Hi Mums
My 7 year old daughter and I are immigrating to UK from South Africa in August and we are looking to settle in Devon. I've done a lot of research on areas, but am so stressed and confused as to where to choose. One article says wonderful things and another slates those same areas. Advice from other mums is probably the closest I'm going to get to 'reality' ... so here I am, one mum to another, asking for advice on where we should settle. I am a single mum with a little girl, so safety is important to us.
We are moving from a beach lifestyle in a smallish fishing village called Fish Hoek. The area is not posh at all, but has a wonderful community feel, a stunning swimming beach with an active lifesaving club. My daughters school is also wonderful, with a lovely family feel and great sporting facilities. We love the lifestyle here and hope to find something similar.
We are looking for a lifestyle that is outdoors and taking in a lot of nature ... body boarding/SUPping, hiking/walking and cycling. Obviously a good state school in the area (that has space) is important too.
I have a fully remote job, so commuting is not of great importance. My salary is not huge, so I know that we won't be able to afford the posh areas, so basically, we probably would need to choose a cheaper area that is not too rough. Is the South, East or North better for that?
We are also going to know nobody, so would like a friendly area that would be not too difficult to integrate and make friends etc.
Yes we are asking a lot, but hoping there is a place that ticks most of our boxes.
From what I've read, North Devon sounds like our lifestyle, but perhaps a bit too remote and not as good schools? Perhaps we would have to live too far from the beaches to be able to use them daily or at least often.
East and South Devon less remote, more to do, but not as naturally beautiful. Is there an area you think that would suit our needs? We aren't really into arcades etc, would rather do a beach walk or have friends over for a meal.
I have heard about the huge housing crisis at the moment too, but we would like to persevere.
Please let me know where you live, why you love it, and what the schools are like in the area.
Thank you so much in advance ...