Moving to Suffolk

[zcjtb43]

My husband and I are keen to move to Suffolk, I have family connections with the coastal areas around Dunwich. We're keen to live somewhere quiet and rural with a large garden to grow food, but also that caters for families (such as good schools / library / shop). We also work from home so need some wifi.... Be interested to hear your recommendations!

I moved to framlingham 2 1/2 years ago and can recommend it. 30 mins to the coast. Small town with a coop, post office, library, thomas mills secondary school as well as framlingham college independent school. And we have a castle!

For bigger shops you would use ipswich, norwich or bury st edmunds.

I am near Ipswich way. Think aldeburgh and Rendlesham. I would disagree about shopping in Ipswich as there isn’t anything there anymore.
To be honest when asking about Suffolk and the nice places there are so many. I always say you cannot shake a stick around here without finding a country village with beautiful cottages with beams.

Bury is lovely if ur after a fairly small town. Sudbury as well. Hadleigh is also a nice smaller place to live. What is ur price range ? How rural are u thinking.

Definitely recommend Hadleigh. 3 good primary schools, a high school, 2 supermarkets, great doctors surgery, post office, library, pubs etc. but surrounded buy lovely countryside. Only 10 mins from the A12, buses to Ipswich and Sudbury, 20 minutes drive to Manningtree main line station. Plenty going on for families - sports clubs etc

Melton/Woodbridge
Framlingham
Saxmundham more affordable but has Waitrose!

@Paranoidandroidmarvin

I am near Ipswich way. Think aldeburgh and Rendlesham. I would disagree about shopping in Ipswich as there isn’t anything there anymore. To be honest when asking about Suffolk and the nice places there are so many. I always say you cannot shake a stick around here without finding a country village with beautiful cottages with beams.

Bury is lovely if ur after a fairly small town. Sudbury as well. Hadleigh is also a nice smaller place to live. What is ur price range ? How rural are u thinking.

Thanks! Price range is up to around £525, these are some great suggestions thanks! I was thinking quite rural, when I mentioned shop I meant food really. Want a little going on for the girls without it feeling busy. Thanks for your help I'll check these places out!

Carpel st Mary is just off Ipswich. Snape , wickham market. Honestly there are so many villages , all beautiful with thatched roofs and pink and yellow fronts. You are best to come and look around. Some are just roads and some are full on villages. Sadly mostly really expensive.
I would love to live in Dedham. But so expensive but stunningly beautiful.
One thing to keep in ur mind is that public transport from most of these villages is very few and far between.
If ur after better rated schools and not fee paying ones near villages , Farlingaye and Thomas mills are your better ones.

Some lovely places mentioned but definitely do your research on internet. My family live just outside Framlingham and internet is borderline unusable. It might be different in the actual town itself.

Jointing Facebook groups for different towns and searching for ‘internet’ can be a good way to find out.

Yes, do your research on Internet, lots of teachers I work with live in rural North Suffolk and had to drive into school to deliver online lessons because their Internet didn't work well enough, so if you need to do zoom or teams meetings it's something to ask about. Several of these teachers also don't have mobile signal at home or it's only in one section of the house.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it isn't unusual for rural towns to get snowed in during very bad weather so you have to prepare for that. Lots of people struggled during the Beast from the East.

There's some nice villges in the Hadleigh area too, if you want more rural - Polstead, Higham, Stratford St Mary, Boxford, Kersey (these 3 have a school, Stratford and Boxford have shops and pubs) etc, and slightly further - Nayland, Stoke by Nayland. Elmsett and Whatfield also both have schools and stuff going on, whilst being quite rural, and Elmsett has a shop/post office too.

Your welcome to private message me. I have loved here for years. And can help xxx

Hi there this post is quite old but my husband and I plus 3 children aged 5,9,12 are considering a move to Suffolk. Ideally want to be within half an hour of the coast and my husband needs to commute by car once a week back to Milton Keynes so don’t want to be more than 2.5 hours away. Is this possible with the road network? Google maps says so but know there is not a motorway. Does anyone know what the roads are like in reality? Also, is there enough going on for children/ teenagers? TIA, Michelle

Better buy a boat because it looks like Norfolk and Suffolk will be underwater in the next 50 years!

Internet is very bad in Aldeburgh but ok in Southwold - these are 2 very nice places but expensive and probably boring for teenagers.

Just to make the point that you do need to research which areas are ok for internet as some in Suffolk aren't.

@Shellbell38 the A12 is the main road and that is a good, fast road. But there are also lots of twisty country lanes in Suffolk where you often get stuck behind a tractor so short journeys on the map can take longer than you imagine.

So u want to be at the crossroads between a12 and the a14 which the big junction at the edge of Ipswich. So depends. U can do bury in one direction or u can do one of the country villages. Depends on ur money and how much u have to spend. Places like Woodbridge and aldebugh are very expensive. Near Woodbridge is where I used to live Rendlesham village which is lovely.

if u want a more bucket and space type of place u want to be at Felixstowe. If u want a good dog walk nicer restaurants and shops u want Aldebugh. If u have anywhere or a house in mind write it here and I can tell u more.

Ipswich itself isn’t great. But lots of places nearby are.

Does OP mean £525 rent a month or purchase price of £525k?

I am staying in Ipswich on-off. It's run down city yet has many beautiful buildings, especially the churches. I love the Polish supermarkets and community feel on the very immigrant-full residential streets. There are also defintely 'nice areas' with lovely homes.

The A14 is a fast reliable road ime.