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

[slinkysaluki]

I never said the whole of Essex i said Thurrock earlier in the thread

[slinkysaluki]

L'Escargot is awful sorry i wont ever eat in there again, the proprietor is rude to staff in front of customers, no wonder they have such a high staff turnover

[slinkysaluki]

Mrs Slocombe comes to mind

[slinkysaluki]

Would still be interested in where the haters live....

[KittyHawke80]

'I moved from Essex which really is a craphole . . . '

She was vile. We stopped going in the end. Bloody good food nine times out of ten, but I can't abide restaurant owners snapping at staff.

[KittyHawke80]

Egerton. Fifteen minutes outside Ashford.

[Racheyg]

@slinkysaluki
I did t mean to slag off Herne bay if it came across that way. I grew up always wanting to move out. Nothing to do with the area. My friends all in their 30's still live there and love it.

I like visiting but couldn't live back as my kids are in good schools and I want them to grow up in a big city, something I never got the chance to do.

Ds1 has already said he plans to study at Canterbury university 😂

[Sparklfairy]

People slagging off Herne Bay, I grew up there myself and I think it's the people you know that make it the worse. There's some really rough people that were in my social circle. Then five years later my (different) herne bay friends are the sort of naice people you'd more associate with Whitstable Crime etc is really down to who you mix with a lot of the time. I had many a drunken walk home from Herne Bay very late at night with no issues (not suggesting you should do that but I never felt unsafe!).

The problems with Herne Bay for you OP is that there's nothing really there. Some lovely restaurants, but you can get them in any neighbouring town, and the same with the seaside, and imo most of East Kent's public transport network needs overhauling. It's overpriced, infrequent and unreliable and doesn't lend itself to a good social life outside of school as the journeys are long. I went to SLGS and left the house at 7 and was back after 5pm. Any 'going into town' after school made it so difficult to get back.

[slinkysaluki]

Kittyhawke it really was an experience going to L'Escargot to say the least ! Food not bad but as you say vile woman, that alone put me off, and the fact that the restaurant looked like a decrepit set from Robins Nest bistro lol

[slinkysaluki]

Have no idea where Egerton is so cant comment, Assuming you mean Ashford in Kent, i like the designer outlet

[slinkysaluki]

Rachey no worries, i guess everyone has an opinion. Like i mentioned, its s whole lot nicer than my home town

[Elderflower14]

I visit Herne Bay as I have friends there and my son volunteers at their lovely Cat Cafe... There aren't a great deal of shops.

[slinkysaluki]

Elderflower unfortunately the rents are very high, a lot of businesses have gone because of it.

Cat Cafe i know it but not been in there

[KittyHawke80]

Well, you asked, so I answered. It's pretty nice, tbh, although I live in by far the most modest part. Most of the houses are around the 800,000 mark: mine is . . . not.
'L'Escargot' had a very 'Robin's Nest' feel, you're bang on. Although I didn't mind that as I'm quite a big fan of nostalgic 70s sitcoms in general and Richard O'Sullivan in particular. But she was dreadful. Just re-read a few TripAdvisor reviews and it doesn't sound like much has changed; still making waitresses cry. Poor little sausages. I'm surprised anyone will work there.

[slinkysaluki]

Kittyhawke i love the old sitcoms as well. The Good Life etc. I guess its part of the restaurants charm 😄

Yes my friends daughter worked as a waitress there, she was really nasty to her. Unnecessary. They do go through staff. Surprised the place is still open to be honest

Sounds nice where you live anyway.

[KittyHawke80]

Well, I like it. Lots probably wouldn't. It's a bit insular; bit gossipy. But snobby, I suppose. At any rate, I apologize for calling HB a craphole. I did want to make the OP very aware of the undeniable delinquent problem, but I accept I got a bit strident.

I'm not taking anything back about Aylesham, so if there are any Ayleshamites out there - don't bother 😂

[slinkysaluki]

You are entitled to your opinion. Aylesham, i worked at the school there for a while. Its like a huge estate dumped in the middle of nowhere really. Shame theres some really nice houses there

[slinkysaluki]

Apologies to the OP i seem to have hijacked your thread 🙄

[ChetChet]

I know HB well enough. (One of my first jobs as a teen was waitress at L'Escargot! Had completely forgotten about that until this thread popped up) i think I did no more than 2 or 3 shifts before refusing to go back. The owners were so flipping rude. Sad to hear that no only are they still going but given how long they've been in business for, they should really know better.

Anyway, I don't live there anymore but I remember the fun times of summer evenings spent with mates down near the quieter end of Hampton seafront, hanging around by the little shelters.
Small town though and it was hard finding part time work as a student. Loved the Thai resturant but I was been Tim closed down years ago. Fond memories of student nights at Canterbury Uni though. Is Merchant and Chandler still there? And Siesta? Haven't visited Cantas in yonks.

[ChetChet]

I was been = I was told

[KittyHawke80]

Siesta is, and seems to do a fairly brisk trade in rain sticks, incense, felted pixie hoods and loo rolls with Trump's face on. Both Merchant Chandlers are long gone, I'm afraid.

[KittyHawke80]

I've certainly done some derailing. I'm going to step back and shut my big gob for a bit!

[slinkysaluki]

Oh i liked Merchant Chandler and Siesta still there.

I like Canterbury, im into history so find it fascinating. Greyfrairs, the old Pilgrims Hospital, St Augustines

[slinkysaluki]

Will shut up
Now 😀

[Racheyg]

Sorry can I just ask who remembers the biz? I spent many nights at that club in Canterbury.

And buddies bar where we used to write on the walls in the toilets with white board pens?

Am I showing my age?

Op, I had a great childhood growing up in Herne bay but when you get to teenager it's very limited and you can mix with the wrong crowds.