Moving to Canterbury

[Bouham]

Hello
We are a family with 3 kids (1 secondary school, 2 primary). We have lived in south east for over 20 years and now decided to move to Canterbury as our daughter got a place in Canterbury Girls Grammar School. We are really struggling to decide which area we should buy/rent as we are not familiar with Canterbury and surroundings. Would anyone please be able to give us some honest advice of which places we should look at and which we should avoid.
Some point to take into consideration:

• we are family oriented and we want a family friendly are
• looking for a safe place as we travel a lot and obviously you want your mind at rest when not around
• good schools (primary)
• feasible commute to Simon Langtons GGS is a must
• I need to commute to central London for work (may be one/twice a week)

we have these places in mind:
canterbury central, wincheap, chartham and herne bay...

we really need to honest advice pleeeease

thanks a million

Ditto about villages my daughters friends are trapped by lack of transport in villages in the evening & at weekends!

Or choose a village near train or decent bus route 😉

If you’re thinking villages then I’d definitely look at Bridge, Kingston or Barham as they’re all on the 17 bus route which is fairly regular (once an hour or so). Bridge has lots of buses so very well connected plus easy to get into Canterbury and you can also get the train to London from Bekesbourne without going into the city.

The snow isn’t that bad, you might want a 4 wheel drive if you’re in one of the smaller villages but we lived in Kingston for 15 years and were never totally cut off in snow. You can usually make it up to the A2 quite easily.

Other villages to look at would be Lower Hardes and Stelling Minnis but buses are less reliable

If you don't already live here how did you get your daughter into SLGS? Places are like gold dust !

I'd said rough common too, can walk into Canterbury from there too, Blean just a bit too far out

We moved 2 years ago from SE London to one of the aforementioned villages on the 17 bus route from Canterbury to Folkestone. About a 20 minute drive to to DHs work at Kent & Canterbury hospital which is very near the Simon Langton schools. Means I also have an easy drive to Ashford which is the quickest nearby station in to London.

Happy to DM if you want more precise info!

Well I would say there are some nice areas in Herne Bay, ie Beltinge and Bishopstone to name a couple. Chestfield is lovely but fairly expensive. Whitstable nice but super pricey and full of Londoners at weekends . We are in a village in Thanet, right by the sea. Some local children get the bus to SLGS. I would avoid driving into central Canterbury at most times of day, it's so busy. There's shops, woods, beaches, nice villages etc all around. Decide what your priorities are and go from there. Also check out the crime on Kent Police website when you have a place in mind. I love where we live and have the sea at the end of the road

Thanks Turnedouttoes, DappledThings and springlike for the detailed info
Thanks everyone for your help, I am in a better position to re-start my search ...
@ bigchris - destiny
Long and tough process of appealing ...

You can't go wrong with Kent

How about Saint Nicholas-at-Wade Birchington?

I love Canterbury.

Sadly, I live in Ashford as it's about a million times more convenient for commuting to London, but if I did live in Canterbury, I'd look for a house on Old Dover or New Dover Road, or the area towards the Kent & Canterbury Hospital. That's near Wincheap, but much nicer. Very convenient for Simon Langton, and decent for Canterbury West Station, although you might get stuck in traffic on the ring road if you don't time things well.

I would also consider the triangle between Whitstable Road and St Stephen's Hill, and some of Hales Place, but making sure I'm not surrounded by student houses on all sides because... noise. You can walk to Canterbury West from anywhere around there.

Rough Common is also a good option. Slightly further out though, and high up on the hill, so if you were planning to bike to the station, you're going to have to get quite fit!

Blean or Bridge are good options outside of town. I lived in Blean for a while and loved being half way between Canterbury and Whitstable.

By the way - Herne Bay, Whitstable and co will make your commute to London very, very long. Steer clear.

@Bouham
St Nicholas is lovely. Very quiet, great primary school and 2 pubs. Other children go to SLGS from there on the bus. Nearest bigger villages are both Minster and Birchington. Birchington is my favourite
No train station at St Nics though. 5 mins drive to Birchington and Minster, both on main lines to London.

Yes, St Nicholas, Sarre or a bit further along Chislet and Hoath (not as far as Hersden or Sturry though!) are all good, good primary schools too. Bus service to school not bad but there’s only really one route in to town so any problems along it and you’re a bit stuck. SLGGS is a fabulous school, both my DDs are there and love it. One thing I’d say, if your DD will be getting a bus to school at any point, avoid HB, not for the ridiculous comments made earlier, but the journey is too long. We live in a village not far from Reculver and I used to drop mine at the station in HB so I could get the train and they could get the school bus. They’d catch it at 7.20 and not arrive til 8.40. Really crowded too. Public buses are available but they’d have to either change bus in Canterbury or walk to school from the bus station, either of which takes time, taking into account after school clubs and activities that end after the school buses have finished running and it can take and hour and a half to get home. Whitstable isn’t much better in that regard. It’s only since lockdown and them studying at home that we’ve all realised how much of their day is travelling. Also, as it’s not a ‘local’ school your DD will make friends with girls from lots of the surrounding towns and villages and unless you’re central it is really difficult for them to have a social life without the intervention of mums/dads cabs. If budget allows I’d try to get somewhere as close as possible to the school, near the hospitals, or a quirky townhouse right in the city. If you’re set on a village location somewhere like Bridge or Patrixbourne that are very near (good primary too) would be good, though you’d probably still have to drive your DD around a bit as the bus service won’t be as good as direct from the city centre bus station. You’ll have to get across town to Canterbury West for the fast trains, but if you’re not doing it too often it’s not that bad. Good luck and your DD is going to love school!!

A bit further out.. Westgate on Sea is lovely... My son lives there. Its a beautiful seaside town /village... Has a railway station too.

Hales Place - HUGE student populated area because it's proxity to University of Kent and now Canterbury Christchurch University College has expanded many of the LA built housing is buy to rent for students. I wouldn't buy there but maybe OP you need to come down in the car and do a drive round the areas now people have mentioned a few?

proximiity not proxity (might've just made up a new word there though)

@springlikeThanks ! Sounds all good...
@Judashascomeintosomemoney
Great to hear +ve views on the school. And yes I should be looking at places near the school to start with until we are more familiar with the surroundings and may be move a bit farther away near the coast
I just hope we will find a place :-( I am starting to worry as it is already July and nothing that we like/fit for purpose is available at the moment...
Thanks All!!

I love Westgate on Sea.

@MsSweary
Yes we should do it again as now Everyone suggested a lot of places (thanks again everyone!!) We have been around Wincheap, hospital area, SLGGS and Herne bay.
Obviously now it is less crowded because of lockdown and I imagine on a normal day/life traffic will be an issue...
I think it is now easy for me to decide if we find a place whether or not we should go for it based on the wonderful comments everyone helped with

@MsSweary I call it my second home... I love the fact there are so many little shops, Dry Cleaners, Grocers, Florist, Electric Shop, Cinema etc... Ds2 loves the fact that he knows everyone. He has a learning disability and moved into his own flat last year... Everyone knows him and keeps an eye on him... 💙

I love Canterbury. Two children been to uni there so sort of know it well. Wincheap is a bit rough but the a lot of Canterbury is student housing really. The part by the hospital has some lovely houses though. My two have lived on Sturdy Road, Wincheap and Hales Place - they've all been rough and studenty so I'd say avoid those.

Near the hospital if you can afford it (which I guess you can if you are selling up in London) Old Dover/New Dover Road
Villages: Barham & Bridge

With your budget it's going to be better to come and rent for a bit, the nicest family houses don't come up very often.
Then you can decide if it's better to be nearer the school/centre of your dc or in the villages for more space & quiet.

I'm not a fan of Whitstable, but it might be your sort of thing, lots of 'Down from Londeners' who can afford to buy a bigger place in Whitstable than they could in London.
The teenagers do hang out in the beach and get pissed (fair enough, it's what I did as a kid) and it's not very posh - Barham & Bridge are better for that.

@KittyHawke80
Aylesham- I need advise? What is wrong with it? There is a potential place there which looks nice but I am worried if the place if not safe ...
I checked travel wise to school and it seems fine (10 mns drive)
Didn’t look yet at travelling to London ...
Please advise me

Aylesham can sometimes be unfriendly to outsiders moving in.

Inside Canterbury the area around Old/New Dover Roads and the hospital as mentioned are lovely. I would also look in the St Dunstan's area which is close to the centre and very close to the fast train. St Stephen's is similar. Inside the city walls it differs road by road. If you see any houses you're thinking of share them (or their roads) here and we can tell you about them.

Bridge, Blean, Tyler Hill, Fordwich, Chartham all lovely villages. Bridge is on the wrong side of town for the train but it's absolutely beautiful. The latter 2 are one train stop from Canterbury but the others are a bus, drive, or walk from the centre and fast train.

I would avoid Wincheap, Thanington, Sturry Road, and Hales Place personally.

Oh, and from Aylesham you can get the train to Canterbury East but the fast train to London actually leaves from Canterbury West and the two stations are not near each other.

@Beachhuts90
Thanks a lot, v useful info!
At the moment no place on the horizon except the one in Ayleshm ...
I think we definitely will visit when the weather is nice to have a feel of the different areas/villages mentioned but I won’t hesitate to ask if anything comes up (I am dependent on everyone’s previous advice).

Thanks all!

@MrFaceyRomford

Can I just voice my agreement regarding Herne Bay. My family come from there. I'm in Wiltshire. There's a reason for that.

I take it you are not living in Swindon then.