Is there a smaller Brighton anywhere?!

[donttrythisathome]

I live in Brighton and love it, but want to move somewhere a lot smaller and more rural. I've realised that my dream is somewhere like Brighton. Not, as in, for example, lots of drug deaths and hen parties. More the sea, open-mindedness, lots going on. Just smaller, and greener. Somewhere you can walk to countryside easily, and hear owls at night.

Stop laughing, you over there....!

So, is it an impossible dream?

A small seaside place, that is vibrant and progressive, with a great community. And noticeable owls, or at least easy access thereto?! Oh and work for a future childminder and current carpenter/furniture maker?

hi
I lived in Brighton for 18 years and as a veggie there is NOWEHERE like Infinity Foods or Terre a Terre BUT we moved to south Wales (Cardiff) and I wouldn't look back now. Housing is (much) cheaper than Brighton, there is work and there are people of every creed and colour here. At my daughter's suburban primary school there are Welsh, English, Irish, Scottish, Indian, Dutch, Arabic etc etc parents.
What you need is a town with a University and/or Hospital. It means you get people moving in for work from all over.
It's not like Brighton all over but the alternative/arty crew are represented here. BTW I grew up in Southampton so maybe I just like seaports. So'ton has its charms if you look (very) hard.
AND there are owls in the trees in the school field next door and I can see hills from my upstairs bedrooms.
DH and I got fed up with commuting from Brighton every day and the house prices. I still miss it but don't think I'd move back now.
Good luck with whatever you decide......

No sea, but how about Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales?

Aber is a very, very long way from anywhere.

Cornwall is beautiful and nice houses are ££££££.

Lots of lentil weavers and arty types often lots going on which compensates for it also being a long to very, very, very long way from anywhere. DSIL lives almost at lands end and is a lovely slightly hippy Veggi

BUT a lot of Cornwall is actually very poor, high unemployment and low wages.

You need to make money out of the tourists in the Summer, child minding rates may be lower than your used to because the parents simply won't earn SE wages.

DSIS and her DH have needed everywhere professions. DH doesn't and however much he misses the sea, he can't move back.

Like others, my first thought was Stroud, but appreciate lack of sea being an issue. I moved to Stroud from a coastal town and did miss it, even more so as the children have got older and their teenage friends back by the sea spend happy summer days chilling on the beach.

Another suggestion not mentioned is Hythe in Kent. I appreciate you don't want Folkestone, but Hythe is smaller and has a nice community feel.

Thanks for the further advice and pointers. I guess with Cornwall and Wales, we'd have to be content with being far away from places. Mind you, no ties to anywhere. Husband's family are scattered to the winds and rarely see them, and mine are in Ireland. My old friends are in Ireland and husbands are all over the place.

Probably would stay south rather than North. No idea why. Stroud and Wales are appealing. Husband loves Aber. Also Kent, Devon. Haven't ruled out Folkestone, just dislike one person there . Cornwall might be one step too far, although not sure why. Guess Devon is the same as Cornwall vis a vis work?

Maybe I should just emigrate altogether.

I need insight

"Takver, we could only afford a small place with tiny garden in Lewes. What is it you like about it?" To be honest, mainly the fact that we would be near to Brighton & all the stuff that goes on there whilst not being in the big city quite so much. (Also we have family there !)

"Machynlleth. Do you think there's work there or Aber?"
Good question - my guess would be yes given your skills, but you'd definitely probably earn an awful lot less than you would in, say, Brighton. I guess if I were in your position I'd probably go to wherever I was thinking of & rent there for a bit to get to know people etc. Mach has a big green / alternative / activist scene because of the CAT, and Mach/Aber seem to cross fertilise quite a bit. Housing is also pretty cheap!

They are at the back end of beyond up to a point, but it kind of depends where you want to go to. . . They both have stations (heading across to Birmingham) so for me feel better connected than where we live now (Pembrokeshire).

Funnily enough I know a couple who came here (Pembs) with a very similar skill set to you (one of them is a carpenter in fact) having sold their house in Brighton. They stayed here for a while and ended up moving to Stroud and last thing I heard were liking it there. (I did in fact wonder from your initial post if you were them - maybe you are and have skipped some of your movings out of your OP??? )

Of course, if where you want to be accessible to is Ireland then West Wales is a pretty sensible place to live given the ferries . . . can't take long to get from Aber up to Holyhead, or alternatively its around an hour & a half tops down to Fishguard harbour by car.

I adore West Wales.

You should move there and I will come and stay with you

Thanks again. Takver, yes that is why I would like Lewes too . Re work that is helpful ta. We'd have to balance the cost of the house we could afford against how much money we could make of course. One last question, sorry, about schools. Are there any Montessori type places, forest schools, or places like that in the vicinity? Hate the exam and assessments pressure in schools here. Interesting that couple went to Strod. And no, not us!

Ok Ariel you are on

Schools - not sure about Montessori but suspect not. Forest schools - I know some people up in Mach who were organising welsh medium forest school teacher training so I suspect there'll be some stuff going on.

In any event the new Welsh Foundation stage curriculum would probably suit you if you prefer more child centred, lots of outdoor time, less formal learning at an early age etc. Sadly my dd was just too old for it (now in yr 5) but even so the whole ethos is much less pressured / exam focused than in England.

One thing to consider - I suspect there'll be the option of english medium primary education in Aber, but in Mach I think, and almost certainly in the surrounding villages, it will most likely be Welsh medium only.

Ariel, maybe you should move to west Wales yourself! :)

what sort of budget would you have? That could really alter where you look?

Definitely Machynlleth and some of Pembrokeshire? St David's is lovely.

Small budget (well for where I am now) of up to £300k. Excited about the curriculum in Wales, although not the medium in Welsh. Went though the horror of learning Irish myself in school (ok another language is always good though with all the culture it brings, but would prefer Spanish or something).
Wonder would there be a market for a Montessori based school there
Pembrokeshire too, thanks, although suspect if we went to Wales, the husband would love to return to Aber.
edless the country places you mention are lovely, pricey though methinks.

dontry there are plenty of English medium schools! Don't worry about that bit. South Pembrokeshire is known as Little England Beyond Wales anyway - because it was Normanised It's more Welsh as you head north.

£300,000 could get you a veritable palace in parts of West Wales!

Takver, alas I am now settled in Cornwall. Well, not alas, but you know what I mean (I hope).

North Norfolk?

Folkestone isn't quite there yet but will be soon and no doubt helped by the High Speed Link.

Some bits of north Somerset coast are gorgeous.

Bude?

Bath? Good if you are a rugby type. hardly open minded, lots of snobs. nowhere near sea. swamped with tourists in summer.
Dorset/devon, somewhere coastal?

VerityClinch, could you give names for these N Somerset places, please?

That's Bath out then Allergic to ALL, I repeat ALL sports

Lots more to mull over, thanks.

Woodchester, near Stroud with stream!

Avening near stroud

Stroud

Nailsworth with big garden (albeit on a slope!) and an outbuilding for owls

More rural feeling, but probably too close to the motorway

Wow thanks ocropussting you can sure get more for your money there than in Brighton. Owltastic!

I've spent the last two years trying to find a-less-urban-version-of-Brighton-where-we-can-get-big-garden. We are even more limited in that it has to be commutable to London for DH's work. Doomed, we are, doomed. It doesn't exist. {pained emoticon}.

We will probably end up in Lewes, Ditchling or Hurstpierpoint and sacrifice the sea aspect. Everywhere else we've considered (many of the suggestions on this thread) just felt so provincial when visited at weekends.

The only place that we considered that hasn't come up here is Rochester in Kent. River, rather than sea, but it seemed to have a nice vibe and not be too Hicksville. You get a lot for your money too.

Actually I'm struggling to remember why we ruled it out now {scratches head}.

TBF, as much as i am recommending the area around Stroud (I wouldn't actually live IN Stroud personally), it is not like Brighton, other than the alternative and friendly vibe. It doesn't really have much night life/culture but you have Cheltenham very close by.

To counter this (and the lack of sea) it is surrounded by beautiful countryside, has excellent primary and grammar schools and is 2hrs from London, 1 hr from Cardiff, Bristol & Bath and 2hrs 45 from Brighton. Pretty good really

I guess we are not going to get exactly what we want (if we figure that one out) so will have to make compromises. Culture, sea AND nightlife might be too much to sacrifice. Mind you I never go out anyway as too tired and no babysitters.

Let me know why you ruled out Rochester when you remember poster Rhubarbgarden!

Hebden Bridge or Holmfirth in W Yorks, although about as far from the sea as you can get in England.