Relocation to Dorset/Hampshire

[SusieW1978]

Hi Mummies, after a recent holiday to Dorset, my DH and I reopened a conversation that we have several times a year about relocation. We currently live in greater London, within 30 mins of central London and with our friends all around us. Both of our families have moved away, so our friends are our support network. Despite being generally happy, we really crave a slower pace of life and it would be lovely for our children to have more family nearby. We are in love with the coast and the country side and like the idea of Dorset or Hampshire, as it's within 2-3 hrs of our friends, but much closer to my side of the family. We have two children, who are both in lower primary school. They are settled and happy, but I don't think it'd be too unsettling to uproot them at this age. What I want to know is whether any of you have made a smilier move and how it went. Whether Dorset or Hampshire are good for growing families, including teenagers. What areas you would recommend? Would it be difficult to get my children into good schools? Sorry, my head is all over the place and I'd appreciate any advise you may have. Thank you

I was born in Dorset and lived in Hampshire all my life. I honestly love and have no desire to live anywhere else. I’m located close to both the New Forest and coast and love the fact that it’s so easy to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle.
There are plenty of good schools about and direct lines to London with Southampton and Bournemouth Airports both proving handy. Only down side is some of the tourist traps block up the roads in summer, but you learn what bits to avoid and when.

I'm from the Midlands originally and via a few West Country moves landed here in Dorset about 15mins north of Poole.
I'd recommend it all day long.

We moved to Dorset 26 years ago. We have learned to avoid the crowds in the summer. Our DS was not quite 1 when we moved. Schools are good. He went to Bournemouth UNI which is great.
We wouldn't move anywhere else.
We have the New Forest, beaches, and Jurassic Coast.

Thanks for all your comments. No one ever has a bad word to say about it. Ideally we'd be somewhere in between Dorset and Hampshire.... maybe Ringwood? We're ideally looking for a rural town or village.

We relocated from the south east to mid Dorset about 10 years ago and absolutely love it. The schools where we are are fabulous. Think about teenagers though, public transport is very limited outside the towns. Be prepared to do a lot of driving generally. Ringwood is a pretty town but very noisy with the A31.

Agree about knowing where to avoid in tourist times - no westward A35 on a Friday afternoon!

Been at the Wessex Folk Festival today at Weymouth- absolutely lovely!

I live in Christchurch and it is lovely here, right on the cusp of the new forest but we love about 3 minutes walk from the beach in the photo attached. Some excellent schools here. If you wish to be a little more rural then Lyndhurst or Burley are lovely and just in the new forest but not super far away from the towns.

Bournemouth and Poole have bad traffic issues all year round, which is made worse during the busy summer months.

Ringwood is nice enough but it does feel a bit close to the A31. I know it does have a popular secondary school though.

Lymington is lovely and children are encouraged to learn to sail at yacht club if they wish. Good private and state schools.

Depends what your budget is. Hampshire and Dorset have very expensive areas. I live in South West Hampshire. Where we live isn’t picturesque but I love the area and schools in Hampshire are generally very good. You can get to some lovely places for day trips and easy holidays but we are near cinemas/theatre/motorways for seeing family and an hour from London on the train.

I would also think about teenage years, buses etc!

Ringwood is literally a few minutes from the new forest. It's definitely not noisy unless you literally live next to the main road.

It's a beautiful place and the secondary school is fantastic. It's got plenty of little coffee shops and restaurants, endless pubs in the forest very close by to explore.

Plus with young kids moors valley is amazing. Get an annual car pass if you do go regularly- well worth it!

It's also really not that far from decent shopping such as castle point on the edge of Bournemouth or west quay, Southampton. Bournemouth itself for shopping is not so good these days imo but lots of nice beach cafes and restaurants to go to.

I don't think you'd regret it. We often drive to Southampton to get the train into London and it's really not long at all.

Hi OP,

We relocated to Dorset after being in London our whole lives. DS is 7 this year and we moved about a year and a half ago, first we was in Bridport (very rural) and now Poole. The area is lovely and definitely a much better way of life BUT with ds being so young the ruralness really wasn’t great for us, we got on fine and really liked the area and the school was brill but found myself looking back and thinking god how did we do it ( when we eventually moved to Poole) I couldn’t imagine staying so rural! I’m sure that’s just the London In us.

There are certain things about city life that we miss sometimes crave but generally it’s a nice way to live.

Often I find myself thinking people down here are so weird but again I think that’s because I’m so used to the harsh way of the city.

If you have the means to travel around and actually enjoy what Dorset has to offer then go for it but it can be quite a lonely life if you or your DC don’t make many friends at first etc

I'm from Dorset but moved away at 18. Moved from Surrey back to Dorset 5 years ago. Not one modicum of regret.

Ringwood is lovely and great schools.

Agree with PP re: Ringwood and traffic. It depends where you’ll be working... getting into and around Bournemouth during rush hour is a nightmare! I’d recommend Lyndhurst (you can get down to the Jurassic coast very easily at the weekends but you’re a really easy trip into Southampton for shopping cinemas etc.). I’d say it has a lovely balance between village life and not feeling being so rural that your children can’t make friends and have independent social lives as they get older. Possibly recommend looking at Lyndhurst, Burley, Brockenhurst, Ashurst, Lymington, Beaulieu.

My mum lives in Bournemouth and its lovely, but take care with schools though. Some school catchment areas are better than others, particularly for secondary. Schools in Christchurch are great. So are some in Poole. Once you get further west than Poole you might start to feel a bit cut off. I’d look around Christchurch personally.

You’d be in good company with lots of other Londoners and people from other cities. DD was desperate to leave home as found it too quiet but a year at University has made her appreciate the benefits and she now is happy coming back every so often and misses it after a few months.

Sense of community can be really good depending where you are . A friend is very seriously ill and says she’s blown away at the support they’ve had, people coming round late at night so they didn’t need to take a trip to A and E, helping sort physio, OT etc. We had been vaguely thinking of moving away when both DC leave home and I guess still might but very unlikely, that conversation really made me think.

Unfortunately Bournemouth and Poole still do have the grammar/secondary modern system. Christchurch does have a very well regarded comprehensive school.

South Hampshire is so lovely, you've got the Solent where kids can join sailing clubs, but also beautiful countryside, think the Meon valley. Also you're not far from the New Forest. Anywhere along the Portsmouth/Southampton corridor would be good. The Fareham area which is about half-way between the two has lots going for it. Or for commuting into London Winchester is great, although expensive. There are many new estates springing up too, Boorley Green being an example. A truly lovely area.

We moved from Reading to Poole a few years ago. Yes, traffic can be bad, but is still less horrendous than Reading (and will get better once the latest set of road works are finished). We LOVE it. There's a sense of community, my kids go to a good school, we're about 30mins walk from the beach, we have a bigger house for a lower mortgage.

I miss my friends, and family are a bit further away, but they come and visit quite often.

I wouldn't go back.

Wow, thank you all for your fantastic advise. I think DH and I will have a weekend away soon, where we can visit all the areas you have suggested. I’m feeling very positive about a change of life. Although leaving friends, the traffic and public transport issues are a bit of a concern, I’m hoping the positives will outweigh the negatives.

The traffic in Lyndhurst is terrible, think all the caravans! A friend of mine commutes into Bournemouth and the traffic is terrible. Winchester is great but property is very expensive and again the traffic is pretty bad.

I would think your choice depends on available jobs, I wouldn’t want to drive huge distances to work

Long way off yet but if you do Hampshire you escape the Grammar system and have good sixth form colleges.

Traffic can be a massive issue around Ringwood, Lyndhurst. What about Wellow, Romsey or Stockbridge in Hampshire good schools, good traffic links, great community feel not far to the beach/new forest

we moved here about 30 years ago from London. The grammar system works well if your children are bright enough (operates in poole and bournemouth, not dorset) , and the sixth form at ringwood school is excellent (though they have a new head now). some schools arent so good and you can struggle to get kids into good schools depending where you live.

the main issue here is good quality, well paid jobs. what work do you do? you will be ok if you work in the public sector or retail or tourism. otherwise we have only survived because i already worked for a large multinational company who let me relocate and my husband normally works away during the week