Advice please , thinking about moving to Dorset from Lancashire

[Blueskytoday]

We are family of 4 , have Two teenagers.
I'm really fed up living where we are, going to the same places etc.
It's a very industrial area.
Have been looking for jobs in different areas, have seen posts advertised in Dorset, based in Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth or
Chesil.
I've had quick look at the area, have never been, it looks stunning.
Has anyone any experience with these areas?
What I really am craving is to live near the sea, have much more outdoor kind of lifestyle for the whole family.
I'm imagining walking the dogs on the beach every day, kids learning to surf !!
I know it's a big touristy area and that can have its drawbacks.
Any advice would be great

Sorry this is coming from a tourist but we really, really loved Weymouth and Portland when we stayed a week in April.

It’s the first time that I’ve ever found somewhere else in the UK I would ever consider relocating to! Love seaside towns but can’t be swayed from mine due to friends and family.

If you’re thinking Bournemouth and Poole you could also consider the New Forest just up the road. Lovely area to live!

I can personally recommend Southbourne, located between Bournemouth and Christchurch on the coast, fantastic sandy beaches, great shops/restaurants and edge of new forest

Dorset is stunning. Just beautiful. You do get tourists (obviously), but if you live, say, 6/7 miles away from the coast you can be there in 15 minutes but the traffic etc isn't "right in your face".

Weymouth is rough, lots of the beautiful seafront properties are actually B&Bs where the council place the homeless etc. However, we love it! It's honest- it is what it is and the house prices are cheerful. The old harbour area is lovely.

Realistically, there would probably be more for your teens in Bournemouth. The university and being closer to 'the real world' make it a bit more happening.

Westbourne area is really nice, cafe, restaurants, beach, 5 mins from town centre and beach. What sort of things do you all like doing and what type of work are you looking for. I moved to a village near Bournemouth 12 yrs ago but only go there for shopping. The beach is great, nine miles long so some parts are quieter. Chesil is a different part of Dorset. Bournemouth and Poole are near each other and easy to travel between the two on the bus. Its quite an expensive area, do you know what kind of property you would like. Sorry for loads of questions but hope I can help.

There is quite a bit of poverty in all these areas. I love Weymouth but couldn’t live there permanently. What employment is required?

Don't bother with the Sandbanks area of Poole unless you have eleventy million billion pounds.

Weymouth great for swimming. We live near the sea front and love being able to walk to the beach. DP swims in the sea year round, it's our default walk when we need a break. But the town centre's a bit shit and unless you're into outdoor stuff there's nothing for young people to do. Breathtakingly beautiful though - come down!

Oh, and it's the sunniest place in the UK apparently

It is absolutely gorgeous in terms of landscape.

However, it's a long, long way from anywhere in terms of cultural stuff or nightlife. When it comes to kids visiting from uni, or later in life, it might make life quite difficult - most jobs are likely to be in cities.

It's also just a teeensy bit God's Waiting Room.

True whisky

I grew up in Dorchester, and at least 3 schoolfriends have moved back in the last decade (we're now mid 40s.) Salaries don't necessarily align well with property prices, which isn't such a problem if you're going from London, but might be more difficult from Lancs.

Weymouth, Dorchester, Wareham, Poole, Bournemouth are all on the mainline to Waterloo, (as is Crossways, in the form of Moreton,) and while it's a fairly long trip, it's quite scenic. Certainly meant I had a bit more freedom as an older teen. Always worth checking the times of the last trains though, as friends once discovered after a concert at the BIC in Bournemouth. One lucky parent had to drive the 30 miles each way to collect them.

I miss being able to go down to the sea for a swim after school/work. It's still home, even if I've not lived there this millenium.

With teenagers, I would aim for Poole/Bournemouth.

Two Universities and lots of language schools mean there is lots of provision for teenagers, good transport links both within the town and to London, good schools including sixth form colleges and grammars, lots of scope for part time summer jobs, water sports and other stuff including a half-decent football team.

Culturally there is a certain amount going on in Bournemouth.. Tourists mean that a variety of shows come to the Pavilion. A new cinema complex, a reasonable pub music scene, and things nearby like the Purbeck Film Festival and Dorset Arts fortnight. The shopping is good, though scattered between out of town centres and central Bournemouth. There are huge regeneration plans for Poole Town Centre.

And the beach is lovely. Surprisingly lovely. Far far better than, say, Brighton. And the countryside around (New Forest, Purbecks) is beautiful.

There is a big choice assuming you want to be near the beach from flash Sandbanks to edgy Boscombe. But prices will be surprisingly high if you are coming from the north. Poole however is a port with light industry so away from the beach it is possible to find cheaper housing.

With a pretty open budget I would aim for Westbourne/Alum Chine. Westbourne is a bit Putney-by-Sea with a large M&S Food, good restaurants and some up-market shops. However it is well served by buses and it is a shortish walk/cycle along the prom to central Bournemouth.

Alternatively Southbourne, which is a bit cheaper but is close to the beach and leafy and has a good stock of family housing.

Does it have to be Dorset? Can you not move somewhere like Exeter instead? Lovely city, more going on, easier to get to on the roads and rail.

PIL live in Dorchester and honestly I despair every time we reach the end of the motorway and then have to crawl through tiny dual carriageways and ordinary roads to get anywhere. While it's not wild, it feels very remote. It is absolutely staggeringly beautiful, but there is never anything much going on. The arrival of some dinosaur at the local museum is seen by PIL as a Cultural Event Of Nearly Cosmic Proportions. I get the impression that much of social life revolves around things like the twinning society, National Trust volunteering, and local committees for jam-making. (This may all say more about PIL than the place, however).

How do your teenagers feel about moving and leaving their friends?
Possibly the worst time to move them. My friend moved at 14 - said it ruined her life. My sister is a child psychologist and frequently has referrals from teens who have ended up very distraught after uprooting as a teen. I am desperate to move and thought I could do it next summer when oldest two had left for uni - no3 would start 6th form and no4 had done one year of secondary school. But it has become really obvious that there would be zero net gain for the kids and possibly worse. So I am sitting here itching to move but now resigned to another 6 years.......ahhhhh. Maybe post in teens to ask if anyone has or would consider moving at this age.

Would you consider North Dorset? Pretty rural countryside and nice market towns like Sherborne?
The A303 is easily accessible and trains to Waterloo take about 2 hours.

The arrival of some dinosaur at the local museum is seen by PIL as a Cultural Event Of Nearly Cosmic Proportions.

In fairness, it's the diplodocus which was in the main hall of the Natural History Museum...and it's going to Dorset for the first leg of its national tour.....!

...but generally, yes, I agree that it's not a big cultural hub!

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, it's really helpful.
Lots to think about, especially for the teens.
I've had a look at house prices and they are scary around Poole, Bournemouth, Weymouth seems more reasonable.

Teenagers - have you asked them ?

Devon is better value for money, beautiful beaches, surfing, lovely walks and Exeter is much nicerthan Weymouth, Bournemouth or Poole.

If you just want the sea - could you look at coastal areas near to you as they would likely be a lot cheaper? The wirral etc

Natalia - Sorry, just taking out some personal frustrations there!

Every time we see PIL we are told we just MUST come down to see 'Dippy' when he is installed in the wretched local museum.

We have already seen it, multiple times, in the NHM, in London. In fact, I used to work just across the road at the V&A so I could pop over any time I wanted to marvel at it. DH has lived in London too, and has also been dozens of times.

I think it's brilliant that it is touring the country - it's great for getting local kids involved, but I am not going to bloody drive 5 hours just to see it in Dorchester. It's the same bloody skeleton!

but I am not going to bloody drive 5 hours just to see it in Dorchester

. That's your answer then, whisky - "Oooh, is it a different one?" (In all wide eyed innocence )

I love Dorset, but it's the same as anywhere in that there are some nice areas and some which are a little rougher.
To write off the whole of Weymouth as being rough is pretty harsh. There is some poverty, it does attract hen and stag parties, but at the same time there was a lot of investment in the area for the Olympics. Plus they took away the lovely Victorian lights on the sea front and replaced them with lasers, grrr!
As previous posters have said as Dorset doesn't have any motorways getting anywhere quickly can be a nightmare, particularly in the summer. On the plus side though this does keep some criminality low.
Bournemouth is nice, but also has it's fair share of poverty some areas more so than others. Some one had a bright idea in the seventies to open loads of rehab centres in Bournemouth (Boscombe in particular) thinking that the sea air would do the residents good, I'm not so sure it worked.
I personally wouldn't consider moving to a place I'd never visited before. Plenty of teenagers do survive growing up in Dorset, it all depends on interests and looking for opportunities. A lot do move away for uni etc and many move back when they're starting their own families. Given the chance I'd move there in a heart beat.