Ideal Place to live in the UK ?

[Mojomummy]

My DH suggested I ask MNetter's this. We would like to relocate & can't decide where to go.

Looking for a village environment, good schools in walking distance, not too many cars, somewhere to buy the papers & loaf of bread & milk. A post office, playground, park & somewhere nice to walk. Prefer to be by the sea.

Would also need some sort of computer industry nearby for work.

Does something similar exist ? We have a few of these things, but the road near us is busy & I'm fed up with getting bits of grit in my eye when I walk to the toddler group !

we live just outside Reading. Can find good infant schools (although we may be just outside catchment area for the best one) but terrible secondary schools. Seems I have to get in the car to get anywhere. Could be MUCH worse, I'd just like it to be a bit better

Saddleworth very picturesque, quaint and rural!

exeter was voted the best place in the country to bring up children recently. Plenty of villages not too far away and in reach of some beautiful beaches. Don't know if there are computer jobs but the Met Office moved there a while back so there might be some there.

There are a few computing jobs in Exeter (but I need to hog those for my dp! He's been making enquiries) - there are companies in that industrial estate on the SW side of the city. Otherwise it's a commute to Bristol, which does have lots of computing jobs.

North Yorkshire Moors - beautiful!

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isle of wight.

isle of wight.

isle of wight.

isle of wight.

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just incase you missed that I said Isle of wight!

I have all of the second paragraph where I live in West Yorks - apart from the sea. I am in the computer industry also and we are in commutable distance of Leeds and Sheffield (Manchester at a push).

cod - ther's nothing wrong with portsmouth at all, wouldn't recommend stubbington personally, but i'm not from that side of twon, I prefer the other side, what about bedhampton way? - u don't want to go inner city p'mouth but other places are nice the little villiages - suothwick for example, has a shop, pub and post office- doesn't have schools thou.

Mojomummy... we live just outside Reading too, whats your local secondary school?
Whats a rude boy??? don't think I've ever met one apart from son on a bad day.

I live on the Isle of Wight. I'm an Overner - ie we moved over here, we're not Caulk heads ( born here ).

Re: unemployment - totally depends what type of employment - and a LOT of people commute to the mainland ( my dh works in Southampton )

Bored Youths - no more than elsewhere, and they tend to be more innocent, polite and less thuggy than mainland teenagers.

Cost of Ferry - well, yes that is a pain in the , but it's the price you have to pay for living on the island. It's worth it, IMO.

We LOVE living here. Originally moved here because cost of housing was so much cheaper than Southen mainland. The gap has narrowed now a bit, but it's still considerably cheaper. It's clean, it's friendly, it's beautiful, it has lots of beaches, great sense of community, blah blah blah. . .

Ryeish Green - going on OFSTED stats & rumours

What is your local secondary school ?

I like Stubbington - happiest days there riding around on my raleigh bike , picnics on the beach

Rosie, I LOVE the IOW and our plan is to live there one day.

Dh is a train driver so work for him would be pretty hard to come by. I think the entire IOW network is about 12 miles of track, isn't it?

I just love it over there. When we were last there in august I took a photo from the highest point on the A3056 (the sandown-newport road) on my phone and have it saved as my screensaver. The views from that road just take my breath away.
We're moving house soon and it's purely because of the IOW and it's affect(should that be effect, never quite sure) on us. The space, the scenery, the sea...everything.

I'm very envious of you, you live in the place I want to be everyday.

Mojomummy... Our local secondary is Highdown.... Daughter won't go for another couple of years..

this is an interesting thread but curious about "constant crime & violence in Berkshire" - hadn't noticed!
as for places to live - Glos'shire, Wilts seem to offer good combination of quiet, unspoilt environmt with good connections to places of work - still looking for the perfect village myself though!

Not heard of that one - is it a good school ?

Yes, LTH - we LOVE it here. It is a fabulous place to live and bring up children. We're in Cowes, with a 20 minutes fastjet link to Southampton, so not cut off at all. DH commutes to work from door to door in under an hour. The ferry season ticket for him is a bit pricey, but much less so than if he were commuting into London - and a much more pleasant journey!

Yes, not much work for traindrivers I'm afraid - but commuting to Southampton or Portsmouth is very do-able, especially if you live in Cowes or Ryde. And yes, unemployment on the island is reasonably high - but no more so than any other rural area. The island is not as small as people think - it has towns and schools, and lots of businesses.I've no idea what I'm going to do job-wise when the kids are older, but I'm confident I'll find a job - or even a career!

I hope you realise your dream - I can't imagine going back now.

I'm another from Reading and although it's not the place I want to be when my time is up, it pretty much has everything without having to sit hours on end in the car.

Do fancy West Wittering when I'm a bit more grown up.

quick update - thinking about Hartley Wintney - think it's a north hants village.

Anyone know it, recommend it, loathe it, etc etc ?