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.

Sheringham is not "miles from anything"! It has trains to Norwich, a decent primary and secondary school, supermarkets, pubs, independent shops .. what else do you need?

Poole! Depends on budget though as it’s pretty close to Sandbanks. I live in the area and love it .

Crosby/Formby - 20 to 30 minutes outside Liverpool

You seem rather South-East eccentric.

There are so many that fir your criteria, but for starters.

Crosby (Liverpool),
Barrow in Furness (beaches of Walney island)
Sunderland (County Durham)
Spittal (Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland)
Scarborough (Yorkshire)
Tynemouth (Tyne and Wear)
South Shield (Tyne and Wear)
Swansea (Wales)]

Cromer in Norfolk.

Filey, not commercial, still looks exactly as it did 50 years ago.

Wales is the place for this. Mumbles all the way.

Norfolk or Suffolk? Far north Essex such as Frinton-on-sea.

Eastbourne or Poole?

Have a look at Marske and Saltburn

Oh yes, Saltburn is a gem, especially the 'jewel' streets.

Quite a few of the beaches in Sussex are sandy. I don't know why you think that none of them are. Sussex also has good train links though towns are more expensive than other areas.

@Pinkcadillac Brixham or anywhere else in Torbay and surround won’t work if she’s ruling out grammar areas.

Arnside?

West Kirby on the Wirral. Ticks all your criteria.

Worthing has sand and is cheaper and less crowded than Brighton, but still has a lot going on. Good train links too.

West Sussex may not have many sandy beaches (does have a few) but at least you don’t get sand everywhere and when you go in the sea or at low tide, you do get sand.

Worthing is lovely, and lots of coastal villages Chichester way.

Northumberland has the best beaches but the weather may not be the best beach weather generally.

Isle of Wight has the best beaches IMO. Not sure I would want to move there with children but the beaches are incredible and we hope to move there in a few years time.

Not seen a beach in Totnes.

Another vote for South Wales. I moved here last year - lots of lovely beaches (some sandy, some not!). Might need a pretty decent budget to walk to the beach though (Im fairly poor & can walk to the beach but not a sandy one!)

Llandudno

Rutland. No sea but water, great schools and beautiful villages.

I live along the coast in Carmarthenshire (near Pembrey), a short drive from the mumbles and Gower and much more affordable than Swansea.

i would also check out Pembrokeshire - lots of lovely villages - Narbeth, Tenby etc.

exmouth near exeter and transport

Southport? For lots of sand and occasionally seeing the sea 😂seems well kept and great access to Liverpool as kids get older

St Bees, in Cumbria? Lovely small town and a gorgeous beach. Rural though.

Formby, pricy for NW, but not compared to the south

Hunmanby, North Yorkshire - lovely village with hardware store, butchers and local shops but also behind the quaint centre it has several good engineering companies and a range of other employers. Quiet beach nearby. Not too far from Filey which is like a genteel Scarborough. Hunmanby has its own railway station but on a minor line (Scarborough to Hull). From Scarborough though you can get to York and from there to anywhere.

I can't say what the schools are like but I'd move there in a heart beat if not for our jobs (and I live in one of England's National Parks).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunmanby

Good for a holiday too.

Swanage or Weymouth.