Move to Christchurch, New Milton, Shaftesbury, Sherborne OR Trowbridge

[Nuttymama83]

Hi,

I hope Mumsnet's fountain of knowledge can help us!! We are looking to move to a new area with good secondary schools, nice countryside and good amenities to raise our children. After a lot of researching and visiting places, we finally found a place that felt right and seemed to tick a lot of our boxes, which was the Christchurch/Mudeford/Highcliffe area. We absolutely love the area and it seems to have good schools, countryside and lots of activities, plus being near the beach. However, I'm not sure we could afford the house we need around there. Our budget is absolute max £450k and need 4 beds or 3 bed/office and a quiet garden is very important to us. So, considering this we have also looked at Sherborne and Shaftesbury, which both seem lovely towns but I'm not sure if they have as much going on (i.e. would the kids get bored) and are further away from the coast, but I think the houses are better value for money. And lastly, we are considering Trowbridge for what you can get for your money, so also wondering if anybody has any insight into what it's like living there, such as if it's safe, good secondary school, things to do, countryside and a nice place to bring up kids? We are quite flexible where we move to and not tied to job locations; we love the countryside but don't want to be too remote so the kids have good transport links to get around.

Ideally, we really liked how close Christchurch was near to nice beaches, so we are open to suggestions for other similar towns near nice beaches that might be more affordable? E.g. what is New Milton like and is it more affordable?

Apologies, I've realised I've written an essay, but, we would really appreciate any advice as we are visiting again in a couple of days for a week and need to make a decision then - eek.

Many many thanks in advance xx

Having lived in Gillingham and Shaftesbury since the age of 19 and now living just outside Sherborne I would recommend Sherborne over Shaftesbury.

Shaftesbury is lovely, not as pricey as Sherborne but there is nothing to do that doesn't involve Young Farmers for teens and little to do for adults. Even the sweaty ceiling local £1 a shot nightclub closed down years ago. There is little to no public transport of any worth and you need to drive to get anywhere really.

Sherborne has a much better high street and most importantly has a mainline train station with which you can get to Salisbury, Yeovil, Taunton, Exeter, Bath (needs a change or two) and the coast. It has more for teens to do and easier for them to get to other places as well.

The Gryphon in Sherborne is supposed to be excellent, in fact it was our first choice for DS who has SEN but we were rejected in distance grounds so we are going to Gillingham in September instead.

Whichever you choose, I'm sure you'll love it. I moved here with my mum from Reading and I absolutely adore it, we don't have Uber, JustEat or any sort of phone reception but I couldn't think of a nicer place to raise my kids.

That's two of us in agreement! Not Westbury either.

That's not such a good area. My picks would be Broadstone/Corfe Mullen, or Parkstone south of Ashley Road.

Southbourne is good. Houses do have gardens, I find it a bit built up, but the houses tend to be spacious.

Does it still have the drug problem it had when I lived in Wilts?

Think you’d struggle to get a decent 4 bed in Sherborne for £450k the market here is so hot right now. The cheapest one on rightmove is £475k.
We moved late last year and two comparable houses in our street have sold for £60k and £110k more than we paid for ours in the meantime…

Is there any particular reason why you’ve discounted Bournemouth and Poole? There are nice areas, with good schools in both. There are also good grammar schools in both if that’s something you could be interested in.

I know it's not on your list but we live in Warminster. Great train links (Bath, Bristol, Salisbury) and an hour by car to Christchurch. A small market town with lovely countryside all around. Great secondary school.

This. I grew up a few miles away and went to college in Trowbridge. It was fine for college but I’d not choose to live there…..

If you want a market town with decent community and secondary schools then check out Ringwood- classic market town with plenty of shops, cafe’s etc, seems to be growing also e.g. have just opened a SweatyBetty and some fancy new coffee shops. Fair amount for kids also- good carnival, fireworks etc, several gyms/sports centres. The school is well regarded and the kids always seem pleasant when out and about.

£450k would get you want you need in some of the more modern parts of town but less so in the period homes in the centre of town. However most places are walkable to the centre and bus links to Bournemouth and Salisbury are good for teens.

I grew up in the New Forest and had a fair balance of spending time in the forest/beaches but easy access to towns/cities (Southampton also easily accessible for shopping/theatre/trains to London) whereas my cousins from Shaftesbury go to things like Young Farmers and struggle for places to go.

@LadyFlumpalot Thank you! We did really like Sherbourne when we visited and it felt very safe, so it's still on our list :). Thank you for your realistic view on Shaftesbury. I think we are scrubbing that one off now, but still a nice to place visit :) xx

@NewForestAndBeaches Yes, that's what I initially thought of Southbourne, but we only briefly visited and didn't see the high street so will go back there. Thank you for the other two suggestions, we will check them out too :) xx

No worries

@Jammymare Thanks for info, that's good to know! Yeah house prices have rocketed here too but it seems to have calmed down a bit now, up here anyway xx

I know Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Dorchester and Weymouth well.

Sherborne is very attractive but also very pricey. I love Shaftesbury, it feels like a real old fashioned country town. However, it doesn't have much to offer kids. Dorchester didn't immediately appeal to me either. It's not the most attractive town in Dorset. However, it has really grown on me and has a lot to offer; eg. culture, entertainment, shopping, excellent transport and very easy to get to the beach (buses to Weymouth every 10 mins) and countryside. Also, as it's a pretty big town and mixed architecturally there's a good range of properties at different prices.

@Tallulasdancingshoes Thank you for your message. We haven't technically discounted Poole and Bournemouth as such, we haven't visited them yet. But we also had to prioritise as we couldn't see everywhere so presumed it would be quite built up being larger towns and I think we'd like to be more near countryside if possible. We don't know the area at all though and had also read mixed things about the places, but I know it is subjective as sure there are good and bad places to every area. We wouldn't discount grammar schools either. Do you have any nice areas in Poole and Bournemouth in mind that might suit us for our budget? Thank you so much in advance xx

@Crazyforcavies yes we have come across Warminister but not visited. I think it was only because it was a barracks town that we deprioritised it. What's your experience of it being an army town and does it have rough bits? It sounds nice from what you say with good connections and countryside etc..

Hi, apologies not read all your thread but how about Blandford?

@user1471548941 ah Ringwood!! I have read good things about Ringwood but discounted it solely for the no train station near by. Do you think it's still got good transport links then for kids, so the bus services are good? It looks like it's about 15 mins in a car to Christchurch, but maybe an hr by bus? I think I have also read about potential noise due to a busy road, but not 100% sure???

Your experience of growing up in the New Forest sounds amazing and is exactly what we're trying to give the kids. Did you love it and are still there now?

I went to prep school in Sherborne, secondary school in Shaftesbury, and my parents now live c.20 minutes outside of Yeo-vile.

My parents are looking to move back in to Sherborne when they downsize...its a great place for older people (lots of bridge and NADFAS meetings) but not a huge amount for teens. Yeo-vile is such an odd town. There are so many affluent and lovely villages around it, but it's always been very downmarket and just not very nice.

My former school in Shaftesbury has just become a special needs hub for Dorset CC. I loved boarding school, but we spent exeat weekends in Bath or Salisbury...there's not much in Shaftesbury itself!

The schools in Dorchester are excellent and I would be looking more in that direction and down towards Bournemouth/Weymouth....

@Horological Haha, I know Dorchester really does seem like the logical choice and does have a lot going for it. Hm, we won't totally discount it just yet then, you have given us hope :). We'll probably go for another visit while we're down there. Do you have any thoughts on Weymouth? Thank you so much! xx

@Pentiumgold thank you no we haven't considered there. Would that tick some of our boxes? I think I remember reading somewhere that there might be an army presence there – is that right and is it still OK? :) xx

@Panicmode1 Ah thanks for your thoughts. It's looking like Shaftesbury is getting pushed off our list and Sherborne is hanging on by a thread atm as lovely as it is haha. I think we're going to go back to Dorchester and see if it grows on us as everyone says the school is excellent and not visited Weymouth/Bournemouth so will check those out too! Thank you so much for your advice it's so helpful :) xx

Definitely, 25 minutes from beach. Yes army camp about 2 miles away but totally keep themselves to themselves
We have lived here for 22 years, now looking to downsize. Just put our 4 bed back on market please pm if interested 😀

I 100% loved my New Forest upbringing, the only thing I would say is that I did learn to drive at 17, as did most of my friends, but as it’s such a tourist area there are no shortages of hotels/cafe’s etc for part time weekend jobs to supplement this!

I grew up Totton way which is a bit crap but close to Southampton. We moved to Ringwood because it has much more going on in town- at weekends we can walk into town and chose a from a mix of cafe’s, coffee shops, restaurants and the shopping is reasonable. There are also a few restaurants and pubs for evenings. For more choice you would head into Bournemouth- likely bus in, taxi home. Younger people tend to drink in a variety of pubs/one bar before heading in to clubs in Bournemouth. When I was younger we used to go on nights out in the off peak season in Bournemouth, the clubs are good and then we would stay in one of the seafront hotels (full with coach tours in summer) for about £50 per couple!

Buses from the centre of Ringwood are frequent to both Bmouth and Salisbruy, I drive but could use the bus to get to work in Bournemouth if I needed to. I also only miss having a train station when I need to get to London and even then the smaller stops in towns like Lymington/Highcliffe have only slow, infrequent services so I would tend to drive to Southampton/Winchester to get to London. Train is simply not the main way to travel round here!

Wimborne is also lovely OP, and I like Dorchester too.

I would def discount Trowbridge - not a very interesting place and has issues, I'm not that keen on Warminster either although it's better than Trowbridge and nicer set.

Have to disagree with the person earlier though who said Frome was a dump- it's a bit bohemian but very hip these days and highly gentrified too - not sure what that persons definition of 'dump' is?? We moved overseas from living in Bath and often popped to Frome. It's got some rough round the edges bits, but where hasn't!!