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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be scared about moving an hour up to road to mid Sussex?

30 replies

Mixedupmind · 13/08/2014 16:18

Everyone seems to think I'm being Ridicolous and of course it is only the unknown which is worrying me but we currently live next to Sutton, so a big busy place and are moving to burgess hill ( very rural from what I've seen ) next month and I'm pretty scared!
Anyone from burgess hill or surrounding area that can reassure me slightly?

OP posts:

Peppageorge · 13/08/2014 18:37

I don't live in Sussex now but used to - I do however work in Brighton. Burgess hill is not rural! It's a town - albeit fairly small. You've got Brighton v close by plus a mainline train line to London. What's not to like? I don't know Sutton so can't compare.

AllHailTheBigPurpleOne · 13/08/2014 19:27

Yanbu.
I lived in Burgess Hill for 10 years. It sucked.
I was horribly horribly bullied at the local secondary and the teachers couldn't have cared less, it scarred me for life. As soon as I could I left for brighton.

ArabellaTarantella · 13/08/2014 19:29

There be lions and tigers out there - you be careful OP

Lambstales · 13/08/2014 19:47

Burgess Hill is neither fish nor fowl.
It's not the coast and it's not the lovely South Downs, however, they are both a stone's throw away.
I think that as more and more young people are priced out of Brighton and (of course London) Burgess Hill will see a huge rejuvenation.
This knock on effect is already being seen along the coast.
It may not be to your liking at the moment but there is a huge potential in these small Sussex towns.

WittgensteinsBunny · 13/08/2014 20:02

Well the good news is, Burgess Hill has a decent Waitrose . It's ok. It's not very, very rural. As someone's said, it's a small town. There's a Costa and a Cafe Nero and most High St shops. But it's by no means a shopping destination! There are lots of nice villages (Ditchling, Hurst, Poignings) around B'Hill, Brighton isn't far and there are quick trains to London. There's also a pretty decent leisure centre with a kids pool, slides and an outside lido, soft play, crèche and loads of things going on for kids. But why B'Hill? Why haven't you researched the area before moving? Are you renting or buying? I hate to say, but it wouldn't be my first choice in the area... But not horrific. Although as someone has said, it's getting more popular as surrounding areas get stupidly expensive, so you may find you've landed yourself in the new upcoming area :)

How old are your DC's?

Good luck with your move!

Sparkletastic · 13/08/2014 20:03

I'm 10 mins from BH. It's not v naice I'm afraid.

Sparkletastic · 13/08/2014 20:04

Many many far nicer choices nearby.

Fredmitten · 13/08/2014 20:10

We're Haywards Heath. Rented in Lewes for 18 months after moving out of London, but beautiful as it was, didn't work with both of us commuting.
We though HH might be too anonymous commuter town but lots of good things here, easy commute, lots of lovely family things to do, minutes from the South Downs and pretty views. You can get a bit more for your money in BH mind, and it does feel it is on the up. And we don't have a Waitrose yet - but it's coming!

SaucyJack · 13/08/2014 20:14

Aren't you the posters who's started a million and one threads about moving to Chichester/Haywards Heath/Crawley/Anywhere at all in Sussex that isn't tewwibly tewwibly rough town you live in that has schools near Croydon.

No one made you move. Why start panicking now? Your poor bloody husband.

slightlyconfused85 · 13/08/2014 20:18

Burgess hill is boring with a ropey town centre but has a very good catholic school and a Waitrose. I live in Brighton which is great and only 10 minutes from BH. You will be fine its full of families.

Original poster

Mixedupmind · 13/08/2014 20:22

The property had to fall within a RH postcode and whilst we would have loved Reigate we couldn't afford the rent there
Pulborough was the furthest out however nothing came up in the time frame we had ( 3 weeks to find somewhere in order to give our current landlord the amount of notice required! )
The kids are 2 and coming up 4 so primary school next year for the eldest
Slightly worried now!
Although our closest town is Sutton where we are here and I hate it!

OP posts:

mindalina · 13/08/2014 20:28

there's nothing to be worried about. burgess hill is just... meh. it's fine, nothing exciting, nothing terrible. the burgess hill uncovered facebook page is a laugh but does offer a slightly negative view. the cost of housing is outrageous here though tbh, you can house your family cheaper in brighton which is fucking ridiculous imo. but i live here and i'm pretty cool, so it all evens out the primary schools are fine, no idea about secondary, but you can look further afield then anyway so it's no big deal.

mindalina · 13/08/2014 20:29

oh and there's shedloads of baby/toddler groups if you like that sort of thing, so meeting new people will be easy enough

WittgensteinsBunny · 13/08/2014 20:32

But B Hill is so close to lots of nice villages with excellent schools and loads for little ones. Hassocks is 5 mins from B Hill has a mainline station, an excellent infant school, great park and is nicer than B Hill. Ok, it's BN not RH, but that's really splitting hairs! Or Cuckfield is RH and is really lovely / close to H Heath... I'm sorry but I don't understand the logic of being strictly in RH when that covers such a huge area. I hope that it all goes well. Why not spend a weekend exploring the area to try and feel better about things?

Original poster

Mixedupmind · 13/08/2014 20:57

Yeah I agree, pretty annoying but my husband works for a media company and the only vacancy was one in the RH team - didn't matter where just home address had to be RH!
The primary schools were a big factor and they seem very good there, st Paul's catholic college looks good too?

OP posts:

Leela5 · 13/08/2014 23:14

Burgess hill is not rural and it's nice.

LadyStark · 13/08/2014 23:18

Sutton is a dive, don't know Burgess Hill but it can't be worse!

FatherSpodoKomodo · 13/08/2014 23:40

Burgess Hill is ok, but I've only been there a few times so what would I know! We did look into moving there, it was cheaper than Horsham, where we lived at the time.

We didn't. We ended up moving to Crawley instead. Now that's scary!

(It's not that bad really!)

Leela5 · 14/08/2014 06:51

Crawley is a bit scary, but I moved to Sussex from Scotland and it does make me laugh when people here talk about being worried about 'crime' coz its peanuts compared to where I come from!

Seriously - there are a lot worse places you could end up than burgess hill! If you're worried why not rent until you see if you like it?

DownByTheRiverside · 14/08/2014 08:09

Take a day off and get on a train and come down to Burgess Hill.
Wander around for an hour or so, find out what you are so scared of. Get back on the train, spend a few hours in Brighton and then catch the train home.
Your threads are not helping you, perhaps you need to see where you are thinking of living with your own eyes.

MeerkatTargaryen · 14/08/2014 10:39

Lol crawley isn't scary. Lived here all my life. I wouldn't move anywhere else. Yeah crime is going up a little bit (serious crime I mean) but on the whole rates are actually falling. The only bad point is that labour just got voted in grrr (conservatives have frozen council tax for the last 5 years - not looking forward to April!).

I like burgess Hill. I would choose to live there over Sutton (my dh works there).

MeerkatTargaryen · 14/08/2014 10:40

Ps hello crawley peeps

ChickenFajitaAndNachos · 14/08/2014 11:38

Another Crawleyish person here. I love it, great schools that are easy to get into, really good weekend and school holiday activities. Nice parks and swimming pools, easy to get to London on the fast line from Three Bridges and close enough to Brighton for a day out.

DownByTheRiverside · 14/08/2014 11:42

Depends which side of Crawley you are talking about with regard to schools being great though, west Crawley I'd agree with you.
Not a Crawley fan though, but it's one of the good things about this area, there's a lot of variety and you can find a place that suits you with a bit of research and exploring.

ChickenFajitaAndNachos · 14/08/2014 11:47

I like the villages that feed into Imberhorne school. Lovely sense of community and only a few miles from good shops etc.
Hazelwick is a very good secondary school too.

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