

Southbourne is nice, close to beach but also local amentities good.

Ringwood is v nice,a nd I htink parts of Verwood good (also good first school there).

Dh and i do think of moving back there.

[MummylinQueenoftheslatterns]

ooh flame i wonder if you live near my brother,he lives in the main road where the buses go through from winton to charminster road !

[dreamingofsun]

one of the first schools in verwood is outstanding (and no doubt oversubscribed), and the middle school has been outstanding for last 2 ofsted reports. many children then go to queen elizabeth wimborne which has good ofsted report. verwood is slightly cheaper than ringwood and has very little character (keeps tourists away). small villages are more expensive and if you want land and anything with character thats more expensive again. not sure what you are looking for but 2 bed flats are around 150k and 3 bed houses 300k plus.

[dreamingofsun]

sorry meant to say 4 bed houses are 300k plus

[Flamesparrow]

yup v near

[PreRaphaeliteGirl]

There are a lot of nice small villages north west of Poole, not sure about schools though.

Also the New forest area has all nice villages. One of the nicest in Lyndhurst, also Brockenhurst.

[DelGirl]

Parts of Throop and Muscliff have a village feel and there are 2 excellent primary schools there. Epiphany & Muscliff which has an outstanding ofsted. 3 bed you're probably looking at £275 and 4 bed £300K hth

hi flame

[DelGirl]

prices as a minimum btw

[MummylinQueenoftheslatterns]

Throop is lovely.

[Jessiejane15]

Anyone living in Bournemouth, Christchurch, highcliffe area. Need some help as looking to move from Harrow. Also interested in good schools for Alevels.

[LeafyH]

Sorry to jump into this post, but we are considering moving to Bournemouth (from France, which is making the house hunting a bit difficult!), and have seen a house online in Alington Road BH3 - is this good area? Is there much going on nearby for a family with 3 young kids? Thanks for any replies!