Suggestions for a new home by the coast with good links to Birmingham and occasional London commute

[kerstina]

Now our son is at Uni and mom more settled in a home we are looking to move house as it’s a small terraced house . Been there 25 years and would love to relocate nearer to the coast . I would have moved to Wales ( love Anglesey-especially )in a heartbeat but DP was keen on Devon . Westward ho ! Northam ,where his Nan had lived . I did like it there but it’s over 5 hours on the train back to Brum as I don’t drive and didn’t want to rely on him all the time . Can anyone suggest anywhere we maybe hadn’t considered . DH likes cycling , I enjoy swimming . We have dogs so love walking . It is me pushing for the coast more so than him . Would consider new build development to make move less stressful . We obviously have family in Brum and DH will have occasional commute to London . Any ideas please !

Since Birmingham is about as landlocked as it's possible to be in England, and 5 hours on the train is too far, how close do you want to be to the coast? Because I think your choice will be limited.

You could look at areas around Bristol like Clevedon and Portishead.
Another option Is Aberdovey, it has a train line

Yes you are right of course . I used to be able to travel to mid Wales by train in under 3 hours though . If it has to take 5 hours I guess I will have to suck it up .

I love Aberdovey we had a caravan in Borth for many years .

You need to look around the north east coast - direct train from Durham / Newcastle into Birmingham (about 3.5 hours) and also to London (about 3 hours).

It’s also a really straightforward drive to both for your DH.

good metro links in Newcastle too if you can’t drive…

Look at the Somerset coast e.g Burnham on Sea, Weston super Mare. Trains into Bristol where you can easily get to both Birmingham and London in about 2 hours.

Aberystwyth or Barmouth? Less than 4 hours by train.

New Forest around Brockenhurst station would work well. Direct trains to Birmingham in 2.45. London would be about 1 hour 30 mins on the train. Beautiful walking and cycling, coast very close with Lymington (5 mins) or Bournemouth 20 mins on train. Lovely place to live, although would depend on your budget as quite expensive!

We live in the East Midlands and discovered at Easter that it's only 2.5 hours to drive to North Wales (A50 > M6 > North Wales Coast Road) so maybe look at East mids then you have train to London, Lincolnshire / Norfolk / even North Wales as coastal options.

Thanks for all your ideas . Will have a look into Newcastle as I haven’t been there . yes have been having a look at properties online in Burnham and Portishead . Also going to look at Wye valley as at least would be closer to the coast .
I know Aberystwyth very well but DH doesn’t want to move there.

Cardiff is about 2 hours to birmingham by train

Was going to suggest Penarth just outside Cardiff. Has a pebble beach but Barry island and Porthcawl half an hour away