Moving to norfolk/Lincolnshire need opinions

[Loubylou02]

Hi everybody.
My partner and I are relocating from the west Midlands to the Norfolk area for work. He has been suggested swaffham and downham market by colleagues however I have found a few housing in Sutton Bridge Spalding on rightmove and wanted people's honest opinion on the area.
Thank you

I'm from nr Spalding originally but haven't lived there for 16 years. Parents are still there. It's a nice enough market town, still lots of agriculture in the surrounding areas. Lots of shops now and a popular outlet village on the outskirts of town. There can be a lot of haulage round there so look out for that when looking for housing. Not much in the way of nightlife for older DCs (other than drinking Frosty Jack on a park bench and vomiting copiously on the way home)
Property prices are very low too.

Thanks for your reply. We are from Birmingham so teenagers drinking frosty jack on park benches is a daily sight for us anyway! The low property prices for the space and style of the houses is what made me feel the need to question the area as it felt too good to be true. All we want really is a shop walking distance to grab necessities ie milk, maybe a pub walking distance and not to be kept up all hours of the night by roudy people

I know both areas quite well. Sutton Bridge is not a nice area, it’s cheap for a reason.

I personally would choose Norfolk 1000 times over. Downham Market is lovely in parts, with good access to Cambridge, Norwich and Kings Lynn if you need it. Same for Swaffham.

@westberlin
We've found a few nice ones in downham market but less space for money which is of course expected if it is a nicer area. What are your views on swaffham? I've been reading up on it today as I'm not over that way for another 2 weeks and have read a lot of mixed reviews

I don’t know Swaffham as well as the others, but it’s not bad at all. Standard quiet little market town imo. It’s better than Sutton Bridge most definitely.

Sutton Bridge is a bit depressing feeling, but I only ever drive through it so not really fair of me to give an opinion.

Swaffham is nice, also they have a Waitrose there which makes it feel upmarket.

Downham market is quite sweet but a bit limited.

Depends what you’re after really.

Wherever you move to in East Anglia, make sure you check the Envionment Agency flood maps first. That part of the country is very vulnerable to flooding. here

@piggyhoolier we are both moving there not knowing anyone so we don't want to be in a position where we have secluded ourselves from anyone by moving to a not so popular area. He is viewing one tomorrow in sutton bridge after work so will gage his opinion and then look at swaffham and downham market

@bikerunski thank you for that, just had a look and not a good sign for sutton bridge!

I lived in Swaffham for 6 years and moved to a village a few miles away 2 years ago. Downham is pretty and rail links are excellent but it's extraordinarily quiet and limited for children wanting hobbies and activities. Swaffham is a slightly jaded market town with rubbish transport links if you don't drive. I find it charming in its way and there are youth clubs and groups for children eg drama, martial arts, ballet, scouts etc. Schools are okay. LOL at the Waitrose reference. I never go in there, I drive to local towns and go to Aldi. There is an Asda and a Tesco in Swaffham too.

@showofhands any areas you think we should avoid? He's working in Marham so looking at a 20 mile radius from there. He's been told to avoid Wisbech but he's not long known his colleagues so not sure what their idea of nice is

I'd avoid Wisbech and anything near Thetford or Brandon. North of Marham into villages will be lovely but ££. Closer to the A47 can be a good idea for commuting. Or Downham or Watlington for rail links. What sort of budget and requirements?

@showofhands thanks for the info, think we will take a look at downham, seems to be a lot of new builds though from what I've seen on rightmove which we don't want (my last job was with new build developments so I've been put off ) but hey ho we will take what we can! Budget is ideally no more than 200k but if something is a bit more and needs not an inch of work or redecorating we will up our budget for it and need 3 bedrooms

Hi all, views on Dereham?

Avoid Spalding, it's dreadful.

Some parts of Dereham are very nice. The town itself is ok, a reasonable selection of shops, leisure centre, cinema etc. No train station, well there is but it’s a tourist attraction not an actual one to commute. I like Dereham, my DH hates it. Don’t rule it out would be my advice.

Maybe you should rent first to get a feel for an area?

@piggyhoolier not looking to rent anymore as we have the money to get on the property ladder, other half is living in Marham currently on base so he will be driving around the areas to see what they look like (im still in Birmingham so can't scope out the areas until I go and visit him) however always good to get people's opinions too as driving through doesn't show exactly what it's like. Will definitely have a look into Dereham from your advice, thank you