Moving to the isle of wight?

[Pajamadrama]

hi! am posting here for traffic.... We live in Leighton Buzzard and are thinking or relocating to the isle of wight - have 2 children ages 9 and 3 and we are both in our early 40's. Hubby has a job 99% lined up we just need to actually be living there. Has anyone on here done this? would we be crazy moving from somewhere that has everything on our doorstep and leaving behind friends and family etc.
Would love to hear any stories/opinions good or bad? Thanks!

Regards the education issue my daughter went to Carisbrooke College and got excellent GCSE results then on to Christ the King for 6th form, leaving with great A levels. She has a place at Uni and for that she will have to leave but I think that is good for young adults to see a bit of the mainland😀
All the schools on the Island have struggled removing the 3 tier system without the funds in place was a nightmare for education on the Island but I think now all schools are improving so it is not a case of funding private school or nothing.
Oh and I agree 100% with Gurnard massive 😀

IOW is beautiful, I love Shanklin and Sandown.

No offence, but Leighton Buzzard is an absolute hole. You won't look back!

The IOW has never been known as party capital of the UK with loads going on?

.....except the Isle of Wight Festival, (and Bestival until a couple of years ago) . Cowes Week , Ventnor Jazz festival, Rhythm Tree festival
....Oh yes ,and last year we had UK Pride....

Lived and worked here 14 years , love it ...(moved from Brighton, never regretted it ) often go to London for workand back in a day ,

Companies do deliver here you know, even next day .. and not everyone knows everyone, its quite a big island! (although I do think I may have grown a couple more fingers since being here... )

I'm on the West Wight and love it here. I do , like Gurnardmassive miss the choice of really good world food (a great curry place in Yarmouth though) , but Cowes and Ryde have quite a selection of acceptable places ..

The challenge of island living is not to be underestimated. Been there done that, twice! Different islands, same mentality (apologies to anyone who lives on a small island and doesn’t feel that way). You’ve got to be sure you get it and you buy into it. It’s honestly a different outlook and a different way of life.

To clarify my point about island mentality (before I get flamed), what I noticed are the way in which local services are provided, the outlook of the council or elected representatives... often the approach is very inward-looking. I have only visited the IOW and it’s beautiful, but so are the islands I’ve lived on and a beautiful landscape doesn’t always make up for the nearest specialist healthcare being a ferry or plane ride away, or the council being run by people whose families have lived there forever and have only their own interests at heart.

.... but IOW isnt a small island.. its 25m wide and 13m deep, with about 150000 people in about 7 towns . 3 car ferryports, 2 fast passenger ferries and a hovercraft. You can be in London in under 3 hrs and load s of people commute daily across the water .. You dont have to row out to get here you know !

or the council being run by people whose families have lived there forever and have only their own interests at heart

Sigh....says this Council employee Im outta here

Do it!!! My work takes me to the Island a lot and I always get so sad boarding that ferry.

Yeah the one coming back that is!

Gosh, I'm laughing at the descriptions of the IOW lacking supermarkets and the 'long' ferry journey. I know it depends what you are comparing it to but try the Shetland or Orkney Islands. Or the Western Isles. Or even the highlands of Scotland, where you are often charged a premium for delivery even by suppliers who are posting their goods!
Island life is different and it can feel difficult as an incomer although we found locals made us very welcome. Crime rates are lower and children have more Independence (the advantage of everybody knowing everybody is that there is less anonymity for people who misbehave).

How did you get on @Pajamadrama ?

Little update! We loved our visit, found 2 houses 1 in ventnor and 1 in Newport (I know completely different areas but both had pros and cons!) but one of the biggest issues was our 9 year old saying how much she’d miss friends and family! So now our hearts are saying 1 thing and our heads another!

Ah lovely to hear! Good luck with your decision making x

Hi everyone, hope you can help. We’re moving to Perth and Kinross. We like Dunkeld. Does anyone know if there are children travelling from Dunkeld to Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, if so how long is bus journey?

I have stayed there a lot (and also stayed in LB) and find shopping more expensive than almost anywhere else on the Mainland (except the Scottish highlands). Roads can also be frustrating as most are single carriage ways so it takes a really long time to get anywhere - you may get frustrated by this if you’re coming from LB!

A lot of locals work on the mainland and transportation is a big problem in that it isn’t really convenient. So if your DP needs to catch a ferry to work he may be better off staying on the mainland during the week.

I was talking to an Isle of Wight native the other day who is homeschooling his child as he thinks the secondary schools are shocking on the IOW. We go every year for holidays and live it but I don't know if we could live there.

I’m 40, lived on the Island for 18 years because of DH who passed away earlier this year, have two boys aged 4 and 8. I can honestly say that I’ve hated the Island, the culture, the backward mentality, the Council, the isolation for as long as I can remember. Thank god we didn’t get to experience secondary schools. We are out of here as soon as the house sells and if there’s one thing I am certain of, I won’t miss it.

My husband and me are islanders that live on the mainland. We couldn't go back at the moment because of the schools.

I'm also homesick at the moment and we just can't afford the ferry home. I loved living there, goodluck with your decision.

@AvonBarksdale99 Just signed up to MN and had a look for island that's. That seems a pretty good perspective on the place. We moved here a few years ago and appreciating it, but aware it's got it's quirks! @Pajamadrama, what did you decide in the end?

Threads, not that's!

Pros: the houses are cheap, the beaches are sandy, it is beautiful.
Cons: the schools are a bit rubbish, the ferries are expensive, no one is a good driver there, it takes ages to drive around and the shops are a bit pants.

My friend and her husband moved there. She gets the hover to her work on the mainland but her husband has struggled a bit for work. I think they found it a bit of a culture shock at first. I am envious though as I love visiting for holidays; there's so much to do.

I know it fairly well. My concerns would be with bringing up children there, whilst the beaches are amazing and the beauty of the place is lovely and the swallows and amazons aspect is a huge pull. What would worry me is the childrens prospects, a lot of people end up leaving for uni and not being able to come back as there isn’t the career opportunities etc. Now they may emigrate anyway, in which case you’ll always be a ferry or flight from them. But your making that more likely.

We went for Ryde School and have been really happy with it. Kids are happy, learning and have friends. Not sure what if what @CherryPavlova said was right - they really aren't selective and the grades are significantly better than Cowes. It's not free, but been worth it for us. That said, we've got friends with kids at a lot of the schools on the island and they really are getting better generally. Ryde Academy, Cowes, CTK are all decent, it seems. Free School wasn't the runaway success it seemed it might be at first, but it's certainly not bad at all. Schools are better than a few years ago, either way.

There seem to be quite a few people not from the island living here and maybe that's part of what makes it so friendly - lots of people open to something new! I know there's not every job on the island, but it is a haven and for the last few years has been great for us. Who knows what comes after!