Moving to Norfolk???

[womanwholivedinashoe]

hello Ladies,

My husband was recently made redundant and we saw this as the ideal opportunity to search for the lifestyle that we've always wanted. We are seriously looking into Norfolk and I have 4 boys 19 (& Autistic), 14, 8 and baby 6 months and need to know where might be best to bring up kids.
I'm a nurse so will be looking for work and hubby said he would do almost (lol) anything for work. We would prefer to live out of a large town, we like the seaside but not a large beach area more quieter resorts. But in the same respect love the countryside too, so generally just a nice area but facilities within a drive for the kids to not get too bored?
Can anyone help??? We are so far considering Acle and Loddon? Shouldham and Marham although they are quite far from the secondary school is there a school bus service that operates?

Many thanks wwlias

Not Norfolk born either. Born and grew up in Herts and I completely disagree with Ll.
As for rainy, it has one of the lowest rainfalls in the country.
Wonder if you go in with a closed mind then you never get to see the real norfolk

I always snigger driving along the dual carriageway link. I have to say I'm completely biased about Norfolk as my family have only managed to move 10 miles in 400 years but I don't recognise Norfolk as a hotbed of drugs and gang violence.

Jennie - I'm mildly boggling but will pm you!

Psst. Any other takers for the evening meet up? We can have a jolly good chat about our drug habits and gang preferences. ( sorry, lubberlich)

I knew my comments wouldn't woo any Norfolk admirers! But I wish someone had said the same to me when I was considering moving here.

In relation to your comments about my attitude when moving here - I should tell you that I have actually lived and worked all over the country. I am not a blinkered Londonite - far from it! I was brought up in East Devon actually. I am very sociable and well accustomed to rural communities. I lived in avery remote hamlet on the Yorkshire moors for 6 years.
But Norfolk has been a very bad move for us. I do not want to bring my son up here - simple as that. Obviously other have different experiences but this is mine!

I have lived in 2 locations over the past 5 years - Norwich and The Broads. The Broads are ok in summer but grim and depressing in winter. The villages have no heart to them - the odd pub maybe but no shops. Great Yarmouth and environs is awful - chav hell. The only place I have ever seen 2 year olds in buggies eating chips at 9 in the morning. The beaches are glorious it is such a shame that the towns are so awful.

The centre of Norwich is wonderfully pretty - it is a lovely city in so many respects. The Theatre Royal is wonderful and the Forum. But work is VERY thin on the ground and you can't live somewhere just because you enjoy the views.

The whole city is ringed within the outer ring road by council estates some of which are incredibly rough. You can't really escape them as they pretty much surround the city. Although I live in a lovely house in a very pleasant road surrounded by great neighbours the wider area abutting is awful. Both catchement schools have been in special measures and the 2 nearest parks are full of used hypodermic needles and condoms.
Last week I asked a little boy of about 4 to stop throwing sand at my son - he told me to go f**k myself.
It is one thing to pop into Norwich for a spot of shopping and think it is fabulous - it is another to live here. On the corner of my street is a tiny playarea for children which is occupied night and day by drug dealers. My car has been stolen twice and the graffitti is an endless problem. Before Christmas a man was beaten to death at the end of my road.
Remember we moved here because I wanted my son to have a good quality of life!

Experience of Norfolk all depends on where live you and your budget I suppose and those that can afford the top north coast will have a different experience - but it is pricey up there and to me it feels isolated especially in winter. Financially this has been hell for us because the work just isn't around. So many people I know feel the same way. They moved here because it was a relatively cheap county but they can't get or create work. The N&N is a pretty good hospital - I was a cancer patient there - but they are struggling with cuts like everywhere else.

I have no idea why Norwich is so inaccessible with public transport. It amazes me that it takes 1.5hrs to Cambridge by train for example. Transport is awful. I did a lot of flying to Europe when we first moved up and I went from Norwich Airport using Schipol as a hub. Seemed great in theory but the delays were unbearable and it was very expensive. Much cheaper to go via Stansted - but only weekdays because the fast shuttle train didn't operate on weekends. In fact the east coast line is constantly up the spout. There are always breakdowns and signal failures. Totally unreliable.

Good luck to all the people who live in and love Norfolk. Sorry if my opinions offend you but that is my experience of this county. We have been here for 5 years and given it a really good go in every respect. But we have had to admit defeat. This really is not the place for us.

I meant to say that Norfolk is a very divided county - very VERY affluent in some parts but very hard up in others. You will see that this EDP report on Child Poverty draws attention to the number of chronically deprived areas.

I suppose it is very easy to joke about gangs and drugs when they aren't on your doortsep.

www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/child_poverty_rife_in_norfolk_1_830925

Thanks so much ragged for posting that link-I grew up a few miles away from Tunstead and have been laughed at when describing this road to people noone ever believes me.

Transport links for Norfolk are not good, which is a good point for me. Yes some places in Norwich and AFAIK Gorelston are pretty rough, but we are talking about the UK in 2011. To move there expecting the whole county to be like Elm hill or Blakeney is really unrealistic.

If transport links are high on your list then do not move to Norfolk, people think that Cornwall or the Dales are remote and rural, they have no idea. There's actually a place up on halvergate marshes marked on the map as 'Nowhere' .

Some villages if I remember correctly have only 1 road connecting them (I'm thinking Irstead and Thurne too, maybe) you drive into the village turn around and leave the same way-the road just stops .

Lubberlich - Once again you've had an awful time and I thank you for expressing them to me so that I won't move into an area and perhaps have the same issues. Yes there are crimes everywhere and unfortunately a lot of the crimes seem to be focusing on you. Possibly jealously, in fact most likely.
But all the same its awful but what you're describing is also what we are living here.
I don't want big city living so not moving to Norwich although as you say popping in occasionally for (my chai) or a spot of shopping would still be lovely and again if it isn't happening at the end of your road it is hard to imagine.
Where we live it is happening and we live in hope that there is nice places, with nice communities that look out for each other.
I can tell you are an intelligent woman ( I wasn't trying to suggest anything otherwise) just that some people have different expectations. I've taken holidays in chav town since the age of 8 to 18 and even met my ex husband in GY. Possibly a black mark on my part but although GY is fun I wouldn't live there and I already know that.
I've looked up the report you said about :( and its awful. However in Lambeth child poverty is at 36%, my town which is NW London is 25%.
"Hillingdon is a relatively affluent area within London; it is ranked as the 24th most deprived borough out of the 32 boroughs in the capital. However the borough has high levels of inequality indicating that concentrated pockets of deprivation exist, causing social polarisation. In particular, problems of disadvantage in housing and crime are above the national average in the borough". We are as previously stated the fastest growing borough in London and with that crime rates are obviously higher. Personally we haven't been hit by any kind of crime as you have, but do know friends and family that have :(. Our child poverty is 25% 2 miles away in Hayes its 34%, South Norfolk is at 12% so we have double the amount of households with child poverty and for example Acle which i've looked into in great detail has 2700 pop and Hillingdon has 267,000 pop and growing we might still take our chance. If it works out fantastic, if not we tried. South Norwich has 28%, North Norwich 18% and chav town (your words) 25%.
So yes its everywhere and growing but also in a recession and they grade a child living in poverty with a salary of less than £11 per hour coming into the household. Obviously in areas such as Norfolk and the Sw as well as places up North salary structures are lower so poverty statistics get higher.
Do you know where you might move to next?

Norwich does have its crappy areas (as all cities), my experience moving from north London has been that because Norwich is so much smaller, you're always a bit closer to a crappy estate than you are in London! Yes, there are some bits where I wouldn't want to live but we haven't had a hint of trouble since moving here, in fact it's been hard getting used to how peaceful it is .

Jobs-wise there aren't a huge number of big employers (although plenty on eg the Broadland Business Park) but there does seem to be a vibrant culture of small businesses, DH (who is self-employed) shares office space with a trendy start-up PR co, an internet company and someone who writes for the Guardian. Salaries aren't huge but then neither are mortgages.

DS1 goes to an Outstanding preschool and starts at a Good/Outstanding primary in September, there are loads of good schools here.

I'm a townie and would go mad in a village whether in Norfolk or anywhere else, but love being able to get to such beautiful countryside so easily.

We are heading back to Sussex/Kent - decent access to London if we need to work there again - also have the south coast towns in reach.
It really is all about work work work - which is in very short supply in vast areas of Norfolk.
We were in the process of trying to start a business when they scrapped EEDA. Why they did it I don't know. Just ripped all the regional development funding out of this area.
If you are looking at Acle etc then you have the James Paget Hospital in easy reach.
Good luck wherever you decide - I hope you find somewhere that suits the whole family.

Thank you Lubberlich and I hope you and your family are very happy too. Just for the record I have researched Sussex/Kent areas too and be wary of some parts of Kent, apparently since pzizer shut unemployment has been quite high and there is a large amount of immigrants. I'd hate for the same thing to happen to you again but i'm sure you'll check everything out. As for Sussex normal issues along the coast with youth so slightly inland perhaps.
Wish you luck with your future and best wishes.

I don't live in Norwich but I did used to work there when I first moved to Norfolk so many of the friends I made were Norwich citizens of all shapes/sizes/backgrounds and I have to say, I've haven't come across anyone who's had an experience like lubberlich's.

Sorry you've not enjoyed it lubberlich, hope your next move is a happy one.

Part-time teacher I vaguely know says there are gangs at Aylsham high school.
LOL at calling Norwich "a big city".

Thank you OP - I am not one of those people that has a problem with "immigrants". Far from it. In fact one of the things I dislike about living here is the lack of cultural diversity.
My first neighbour in the Broads announced to me on the day we moved in me that he'd moved back to Norfolk because London was "too DARK, you know what I mean?"
Cretin.

We like the Kent/Sussex weald very much - lived in Sussex before - and we will really enjoy having easy Eurostar/ferry access too - as well as easy access to all the London airports. The work that we do is not dependent on being employed by companies - we just need a greater intensity of population and more affluence! We are also looking forward to reconnecting with friends in the SE who could never be arsed to make the journey to Norfolk.

As you have kids bear in mind that Norfolk, like other counties that depend heavily on tourism, is very seasonal. When I first came up I was excited by the fact that there seemed so much for kids to do - and there is - but not between October and April! Friends in Cornwall had warned me of the "doldrum months" thing but I had underestimated just how incredibly bleak and long a winter on the Broads can be! Even the wildlife buggers off.

Rural counties are as prone to all the problems of modern life as anywhere else - but those problems are exacerbated by too many holiday homes fracturing villages and lousy transport links and rubbish infrastructure and massive unemployment and chronic youth boredom. Those in the more affluent areas haven't a clue how the other half lives - but twas ever thus eh?!

Anyway - good luck all.

Really ragged? I live in catchment for Aylsham (went there myself about 200 years ago) and parents fight to get their kids in. It's always oversubscribed. Most of the kids around here go there (including my niece)and they're all terribly middle class, although I suppose wearing head to toe Jack Wills could be described as gang behaviour.

i've heard aylsham high has come in leaps and bounds since i went there. it was reccommended in the times property bit too.

is miss mason still there missbeehiving?

I don't recall Miss Mason [old gimmer emoticon] but Miss Hebditch is and Mr Winterbourne!

you wouldn't forget miss mason, nastiest pe teacher ever.

we'll hopefully be moving back to aylsham soon and i can't wait!

I think Aylsham and Reepham too are more cliquey than gangs, quite a few children whose parents could no longer afford independent have sent their children in the past two or three years and they do rather tend to stick together in their Jack Wills uniform!!

Lubber: I am desperately curious to know which Broadland village & which Norwich area you lived in.

It sounds like Lubber expected to find Norfolk like living in say a village near Godalming. Ruralish but access to London
It never claims to be that. It's beauty is partly that it is relatively isolated. It doesn't claim to be an extension of London and neither do most of us want it to be.
Apart from that it really is pretty much like any other county, some poor, some rich, a few casual bigots, some lovely communities, nice areas, not so pleasant areas, good schools, struggling schools...

But all Norfolk folk are ignorant, xenophobic yokels....

enjoying the irony of " people from Norfolk" being called racist

I have no idea why that went bold