Where should we move to? (Dorset / Hampshire / West Sussex)

[Azure83]

After sitting on the proverbial fence for a while, we have finally decided to move out of London. But where to? We’ve narrowed it down to Dorset, Hampshire, possibly West Sussex. We have no ties to any of these counties. There are however a few ‘must haves’.
We want to be no more than 30mins drive from the coast. Ideally on the outskirts of a city (Poole, Christchurch?) or in a town. A quiet village would probably be too much of a shock to the system. Also, I don’t want to have to drive miles for a pint of milk. We do want a large garden though which probably means being further away from the coast.
DCs are 3.5yrs and 6mo so good schools are important but secondaries are quite a long way away. I know there are different school systems across Dorset but we don’t have a preference either way.
A train link to London not too far away would be good as well.
So Mumsnet - where is the sweet spot??

[quote LakieLady]@Ionacat, shhhh about Lymington, it's quite busy enough and I don't want any more people to find out how nice it is. [/quote]
Waving from Hordle! Yes, shhh indeed

West Sussex is lovely. Shoreham by Sea is a fab town. Good schools and amenities, beaches, close to Brighton and the Downs, fast trains to London

Another one saying West Sussex.

We came from Surrey a few years ago. On a bus route to local towns with train stations to London. Brighton one way, Southampton and Portsmouth the other, if you want shopping. Lots of small towns and villages, Chichester a few miles away, easy access to the coast. Sailing, paddle boarding, jet skiing, if you want it. Chichester Festival Theatre, Mayflower in Southampton, Worthing.

I’m Ringwood.

It’s a community focussed market town with lots of family stuff going on- the kind of town that throws a street party for a Jubilee/VE Day (had we been allowed!), has a carnival, pedal car grand prix etc. It’s big enough to have a couple of decent bistro style restaurants we can walk to for dinner out (and a cheese and wine bar!) plus a good few independent coffee shops and the Furlong which has shops like Whistles, Crew, Fat Face and Phase Eight.

We shop in Waitrose but there is also a Sainsbury’s in town and a Lidl slightly out.

I’m a runner/hiker and can be out running in open New Forest within less than a mile of my home, despite also being a 15 min walk from the centre of town!

I drive to work in Bournemouth which takes 20 mins and could be at the beach in 20 mins too. We find that Bournemouth beach is often too busy to actually be enjoyable in school holidays/weekends so are more likely to drive a little further to go to Highcliffe (just outside Christchurch) or Barton for the beach.

If you’re in to eating out the New Forest/Bournemouth area has an amazing range of “foodie” options- Limewood, The Pig, The Pig on the Beach, Chewton Glen, Pebble Beach (amazing sea front restaurant), Lymington.

Cons: prices in Ringwood are £££. A one bed flat in my block is currently on the market for £200k. If you want to live slightly out of town to be more rural, then being just a few hundred metres up the road can hike the price again, though you would generally be in a beautiful woodland or meadows. Expect to pay £500k plus for a 3 bed in this setting.

Public transport out of town is a bit rubbish. There are good bus links to Bournemouth and Salisbury that would suit a teen/regular office commute and a National Express to Poole but there is no train line anywhere near! I go to London for work sometimes and do a 30 min drive to Southampton Airport, then get on the train there. Still at the office in well under 2 hours but a car is essential for living here. However, I grew up rurally so was used to parents being taxis and everyone learning to drive and getting a car at 17.

Rush hour traffic trying to get kids dropped at school often means the town centre gets clogged up. Be careful of this when choosing a home; Christchurch Road are is pretty annoying but Hightown/Poulner have separate access to the A31 so are easier.

To end on a good note, if they built a safe cycleway I’d happily cycle to work in Bournemouth, but there isn’t one at the moment. If I want to cycle I head out in the New Forest which is great for it. There are also loads of lakes in Ringwood so we have a sailing club, wake board park, aqua park, lake swimming club so water sports are pretty prevalent here too. Also a major equestrian scene, lots of stables, lots of properties with equestrian facilities.

Also yes to Mayflower Theatre in Southampton! 30 mins drive so not bad for a night out and there are many shows there that have come straight from the West End. Southampton is where you’d go for John Lewis/Ikea type shopping also, though CastlePoint in Bournemouth is easily accessible for Next/H&M/New Look type shopping.

I wouldn't recommend West Sussex , traffic and schools seem to be the most pertinent issues and ime not very friendly to 'outsiders' even if you live just over the border into Hampshire as I do - it's quite funny sometimes the difference a mile or two makes.

Hayling has a nice sailing club but unless you go private not great for kids.

Personally I would go further west ..
The beaches and general friendly vibe do it for me.

FunTimes2020 I was just coming on to say Shoreham :) Its where all my friends who have been priced out of Brighton want to move to...it feels younger than a lot of the other coastal towns.

I'd come a bit further west into Dorset, Dorchester or maybe Bridport if you want towns. I am slightly biased as was brought up in Bridport and now live in village just outside Dorchester :-) Weymouth and Portland are in easy reach for beach, sailing and water sports. Dorchester and Bridport are lovely towns with mix of period and new homes. Bridport has a slightly quirky, alternative vibe. Both have very good schools, especially primaries. And Dorchester has a train line direct to Waterloo, passing through Poole, Bournemouth and Southampton giving easy access to the larger towns for big shopping centres/theatres etc

Thanks everyone, apologies for not tagging you all individually but I now have a long list of interesting places to check out!

@Leflic I totally understand you point of view. We don’t need to commute to London daily which is why we’re looking a bit further out. But mainly we want the kids to grow up somewhere nice, or naice even, with an outdoor lifestyle. Hopefully we will become ‘the locals’ one day and I promise I won’t be putting up any tips on local fb pages 😉

@LakieLady I have heard Lymington is lovely but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.. Especially if we end up living there!

I mentioned Wimborne to dh last night and apparently that is one place we can’t move to as his ex girlfriend (from uni!) and her parents might still possibly live there...🤷‍♀️

@CrispsForTea I’d assume Ringwood was more expensive than Southbourne? It has the poshest Waitrose I’ve ever been to! @user1471548941 thanks, a very useful post! I keep coming back to Ringwood but as you said, pros and cons to consider.

A sailing mad branch of my family live in Wareham and love it for sailing in Poole Harbour, selection of beaches within reach and walking.

No idea about schools etc.

Just be aware that anywhere near the coast is rammed in the summer. If you have to commute anywhere it takes twice as long.
Especially if you're driving anywhere near Purbeck in a sunny day.

I watched an old episode of Locationx3 last night and they were looking in Ringwood and Southampton. The property market then in 2016 in Ringwood was really fast. I can't imagine it's much better now. There have been a few episodes recently in that neck of the woods, including Chandlers Ford and Winchester. Might be worth trawling through them. It usually tells you in the description where the buyers are looking.

It’s all really nice round here. But I think it depends on your budget and expectations as to where you settle. And whether you need to commute into London on a semi regular basis. Southampton to London is bearable but I don’t think I could manage much further out. There are nice family friendly parts of Southampton (most notably probably Upper Shirley or Highfield), but there are nice villages and smaller towns around. In Portsmouth I like Southsea, but quite urban I suppose. And of course people have already mentioned which parts of Bournemouth/Poole/Christchurch

Actually the housing market in Ringwood at the moment is definitely pretty calm!!!

Yes to not wanting to commute from further than Southampton to London. I did two stops out from Southampton to Waterloo 4 days per week for 3 years and it nearly broke me, even doing term time only. For a daily commute, I’d stick to Winchester.

Wimborne is lovely and theres a lot of develpment going on but see not an option unless you find out if ex is still there. What sort of budget and house are you looking for. The outskirts are nice and quiet. Ferndown and Verwood have good schools.

Such a great summary! Thats really helped me. We are considering Parkstone as an area to relocate to from south staffs. The area near to Rossmore and Bourne valley park. I'm wanting good primary education for my children and in the next 2 years a good secondary. If grammar school doesn't work out i'd like to be near to a decent state school. Magna Academy seems to have an outstanding ofsted and good results. St aldhelms academy is also in the area but results and ofsted not as good. Anyone have any advice on the area or the primary / secondary schools around there please?