Where to live in Torquay

[Hannahthepink]

We're moving to Torquay, and we're starting to look at houses, but although we know the town a bit, we're not very clued up on what residential areas are best.

We have small children so are interested in having a lovely primary school nearby.
It's also essential to be in easy walking distance to a nice beach.
We're moving from a market town with lovely independent shops, lots of community events and green spaces, and whilst we recognise that Torquay is a very different place, we would love to find a similar community minded feel somewhere.

Our budget is around £500,000, so seems to cover houses that we like in most areas of the town.

We really liked St Marychurch, and others have told us to look at Chelston, but we weren't quite as sure on that area.
If you have any tips on (dare I say it...) 'naice' spots that we can home in on I'd be really grateful!

We lived in St Marychurch for a few years. Plenty in the little village area, plus not too far from Sainsbury’s/Waitrose. Used to go running along the coast path after work or nip into the Cary Arms for a glass of wine, really happy memories. Those beaches off the coast path up there aren’t huge and Sandy but you’ll often have them to yourself. Didn’t really go into town in the day much, if actually going shopping it’s not far to Exeter. Few little favourite haunts for drinks and dinner. Loads on the doorstep to nip out to at the weekend. Didn’t have DC at the time but the fireworks at the primary in Watcombe were possibly the best school display I’ve ever seen (appreciate probably not helpful!). I wouldn’t rule out moving back if DC were grammarable (too young to tell!).

Good ideas, yes round Broadsands would be good. Nice listening to the steam trains, well if you like steam trains of course.

Very true about walking to Churston Grammar, a mixed grammar is unusual but I quite like that. They always seem well behaved kids as well.

Yes, @chesirecat99 's list is the same as mine (I think of IMD and The Lincombes as Wellswood). I don't know Preston well but there is some very nice, older housing stock. The area near Churston Grammar is nice and more 'upmarket' than most of Torquay.
All the grammar schools have good reputations (I have children at one of them).
Cockington School recently had a very poor Ofsted. Shiphay Primary has a very good reputation and this area is fine, just not one of the nicest.

I also love the sea and won't tire of it. Horses for courses.

@Hannahthepink We returned to Torquay after many years of being in exile. Despite all the things others have written about it we still love it. We are in one of the areas mentioned (on a hill overlooking the harbour) and the view from upstairs changes on an hourly basis. To be fair, we don't go down into the town much because we know it run down but there is not enough investment in the south west in general and we have just come out of a pandemic. There are signs of green shoots of recovery - new high class hotels, lots of high tech industries for future careers. Part of the problem of drugs here is because of local authorities up country allowing their homeless people to come down here and fill up some of the BandB places that are losing popularity. There are lots of things that might interest children and more beaches than you can shake a stick at, and of course you're near to the moors and not too far from the North Coast with the lovely white sandy beaches and surf. It's easy to see the beauty in a place if you look.

It's funny, I don't like Chelston at all! But the housing stock is good and it is close to the beaches.

As for Livermead, I knew someone who lived on Barnfield Road and she went to Preston Primary.

I've no idea how it is now but at Torquay grammar school the following primary schools had the most "alumni": Ellacombe, Preston, Oldway, Sherwell Valley, St Marychurch, Shiphay and Foxhole.

My cousin lives in Paignton and his daughters went to Churston.

I'm not sure whether you can draw any conclusion from the number children that go from each primary school to the grammar schools, @gatehouseoffleet eg Sherwell Valley has 3 form entry with 90 places whereas Ilsham only has 25 places. Also, it used to be common that well off parents from the more affluent parts of town would send their children to private primary schools to help them get a grammar school place, although a lot of them have closed in recent years.

@Meadowbreeze 'I didn't mean that in any negative way, just matter of fact. My family is half polish and the way the polish half have been treated by some is quite sad. A lot of the locals feel they've been encroached on by migrants and there's a divide. I can understand the sentiment on both sides but I can never understand why people choose violence and hatred.'
That's terrible that your Polish relatives have been badly treated in the UK.
In my experience, the Polish children tend to be better behaved overall than the British children and the Polish adults tend to be very hard working.
I think diversity is important and a good thing for children rather than a negative one.

@intothedeepblue I'm sure it goes both ways in all honesty. There is the matter of most polish children currently being first generation immigrants and that has its own pros and cons and effects on behaviour and life aspirations. There are plenty of badly behaved kids in all races and ethnicities. Polish culture tends to be one that shames them and a lot still get beaten at home so that will have an impact.

Any hatred breeds hatred though. A Polish kid might have a fight with an English one and they go home and spread the news about the horrid polish kids. Same goes when the polish kids gets attacked by the English etc etc.
I do think when people move they cannot have rose tinted glasses when it comes to diversity. Diverse areas have their own problems and it's important to acknowledge that and decide whether that's something you're willing to move into.

@Meadowbreeze - all very reasonable points.
Diversity can add extra layers of complexity and misunderstandings based on cultural difference must be more common. There are also potential positive aspects.
I actually find Torquay (and most of the SW) to be not particularly diverse, not many ethnic minorities in general.

@intothedeepblue oh for sure, it's not a diverse area at all, that's why the slight increase in diversity in Torquay always stood out to me.
There are lots of positive aspects to diversity but I think there can be a point where you have just enough to cause issues, but not enough to see the benefits of it, if that makes sense, and I see that in Torquay. It's very difficult to balance it when the original population is suffering from years of underfunding and neglect. It takes money, time and a level of selflessness from all sides to have an integrated society. All of which I feel the world is lacking at the moment, especially in deprived towns in Torquay.

Yes, I agree that this is the crux of the problem; chronic underfunding in many regions causing chronic deprivation (seaside towns have fared very badly in general). The local population, understandably, feel that there is already not enough to go around and so don't welcome newcomers. No excuse for abuse but there are some explanations.

@intothedeepblue it is heartbreaking what chronic underfunding has done to seaside towns. It is sadly, only getting worse.

Hi
I was interested in your post as l too am thinking of moving to Torquay. Did you move to Torquay and if so where and has it worked out for you?

We are still in the process of moving, so aren't quite there yet, but we are so happy with the house and the area that we have chosen. We're going to be in St Marychurch, which really feels right for our family.
We looked at lots of houses, we narrowed it down to Preston in Paignton, Wellswood, St Marychurch and select bits of Babbacombe. There were lots of places mentioned on this thread that would be right for others, but didn't give us 'the feeling'.

Hi Hannah, we are also looking at moving down south, young children too so schools is important. We are going down in august to have a look around the areas, so any info would be fab xx

Hi Kerry213472
When you say that you're moving south, where are you headed? To Torbay?

I would go with Wellswood/the Warberries or the Lincombes.

But honestly what I would actually do is Totnes and commute.

Hi Hannah, yes to Torbay I think. We have booked to go to preston in august to have a drive around the areas. When do you move? Xx

Honestly OP did you read the really negative postings about Tiverton a quiet market town with a castle a few days ago. Torquay is fine. There are a few drug issues but really many towns and cities have those. Look for the best schools. That usually tells you where you want to be focussing your search. My sister lives in Kingskerswell a few miles away from Torquay in a quiet very small town/large village. She has said 1 school is good but the other one is dreadful. Torquay is a bit deprived but my theory is as more people are now having staycations it will pick up. I know my sister is always driving my niece into Torquay for dancing lessons and karate etc. She likes living in close proximity to the beach and as her children have got older in the school holidays they have caught a bus to the beach to meet their friends in the summer.

St Marychurch is by far and away the best area of Torquay. Babbacombe and Wellswood are alright too. The town centre is horrific, half the shops are closed and the town centre has one of the highest crime rates for town centres in the UK (around 250 per 1000, about the same as Luton's town centre to give you an idea of how rough it is.)As a whole, Torquay is extremely deprived and infested with drugs, and although it has nice beaches I wouldn't wish Torquay on my worst enemy. If you wouldn't live in Blackpool, don't bother living in Torquay. It is very similar and not an awful lot better than Blackpool. I would think long and hard about moving to Torquay: Everyone who I know who has ever lived there has been begging to escape the second they got there. Why not Brixham, Dawlish and Teignmouth, they're near Torquay and far nicer. Even Paignton is a better option, and Paignton is quite similar to Torquay but nowhere near as rough.

@prettyflowerlover It sounds as if you know Torquay quite well. Have you lived elsewhere recently? Sounds like you need to move again and leave it those of us who appreciate the natural beauty of the place

Our favourite areas were:

1. St Marychurch
2. Preston, Paignton
3. Wellswood

We liked the housing stock in Preston and the family friendly vibe, so that's a good shout. Schools in these areas all seemed good. There were other spots that seemed nice, but just weren't for us, we wanted a certain type of feel.

Fully aware of the town centre woes, but that's just life in a normal British seaside town, plus there's a lot of regeneration happening in the next few years so the only way is up
(And I certainly wouldn't stick my nose up at Blackpool, I'd just be careful about the area that I moved to, the same as any town)

So l guess this is the reason why Torquay is an attractive option?!

@Hannahthepink Well done for resisting all the negativity about Torquay. It really is a lovely place and every time we go out down past the harbour we think how lucky we are. Certainly better than living in an inner city somewhere. We live in one of your preferred areas and Preston Junior school has a fab reputation

Love this. We are heading down there in August and again in November to have a look around the areas we want to live. I currently live in Southport and there are some beautiful areas and some you wouldn’t go to at night. Everywhere is like that. Do you know anything about high schools around preston? Xx