Moving to Devon

[Mummymums]

Hi,

We’re looking at moving to Devon...within easy access of Exeter. We are currently considering Thorverton or Christow. We have 2 boys aged 5 and 7. Does anyone have knowledge of these areas in terms of schools, sports clubs / activities, friendliness etc

Any input welcome - thanks!

I don't know anything about Thorverton but Christow is a very small village in the Teign Valley. They have a primary school but the kids will have to bus out for secondary. It's pretty rural but they have a pub, a Dr's, a shop etc. It's very pretty but not on mains gas so heating will be ASHP, electric, LPG or oil.

I lived in Devon for a few years and loved it. Obvious question is do you drive? Even in Exeter the public transport especially on weekends wasn’t fantastic!
Are you also willing to act as a taxi service for ten years?

Thank you!

We do drive, but are making sure that wherever we are there is a bus route for the kids. I grew up in small village in Yorkshire and know how important that is!

I think there's only a very limited Country Bus service in Christow.

Exeter is a great city, I love it. Devon is wonderful too. Enjoy!

Aah thanks, hadn’t registered quite how limited the bus frequency was

I've just moved to the Teignbridge area after being abroad for 10 years with a 6 and 7 year old and have just successfully managed to navigate the DCC education department midyear admissions. PM me OP if you want any help.

Thorverton much much better than Christow in my opinion. It's pretty, it's affluent, the primary is lovely and you're on the right side of Exeter for traffic. You'll always need 2 cars though.

@isurvived3under2 thanks! Do you know what there is for kids to do around there? Clubs or activities with family. Ideally there would be things to do in the local villages without always having to go into Exeter, although very handy having it so close by

I don't, sorry, mine were babies/toddlers when we lived there! You could find the local FB group and have a chat on there.

We did all the touristy things in South Devon first. I think most of the bigger towns have the usual things for kids to do like soft play and leisure centres etc but you might find smaller towns have more to offer. Independent cinemas that do kids clubs for example like my local one does.

So far Trago mills was a highlight for my children as was my local museum. The museum does regular workshops like lego trains or crafting for kids like origami etc. People travel here from Truro and Plymouth for those so they might come from the other way too but I think town museums everywhere do similar so that's another thing to look out for.