Calling all mumsnetters in Devon...

[hercules1]

We currently live in London with a 2 bed house and cant get up the next step to get a 3 bed house. I also dont fancy much brining up my kids in the area I live in.

I grew up in Devon and went to school at kevics in Totnes but have heard it's gottten pretty bad there now - not sure if that's the case still.

ANyway we are thinking as one of our options of moving to Devon. AS a teacher I would want to work in a special needs school and would want dh to give up his night job and do whatever.

It's beena few years since I lived down there so am wondering what are the nice areas where I could get a good primary and secondary (leaving behind 2 good ones here), buy a 3/4 bed house for between say 210-250 (lesser better so be more affordable) with a large garden.

Also my 11 year old son needs some persuading so what sorts of things can 11 year olds do there??

Going out for the day so if I dont come back much till later that's why.

TiA

home counties, about an hour from London. I work in Milton Keynes, which is not a mono culture, it's a good ethnic mix. But we have added complication of ex dh has ds every other weekend, being here means he's in and out of our house all the time. Plus London salaries here but not London house prices.

REally not sure what to do.

I think you should go and look at a few places and see what you think. It's a hard one, I know.

Agree; go and look. It's the only way to tell, view some properties at the same time. We were planning to move to Exeter, ended up in Plymouth and I'm pleased now- I think this suits us more.

can I ask why Gess?

well the special school provision is better (without travelling); the dp's payments seem to be better, the traffic is better; and its a bigger city, which to my surprise I've discovered I like. We live very centrally. Plymouth has changed a lot. I was wary about coming back here as 20 years ago it was very different. Now the university has expanded rapidly, which brings benefits, its become more multicultural. Its closer to Dartmoor and the sea - and (this is for us only) parents are here to give a hand. And property prices are way cheaper than Exeter. In Exeter we'd be in a 3 bed in a slightly ropey area or outside. Here we're in a large 4 bed centrally in one of the good areas. We won't have to move again until the kids leave home.

I went to school in Exeter. It is quite different. Far more middle class and intelligensia (love that word, is it a real one?) but Plymouth suits us & our situation. It is finally (years after everywhere else) getting some cash injection- it's sort of coming up in the way Bristol did 10 years ago. in 5 -10 years time I think it'll be a really exciting place.

Oh and it has the best Japanese restaurant I've eaten in outside Japan

Have a look around.

I know that Kingsbridge primary and secondary have now got excellent reputations. Yet Kingsbridge as lovely as it is, is off the beaten track. I would plump for exeter.

I only know Plymouth from 15 years ago and it was pretty rough then. THanks gess. Seems worth looking into after all. House prices are certainly tempting there.

After reading what www said pirate girl I'm also inclined to avoid kinsbridge -it's not cheap anyway and because of race issue.

Gess - what are the good areas of Plymouth now? Where should we avoid looking?

It's really changed from 15 years ago (I left in 1989). Bits still to avoid, but it's really coming up now. And so much more multicultural. The expanding university has had a really positive effect imo. Also some really positive great special schools. I wouldn't discount it on 15 years out of date knowledge. We almost did, but I'm pleased we didn't.

Good areas.... in your price range I'd look at Stoke (be a bit careful), Stonehouse (for up and coming- still slightly dodgy in places but will rapidly improve), the Millfields, and Peverell. My favourite out of those would be Peverell. If you could go to £250 add in Mannamead. Worht looking at Greenbank , Lipson & St Judes as well, but you need to be careful of the exact street iykwim.

Thanks

or you could possibly look to villages just outside? like yealmpton, brixton ( yes very different to the london one lol) or modbury?
Not far form plym at all, yet near the coasts and v handy for town.

Kings is lovely, and altho not multi cultural by anymeans, it is a laid back, freindly place. But I do struggle with the lack of things to do, like evebning classes, or events for socializing.

saying that, i am off to the beach 2morro!!!

plymouth has a huge well established chinese population already btw.
It has a university and a medical school.
Is also undergoing lots of re-development to improve on the post-war panic-building effect.
Agree you can get 3 bed for £200K, with garden too. Probably 1930s rather than victorian ( most victorians only have courtyards). 4 bed victorian with no garden between 150k and 200k depending on area.

Tavistock is nice.
Gess is dead on with her suggestions re areas of plymouth.
Could also try Plymstock/plympton areas just outside main city (suburbs I guess) - again, some parts better than others.

oh yes plymstock/plympton good & modbury/yealmpton/Brixton. BUt you get very monocultural once you get into the vilages iykwim.

That is true.
But...it will stay monocultural if no one other than white-english ever moves there becuase it is monoculture (ifykwim...). Monocultural doesn't automatically mean racist or not open to diversity...does it?

No it doesn't Tigana but it still can make it difficukt to live there. The man from the council in Devon said to me when asking why I was divorced from my (Indian husband, apparant from his surname) "cultutal issues I expect wass it?" NO IT WASN'T! NOT REMOTELY!

Thanks everyone!

There are a lot of very nice villages between Tavistock and Plymouth that are really quick to get into plymouth but more out in the countryside. I guess it depends if your child is into outdoor activities or not, if he is then you may find being on the moor is worth it as there is plenty of space to run/cycle around in. Places along the A386 from plymouth to tavi are well served for buses and the like and its quick to get into plymouth.

Some of Plympton and Plymstock tend to be a bit of a rat run for people using it as a short cut to other places. Modbury is nice.

I think you need to visit places. Tavistock is getting much more mixed since the Safeways became a Morissons and they transferred a lot of their staff from other parts of the country so its much more normal to see people of different races around here and not unusual.

Thanks. I think we'll do some further research on Tavistock and Plymouth.

How do Tavistock prices compare to say Plymoouth and Exeter?

Hi Hercules, we've been thinking of moving to Devon for ages and I have been applying for jobs for about 18 months. There are not that many jobs vacancies in my line of work, but the transition should be easier for you.

I have never lived in Devon but have been visiting the South Hams for 20 years and my 7 and 13 year old sons know Kingsbridge and surrounds quite well. I too worry how my 13 year old will fit in, and he was getting more reluctant to leave his friends and school. But we have just come back from a holiday and he is really keen to move down again. He's not much of a swimmer or surfer and wouldn't be persuaded to take them up. However he loves fishing and this hobby transfers well to Devon and he also loves playing cricket, so was very relieved to see that Kingsbridge has a thriving cricket club.

So it might be an idea to look at what your 12 year old likes to do at the moment and see how Devon can cater for his present interests.

I too am always struck by the lack of ethnic diversity in the South Hams. But I did notice more of a racial mix (yes, even in Kingsbridge!)on this holiday.

I do find the supermarkets and shops in general considerably more expensive in the Kingsbridge and the village areas of the South Hams that I know. I live in an area of South London where there's a large populatin of poor people and the shop/restaurant/cinema/swimming pool etc prices reflect this. I personally have a bit of a problem with the pervading comfortably off middleclass-ness of the area. I know the cost of living for us as a family would be higher

Another thing I'm considering is this - as jobs are scarcer in the South Hams than in London, if we move down, there's more chance our sons will be forced to leave home in their early twenties to get a decent job and may end up living far away from us. If we stay put in London, the chances are they will live closer to us when they reach their twenties. I know I can't predict the future, but when I think about moving for the sake of the family, I really wonder if in the long term, this is a false assumption.

Having said this, we are still very much looking to move.

As for the schools, there is a mumsnetter here who works at Kingsbridge school and whose children go to Ivybridge school and she knows the reputation of the local South Hams secondary schools really well. I hope she sees this thread. FWIW I have heard good things about both schools from our friends in Devon. When we enquired, Kingsbridge School is always oversubscribed.

Hi Tigermoth, I hadn't considered that thing about children having to move away earlier because of lack of opportunity, good point. And prices are high in the South Hams, yes. I was always struck by the low salaries compared to high cost of everything - utilities/food/petrol aren't any cheaper.

Maybe I'm thinking of Kingsbridge comm college as being the one with not a great reputation, sorry I if I got that wrong - Herc, I would check.

I saw an article a while back about the South Hams - especially around Salcombe and Kingsbridge having the highest ratio of house price to income in the country. Plymouth and Exeter do have plenty of less affluent areas, if like us you appreciate a bit of urban squalour.