London to Tunbridge Wells??

[Poppetonastring]

Hello - cuurently live in Highbury and have an 18 month old DD. Want to move out for a variety of reasons - schools, more green space, more house for money etc etc. I am not returning to work. GPs in Kent and have been thinking of areas. Tun Wells, for my visits there, seems to be nice. What I really want is somewhere big enough to have lots of things for the 2 of us to do, and to build up a social life but also be near enough nice countryside to visit. The train seem about 45 mins ish to London Bridge which is ok.

Can anyone give me a sense of what Tun Wells is like with children? Im hoping there will also be anough to keep the non mummy part of me occupied eg with hobbies and social scene etc. We briefly considered sevenoaks but I think it would be a bit too small for me. Any Tun Wells advice or views welcome

Thanks in advance

We made the move 3 years ago next month and haven't looked back. (The two bad things; the traffic is abysmal, and the trains on paper, are 45 minutes, but the service isn't great and the price is going up over 8% in January)

That said, the community spirit here is fantastic, there is lots going on - huge numbers of toddler groups, classes etc, the schools (most of them) are very good; we've just got a John Lewis Home and M&S, there is a thriving arts scene - lots happening at the theatres and the Trinity Arts centre etc....we really love it.

Can be pricey though property wise - especially if you want a large garden.

HTH a bit.

Thanks PanicMode - much appreciated. Did you find it easy to make friends? TW seems like a good compromise between London living and living in a rural location, which really isnt for me. And can still head to London for an afternoon shopping if I really must :).

Very easy - everyone is extremely friendly and as a lot of people are London 'expats' it's a nice crowd of people.

Have you started looking at houses? If you need help with schools/areas to aim for or to avoid etc, do feel free to message me - estate agents aren't always completely honest about catchment areas.....

That is what I love about it - you can whizz to London between school drop off and pick up, head to the sea after school in the summer, or out to the countryside within a few minutes, Bluewater and Lakeside are 20 minutes away, and yet the town itself has loads of great shops and boutiques/coffee shops etc

Before we moved here we were looking in a arc from Winchester all the way round to T e so we looked at a LOT of houses in Surrey and Hampshire, but we found coming here so friendly and welcoming, and your money goes slightly further than in comparable areas such as Winchester or Godalming etc which were other choices