Moving to Suffolk - where?

[doornail]

I posted this on the education board, but also thought I'd post here for more responses....

Husband wants to move to Suffolk where he's originally from... we are currently in Scotland (where im from) and have 3 kids - primary school and nursery age.

If we could live anywhere in Suffolk, where would you recommend for good schools and a nice area (work from home mostly so that's not an issue)

And can someone please explain to me about how admissions work with schools in England - if we were to live near a good school (do you have catchment areas?) does that guarantee you a place? If not how does it work?

We have a lot to think about and it's all scaring me as I don't understand it at all!

Thanks

I lived in Ipswich for a few years and it is not somrwhere I would want to live again. I didn't feel very safe there and I would say there is more violent crime there than there is in Norwich, where we live now.

I agree with Bungay and Beccles being nice and Bury St Edwards at the other side of the county.

The nicest places (aside from Bury) are where the transport links are atrocious!

Finding this thread very interesting. I grew up in Suffolk (Beccles and Halesworth) and I have family in Woodbridge and Aldeburgh and visit often. I’ve also lived in Scotland.

I think the problem is you don’t know Suffolk. Why exactly does your husband want to move?

I would have recommended Woodbridge as it’s a sizeable town with a train station.

It’s not fenland either, but the areas along the coast are flat.

Beccles and Bungay might work for you and you’d be nearer to Norwich and Southwold.

Moving from Scotland to Suffolk because your husband is feeling sentimental is not a solid basis for a move. While he might have his rose-tints on about his youth, the realities of life will kick in real quick. The grass isn’t always greener. How old is he? Could be a midlife crisis thing.

Beccles, Bungay are very small and rural.
Lowestoft isn't great and quite remote.
Ipswich isn't as bad as some people are making out and is well connected.
Woodbridge is nice but overrun with second homes and London transplants and now very expensive. Same for Aldeburgh.

Yeah, such a dump.

I’ve stayed at the Salthouse harbour hotel before so am familiar with the fact that there is one nice part of Ipswich. The developed part around the harbour. The trouble is, that is the only nice part. The town centre is grim & there is objectively a lot of social deprivation there compared to other parts of Suffolk.

What I actually don’t understand about this thread is how come the OP doesn’t know Ipswich and other parts of Suffolk at all if her husband is from the area & had family there. Haven’t they ever gone on holiday to Suffolk? Haven’t they ever visited the place? They surely know Ipswich but she may not know smaller places in Suffolk - though he must so I don’t know why they don’t just go on holiday there to take a look.

I grew up in Suffolk and recognise what some are saying about unfriendliness. But that's partly because my mother was from Yorkshire so noticed a difference and made us aware of it. I think insular is a good word, used by a PP. DM has found after living there for 40 years that she has really only made close friendships with other outsiders. But this doesn't necessarily have to be a big problem, of course there are very friendly people from Suffolk. And I think there are lots of community activities through which it is easy to meet people and make connections if you make the effort to get involved. I grew up in a tiny village not far from Aldeburgh, a very beautiful area though not the best for schools. Some kids from my area went to Thomas Mills in Framlingham though, which has a good reputation and some also to Farlingay in Woodbridge which does too. It is quite common to live in smal villages and then kids get buses to schools a way away. Best of luck with your decision! I would agree with PP that it's a very good idea to make a trip or two to get to know the area first although a whole month in the summer as suggested would be very expensive!

Bury's a great town with a lovely sense of community and has top state schools plus a new v dynamic sixth form college

Bury's big enough to have lots of cultural stuff going on but small enough to be friendly and easy to get to know, plus it's 40 mins from Cambridge.

Lots of really quality little village schools around Bury which feed into town secondaries.

@pennylanestrawberries

Did you grow up in Sudbury by any chance?! 😆

I live in north east Ipswich, have 3 kids at state schools. They are doing really well and oldest at least on track for all 8/9 grades and university eventually.

Honestly, people are making a right fuss over the town. It's fine! Sport and leisure is great, plenty of things for kids to do, parks are beautiful and sea 20 minutes away, London an hour by train. From my house, I can walk to waterfront in 40 minutes, rolling countryside in 5. The shops are a bit iffy in town (at least 3 phone case and vape shops/money laundering enterprises on the main drag in spots once occupied by the likes of Kiko Milan, Oasis etc 😂) but cafes etc are lovely. £850 k would get a big big house in north Ipswich. There is poverty here but what town or city of 150,000 people has all middle class folk? When people complain it's rough I often think they mean they don't like the Roma/Portuguese communities (some of the comments on local FB groups are appallingly xenophobic).

I'd eventually like to move to Felixstowe when my kids are grown to be by the sea. Woodbridge and Aldeburgh are nice too but a bit too posh for me. I confess I don't know the west of the county well but Bury and Cambridge are great.

I love Suffolk but I did grow up here so maybe I don't see the unfriendly thing people have mentioned - unless they mean bad feeling directed towards immigrant communities, which I think is true of a small but vocal minority.

However, like other people on the thread, I think you should spend a bit of time here before you decide to move. It's a big deal to heave several hundred miles!

Haverhill by any chance ?. I'm from there originally moved . No way could I live there now . Very insular . Glad to be out of it

I moved to Suffolk (ipswich) for work after university and ended up staying and raising a family here. I absolutely love it - it’s a beautiful part of the UK. I love living so close to the coast and the estuaries, don’t think I could ever live anywhere inland now. Ipswich isn’t the most vibrant town and the shopping is crap, but there’s enough going on and the waterfront and parks are lovely. And it’s easy to jump on the train and be in London in an hour. Primary schools are good, secondary fine. Woodbridge is a fantastic place and I’d live there if we didn’t need better transport access for work. Bury St Edmunds is also great, and there are some lovely spots up along the coast and some stunning villages. I’ve never encountered any unfriendliness - we’ve felt so welcome and have a massive social group. Housing is more expensive than it used to be and Woodbridge is definitely at the pricier end, but with your budget you’d be able to get a really nice property.

We moved to suffolk but right on the edge by Cambridgeshire, to a lovely village near Newmarket. Newmarket is a bit of a odd place dominated by the horse racing. But we like the location as it's 20 minutes from Cambridge, Bury, and Ely, all of which are really nice. I have found it really friendly here but maybe that is compared to where I grew up in the Home Counties!

I'm not that familiar with many other places in Suffolk but would agree Bury would be the main place to consider, and not ipswich. I have a friend who is from there and it would make total sense for her to move back there for a number of reasons but she says she doesn't want to raise her children there. Bury is v picturesque and seems to have stuff going on.

That being said it does sound like your life in Scotland is v nice. Don't jump into anything you aren't happy with!

All OP needs to do now is book a fortnight's holiday - one week in Bury, one week in Woodbridge, plenty of days out and time to talk to local agents. Sorted!

Thanks for all the input, it's interesting to see different points of view.
To answer the question about why I don't know the area that well, his family don't live there anymore but when his parents did they lived in an isolated house outside a village, so when we visited most of the time we'd be at the house or would drive to the beach or a walk somewhere so I have v little knowledge of what places are actually like? We didn't have a day mooching about Bury or anything like that.

I totally agree that we need to have a holiday there before committing to anything but again, holidaying somewhere isn't the same as living there so having some opinions from people who live there helps, thanks!

I wouldn't be moving if he didn't really want to, I am worried it will be a huge mistake, but as my work can be anywhere and his work is more based down south it's not fair of me not to even consider it. There are things that would be outing if I explained so can't, but would probably make it sound less like he's insane 😆

If you're able to work remotely could you maybe try something like renting somewhere for a bit and renting your house out? Or maybe if you have kids do something like that over the whole
Summer holidays so you can have a decent stint without actually selling your house?

@doornail yes, visiting areas in your chosen location is the best thing to door. We relocated to Norfolk during lockdown, we knew we wanted a change, we also wanted to downsize, we needed a bungalow due to my disability. DH did lots of desk research, we looked at weather, property prices, crime statistics so we had a general idea, of where the areas that we thought were suitable.

Next step was to visit, we booked an Airbnb bungalow for a few days, we had a plan of the areas we would visit. The Airbnb was great and made us realise we definitely needed a bungalow, as it made life a lot easier for me. We really liked the areas we visited, but for a number of reasons we discounted a few, the visit enabled us to decide, whether it was something we wanted to do, and narrowed our search.

We went home put our house on the market a few months later, we got a buyer quite quickly, so then we were travelling to view suitable properties, every weekend, that bit was tiring, as a round trip was well over 6 hrs, so we stayed at a hotel to break the journey and rest after a busy day of viewing.

We found our perfect bungalow, and have now been living there for nearly 2 years. Honestly the best thing we ever did. We are all really happy.

I did wonder whether it was the right thing to do, you always have an element of doubt, but after I discussed it with a friend she said, what’s the worst that can happen? If you don’t like it, move back or somewhere else. That’s true, just because you move it doesn’t have to be forever, life changes, we thought when we bought our large family home we would be there forever, I didn’t dream I would be diagnosed with an incurable life changing disability. Of course it takes a bit of time to settle and for the new home to feel like home. But if it’s something that will be better for your family do it. It’s better to do it than look back with regret.

good luck OP.

I agree that Aldeburgh is overrun with second homes but Woodbridge certainly isn't. Woodbridge has 4 primary schools, plus a secondary, which indicates a very healthy permanent population. We moved to Woodbridge just before Christmas, and have been made very welcome.

Felixstowe has improved a lot since I grew up there cough cough years ago, but the schools would be a problem. They've closed both the senior schools that were there when I was there, and replaced them with a single school way out in Trimley.

Agree with posters above… pick fave hi hi school and love near there… Debenham, eye and bury st Ed’s spring to mind. Ultimately how friendly somewhere is depends on how much you invest in a village. If u send your kids to local primary you’ll likely make some fab friends. Good luck!

I'm not usually one to defend Ipswich, but the waterfront is definitely not the only nice area. There some glorious parks, the sports facilities are great and there are buildings full of history. There are some lovely neighborhoods and schools too. Yes the town centre is a bit grim but there are some really nice independent shops in the saints area of town. The area around the town centre, especially to the west, is very multi national and sometimes groups of males can be a bit intimidating. Equally there are lots of different tasty foods available including a nice Turkish supermarket because of this.

Well OP can make up her own mind about Ipswich when she visits the area. I would want to live there when there are loads of much nicer places in Suffolk.

I've lived in Suffolk & Scotland

Also other places

I would stay in Scotland !

Maybe it’s a dream when the kids are older. I’ve got teens and one in primary and they all wouldn’t want to move now. Once they’re out of education, I’m looking to move up north as I live in one of the towns mentioned and it’s not very friendly plus it’s very boring.

I would try and holiday in Suffolk as much as possible but I wouldn’t be quick to give up friends and a life just to uproot to an area your DH hasn’t lived in for years.