Relocating to devon

[AliE2020]

Hi everyone, when this is all over my family and I are thinking of relocating to north Devon. We are after slower pace of life with less stress and we want to be close to beach but not in touristy areas.
We have 2 children 6 and 8.
Schools are important as well as finding the right location.
We have read a lot of negatives and people are saying the south is better than north but we are more for north atm.
Any families that have relocated and know about schools/best places to live/places to avoid would be hugely appreciated to point us in the right direction.

Thank you

barnstaple? it has several primary schools and 2 secondary schools, as well as a good train station etc

North Devon is far better in my opinion (slightly bias as I live here, relocated from the south east 14 years ago and have young family now and it’s brilliant family location), personally would never consider moving to south Devon. But it does depend a lot on how rural you want to be - North Devon is quieter, amazing beaches and strong local community but job options are limited compared to the other side of Devon. Lots of good primaries (eg braunton has 3 good primaries and is a normal community rather than 2nd homes, but trade off is housing demand is high), secondaries are weaker

Thank you. Can I ask why wouldn’t you consider south at all? We also prefer the north but from researching for months it seems the south has better schools and more job opportunities 🤷‍♀️ Might be completely not true thou... we are planning on visiting both parts properly again and see what it’s like.

I am near Exeter and it is a lovely area. Great schools, Teignmouth & Exmouth beaches are both close by.

Not a fan of the slower place of life in north Devon, especially in winter, not much fun for kids.

Would be lovely in retirement though, the best beaches are in north Devon, by a country mile.

I grew up in South Devon (in Teignmouth) and moved to North Devon in my late 20s. As much as I enjoyed living in South Devon I do much prefer North Devon. I have friends with children in local secondary schools in North Devon and they are happy and achieving well. I’m not sure I agree with the comment about the pace of life being much slower in North Devon- obviously in Exeter it’s faster but that’s because it’s a city but not so much in places like Teignmouth, Newton Abbott, Torquay etc. In terms of employment I would say they are both more or less the same. I would agree though that the beaches in North Devon are better!

Thank you. My husband has a bathroom renovation business in Manchester so will depends if he can start something similar over there? Again can’t decide which part would be better for his work.
I am a nanny/PA so again that might be a bit tricky in some rural parts of Devon.
Schools wise could someone point us in the right direction in both south and north Devon please? Which are good and which to stay clear from? Both primary and secondary please.
Ideally we would love to find a quite village location near beaches and nice walks. With access to work...

Not a fun of busy places, kids are happy playing in the sea or out on their bikes or walks.
Thank you in advance for any comments

Yesnomaybeee
Could I please ask which secondary schools? We have narrowed our search around bideford, Barnstable and Braunton area. Primary schools seem all good in those areas but secondary vary. Has anyone on here know much about bideford college? ofsted isnt great but that doesn’t mean its a bad school...any help would be fab thank you

I live in Bideford 🙂 moved here 10 years ago from south Birmingham. My children went to St Mary’s and now go to Bideford College (and Petroc)

I think Bideford College is absolutely fine. Children can achieve very well there. Mine are and have been happy.

Message me if you want more detailed help 🙂

Sorry only seen the message. Thank you