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.

Whitley Bay. Lovely and ticks all boxes

Further North, Heysham, a village off Morecambe in lancashire. Morecambe is really transforming. The bay is beautiful with the best sunsets in the UK. There are people in the water every day, wild swimming, surfing, kite surfing. Across the bay are views of the lake district. The Bay BBC drama is set here! It seems to be shaking off the image of retirement hotels and much younger thrill seeker types are moving in. Houses are cheap but imagine will shoot up if they start the Eden project North anytime soon

Years ago, obviously before the advent of Jeremy Kyle, I got a postcard (as a joke I think) from a friend who had gone for the day to Cleethorpes and called it Trisha-On-Sea.

You also have Lancaster Grammar School and Lancaster University 20 mins away with good bus and train routes

ZenNudist I imagine we went to the same school! Brown and orange uniform?? I do feel rather nostalgic about Lytham, but also think Tynemouth is a fantastic area.

I live in the dreaded SE, partly because of grammar schools which were exactly right for my 4 DCs. Spent a day in Folkestone yesterday. Yes some parts are a dump but I came away rather feeling I'd had a mini break somewhere close to the Med!

I agree with the suggestions of Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. Fairly expensive doe the NE but still reasonable if you're moving from 'down south', good schools, good transport links, lots of amenities.

Im questioning pp suggestion of Oundle, which is absolutely gorgeous but no where near a beach!

Why does it have to be Sandy? We live near a beach in an area you’ve ruled out. Pebbles , and then sand at low tide. Pebbles great for lunch today when the tide was in, as we didn’t get sand in our food. It was still Sandy underfoot when we were swimming, we just wear beach shoes to get there. I love pebbles, so varied and interesting, I could spend an hour looking at them. The DC make pebble towers and artwork when the tide is in and they make sandcastles (or mostly dig holes) when the tide is out.

Glad to hear it is improving. When I was a student my then boyfriend drove his parents to Morecambe to drop them off for a week's holiday. He rang me to say he was in a phone box overlooking the beach and he could see a girl giving a guy a BJ. This was in broad daylight in the daytime, must have been about 2000/2001.

Norfolk or Suffolk. We did exactly that and have never looked back!

No sandy beaches though

‘Wales’ is huge. South? North? West coast?

Really need to know your budget, OP.

As far as Norfolk goes, Cromer is great for day trips but very crowded in summer. I'd consider Sheringham more 'liveable' iyswim. But they're both nice and I'd happily live in either tbh. Train and bus to Norwich from either.

Great Yarmouth is extremely deprived, Gorleston much better although not 'naice' in the same way that North Norfolk is. No train station in Gorleston and you're at the mercy of the Acle Straight to get to civilisation in Norwich.

I live in Kent and I love it, but I still agree that the 11+ is a perfectly valid reason not to live here. The thing about counties where 25% go to grammar, is that there are no true comprehensive schools, because the top 25% are 'creamed off'. (I'm not saying there aren't some very good secondary modern schools here, before everyone shouts at me, but they are still not true comprehensives, and some of the good ones have absurdly small catchments). And if you do decide to take the test, there are crazy levels of 11+ tutoring and pressure, and a lot of parents talk about nothing else for about 3 years. And even if your child is pretty bright, there is absolutely no guarantee of passing.

Northumberland is gorgeous.

Southbourne

Crosby, Formby or Southport - all in NW

Saltburn? Couple of outstanding secondaries.

Skegness or Blackpool or try grimsby lovely places comparable to Seychelles, Tahiti etc etc xx

In Devon the South Hams.
Torquay has grammar schools, some areas of the town are nice.
Wales, Pembrokeshire. I dream of living there.

I recommend Northumberland, Alnwick in particular. Newcastle airport is 34 miles away. Bus station in Alnwick, train station at Alnmouth. Alnmouth is the best beach in the area, you pay to park right on the beach. Selection of good schools, gym with a swimming pool, small infirmary, theatre, fantastic second hand book store in the old railway station, supermarkets and shops. Lots for kids to do - drama groups, dance, canoeing, power kiting, stand up and paddle, cycling, horse riding. When they are older, weekend/evening jobs for the kids all over town. My daughter and her friends went onto Russell group Unis - Cambridge, Durham, Leeds, UCL. They had a great country side childhood and now have great careers around the world.

How long have you got?

Bournemouth/Christchurch

I love Mumbles but no idea about schools

I love a sandy beach.
Cornwall -Falmouth, Penzance (Bude is fantastic but no station within 5 miles). Penzance is straight on London line including a sleeper.
Devon- Exmouth
Dorset - Poole
Norfolk - don’t know the towns well enough but beautiful sandy beaches

Llanfairfechan or Penmaenmawr in North Wales. Train stations and on a bus route. Primary schools through English as Conwy council have different rules to Gwynedd. Sandy beaches too.

@Maybeebebe they live 20 minutes from their own suggested places, not OP’s rejected list!