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.

Swansea. . Mumbles, Langland, Caswell, Newton if you have a large budget. Mayals, Blackpill and West Cross slightly cheaper. Further away but still good are Sketty, Uplands, Tycoch, Dunvant, Killa.

Second this!

We've lived in Brighton for years but know a lot who've moved to Worthing. You get so much more for your money there and the area is getting younger by the week, so the shops and restaurants are getting a lot trendier.

Depressing shit pit?
this place? Seriously full of some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and a beautiful beautiful place?
To coin a colloquial mumsnet phrase “are you sniffing glue?!”

There are some lovely seaside towns in Kent so I’m surprised you’ve ruled it own just because of the Grammar schools? You could always just apply to a comprehensive or high school, you’re not obliged to make the kids sit the 11 plus if you don’t want to? X

*ruled it out

She said not wildly expensive.

And Hove has much better pebbles than Brighton - much smaller and softer to lie on 😉

Bolton-le-Sands or Arnside.

You seem to have forgotten to look up north. Both fit your criteria.

Lytham St Anne's is about 20 minutes from Blackpool and is a world away! It has lovely shops, a real cafe culture and honestly, in the summer, it's very rarely windy to the point you describes. The beaches are lovely and the people are equally nice.

Torquay

@Isahlo that's a very rose tinted view of teignmouth. It's not like that from October to May, and then it's rammed.

Both above have easy access to good schools, mainline train services or M6 a short drive or train ride away, excellent countryside on the doorstep.

Teignmouth is definitely not depressing imo, you must have insanely high standards 😆

I live in Shoreham by Sea, between Brighton & Worthing and it's absolutely lovely. Pebble beach but sandy at low tide. Worthing is cool too.

@Gingermoth Skeggy has a Grammar School so they’ll rule it out, lovely beach though!

Sorry, I meant BLS and Arnside (and plenty of cheaper places nearby...

What are the schools like in Saltburn?

i loved hampshire - new forest area, i lived milford on sea and Lymington , some lovely villages like Beuliea

Agree. Lytham st Annes is very different from Blackpool. I don’t live there so not just being defensive. It is a lovely place.

oundle

Tynemouth great but is pricey.

Alnwick? And surrounding villages near the sea?

Agreed.

Seaham and Roker and Saltburn on Sea. South Sheilds.

Come to Hartlepool. Central train station with decent links to Newcastle and York, fabulous beaches, a wonderful nature reserve, a country park, lots of decent or better schools. Shopping centre isn't up to much but you're only 30/40 mins from the Metro centre and an outlet shopping park. You've also got the North Yorks Moors very close by.

The Tynemouth, Whitley Bay stretch is a good shout. Outstanding schools, close to Newcastle. Expensive for the area but not in comparison to other places in the UK.

Northumberland coast is gorgeous and definitely a community feel (although, like anywhere more rural, there are places that are not always as open to newcomers, so maybe try it out for a bit first). Some good schools, but the population is smallish and relatively spread out (compared to the other places you've looked) so the kids might have to be prepared to travel, especially for secondary. The rail network is decent, like anywhere out of the big cities the buses are infrequent, but good coverage.