Crowborough

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Posting for traffic 😳
What is crowborough, East Sussex like to live in?
Have two primary aged children and massively reassessing our lives at the moment!

My parents moved there at end of last year, they are mid-late fifties. They were reassessing their life too, albeit at a different stage to you haha! They have no regrets, despite being so nervous as had lived in previous town for 30+ years. It seems to have a really good community spirit, people are friendly, neighbours have all been really welcoming from day 1. Doctors etc have all been great, obvs can’t comment on schools as doesn’t apply so can’t help you there I’m afraid. Maybe worth joining the local fb group and asking on there?

We are about 10 miles from Crowborough, we moved down from outer London 10+years ago and love it. Our (smaller than Crowborough) town has a couple of fantastic primaries and a well regarded secondary. The people are friendly, the countryside is beautiful. Public transport is dreadful (but unlike Crowborough we aren't on a rail line and we rarely used public transport when we were in greater London - we were SE London so no tube so it doesn't really bother us). Tunbridge Wells and Brighton are both easily accessible for the "big town/city" needs.

Crowborough is fine. Property reasonably priced, good supermarkets, not too trafficky. Lots of goods walks etc nearby (including ashdown forest). Nothing much in the way of nice pubs/restaurants/cafes but Tunbridge Wells (25 minutes away has plenty). Don't know about primary schools but the Beacon secondary is ok, I think (although you might get your kids into one of the tw grammars). Kerry katona lives there next door to a friend of mine, and apparently has a very annoying dog!

Thank you :)
We currently don’t live that far away from crowborough at the moment but have only visited it to look around and wanted to get a proper insight into what it is actually like to live in! :)

It's ok. I'm actually looking to move away from there as it has got more busy and there is not a great deal of appeal there for us anymore.

It's schools are ok, the primary ones we found to be fine. Secondary school is highly rated but some of my friends kids have been badly bullied there which the school did nothing about. There's a fair variety of clubs etc for kids but since my kids have now grown up there has been less and less for them to do.

Public transport is a bit hit and miss, nearby Uckfield and Tunbridge Wells both have better services. There's not much in the way of shops really either.

Overall like I say, it's ok. There's lots of new housing being built there with no new infrastructure (part of the reason for our move), but it's a safe place with a pretty low crime rate and most of the people there are friendly.

Imo there are nicer places in that part of Sussex/West Kent, unless you specifically need to be on that rail line. Uckfield is nicer imo and has a better range of shops, good library and a lovely independent cinema. And Lewes is nice, but a good bit further out and a bit pricey.

Tunbridge Wells is great for shopping, eating out and has loads of pubs, all of which Crowborough lacks, but TW is a lot bigger (but in Kent, so a grammar school may be a possibility). East Grinstead is smaller than TW, but bigger than Crowborough, good for commuting, shopping and eating out, has a great library, some nice pubs and easy access to countryside.

If you don't mind smaller places, Wadhurst might suit you. The school (Uplands) was very highly regarded 10 years or so ago and still has a good reputation, and there's a station there, possibly on the same line as Crowborough. It's a really nice small market town, with a good community spirit.

I like Frant, too, but can't recall if it has a station, and Tenterden and Biddenden are both nice.

Wadhurst is on the Hastings line. Also Tunbridge Wells and Frank are a lot more expensive than Crowborough. OP - take a drive round, register with local estate agents and get an idea of the area. We've lived in TW for about 23 years and are planning on moving out to a village or countryside area in East Sussex (were just about to put house on market before all this shitstorm hit). I've loved living here, as have my husband, son and 2 stepchildren.

I like Tunbridge Wells, too, @fishonabicycle. I was really delighted when my SIL and her family moved there from Surrey, and they love it.

Like you, they're looking to move out to a village or rural property now that DNiece can drive, and looking at places along the Kent/East Sussex border. BIL is a builder/property developer though, so the scope for development will take precedence over location.

I think Uckfield has more going for it than Crowborough in the way of shops and pubs, plus an excellent independent cinema. But it's the same rail line for both and still not electrified so suffers in the winter although Uckfield is at the end of the line so you will get a seat in the mornings. It's only really any good for commuting to Croydon or London. I live in Forest Row which you also might consider. 10 mins drive to East Grinstead which has a much better train service. Smaller but with lots of independent shops and prides itself on being a bit (sometimes annoyingly so) 'quirky'. Good primary school but most kids travel to EG or TW for secondary. Although there is Michael Hall (a Steiner school) in the village if you are into that sort of thing.

I'm about 10 minutes from there. It's pleasant though. You have a lot of choice shopping wise. Waitrose, Morrisons, Lidl and a (small) Tesco. An abundance of dentists .

But like PP said, there are nicer towns IMO. There isn't a huge amount in Crowborough.

Uckfield is nicer, but I'm biased

Haywards Heath has more shops wise. A better variety.

Feel free to message me for any more info!

The Crowborough Morrisons had been our MVP during this virus. Queues are usually short, shelves fully stocked, staff really lovely. I'd move there just for the Morrisons at this rate, but the actual town is also really nice!