Where to move to in Suffolk?!? Whats it like?! HELP

[jkb]

Please can you help

We currently live in KENT.. in a semi rural village ( it has a nice primary school, a few shops, doctors, Librey, Chemist etc...) all within walking distance.
We are however looking to relocate to Suffolk. We need a bigger house & cannot afford it in Kent...we also wanted a better quality of life etc for our young children & wanted to get away from the CHAV's which live around Kent (yes I know u get them everywhere...but more so here :-( ) some of the people who take their children to my sons school would make your hair curl with their fowl mouths & chavvy accents...& I really dont want my children to grow up with that.
So... we thought .. SUFFOLK.
We are currently looking at STOWMARKET ??
I have however read a few things on here saying to avoid Stowmarket? & wondered what your honest (good OR bad) thoughts are? This is a huge decision to make for my family & I dont want to get it wrong.
& If Stowmarket is a No.. WHERE would u suggest in Suffolk? (cant be too far from Kent tho as hubby needs to travel by car once a week). I would love somewhere semi rural.. but where I can WALK to primary school, shops, doctors, toddler groups etc...

Any help would be greatly appreciated as it looks as if we have sold our house & so I need to sort my life out pretty quickly!

xxx

Needham Market (only about 10 minutes from Stowmarket - but much nicer imo )

Has all the amenities you want, a little more expensive than Stowmarket, but I think it's worth it!

HTH

Southwold, Walberswick and Aldeburgh areas? Have only been on holiday to these places, but beaches are lovely for children and there are enough london second homers to ensure a bit of sophistication re; restaurants and shops . not sure what schools etc like though

icancancan - those three areas are lovely but VERY expensive; agree that Needham Market is nice - have you looked at Woodbridge, very nice but still quite pricy.

Be wary of some of the villages as they can be really very isolated. Why not try renting first to see how you like the area?

Would definitely say that Needham Market was better than Stowmarket (we used to live there!). How old are your children Magpie? Maybe I know you?!

Needham is nice, Stowmarket not so nice.
Bury St Edmunds, Woodbridge and parts of Ipswich are nice.

Most villages don't have the amenities you are looking for, but some of the bigger ones do. But then if you move to a large village you may as well move to a small town - imo.

I wouldn't go for Stowmarket tbh. How about Bury St Edmunds/Long Melford/Sudbury?
North Essex is good too - and quick down to Kent.

If you're looking at North Essex Castle and Sible Headingham are nice.

Ooh and Hadleigh and Lavenham are good too. Hadleigh is quick onto the A12 as well - nice little market town with good facilities for a young family.

Framlingham is lovely, and has appeared in various polls of the 'best small town' type.

There is a supermarket (co-op), a weekly market and a run of other shops (including an excellent ironmonger) and a lovely little jewellers. Usual range of doctors and chemists, and a library.

The secondary school is said to be good, and there is also an independent school, Framlingham college. Although then largely catering to local farmers sons it did manage to get my sister,who was there just for 6th form, through maths O level on the 5th attempt (well, we were all impressed - she was utterly determined to be bad at maths!)

The down side is that it is a small market town, and things like hospitals (Ipswich), cinemas and theatres are all a fair drive away, along winding country roads, that tend to have a lot of right angles as they go round field boundaries.

Thank u all so much

We had decided on stowmarket !! got him into the school on cedars park estate & everything... Is it really that bad? Good or bad points appreiated
xx

I think Cedars Park school is OK. Fairly new and right in the middle of the estate. The houses there are rammed fairly close together and parking is terrible. Close to medium size Tesco and walkable into Stowmarket. Stowmarket has all the amenities you would need (library, banks, doctors, bakers etc) but doesn't have that great a reputation. Have you looked at Needham Market. Still close to the A14 for access to fast roads, railway station, good buses, local shops, doctors, library etc. Would be much better as a choice than Stowmarket in my opinion. Have you visited Stowmarket at all?

Dont live anywhere near but I have got friends in Stowmarket.

Why on the earth would anyone choose stowmarket if you have got the whole of Suffolk (and Essex?) to look at? Madness.

Its cheap but there is a reason for that ....!

If you are insistent on Suffolk (and God knows why!) you have Debenham, Framlingham, Woodbridge, Bury St Edmunds (lovely), Hadleigh, etc, all of which are lovely.

Stowmarket ..... why????????????