Exmouth / Dawlish / Starcross? Help!

[Offtothesea]

Hello Mumsnetters,

Family of 5 + 2 DDogs.
Planning on leaving South London to relocate closer to the Sea, seeking a village, community feel, independent shops, cafes and a quieter pace of life.
We are an active family, enjoy long walks, hiking, paddle boarding, park runs, wild swimming etc..
DCs are 4, 7 & 10. By the time we plan to move (next summer) eldest DD will be going into secondary school.
DHs primary office will be based in Exeter.

Please can anyone who lives in these locations share their opinions?

We are visiting all 3 areas next week.

TIA

Hopeful bump 🙏

My brother and his family moved to Exmouth in October 24 from a large city. He has 3 children - on late teenager, one who was just starting secondary school and one in primary school. I have visited several times and I am very envious of their relaxed outdoor life. Trips to the beach etc.

The secondary school (Exmouth Community College?)has worked well for their son and he has also thrown himself in to extra curricular sport and made lots of friends. The younger one enjoys the primary school she is in and made friends out of school too.

They have no regrets - a nicer property for the same price as the big city and a much more relaxed lifestyle!

Thank you @LeoTimmyamdVi Their circumstances don’t sound too dissimilar to ours! Happy to hear their lifestyle is exactly what I was hoping, hopefully some others posters will be along soon to shed some light on the other areas!
thanks again

I live locally, I would say really think about how your DH is getting to work and how frequently. All three locations are one road in/out and in the summer (or if there is a road accident) become completely log jammed. How close do you want to be to the sea? Would somewhere like Woodbury or Whimple work? Whimple has a local train station into Exeter too. You might want to consider the best schools for your children first and then work from there? Feel free to DM me.

Thanks so much @Mummyslittlegiraffe DH is mostly WFH, he currently visits his London office once a fortnight at most. He’s not concerned at all about the commute, but being close to the Sea (walking distance if possible) & the DCs schools are both top of our list! It’s difficult to know where to start when moving somewhere entirely new to us both.

I live fairly close to these areas
id say Dawlish is a little rough round the edges, though the beach at Dawlush Warren is lovely.
Starcross is fine, but quite small and quite an older population.
Exmouth would be my choice- a bigger town, a little bit rough I guess on the high street but amazing beach and heath, nice harbour area, high school is fine.

Thanks @Twoshoesnewshoes- that’s great feedback! Exmouth was only one of our choices as DH has a colleague who lives there and rates it highly, and for her family & commute. Not sure a slightly rough town is what we’re aiming for, South Wimbledon where we currently are is very lush!

Oh, hmmmm, yes not Wimbledon vibes!
Exmouth is your best bet then, definitely not Dawlish.
check out budleigh salterton too.
and Topsham

Houses are cheaper in Exmouth than Exeter (due partly to posh uni parents buying up stock). Exmouth can be a cold windy place in winter. You only have the choice of one secondary school in Exmouth. You also have the traffic slog out of Exeter which will add to journey times. If you can afford it then Topsham is a good bet. Look at https://www.devon.gov.uk/schools/ as catchment areas can affect your choice.

I spend a lot of time in exmouth but it not a place I’d like teenagers to live as the youngsters seem to be all on the beach drinking (year round so locals) perhaps I got unlucky but my parents live there so I go throughout the year. Beach is nice, dogs only allowed far end throughout the summer

Kenton is much nicer than Starcross, although Starcross has a station.
Exmouth is the biggest, but pretty grotty IMO. Dawlish is a nice little town, the secondary isn’t amazing but there’s grammar system here so could get the train to Torquay if they’re having fun get through 11+
Teignmouth is also a nice town, the back beach is a fab area in summer in the evenings, also on train line.

Have moved here from leafy Surrey - 8 years ago. Love it around here. Work in education.
Dawlish - avoid. School is terrible.
Starcross - smaller but probably nice, nice location.
exmouth - much nicer than given credit for. Some lovely bits. School massive but actually ok. busy in summer but hey it’s a nice beach in the south west - it’s going to be busy.

other places I think are nice - topsham (lovely), Kenton, Budleigh salterton and surrounding villages. Woodbury. South Devon lovely too but prob not so easy for commute.

Thank you all so much for the feedback - I’ve been researching ahead of our trip next week and it looks like Budleigh salterton & Topsham are more along the lines of what we pictured! Have noted all comments and look forward to reporting back

I recommend Topsham, Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth if you want to be by the coast and close to Exeter. East Devon is handy if your children are aiming for a Grammar School (Colyton Grammar). For access to better beaches look at the South Hams eg Totnes (trains to London) towards Thurlestone, Salcombe, Wembury, & Newton Ferrers (housing in the S Hams is pricey).

Torbay has grammar schools but it's quite a tacky area with significant rough bits. Avoid Newton Abbot.

I work at Exeter hospital, lots of consultants staff cycle in from Topsham along the canal and river, it’s very civilized.

Definitely do your research for secondary schools. Many around Exeter are part of the Ted Wragg Trust which are not “Sen friendly “ you need to live very close to be in catchment for the only two schools not in this Trust. Colyton Grammar is also very selective. Lovely places to live but secondary choices are limited. Post16 is dominated by Exeter College which is large but does have good results.

Exmouth - large seaside town, great paddle boarding scene!
starcross - teeny tiny, completely different proposition
Dawlish - rambling residential area, terrible secondaries

agree with the advice you’ve had so far, topsham and budleigh might be more your speed. Also st Leonard’s on the edge of Exeter (city suburb, known for being the ‘nicest’ part of town)

I would strongly recommend doing thorough research on the schools and letting that lead your decision. I live somewhere very close to Dawlish and starcross and thank my lucky stars ds got into a grammar - though it’s inconvenient to travel to! As the secondaries on this side of Exeter are not great