Beside the seaside. Does it count if its shingle? Dont want to be rude about anyone's home town.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

We want to move from outer london to the coast. Preferably south.
Dh thinks a beach without sand just aint a beach. I think being near the sea has plenty of charm without the sand.
Also, I can't "find" anywhere that seems like a good area for kids to grow up in (nice village, good connections to cities, decent employment opportunities) that has sandy beaches. Sandy beaches seem to be in places good for retirees, or have run down towns.
Is he right? Is there anywhere Im missing?
Please help. I dont want ti screw this up.

I have nothing useful to say but sand is totally overrated!

I think the good folk of Brighton might disagree about a shingle beach not being a proper beach.

I think i agree

I don't like sandy beaches. I love, love, love little rocky coves.

Depends why you want to move to the coast? If you have visions of sunbathing on a sandy beach then there are only so many weeks a year you can do that. If you want to walk along the coast or sail then you don't need sand for that! The south coast strip has some lovely features but it is hard to have it all. The sandy places tend not to have decent employment opportunities as they have a lot of seasonal employment.

It's got to be sand IMO

I'm with your dh here

With sand you will always have a perfect pedicure - with shale it always looks like a building site and it's bloody painful

The sound of the shingle being thrown up the beach is great. Sand and mud up here but there is nothing greater than leaving near the beach.

milbanke
He's got to you hasn't he?

yes !

And it's reading threads like the northern lights will be visible tonight ( in the north ) that make me realise that my heart is really up in the north and I'm not really cut out for southern life

Then get back up here , sane people, cheap houses . I am a southerner been oop north seven year. 250k can buy three good houses where I live
250k would buy one hell of a house.We have sea and beaches too

Not quite so good for employment though

Roneik. I can see the appeal. I just want to make the right choice for the DCs.
Its so hard.

You cannot relocate your whole family on the basis of the beach geology. That's madness

(Is it geology???)

I moved out of London to somewhere with sandy beaches. I'm with your husband - shingle/stones = rubbish (although you absolutely need a tiled ground floor to your house and an outside tap!)

I like shingle.

Bournemouth area any good? Lots of sandy beaches and some lovely surrounding villages/towns/areas. Southbourne and westbourne are lovely parts of Bournemouth.

Sand = dog shit

Bleugh

Mary
Yes it is, specifically Littoral Facies.

I grew up in Worthing and that has a shingle beach, but we used to have fun drawing with all the chalk pebbles when we were little . Plus you could wade out really far and that was sand... There are places along the coast of Worthing that you can find nicer parts of the beach, I think it was along towards Ferring we used to go that was nice. We still paddled in the sea - used to go down to the beach and have a swim in our lunch breaks at sixth form college :)

I haven't been back there since my parents moved away in 2001, so I can't really comment on what it is like now, but it has a direct train line to Brighton and we used to go there all the time. We lived in Broadwater which has a villagey feel to it. I can't say there was a lot going on for teenagers there in the 90s though, although it might well have changed since! We spent most of our time going to Brighton.

Thanks. Will look at bournemouth too.

Marymotherofcheeses good point. U r right.
I have other reasons for moving to the south coast. Near to family and friends.
But dh keeps complaining that the beaches are not nice in our chosen area.
I like simply being near the sea tbh. and it doesnt make him not want to go, But if there was an area near our destination that had sandy beaches i would consider looking there too.

You’re right, your DH is wrong.

In his head he’s imagining the beautiful beaches of Europe, when you’re on holiday and you walk out of your hotel and on to a lovely white sandy beach, no hassle. The reality in this country is you sit in a traffic jam for hours on end, even to get to a shingle beach. It’s windy so you get sand in your food, the sand is dirty, there are ALWAYS sticks poking out of it. The sea is grey.

I live near the sea. I have 3 separate beaches within half an hour drive. It’s brilliant. One of them has some sand too

As a child, we visited a lot. Would hop on the bus (saves sitting in traffic) and spend the entire day at the beach. Of course, we’d soon get bored of just sitting there (could never swim, too effing cold) so we’d go off and play on the green, we’d go to the amusement arcade or play crazy golf or go to the funfair. It was BRILLIANT. And wha’dyaknow? It was a shingle beach.

I think just being near the sea, being able to go on walks on a crisp winter’s day and take a great big sniff of sea air is just fantastic. Beaches are more than just about sand. Children don’t give a shit about sand over shingle. They’re just at the beach.

I really wouldn’t look at Bournemouth or anywhere seaside-y to be honest. The areas get stupidly busy during peak season (when you want to go to the beach) and are dead out of season. Plus, the main roads around Bournemouth (and The Witterings if you go the other way) get horrendously busy in summer and can make you feel trapped. Live in a town/village near a beach but also near a city. You want half an hour drive to both (max). I know that narrows down the search a bit but it’s madness to move to an area with no prospects for your children just to be close to a sandy beach.

You need to weigh up what’s really, really important to you. Is it to be close to friends and family for the support network and to spend more time with them? Or is it to be near some sand? Do you want good transport links to London? Where are the good schools? Can you chat to your friends and family about the areas around them? Visit for more than a few hours? What about hiring a cottage or something in the area you want to live for a week at some point? It might give you a good idea of what the area is like to live in rather than just visiting for a few hours and you can see how it works for you.

Oooh. Good points hazel