Can anyone compare life in East Sussex and Somerset?

[laura180]

Hello! First, huge thanks as I read a few 'area' threads, likely including your responses

Moving back after 10 years in Berlin, and want to live somewhere rural, but near (

Can’t help with Somerset but I’ve lived twice in East Sussex. How far from the coast do you want to be as three of the places you’ve mentioned are on the coast?

To start with - Brighton/Hove/Lewes area is a lot more expensive than Hastings. Brighton has very much it’s on vibe - very liberal, LGBT friendly, good music scene etc. It can be up it’s own bottom. I’ve lived there in my early twenties and DD1 lives there now. If you are hoping to meet someone, you’ll get most variety and quantity living somewhere in shot of Brighton! In terms of villages, it’s more developed and expensive an area than further East. Perhaps take a look at Ditchling? There is lovely walking on the Beacon. Vera Lynn and Zoe Ball used to live there.

Lewes is nice - attracts a very middle class cohort. Lots of nice niche shops. I imagine there would definitely be a market for a Pilates studio (if they don’t already have quite a few). On the hoping to meet people front, not sure what the singles scene would be like. My perception is that it attracts a lot of families. Have a look at Alfriston & Herstmonceaux- they are both really pretty villages.

Robertsbridge and Battle (villages outside Hastings) are both pretty and will be cheaper than further West. Battle has quite a few shops and restaurants and the abbey in the centre of the village. Robertsbridge is nice - I knew of various musicians living there, it’s on the train line to London, easy access to great countryside and a medieval High Street. It does attract quite a lot of creative people. Being single in Battle or Robertsbridge - well the people are very friendly but I can’t imagine there would be a great deal of choice potential partner wise!

Have a look at Hastings old town (not rural but very pretty and you can hike and cycle over the park at East Cliff. I’d also look at Winchelsea - it’s where Spike Milligan used to live and is very pretty. It’s on the coast too.

I live in Somerset and I think for what you're looking for Somerset would tick your boxes. There's loads of amazing countryside to explore, we're an hour away from the coast, there's lots of lovely villages and everyone I know does Pilates so you'd have lots of customers 😁

Oh apparently Frome and Shepton Mallet are very up and coming atm. I have friends in Evercreech which is a lovely village.

Taunton is nice and has loads of lovely villages all around it (Trull, North Curry, Kingston St Mary, Creech St Michael are all lovely.)

I've lived in both areas. Somerset I would say. Countryside is more beautiful and towns more charming. Brighton is not great.

I would recommend Somerset every time - a beautiful county. Brighton is a depressing, over-hyped dump.

Agree with pp, sounds like Fromm or Burton and surrounding villages/hamlets would be ideal for you.

God, I should have spell checked that! Frome or Bruton is what I meant to type!

I would avoid Brighton. Awful place. Somerset is much nicer

Brighton is getting a hard time here! I wouldn’t want to live there again at this stage of my life but it really isn’t as grim as some of these comments imply (IMO 🙂).

Is budget a factor? prices in nice rural Somerset are high but I'd expect not as high as nice rural East Sussex.

Wow, thank you all for the help and advice! :) Lots of new places to visit...

Thanks! @SJaneS49 somewhere between 30mins to 1 hour from the coast - on a normal day want to avoid those cities and associated traffic, while being close enough for a 'culture day'! Added all your recommendations to see, many thanks! LOL - so would need to make sure Brighton remains within my dating app catchment zone

Thanks @Girliefriendlikespuppies - great to hear! Never heard of Evercreech or those villages near Taunton. Will go scout!

Thanks @Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep ! Happy to find someone who's done both! Where did you live in East Sussex, if I may ask? And thanks @DaphneduM good to hear another local vote for Bruton/Frome area. Yep, also not a fan of Brighton aesthetically, but may be useful to have at arm's length I guess! Indeed @SJaneS49 some parts aren't grim, and Hove seems really rather nice, right? :)

@Spamfreet Good question. Budget 550-650k. Looking for something particular in that I'd like a 2-3 bedroom/office house, ideally with a small outhouse I can convert to an annex for Mum. From searches, looks like such things come up in both rural areas. Can't buy until next year, so hope end of stamp duty holiday calms prices. High in both areas for sure!

Also thanks @MonkeysandParrots re Bruton/Frome area. It seems lovely! And not such a massive drive from London, if needed.

Brighton for ten years then West Sussex (coastal) for another ten.
Brighton was great in my 20s. Got to 30 and had a baby and it lost its shine!

Brighton for 3 years in my late 30s, Bristol for 10 years since. I am very outdoorsy and love the west country for it's proximity to the coast (Dorset, Gower, Devon and Somerset) and excellent walking (Quantocks, Exmoor, Brecons all an easy day trip). The climate is wetter compared to the south east, if that matters. The thing that used to annoy me about Brighton is it was at the end of the line quite literally, and whenever you wanted to get anywhere, london was this big thing in the way - driving or by train. However, I wouldn't completely write off Brighton/East Sussex, it's a beautiful area in itself. This is not a rock/hard place scenario - It's a very good choice you have between the two.

Also Somerset…

If you snoop via RightMove, then look 3 miles around for the smaller villages/hamlets.

Castle Cary - train station, direct to London. Small town, good variety of indie shops.

Frome - very artsy. Plenty of indie shops.

Bruton - v v artsy (and expensive).

Nunney / Mells / Great Elm / Chantry / Trudoxhill / Gare Hill / Killmington / Bourton / Beckington - lovely small villages. Some have more going on than others. (Nunney & Mells).

In terms of meeting new partner I'd say Sussex - just in terms of the number of potential dates within an hour or two travel.

Somerset is lovely but like many places outside the South East tends to be made up of people who have always lived there or people who have moved there to settle whereas East Sussex you have people from a wider area and more larger towns and cities so its a more dynamic situation with a higher turnover and people are more willing to travel