New town, new house, pregnant with no.2 - help me settle into Tunbridge Wells.

[Clukat]

Hi,

We move to TW in two weeks and I think I must be mad! I am excited about getting out of London, and we have talked about TW for the last few years, but it is now happening and its scary!!!!!

To top it off I am pregnant, have an active DS (2) and a husband who thrives on working long hours. We are renting a house in the Southborough / St John's area and I am starting to wonder how I am going to manage.

Don't worry, its not the coping, its the lack of social life as I wont have my local friends and Mum's groups and don't know anyone.

Can anyone recommend activites / classes that are good to do with a 2 yr old in the area and or a new baby! If anyone else has moved recently it would be great to get some settling in ideas and find out where the good places are to go and meet people.

Thanks for your help.

Try contacting the local branch of the NCT;

Tel: 08442436303 | Email: [email protected]

Sports Centre; www.fusion-lifestyle.com/centres/Tunbridge_Wells_Sports_Centre/facility/Creche

Adult Education; www.kentadulteducation.co.uk/index.aspx

It's a lovely town. Hope you will enjoy living there!

HI
I did the same thing a year ago - utterly terrifying at the time so I can sympathise. There are loads of families here and lots going on.
Check out St Johns church which has a playgroup and also Tumble Tots and little dribblers hold their classes there.
I took my lot to Musical Bumps who have classes all over TW and Montys Music. Theres story and song time at Southborough Library in the mornings (Monday and Tuesday I think at 10.00) and Surestart centres all over the TW area hold playgroups and classes at various times.

I found a website called TunbridgeWellsMum really useful for class suggestions and activities. Theres a nice park in St Johns and check out Dunloran park which is beautiful but probably a car ride if you are at the top end of town.
The Pantiles is lovely for a coffee and a nice safe place for the littles ones to run around (its pedestrianised) and also you have to have a coffee and cake at Juliets on the high street.
Welcome to the area - it took me a few months to settle but we love it here now.

Thanks so much for your comments. I will checkout the the Sports Centre and the tip about little dribblers, sounds perfect.
Thanks both for taking the time to respond.

We moved here not knowing anyone either but settled in very easily and love it. Gyminis at the sports centre on a Wednesday morning is a fab soft play in an environment which is perfect when you are pregnant or have a baby as it's in sports hall so you can keep an eye on things from a distance - whilst you talk to some other mums!
The park in St Johns is lovely too.
Good luck!

Hi - We recently moved here too without knowing anyone/the area and have really enjoyed it so far. Again we're at the St Johns/Southborough side of town. There's a nice park on Pennington Rd in Southborough with a good playground and one in St Johns. St Johns Church has a very active Sunday School and many activities going on during the week (think mums and toddlers on a Tues morn) as well as the library in Southborough also has sessions too. The gym is really nice on St Johns Rd and I think they do classes for little ones there too.
In town there's the Calverley Park, the Pantiles and Dunorlan has a lovely lake and playground.
Hope you're not too daunted by the move and all goes well.x.

Clukat! I am in a very similar position to you. Moved to central TW 8 weeks ago and knew no one. I have a 2 year old (well 2 on 10/08) and I am 10 weeks pregnant.

I have found it a little hard tbh, because friendships are established and I do find myself desperately panging for my fellow mum friends back home and the ease of meeting up for playdates, but I have found two really nice fellow mums here and we see each other at least once a week. But still... that leaves quite a lot of time when it is just me and DS! On the plus side, there is lots to do and life is easier (I came from central London)

If you would like to meet up, pm me.

You may like to join the TW Natural Parenting group.
www.facebook.com/groups/193802913985050/

We did it almost five (had to check then, seems much less than that!) years ago and haven't regretted it for a second. It takes time but it's a well trodden path and you'll settle in soon enough I'm sure. If you are in the St John's end of town, I co-ordinate the NCT coffee group here - just an informal get together of preschoolers and mothers, no need to be members; we meet on a Thursday morning and take turns to host,or meet at local parks if it's dry - ages of the children ranges from tiny to just going off to school this term - if you want to join us, do PM me.