The most family friendly place in Essex?

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My husband and I were born and raised in Central London. However, were tired of the scenery and want a nice, quiet place to move to where we can raise a family. Our initial thought was Essex and a family member suggested moving to Rainham. Unfortunately, were both very ignorant of places outside of London and I was hoping that some of you mumsnetters could help!
Is Rainham a nice, family friendly place to raise children? (we have only visited a couple of times, but we like what we have seen. However, the opinion of someone who is there more often/perhaps lives there would be more helpful).
Are there other areas in Essex that are nicer to bring up a family?
Thanks! :)

Hornchurch
Lots of good schools around and 30 mins to Liverpool street station by train if you need to work in London

There is also good high street and Romford shops are a 10 min drive. Has a good shopping Center
There is also harrow lodge lesier Center in hornchurch

Depending on your finances you can also take a look at Gidea Park, Emerson Park and Upminster.

All commutable to central as have own stations

Very naice areas

I am biased, and I don't wish to offend anyone in south Essex but North Essex is SOOOO much nicer imho. It is a really lovely county with some beautiful and very civilized towns and villages, but like anywhere you have to pick carefully. There are some very nice parts in south Essex but overall it is not great, whereas I think north Essex is the other way around.

Colchester town centre itself has gone downhill in the last couple of years tbh, and has become rougher and more dangerous without a doubt, but I think that is the case for everywhere within striking distance of London. However the demographic in Colchester is extremely mixed, from real old money, landed horsey types, affluent commuters, average middle income people, the roughest of the rough yokels who look a bit inbred and some more recent London 'overspill'.

Lexden is the lovely 'town' part of Colchester but it is expensive.

Up by north station, Braiswick and West Bergholt are really lovely and still easily accessible for town. Village-wise you can take your pick of beautiful places but be prepared to do lots of country lane driving.

Coggeshall is beautiful. Kelvedon also lovely, more accessible but busier due to proximity to A12.

I find Chelmsford is more middle of the road, the differences between rich and poor are not quite so acute or obvious. ahtough it's been a while since I've lived there so perhaps it's changed.

Do you want village or town?

Again loads of lovely villages to pick from but the lovely ones are really pricey. If you want somewhere safe, quiet, pleasant, good schools, accessible for road/train and nice, normal, family orientated people you can do a lot worse than look at places like Hatfield Peverel.

Other lovely places are Little Baddow, Danbury, Maldon (and most of the villages around there, until you get too far out into Duelling Banjos territory ) Terling, or north of Chelmsford, the Easters, the Walthams etc, all largely very nice, but out in the sticks a bit.

The area between Colchester and Ipswich, around Dedham is gorgeous, as is the area north of Colchester, going up towards Sudbury. I was back in N. Essex recently, during autumn and I had forgotten how breathtaking pretty it is.

The places mentioned upthread are indeed very nice but they are greater London really, whereas I'm talking countryside. Really depends what you want, but closer to London there are some extremely lovely and elegant towns (albeit a bit Birds of a Feather and TOWIE in places, but that's no crime - some people love all that, not my thing though.) I could wax lyrical about my adopted home country for hours. I love it. I think it should be illegal to sneer at Essex until you have visited all corners of it, and then you wouldn't want to sneer after that.

home county, not country.

We are in upminster and really like it here. 25 mins into London, a stone's throw from the countryside and beach and the schools are great so much so that we have three outstanding primary schools to choose from.

As another poster said, Essex is a much maligned county and I'd avoid rainham like the plague and Romford. Also Redbridge, Ilford etc are not that great either.

There are some lovely villages in North Essex and you can get alot if house for your money but bear in mind the commute us expensive and lengthy.

I have to take issue with the person who said the non-grammars in Colchester are 'crap' The grammars are super selective and take only the top 2% of a massively wide area, including London, which leaves an awful lot of children in the so-called 'crap' schools. Some of them get crap results, and they (not surprisingly) are centered around the 'crap' ends of town, but they are largely being disbanded/rebranded to get rid of the stigma, and the catchment areas are being mixed up a bit to spread the burden of a disadvantaged intake on some of the better schools, I believe. At least this was the plan, but since I moved away I am not sure what has happened. There are some perfectly good and effective state schools in the area, and the 6th form college is outstanding.

Have to say though happymschicken we lived in Hornchurch before we moved to North Essex and if you pick your train line right (let's just say we can see take off and landing from our house!) it doesn't take any longer to get to Liverpool Street than it did on the district line. Upminster is lovely, I miss the Waitrose there where I spent many a happy shopping hour (needs to get a more interesting life emoticon.....!)

In the part of Colchester I'm thinking of (stanway/prettygate) the secondary's are still trading on their heyday reputation. They're ok but not as good as other parts of the county.

gail I take it you're new to the town and haven't discovered the waitrose yet then?

Sorry 70 but I have to disagree I grew up very close to barkingside and would not recommend it to anyone! Does hainault still have the gang problems? The day I left home for good, primary school children were breaking in to t neighbours houses with knives and joy riding their cars.

Go north OP!

why do you want to move to Essex particularly - I agree some parts are attractive, but you are cutting down your options, aren't you?

Right, basically, if you look at a map of Essex, and taking the A12 as a guide, to the south of the A12 you want to draw a line from Brentwood and Shenfield, though Billericay and Stock, Hanningfield, Danbury, Maldon, Tolleshunt Darcy, through Layer up to Wivenhoe, up to Manningtree. Avoid almost everywhere south of that line, with a few exceptions, and include almost everywhere north of that line, with a few exceptions.

Then, from Manningtree, draw a line to East Bergholt, then to Halstead, then to Coggeshall. almost everything within that, leading back to the A12 can be included, and almost everything north of that excluded, because it's either bnot Essex but Suffolk, or lovely but just too remote or not lovely. Braintree is bandit country, but some of the villages to the north and west of it are very nice, although I don't know that part terribly well, and personally would not choose it as public transport is dire.

From South of Braintree, north of Chelmsford you are pretty much safe all the way back to London, part from the odd dodgy patch Harlow.

HTH.

babamummy please PM where you live. I think it might be very, very close indeed to an area I know very well. don't' worry though - there is zero chance that I know you.

Another one who lived in Colchester for a good few years and hated it. Awful town, too small to have any decent shops and too big to have any community feel. Don't live there.

Fairly new onebadback, but I sought out the local Waitrose as soon as I moved but left it out of my post as it is over the border in Herts and was keeping the discussion strictly Essex! Am wondering now if you have a small baby and if we have met in RL!

I would not live centrally in colchester, or Chelmsford of that matter, but I would definitely live in many of the really lovely outlying areas.

You know you're bound to upset someone by saying that about Harlow fellatio but yes avoid Harlow at all costs!

No it's not. There is one on the outskirts of town up near leisure world

Saffron Walden area - Great Chesterford, Newport, Wendens Ambo if you need the train to commute to London. Really lovely primary schools, non-selective but high achieving secondary schools and beautiful countryside. Loads of faciilities for kids, especially sport, and v safe.

I say near leisure world... I'm fairly new and get muddled...Ipswich road...find that and you'll find it

And no, no small baby (yet)

Look, each to their own, and all that, and budget/commuting/family restrictions will always play a large part, but let's be honest, if you have no historical connection to a place and you have the chance to pick completely from scratch, you wouldn't recommend Harlow or Basildon or Thurrock etc to anyone would you? I am sure there are plenty of people who are very happy there, and good on them, but if you are asked to recommend 'lovely' places they are not going to be top of anyone's list are they?

Hell no! Not when there are so many fantastic and friendly and relatively crime free areas to choose from!

I say relatively because even lovely Lexden had a murder this year...

I think that neck of the woods is generally pretty safe though, although being close to town you are never far from trouble. Clacton seems to be becoming some sort of gangland central though. Luckily it is pretty well insulated from the rest of the area, but so much of the trouble in Colchester seems to have a Clacton connection according to my reliable sources!

Anyway, we don't want to scare off the OP. Compared to living in most parts of central London, Colchester will seem perfectly safe and sane except on a Friday night.