Ok, posted this in Chat, trying my luck in here -Woodbridge anyone??

[Nixz]

Does anyone know anything about the place/quarters etc?

dont know about forces base there, but woodbridge itself is lovely town. nice, old fashioned but with useful shops too (woolies etc.). surrounding area v lovely... hth.

OOh thanks - Colchester or Woodbridge, if given the choice, what one?

sorry, dont really know colchester at all well (but personally have always thought it's a bit grim).... bumping for you....

Depends if you want to live in Suffolk or Essex!

Well, at the moment I live in Lancashire and dont really have any experience of either!

again don't know the base, but woodbridge is very pretty, quiet, market town, near the river, lots of nice pubs, countryside nearby, sailing, small shops and bakeries etc

colhcester is a large town with a busy shopping centre, some decent restaurants, a large park with good facilities, university nearby, clubs and pubs in the evening making it quite busy and noisy, 50 mins to London on the train

Thanks
I REALLY want to see the accomodation!!
Ive seen the estate in Colchester as DP is based there and we have been there several times to visit.
I cant seem to find anything on Woodbridge though.
Bumping!!!!

OOOOOHHHHHHH I can help I can help!!!!!

Woodbridge is fabulous! The quarters however are not in Woodbridge. They are a trek away towards Bawtry / Rendlesham. You would def need a car. They are in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by woodland though and not too far from the coast I think. They are on a patch that has been half sold off though and I don't think that is a good thing....

We thought we were off to Colchester and we are from near Woodbridge so were wondering about living there and dh commuting. So when we were visiting family we went to look at the housing. It was a def no no for us. The quarters are a long way from Colchester. I would have rather been at Colchester with the big community support and good school. And my Mum lives 10 mins from Woodbridge so that is saying something. But.......I have not been to Colchester. Only read about it and looked at it on Google.
Ideally we wanted Ipswich quarters but there are none left there, but there is a surplus at Woodbridge which is why you have prob been offered them.
I would recommend a visit though because if it is Woddbridge or nothing there are def worse places to be! I am a country girl used to being in the middle of no-where but was not keen. It felt a bit lonely.....
Suffolk is a fab place top live though imo, but I think Colchester has better shops perhaps........
Please ask me more and I will see what I can find out and ask dh.

Oh Thankyou thankyou!!!
So, when you say middle of nowhere......
What is there?

Also, schools - any info on them?
Im a HLTA, am I likely to find work?
DP wants to commute - is that going to be a nightmare?

What are the quarters like?
Thanks so much, standby, I may have more q's!!!!

"Look at woodbridgesuffolk.info"
Never done a Link before,This probably wont work.Here goes....

It worked,Wow!!
and "Look at"

That one didnt.But Google estate Agents in Woodbridge Suffolk,and you can look at any house for Sale you want.

Ps. I live in Colchester,and I am happy to answer any questions that I can.

OMG - Rendlesham appears to be housing some UFO's.......

OH dear....wrong.....Not Bawtry or Rendlesham which are in fact miles apart .....
Right search for Sutton Heath! The quarters are there. DH and I thought the commute to Colchester would be over an hour .
What is an HLTA ?
Local schools were small and rural. Lovely in some ways of course (I would love it) but certainly doesn't suit every child.
We didn't see into the quarters or anything. There were some semi detached houses. A load of bungalows that looked as though they had been sold off....
There looked to be a Naafi shop and a Hive and a sort of community centre I think... In fact email/call the Hive. They will be the best people to help. I will try to find a link for a great website someone told me about for finding schools....

Look here

OK, Dp is on his way back from Sutton. He said it is VERY remote. It looks like the MOD has placed a load of houses on a huge piece of land with a 5mile radius of nothingness. Now, he said the houses were nice, there was a school and a shop that is closed!
He spoke to some people and they said that a lot of young lads were getting out because they hated the place so much (understandable for a load of lads really!!) They said most of the houses were occupied and there were kids playing.
However, the nearest pub is about 2 miles away, no shops AT ALL, not even a bloody post office, nothing!
Im curious, have they sold a load of the accomodation off cheap because of the area? If so, who would have bought it?
Is there any community or social events for DD or for me?
Is there only 1 school? If so, how many children attend it?
I just dont know what to think. I like rural but this sounds like it goes beyond rural. How can there be a community if there are no meeting points, pubs, cafes, parks, events?

It is very very rural.....
Nearest school was 5 miles away I think. I def thought it was a drive anyway.
Oddly we were looking at the bungalows they sold off years ago and got my Mum to do a recce but she put us off as they were going very cheap beacuse of where they are and ?? neighbours...
I think all the camp housing is behind the wire though.
To be honest you will be driving anywhere to do anything. There will be lots in Woodbridge itself but apart from that...????
Call the Hive. They will be able to tell you all.
That is kind of why I said to DH I would want to be in Colchester with the community support even though it is further from my family. It did feel lonely and I come from a village without any shops and one pub that was shut until recently and one bus a week....

There were perhaps 3 schools close iirc. All rural and small village schools. Good for some, not for others.
I think housing was sold off because they didn't use it at the time. Not sure how long the Army have been back in Woodbridge. I don't remember them being there when I was growing up.....

Much better for families than singlies or even couples with no children I would say....

Oh my god, dp has just phoned to say that there are no allocations for us anywhere else. Its there or nothing at this present moment in time.
Its because we are not married (even though we have been together for 10yrs and have a dd 7.5!!! I really just dont want to get married, no other reason!!) and the army have sold off their properties to a civvie company, then the MOD rent them back. Obviously, 2 men or a couple who have been married for 3 days are more important than us! Therefore, they wont give us one in Colchester unless we get married or we get some sort of legal documentation to state that DP has sole custody of dd (no idea what documentation?!)
Oh my god, what do I do????
There IS a school there, Sandlings Primary School and it has a good ofsted report.
What do I do??? They have phoned this morning to ask if we want to be allocated a property.
I have emailed the hive but no response yet.

out of interest, when did you consider living there?

Ring the Hive! They didn't email me back when I emailed them, but we soon decided that we weren't going anyway so I didn't chase them and get any more info.
It is a hell of a commute, but if it is that or nothing (!) then I think that would be preferable for me. How do you feel though? Is your DH travelling all the way back to Lancashire at the mo? How long will he be in that job for? Will he get commuting costs (I can't remember the name of it now..). Do you have two cars already? Suffolk is a lovely county to be in imo. We want to move back there eventually, but it is where all our friends and family are.
I was always of the opinion that I will go wherever my dh goes because if it is great we will have a fabulous time and if is rubbish it is not forever and there will be an end date to aim for. Having school age children changes things though. All the surrounding schools had 'good' Ofsteds I believe.
I suppose I really recommend a visit as only then will you be able to tell if it is better than the life you are leading at the moment.
We were looking at it in Feb this year I think.
Good luck. It is a tough decision. I would be tempted to just get married to beat the system but I am a marrying kind so easy choice for me. It doesn't seem right does it?