If you live in south devon please help me plan our move

[Devondreaming]

We are a family of 6 living in London. We plan to move to devon which is where my husband is from but he has not lived there in over 25 years. The kids are aged 6-12 and have only ever lived in London.

We have fallen in love with two houses. One in Totnes, one in Ivybridge. We need to choose.

I’d go for Totnes as I like the town and it’s location between moor and coast. But I’m worried about KEVICC as the secondary school. Our eldest is in year 8 at a selective private secondary in London and is doing well there, KEVICC didn’t seem that academically or sportingly inspiring. I’d love to hear I’m wrong. Any views on KEVICC or Totnes in general?

The house in ivybridge is a total dream. But I’m less sold on the town. I liked the secondary school more though. What is living in Ivybridge like?

My husband and I want a community that will welcome us and the kids and have lots of interesting stuff going on.

Any tips or views?

@devondreaming - Thanks for taking the time to provide so much info. We do visit a lot, always have, and we have viewed a lot of houses and schools recently. But all in south devon. We are coming down again in a couple of weeks so will look at that estuary area around Exmouth.

Our eldest is 12 so not a teen yet and not quite aware of all that London has to offer once she gains more independence. Her passion is sailing so Devon excites her. She is also experimenting with wind surfing at the moment. We are used to driving out to Surrey to indulge these hobbies then sending her to camps all over the place so devon will be an exciting improvement for her.

@dobbythehouseelk - you probably have found the right Totnes house. We have viewed it twice and love it, the kids can walk into town safely and it’s just perfect. But maybe the town isn’t. We wouldn’t consider Newton abbot. My husband grew up around there and calls it Newton Armpit!

@Devondreaming sounds like the area will be great for your DD then! Exmouth especially is known as one of the top kite surfing places in the area (or country I think?) we have a sailing club and lots of opportunities to hire kayaks and paddle boards in the summer. The new building is going to focus on kite surfing I think but will have opportunities for all water sports. The marina by the estuary is beautiful but to be honest if I were to live in Exmouth I would choose 'Fox holes' area, on a hill overlooking the sea, rather expensive for Exmouth but stunning views, quiet and a paths that lead right to the beach. Definitely take a look at all areas in East Devon so you can see if it's for you, Colyton Grammer is a private secondary school close by, as well as ones in Exeter.

TBH, the areas surrounding Exeter sound better for you than Totnes. Look at Haven Banks for sailing opportunities for your daughter. Some of the outlying villages will give you the feel of being more rural if that's what you want.

Exeter will give you the shopping, rail travel, road links and airport that's the closest feel to London, without anywhere near the chaos of the capital. Also, the jobs market is relatively poor in Devon, so Exeter will give you more opportunities, depending on what you're looking for.

You can then travel east for the coast - Sidmouth, Budleigh, Exmouth or south for Torquay, Paignton, Brixham. Plus you've got Dartmoor nearby. All around 30 minutes drive from Exeter.

Thanks @peachbubble. I’ve spent the last hour reading up on the Exeter area and Exmouth etc and it’s definitely worth us exploring. The job market isn’t a huge issue as we would both commute to london for our part time work. DH would go up on a Monday morning and spend two nights each week in a London then come back Wednesday night and have the second half of the week off. I would work from home mainly and go up to the London office once a fortnight in the second half of the week when DH would be home. So being near a mainline station is important.

A vote for Sidmouth here. My dad, DSM and DSS live there and it's just lovely. There is a park called The Byes which runs either side of the river Sid almost all the way to the coast. This means you can live a bit further inland and walk all the way to the town itself through beautiful parkland.

The town itself always seems to be thriving even in the winter, my DSS grew up from 4 years old there and has always had an incredibly active social life. She has just been accepted into a top uni studying a STEM subject so I'm guessing her education was pretty good as well!

DSM is from London as well and is very happy in Sidmouth, she likes that she can commute easily from Honiton either into Exeter or back into London. She is well served by lovely little cafes, good restaurants and some decent shops as well.

When I lived near Newton Abbot it was known as “scabby carrot”.

@Devondreaming are you going to keep a home in London too? We did exactly what you are planning on doing. Have you discovered the Pullman dining car on the train? It makes the commute a whole lot nicer.

TBH Devon is great with pre teens, it's amazing being able to head to the beach whenever you fancy it, loads of attractions for little ones, plenty of outdoor activities. Compared to London, being able to afford a spacious home, a big garden with room for play equipment, maybe even have a pool, is fantastic. But if you are used to the London lifestyle, there is not so much for adults or teenagers (which I think exacerbates the issue with drugs in some places). I missed the variety a lot - being able to head to a gallery, seeing a film on the big screen that isn't a blockbuster, the theatre (that isn't an amdram performance of My Fair Lady or Jethro), going to talks and lectures, a choice of more than a handful of restaurants. Ironically, we ended up spending most of the school holidays in London as there was so much more to do, not just the sights but extra curricular activities for the DC (music and sports events). Obviously Devon has a huge amount to offer that London doesn't but the reverse is true too...

What do you love to do in London (or would love to do if you had the time) and what do you hope to be able to do in Devon that you can't do in London? If you tell us that, it would be easier to suggest a location.

Budleigh Salterton is nice and has a good community feel. I know someone who teaches at the primary school there and it sounds like a good school which has expanded recently. It even has a pool!

We went to the Budleigh carnival last year which was great fun. There is also the literary festival which always has things for kids and often food festivals too.

Just to add in a note - if you're going to be travelling to London for work you might want to have a look at how often the trainline south of Exeter floods and almost falls into the sea. Exeter is about the last city on the line where journey times are (mostly) guaranteed. And as other posters have said, you can get to Totnes and Dartmoor and the coast really easily from Exeter. Exmouth would also be a good location for you from the sound of it; it's a little bit more rough and ready than Exeter but there is a good community spirit and lots going on and again the transport links aren't bad. (And to be fair, Exeter is really quite a posh town in many ways! Or parts of it are.) Or if you want a villagey feel, what about somewhere like Lympstone?

It's all very well thinking about your DCs and schools, but you should think about other aspects of family life too. It's worth also thinking about transport links with the rest of the country, and even the county. I have many friends and acquaintances who live in Torbay and the South Hams, and they constantly complain about how long it can take to get out of south Devon, onto main roads like the A38, especially in the summer.

What about work? Are you self employed, independently wealthy? Finding good well paid jobs down here is not always straight forward.

Another problem is the large amount of new housing that is being planned for Devon, although most of it is around Exeter. However, many people are concerned that no other investment is being planned to match the increase in population, no new roads, no new hospital and school places and so on.

Yes there are some "quirky" types in Totnes. We moved here last October, both of us retired and so far we love it. We are in an area called Follaton and it's green hills and lovely walks everywhere. The high street is not all charity shops as someone else commented ,there a lot of individual shops on the high street to cater for all tastes. I think you get odd bods wherever you live,and the hippy type culture appeals to me anyway. Big vote for Totnes from me.

Totnes is amazing compared to Ivybridge. Much closer sense of community, provided you like the vibe and a more london like vibe. I don’t know about the schools though.

Just read your update re commute. It’s worth looking at the flight from Exeter too.

A friend has a house in Ivybridge, and they don't want to stay having been there decades. Loads more houses are going to be built without the corresponding infrastructure.

Another friend has a place in Modbury and her 2 ds's went to Devonport High for Boys, and thence both to Cambridge. Mobury seems far nicer than either Ivybridge or Totnes.

Kingsbridge is better and the secondary school is meant to be v good. Depends how much you want going on though, the whole area is pretty dead outside of the touristy stuff tbh.

Noss Mayo is lovely. Great pub. Picturesque. No idea about schools and not much there though.

Totnes IS full of charity shops. There’s
Save the children
Air ambulance
Oxfam
Scopes
British heart foundation and
Rowcroft
Considering Totnes is just one high street - that is a lot.
Does “quirky” include the heroin addicts on Vire Island?

Noss Mayo is very pretty, but it has a high percentage of second homes and everyone I know who lives there is an old buffer . It's also right next to Sherford new town.

Villages around Exmouth, clyst st George, Woodbury etc? You'd be crazy with a commute to London to be too far from Exeter at David's.... Totnes would be a shocking commute

I like Totnes and the schools are fine.

I know the area very well as I grew up there and went to one of the grammar schools.

Ashburton and Bovey Tracey are a bit off the beaten track.

Also, are you completely aware of how massively busy it gets in the summer? You cannot get anywhere, the roads are terrible and in common with everywhere else they are building more and more houses. But there's nowhere to spread out to when you are so near the coast.

East Devon is quieter and has decent schools (not just Colyton) and Exeter is a lovely city to live in and if you have a London house budget, well you can afford something wonderful. If I were moving back I would go to Exeter.

Oh and if you are in Exeter you don't have to take your chances with the section of rail near Dawlish either.

Newton Abbot is ok but losing the M&S there has't helped. It has better shops than the affluent "naice" Hampshrie town I live in!

Sounds like you've got the budget for west hill.

Just coming back to this to say thank you for all your advice. We have just spent several days in Devon and are putting an offer in on an amazing house in Dittisham. It’s more expensive than we hoped but it has two cottages we can rent out to holiday makers so it’s has unexpected income and it’s just the dream house. It’s also close to lots of places for our daughter to sail. Now just trying to contact secondary schools to fathom our options.

I love totnes and used to have a stall on the market there . Look at Brixham , really up and coming doing very well , turning into Devon's answer to padstow or similar x