i want to move to surrey!

[sunshineakindat]

i need to get out of london but used to live in hampshire which was too far so someone suggested the next county up surrey! but where? i want somewhere nice and multicultural (like london) but with low crime (unlike london). i dont want anywhere racist and has to have good schools. i have ruled out reigate and banstead for having 10 members on the bnp list. i am blackbritish and will have four teenage boys at the same time ( but they are only primary age now). have been told the following areas are racist
redhill, reigate, mertham,horley, caterham, banstead!

i know its a bit extreme but i just want a peaceful life with my lovely family!

Does anyone know what its like round epsom or guildford? There must be a perfect place for me in surrey somewhere!

this has to be a wind up - how can you dismiss entire towns as being racist?

im not dismissing the whole town but have been advised that they are more likely to be. i dont want my kids to grow up in an area where they will encounter racism. been there done that. it may seem crazy to you but is very hurtful to those on the recieving end. like getting locked in a phonebox and threatened by gangs with baseball bats. so is a big consideration for me.

Epsom and GUildford are not what anyone could loosely describe as multicultural.
I lived in Epsom and now live in Guildford. They are also very expensive. But I love both of them.

Why don't you spend a day in one or the other and form a provisional view for yourself

Well I live in one of those towns mentioned.... its not perfect but I don't think anywhere is - you will always get the odd few people who are ignorant idiots but overhelming majority are lovely people.

thanks pagwatch. not trying to cause offence to anyone. just want an easy life! could you give me any more details about epsom and guildford best and worst bits please especially secondary schools. thankyou

thanks scrappydappydoo. i know its a sweeping statement but im in a scarey position of trying to raise four boys who will be teenagers at the same time. My nerves are shot already! i do understand most people are lovely but it only needs a few idiots to make you feel like .

sunshine
can't do secondry schools I'm afraid.
Actually can't think of any terrible bits around epsom - we lived outside in Ashtead village and that was nice. Boys next door wentto school near Leartherhead - can't remember the name
Guildford is pricey - the worst bit is probably around the hospital - but it is like a lot of big towns - you can have really nice bits one road away from crappy bits. The big secondary is George Abbott which is considered pretty good I think
I have always regarded the town as very safe. My middle DS has sn so I am very fussy about an area feeling safe
The shops are fantasic and there are plenty of estate agents. Why not visit and have a look. You will either love it or hate it

If you're after a good secondary, Heathside in Weybridge is one of the top ten comprehensives in the country (according to the league tables). Weybridge is pricey though and you'll need to be careful about catchment areas as Heathside is wildly popular. Primary schools are also very good in Weybridge.

As pagwatch says, Surrey isn't really up there when it comes to multiculturalism. I know one black British family in Weybridge and they are happy there.

thanku. i know a couple of people in guildford and they like it. will try and make a visit this weekend.

I've lived in a couple of those listed places and wouldn't describe the inhabitants as any more racist than in any other home county town ! Not something I've seen evidence of in local press but nor is there a large black population in Surrey, probably a stronger Asian and Eastern European presence. Guildford if anything strikes me as a less multicultural area than some of those mentioned and is a particularly expensive area to live as is Epsom.

But not being multicultural does not equate to an area being more likely to be racist.

Have you thought about Kingston? Or is that not far out enough? I don't live there, but we're eyeing it up, they have v good secondary schools (well Tiffin is v good) and there's definitely a good multicultural mix. I grew up in Croydon which is technically Surrey, is definitely multicultural, but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy now to be honest, lots of roaming gangs. A bit further out is ok though, Sanderstead, Purley and so on. But that might not be rural enough for you, it's really just a suburb of London.

I live in Guildford, and I love it.

The good secondary schools are George Abbott and County. Good areas to live are Burpham, Merrow, Onslow Village, Worplesdon, Shalford, (actually north Guildford is all pretty nice, but pretty pricey).

Bad areas are Park Barn and Bellfields. The schools in those two areas are Christ's College and King's. King's is the better of the two as it's got loads of money and good facilities.

Hope this helps. It's not as multicultural as some areas, tho I'm sure this is indicative of the cultural make up of Surrey generally. It's not a hostile place to live and people are generally nice.

Hope this helps xx

I love Guildford too. Nicest place I have ever lived

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George Abbot in Guildford is a good school I believe

Kingston rocks! And also, loads of houses here are dropping their prices by 100k (!!). Schools can be oversubscribed, but there are a few decent secondarys.

oooo hi Pagwatch nice to meet a fellow Guildford mum xx

Guildford is nice..we're hoping to move there (at the moment we're just outside). Guildford County is a really good school, my son is there and he really likes it

I live in one of thoe towns mentioned and I'm surprised to hear Reigate described as racist. I alwals think of Reigate as having money, but then I'm white british so maybe I don't notice it? Anyway, I think Redhill is best avioded, and merstham. If you can afford it I wold recommend guildford, or Horsham, which is West sussex and absolutely lovely.

hadnt thought of purley good idea though guildford is sounding better with each post. thanks.

ineedmorchocolate.just clicked your name and read your a supply teacher. is the work good in guildford? (im a secondary art teacher). what agency are you with?

Purley's not too bad, nice houses, good links to London, not far from the countryside. Schools for boys, not sure about really, when I was younger everyone I knew went to John Fisher, no idea what it's like now. There are a couple of good fee paying schools in the area, Whitgift and Trinity, both of which are meant to be excellent. There's also Wilson's in Wallington which is meant to be very good too.

My parents live in Godstone, near Caterham, and I hadn't noticed any overtly racist behaviour, but then as someone else said, I probably wouldn't notice if there was any as it wouldn't normally be directed at me. I've always like Godstone though, very pretty. We were already in schools in Croydon so we used to commute up to East Croydon from Caterham station, then get a bus to our school.

I work for a school on the border of Hants / Surrey and I work directly for the school. Got a few friends in agencies around the area tho, I'll ask them which agencies are the best. x

Guildford is lovely, I live here and grew up here (went away for 20 years I hasten to add). Is it racist? Not so much racist as posh, but less posh and insular than other areas of surrey. If you get into the villages then it gets a bit scary.

At my sons primary school there is one black family, one chinese, one mixed race but lots of nationalities - south african, french, dutch come to mind.

Pretty much all the central Guildford state schools are well thought of. As a place for 4 teenage boys to let of steam I think it would be great, certainly as a teenager my abiding memories are of the countryside - lots of evening trysts on the downs and by the river doing illicit things.

It really does have countryside to die for, great facilities (two theatres, cinema complex, sports centre with great swimming pool, ice skating, bowling, basketball) half an hour on mainline to London, brilliant shops, a very compact teenage friendly town centre, a river with rowing etc..

The issue that most normal people find difficult is that south east poshness which can be a bit overwhelming.

Hello other Guildford MNetters!

OP my LO is only 5 months so can't help with secondary schools, but I would give Guildford a big thumbs up. It does have v good private schools too from what little I know.

We live very near the town centre and it is a great place for shopping and before DS came along going out. I would imagine that it would be pretty good for teenagers: enough going on not to be boring but not edgy enough to give you excessively sleepless nights. Work brought us here from central Nottingham. Notts is great for lots of things but we did once wake up to find blood on our doorstep!

It is very white, but I haven't picked up on it being racist, but I might not have done being White myself.

The commute into London is pretty good too: 35 mins to Waterloo, good road links, direct train line to Gatwick.

The other thing that I think guildford has over places like Kingston and Purley is that there is a good 15 miles of countryside between the town and the outskirts of London which gives it enough separtion be a town in it's own right, with all the facilities that entails.

Negatives: it is expensive especially moving here from the Midlands. As others have said it is posh: 75% of my NCT group had bugaboos. It is a bit congested, but you are moving from London.