HOW EASY IS IT TO LIVE IN EXETER AND WORK IN TORQUAY

[brilly]

I am hoping to start working in Torquay. Will relocate with wife and 2 kids of starting secondary schools. I have not got good reviews about Torquay so we intend to live in Exeter..

How feasible is living in Exeter and commuting to Torquay.
Where are the nice places to live and the good secondary schools.

Thanks

Torquay has grammar schools

Super easy. 30 mins good run. Busier in summer. Visit before you decide, Torbay is beautiful when you look beyond the obvious bits. Ask if you have questions.

Torquay is like most places, there are nice areas and not so nice areas. As someone said there are good grammar schools if your children would be interested in them. Actually lots of the kids at the grammars get the train from Exeter to Torquay, if you happen to be near Torre station at about 8.30 you will see lots of them streaming up towards the schools.

I don't know Exeter well enough to recommend areas, it has a decent shopping centre, lots of students from the university and the RD&E hospital seems good.

I used to do that commute by train - exquisite scenery but an absolute bastard of a journey when you're clock watching. Not keen on Exeter, it's a soulless place (but there are lovely towns and villages in East Devon). There are some beautiful vair posh areas around Torquay (Wellswood, St Marychurch, Shaldon) and the coast is just lovely.

It’s doable but may be congested if you drive, especially in the summer months. As others have said, don’t discount Torquay and environs to live unless you’re especially keen to live in a city. The town centre is run down but the marina area is okay and there is some beautiful scenery towards Shaldon.

Exeter is quite thriving, but I agree it's a bit soulless. How about Newton Abbot or Kingsteignton, Kingskerswell etc.? You're in between then.

It’s very easy!
I worked with colleagues who never complained about the commute in either direction. Homes in Devon are very expensive though.

Look at Chudleigh which is a nice small market town and a straightforward commute to Exeter & Torquay. Easy reach to Dartmoor & plenty of local shops or visiting pop ups like Farmers Market.

Exeter has a beautiful cathedral, a thriving and lovely museum, plenty of quality shops, a brand new bus station & St Sidwells Point swimming pools which opened April 29th. It’s a Roman city & has some lovely historical attributes & the beautiful River Exe adds a recreational dimension many cities don’t have.

The Uni students add a youthful vibe & the beach at Exmouth & Dartmoor are easily reached. Exeter Quay has eateries & lovely walks. I could go on!

For commute purposes from Exeter, look at the Alphington area. It’s the right side of the river for easy reach to the A38 Expressway & onwards to Torquay.

You’ll love it BUT if you can, avoid the new towns which are springing up esp in East Devon. Architecturally the houses are without much character but each to his own & I appreciate families need homes.

You’d have to be on the right side of Exeter to drive to Torquay each day. Getting through Exeter can take longer than the drive down to the coast.
Don’t look at Newton Abbot as a place to live, it’s not great. Have a look at the Torquay schools, the grammar schools have a good reputation.
If you do choose Exeter consider the train for commuting, far less stressful.

I would look at Totnes or Dartmouth and the towns/villages to the west unless you really want a bigger town. The commute across Exeter used to be bad 20 years ago, no idea what it is like now but I assume it hasn't improved. I remember being stuck for ages every morning crossing the River Exe on the swing bridge. There is a lack of roads to cross the river so available routes tend to be busy.

What rot that Exeter is a soulless place!

Exeter is a lovely place to live, much nicer than Torquay, in my opinion

PP are right, stick to the side of Exeter closer to the A380, like Alphington, or perhaps Kennford area. Driving across Exeter can be a ball ache.

OP, you need to give us a better idea of what your criteria are and your house budget so we can make better suggestions.

Totnes is a good shout, about 40 minutes away by car. It’s got a strong community of committed environmentalists/cargo bikers/Crystal worshippers/home schoolers. It’s a pretty town and the surrounding scenery is great.
Travelling from Exeter by car, I hate the last bit of road to Torquay via Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton. Traffic can back up for more than an hour and I regularly take the coast road instead
Wellswood/Warberry is a genteel part of Torquay that most people would want to live in.
I have a timeshare in Hesketh Crescent.

I wouldn't describe it as soulless ,what an odd comment!

I'm currently living in Totnes which is very nice and about 10-15 minutes from Torquay. It's very expensive though but a lovely town to live in. The local high school seems good but very relaxed - this is Totnes after all - so it depends what you are looking for.

I am a supply teacher here. I'd avoid living in, or sending your children, to school in Newton Abbott; none of the schools there are great to be honest and the town is pretty run down. Torquay Academy is quite a nice school - seems well organised and behaviour generally good. There is a grammar school in Torquay too but I haven't worked there.

I think commuting from Exeter is doable - depends what kind of lifestyle you have in mind. Where are you moving from? What are the children used to?

Also Topsham on the edge of Exeter really is lovely.

...and it's the right side of Exeter, on the way to Torquay.

There are loads of nice places to love that are within an easy commute of Torquay but it's expensive.

*live

Exeter is very nice

Travel between Torquay and Exeter is essentially fine due to the A380 - it's a fairly quick run between the two but it's the traffic in Exeter that slows you down. It can be gridlocked all over the place. I often have to go from Torbay hospital to RD&E hospital for work and it's the traffic around Exeter that is the worst, often takes me an hour.

I live in Teignmouth which is half way between the two and it's lovely. Can see the sea from my house (beauty of hilly town). Commute is 25 mins to Torbay and masses of people bring their kids each day and drop them at the grammar schools.

Depends what you're after though. I wouldn't live in Exeter, Totnes or Newton and I know plenty of people who don't like Teignmouth / Shaldon / Dawlish either!

I wouldn't describe it as soulless ,what an odd comment!
It's was once rated the worst example of a 'clone town' in the country with just one independent high street store (which has since closed). It's a useful and well connected place but not one l ever warmed to in 20 years of living in East Devon.

Totnes is either heaven or hell depending if you fit in. They don't call all the eco warriors rainbow nazis for nothing. I lost it when a mother told me she wasn't prepared to do anything about her child repeatedly spreading lice round the class as lice have a right to live, not on my head they don't.

It's funny, I've never warmed to Exeter and everyone looks at me like I'm mad as it is popular. I just don't feel comfortable there but I couldn't tell you why, I'm amazed to find people who feel the same as it is normally my guilty secret.

Exeter “soulless”

If you can afford it Topsham is nice. There are some lovely areas in Exeter. Even Torquay has some nice bits (and so does Newton Abbot - fantastic housing stock). I also like Totnes and Teignmouth. Teignmouth has a fairly decent shopping centre for its size.

To answer your actual question, it is very easy to get from Exeter to Torquay now due to the Kingskerswell bypass "South Devon expressway" finally opening in 2015 (I think). I hate the last bit of road to Torquay via Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton this is no longer a problem and the Kingsteignton bit has had a bypass since the 1970s!