Are there any decent, liveable seaside towns in UK which aren’t silly expensive or horribly rundown?

[Moidershewrote]

Basically that - DH and I would really like to relocate with our 2 primary aged kids to live by the sea (near a sandy beach) in either England or Wales - ideally we’d like a half decent primary / secondary schools, friendly community feel with clubs / kids activities etc and not run down/full of pound shops etc and access to train station within approx 5 miles and local buses would be great. We’d love to live somewhere that is walking distance of a beach.

It feels like we’ve looked into so many places and for one reason or another we end up discounting it - usually because either schools seem crap or no train station or no community feel.

Places we’ve immediately rejected are:

• Kent (grammar schools / Kent test)


• Brighton (too expensive / pebble beach)


• Portsmouth/S’ton/Plymouth (too big / towny feel)


• Essex/Somerset coastline (not the right vibe for us)


• E/W Sussex (not sandy😆)

Would love to hear any personal recommendations from people who have moved to another coastal town with kids / or live in one and think it’s brilliant (and why)🙏 We do love Devon, Dorset, Anglia.. Would consider Wales, or NW/NE England.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125207999#/?channel=RES_BUY

This is what you can get in Crosby 2 mins from the beach

Shame you’ve ruled out Scotland x

West of Scotland - one of the top listed secondary schools near by. We relocated here from a city location.

Yes avoid Kent it’s fast becoming London’s immigration dumping ground… that and the ‘troubled families’ being given beautiful new social housing and slowly turning into drug ridden slums. If I could move out of Kent for the sake of my kids I would!

Aberavon in South Wales is lovely if you can ignore the view of the steelworks, its far enough away tho not to notice !

Do you fancy moving to Scotland? Lots of lovely seaside towns here. Plus lots of lovely water here and no bans! 😊

Exmouth
Dawlish
Teignmouth
Shaldon
all in South Devon.

Bridlington
Lincolnshire coast
Cromer

Weymouth
Penzance

North East

South Shields, just won awards for the beach. Town centre is run down but easy access to cities and other towns via good transport links (metro, buses etc).

Tynemouth

Whitley Bay

North Devon! We relocated from west Kent 8 years ago. Love it. Loads of beaches, choice of town or village locations. Schools in the main pretty good. 6th form choices a bit limited. We're pretty self sufficient tho and Exeter isn't far away. Good luck!

Pembrokeshire coast

I'd head North-Tyneside, Whitley Bay etc. gorgeous beaches, friendly ppl lovely life.

Seems to me you are using a sandy beach as much to strong a "must have" on a life changing move...

We also have the Tarka Trail, which is fab. I'd avoid Ilfracombe tho. Lovely in summer but dead in the winter. We're in Barnstaple which is about 10/15 minutes from the coast, town centre a bit run down in parts but decent shops and regeneration planned.

If you don't mind being off the mainland... the Isle of Wight is where I'd head to.

There's a lovely mix of beaches and countryside and you're not completely cut off from convenience with big stores in Newport.

Yes, parts are touristy but I don't think you can completely get away from that if you want to be on the coast.

Sunderland has some amazing beaches, around Roker park (also a brilliant park for kids) and some revitalisation along the shorefront. I think most city centres are struggling these days wherever you go so I'd just pick for the price/beach.

I live here! Great school and really every thing you need in the village

“Yes avoid Kent it’s fast becoming London’s immigration dumping ground… that and the ‘troubled families’ being given beautiful new social housing and slowly turning into drug ridden slums. If I could move out of Kent for the sake of my kids I would!”

Whereabouts are you? We have these very same urban myths here in Thanet and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest this. I wrote a dissertation on Margate and there is no data to suggest this at all!

I will let someone else slaughter you for racism and snobby attitudes.

I totally agree with the OP about avoiding areas with grammar schools though. One of the biggest problems this area has is that grammar schools create good and failing schools - they are divisive and have been shown to detrimentally impact areas they are situated in economically. Someone further up asked if the OP was worried their children could not cut the mustard. 70% of children who gain a place probably could not - as 70% of children who gain a place are tutored to pass the test. A subject I could rant about all day

Northumberland, walkworth is lovely but lots to choose from

Anywhere in Dorset really. I have lived all over between edges of Bournemouth, edges of Poole and currently a little further out between Poole and Wimborne. Love where we live. But it does depend on budget I guess. Just came here at 18 and stayed, had a family etc.
You might want to consider the new forest, even nearer Southampton a bit or further down into Dorset nearer Weymouth.

Silecroft.

I second Whitley Bay. I went there Feb 2019 before all the shenanigans and it was famous. Stayed in a BnB for 7 days. They organised bike hire as the shop was closed in winter but they knew the owner. Picked me up from the metro and took me for a quick tour before tea and scones at their home. Coastguard gave me a showround of the station and organised a trip to the lighthouse and up to the top. No charge for any of this and people were so friendly. I'm booked for a visit in mid October and I'm really looking forward to it. It kinda felt like home when I was there.
Lots of luck in your new home wherever you find it.
Wales is terrific too.

Morar in Scotland. Silversands is like Hawaii. Or the Devon coast. West coast of Cornwall is another option. Don t go with big towns....travel around to find somewhere you like. But the west coast in Cornwall is sheltered and not too windy and up in Morar you get the gulf streams and you can swim in the water in May. Dont know about schools but any village will have a nice quiet school with not too many pupils I imagine.

If jobs aren’t an issue then Scotland - you will get your own private beach!

Torbay has a girls grammar and a boys grammar and churston has a mixed grammar school. There's tons of other secondary schools though throughout Torbay and all of south Devon.

@TwinklingFairyLightz ssshh, don't give our secret away! We don't want it over run!

What are you talking about? Lytham has two very decent secondary schools and the wind is what you would expect as it’s . . . . on the coast? Not sure if you’re referring to Blackpool as ‘a dump’ or Lytham? Oh, and by the way, there is no such place as Lytham St Annes. There’s either Lytham, or St Annes or Ansdell/Fairhaven in the middle. More house for your money in St Annes but it is closer to Blackpool. Lytham house prices are crazy, but then again- You do have the beach, a Georgian Manor and its grounds, 3 woods, a Victorian expanse of Green, an estuary and a newly refurbished coast line on your doorstep. Oh, and you have 2 of the best 6th form colleges in the country 30 minutes in each direction. But yeah, it’s shit.

Another vote for Exmouth
Brixham is pretty but there's not much to do there
Sidmouth is lovely and within your budget. The beach is mainly pebble but one end has sand. There's a great old cinema, swimming pool, lots of green spaces.
You could also look at budleigh salterton but I think it's all pebbles and may be at the top end of your budget