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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think South Essex is a nice place to live?

52 replies

oldboiler · 08/10/2013 20:55

Southchurch and Thorpe Bay areas look good to me despite being warned off them? Any experience/knowledge of the areas greatly appreciated.

OP posts:
clairefromsteps · 08/10/2013 21:20

Yeah, there are some lovely bits round South Essex: Hockley and Leigh are nice too. South Essex gets a bad rep from places like Southend seafront and Basilbog, although they're still not exactly Beirut.

Worried123456 · 08/10/2013 21:32

Leigh, Hockley, Thorpe Bay and some bits of Westcliff/Eastwood/Rayleigh are nice. Central Southend and some areas of Shoebury and Rochford can be a bit ropey. Southchurch seems to be up and coming-Southchurch 'Villarge' as it's called by some ;) Parking can be crap though.

topknob · 08/10/2013 21:41

I have always lived in Essex..I love it and I am a normalish person :)

CatThiefKeith · 08/10/2013 21:44

Don't go any further West than Leigh and you'll be fine!! :) (Thurrock is not somewhere you'd want to live, or at least I wouldn't)

topknob · 08/10/2013 21:47

Ha ha my in laws live there Cat :)

Plomino · 08/10/2013 21:50

We moved from South Essex , and it was fine . We lived in Benfleet , which was perfectly ok , very good school , quite quiet even though we were close to the A13 . South Benfleet is nicer , but much more expensive . Had horses in Rayleigh and Hockley , both of which are lovely in parts , and Leigh is nice too . I always thought Thorpe Bay was ok to be honest . In fact , I can think of considerably worse places to live .

Have you got to think about schools ? They can be a bit hit and miss , some excellent , some really not . Which was why we moved , when we realised we were screwed catchment wise for a decent school .

CatThiefKeith · 08/10/2013 21:55

Topknob - My parents do too!

bebopanddoowop · 08/10/2013 21:59

I live in Westcliff and my inlaws in Thorpe bay. I like it, but like everywhere it has it's downfalls. Depends what you're looking for in your area really.

Original poster
oldboiler · 08/10/2013 22:04

Thanks for your responses. I've seen a house close to southchurch park which looks a bargain - cant work out why so cheap for a 4 bed victorian house if the area is nice so I'm suspicious!

OP posts:
topknob · 08/10/2013 22:10

Cat - it is a shit hole :)

I have lived in Basildon and Canvey.. I wouldn't recommend either tbh..Canvey has this weird thing going on..it is all about being on the island which isn't really an island as it has two exits, the people who live there are erm sometimes a little odd. I live in North Essex now :)

MrsPatrickDempsey · 08/10/2013 22:12

YABU - North Essex all the way.

topknob · 08/10/2013 22:19

MrsPatrick, where are you ??

AnathemaDevice · 08/10/2013 22:20

Is the house near the Kursaal estate? That might be why it's so cheap.

Southend is nice enough. It's a bit rough around the edges, but we're happy here. Though I grew up a bit further west,in deepest Thurrock, so maybe I have quite low standards...

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 08/10/2013 22:27

topknob

I was born on Canvey. Yes it is a weird place but it did used to be a genuine community and people remembered the floods etc. But when I took my DCs back there a couple of years ago a lot of the one-storey houses had been made into 2 storey, and green spaces I remember so well had been built on.

Topseyt · 08/10/2013 22:51

I am in North Essex too. I like it.

I don't think Essex deserves the bad press it often gets. It is a large county, and very diverse. It stretches from the East End of London through some pretty rural areas, has some large towns and a city (Chelmsford was made a city in the Diamond Jubilee year).

The media can be very unkind to Essex. Many of us here like it, and no, I wasn't born in Essex.

MrsPatrickDempsey · 08/10/2013 22:52

I am in Colchester.

Original poster
oldboiler · 08/10/2013 22:53

The house is overlooking the park so looks quite 'posh' although I can see from the map the kursaal estate isn't a million miles away!

OP posts:
BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 08/10/2013 22:53

I'm in Leigh, well Eastwood really and I love it here. Don't think south church is so great though.

comewinewithmoi · 08/10/2013 22:56

I don't know a lot about south apart from chavvy, owe rep. I live I the north, lovely!

Doinmummy · 08/10/2013 22:56

Ooh I've not 'met' any Essexy mumsnetters before. Thought I was the only one!

comewinewithmoi · 08/10/2013 22:56

What are the local schools like?

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 08/10/2013 22:58

Not sure about the Southend schools, well the non grammar ones, but in the Rayleigh, Leigh area the schools are great.

comewinewithmoi · 08/10/2013 22:58

No doin, I'm in Essex. Love it. I have only been here two years, best place ever been.

ScarletLady02 · 08/10/2013 22:58

Hellooooooo MrsPatrickDempsey - I'm in Colchester too...born and bred (with a 4 year South East London hiatus).

I love it here, good grammar schools if that's your thing. Colchester has a vibrant art and music scene. It's a great place to grow up.

comewinewithmoi · 08/10/2013 22:59

Great schools where we are, grammar, stAte And private.