Retiring to Dorset on my own - advice please!

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I have lived in London for 30+ years and do not want to get old here! I have been single for several years and now late 50s, so pretty much resigned to being solo for good! I have always wanted to live by the sea and would like to make the move while I’m still young and fit enough to establish myself somewhere new. I have zoned in on Dorset, for the scenery, lifestyle and also being a reasonable distance for family and friends to visit.

Am currently doing recces/research trips to various areas. Am mainly thinking of Bridport/Swanage/Weymouth areas. I drive and my current work can be done remotely, so I don’t need to commute. Happy to live outside town centres to be somewhere quieter as long as I have access to a town for shopping and facilities.

Would love to have a sea view but not a deal breaker. Main criteria are:

• near to sea
• good walks
• road links to a motorway
• things to do/places of interest for visitors
• good restaurants

I would also like to be somewhere that has community events so I’m not socially isolated: food festivals/pilates/social activities. I love theatre so arts facilities would be a bonus.

If anyone can advise on the suitability of Bridport/Swanage/Weymouth localities for a single, active lady starting retirement, I would be most grateful. And there may of course be other places that fit the bill that I don’t know about! TIA for any advice.

Sidmouth is in Devon.

i live in Bournemouth. I would avoid it, Poole and Christchurch unless you want to sit in traffic jams the whole time, and suffer a near bankrupt local authority. Southbourne is just a suburb of Bournemouth.
I would go west...Bridport sounds ideal for you. Swanage is lovely but a bit out on a limb.

Just chipping in to say I love that bit of the world too and Bridport or Lyme Regis would be my top choices. Sidmouth is lovely too. All of them feel very welcoming.

Care to share your budget so we can do a bit of Rightmoving for you

I live in Swanage, before that in Southbourne in Bournemouth. Bournemouth used to be a great place but it has become very run down and there are areas with quite a lot of drug addicts. Christchurch is OK though.
Swanage is lovely, but isolated. Because of the traffic it can be very slow to get to a decent supermarket (and the main hospitals in Bournemouth and Poole), though if you are travelling out in the morning and back at teatime at least you'll be going the opposite way to the traffic jams. Of course the nearest motorway (M3) is over an hour away. However the train service from Wareham is good.
In common with many small holiday towns there is resentment about second home owners and retirees pushing house prices out of reach of local families. Also the disproportionate number of older people causes a big burden on health services and adult care costs.
Bridport used to be a dump, years back, but it has gone very upmarket. Lots of arty people, artisan cafes, charity shops with designer rails 😁. It's out in the sticks though!

I spend a lot of time in Portland, and have done over the last 10 years. I really like both the Island and Weymouth. I think Portland is quite proud of its quirkiness and I really should be up and coming as its location is great and the scenery is lovely. I spend a lot of time walking about the area and never tire of it. The incinerator is a bit of a red herring. It will be located within the industrial area of the “uninhabited” side of the island below the old prison and quarry at the bottom of a very steep cliff. Accessed via Castletown Port. The nicer areas are to the west and south west up on the hill. I have always found it friendly enough which is a lot to say coming from a Jock. Weymouth is pretty in places. I love the Fort and the marina area. Transport links are great with the train in town, I can get there easily by train or flying to Southampton. I have used both the community hospital (urgent care centre) and Dorchester quite a lot through work and found them perfectly fine and helpful and also the small community hospital in Portland and the doctor’s surgery there, also very helpful and accommodating.

I can't comment on Dorset; however my father's employer had seminars for those approaching retirement, and one piece of advice they gave was that if you were considering moving, to stay in the new place for a week without a car - most people are still driving when they retire, but will have to stop at some point due to ill health.

Of course you could move again if your circumstances change, but it's much harder to build relationships and become part of a community if you're already frail.

Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck are my dream place to retire to, I’ve visited at all different times of year and love it as much on a grey winter day (if not more) as a hot summer one. Good luck OP, I’m jealous!

With your criteria I would recommend Christchurch. Sea, walks, close but not too close to motorway, lots of places to visit with friends and family, close to New Forest where there are nice restaurants like Limewood and also good pubs etc in Christchurch itself and a good market.

The places you like out west are not at all close to a motorway and it takes a surprisingly long time to reach a good road (A35 is good but slow).

Swanage is fab but you either have to drive the long way round to access motorway and/or be at the behest of the chain ferry at Sandbanks.

What I will say though which is relevant as you get older, BCP is great for hospital/medical care. Further out into Dorset itself more hit and miss.

I'm in Dorchester and it's a great little town. Near to Weymouth for the beach but we never go there in the summer as it gets so busy. Ringstead beach is much nicer for locals as it's a bit quieter. Dorchester has a hospital and lots of drs surgeries which is handy as you get older (sorry!) we have lots of shops and a Tesco's. Market day is a wednesday. Brewery square is a lovely area with a cinema and lots of restaurants. We also have a local cinema in the town which is really well priced. Dorchester has lots of lovely places for walks. Thorncombe woods has a lovely cafe and has Thomas Hardyes cottage which is lovely to go and look around. Dorchester has lots of lovely parks and museums. I could keep going....! X

Yes, I realised that once I checked! It’s too far out for me unfortunately, as I’m focussing on Dorset as far as Lyme Regis.

Budget will be around 600k tops. Really want 3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms to accommodate visitors.

@bluesatin thank you. Good to hear from a Swanage resident. I have previously stayed in Swanage for 3 weeks and loved it but I was working in the town so didn’t experience the issues of trying to get in or out on the roads! I realise it’s in a bit of an ‘awkward’ position to access by road though.

Thank you @Poshjock I am intrigued by Portland, so am still planning to check it out as I have another race planned to the Weymouth area in June. So I am taking onboard everyone’s comments, positive and negative!

Find out what organisations exist in Bridport or elsewhere such as WI or U3A. You will need to join local groups in order to make friends. We have friends who retired to Sidmouth. There is lots going on and they come under Exeter General Hospital which seems to be quite good at the moment.

Thank you @whoateallthecookies that’s a good piece of advice. I think once I identify where I want to be, I will indeed go to stay for a week and see how I manage without a car.

I really want this move to be my final move, as I’m late 50s now and very conscious of how more difficult it gets to establish yourself in a new community as you get older. So I want to take my time to find the right location and house, and feel confident that will be my forever home. The thought of moving again at 70 fills me with horror!

I love Dorset but having seen the absolute pain that is getting friends parents who retired there to varied hospital appointments, I’m more convinced than ever of retiring 45 minutes from a decent teaching hospital. Swanage would absolutely be my top pick but the queue for the chain ferry in the summer…

the Hampshire coast between Lymington and Christchurch isn’t quite as beautiful but has better transport, and is less tourist-crazy. New Milton, Milford on Sea, etc. you’re not far from the m27, can choose between Bournemouth and Southampton hospitals, New Forest on your doorstep.

Thank you. Dorchester does sound great but a little inland for me, I think, as I’ve set my heart on being close to the sea…

Thank you for this advice. The healthcare situation is definitely an important consideration. Looks like Swanage is about a 45 min drive from Poole Hospital? I note others have said that the aging population in Swanage may be over-stretching health services.

Swanage would fall under Poole and Bournemouth I imagine, (not my neck of the woods) but although it’s close, the closest route is by the ferry and rhe queues…

@bluesatin it looks like Poole Hospital is the closest general hospital to Swanage, is that right? About 45 mins drive away? Does it have a good reputation?

It looks like a 45 min drive the long way to Poole Hospital, which seems ok if it means avoiding the summer ferries…

We are in a Bournemouth suburb .2 hours to London by train, Beaches in the doorstep ,lots to do .Poole is a little run down in parts. Wimborne is a lovely little town ,bur pricey .New forest about half a hour away .

Thankyou. Am going to look at Poole and also Wareham.

Christchurch, Mudeford and Highcliffe are all places I would happily live in for retirement. Good coast, plenty to do and easy transport to Bournemouth for the hospital.