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Original poster

ESSEX-where is nice?

38 replies

divastrop · 19/07/2008 22:19

dh and i want to move away from where we are now.my family live in essex/suffolk (well,my mum is in Ilford) and i want to move near-er to them,but not too near to my mum iyswim.

we have a HA house so the only way we are going to be able to move is to do an exchange,but i have no idea where to start looking for properties.

anybody can suggest where is good or where to avoid?

TIA

OP posts:
Fimbo · 19/07/2008 22:22

How about Norfolk?

smartiejake · 19/07/2008 22:31

There are lots of nice towns in Essex around where I live-Wickford, Rayleigh, Billericay, Chelmsford, Colchester,Hockley, Brentwood, Shenfield are all nice.

Places to avoid- Basildon, Pitsea, Vange, Canvey.

Parts of Southend/ Westcliff/ Leigh/ Chalkwell/ Shoebury are also pleasant but Secondary schools not great.

teafortwo · 19/07/2008 23:14

Hi divestrop

Manningtree and surrounding villages - the word sounds like an illness but it is a really really gorgous place to live. Plus good for London if you need to get there for work.

Clare is just in Suffolk a nice name and nice place too. V cute and cosy as are the villages and hamlets in this area!

Hadleigh again just in Suffolk is lovely.

Maldon was nice last time I went there - but it was a long time ago!

For a bit bigger town than these I would say Bury St Edmunds everytime... but you are getting really far into Suffolk there!

If you want to live in a geographical city in East Anglia Norwich would be my first advice... but it might be just far too far away from the area you are really aiming for. In that case Colchester with her beautiful castle would be my second choice!

Hope this is of help.

teafortwo · 19/07/2008 23:23

divastrop - sorry about spelling your name wrong!!!

Original poster
divastrop · 20/07/2008 11:38

thank you everybody

i have been to most of these places,but as a child/teenager so i have no idea what they are like for a family.i had an idea that basildon/pisea etc would be areas to avoid as they seem to be the ones that most people want to move out of on the exchange sites.

i should have mentioned that we dont have a car,so i imagine a larger town would be better.

OP posts:
plumandolive · 20/07/2008 13:27

Saffron Walden is gorgeous.
Friends live in a lovely village called Widdington.
Very under rated county Essex

wheresthehamster · 20/07/2008 13:37

Without a car then possibly Chelmsford. The railway goes to Ilford and the coast. All bus routes seem to go via Chelmsford.

Good shopping and leisure facilites. Don't know if comprehensive schools are good as they have two grammar schools creaming off. Worth looking at though.

Original poster
divastrop · 20/07/2008 17:16

bump for more suggestions

OP posts:
sophierosie · 20/07/2008 17:30

Colchester is lovely - not far to London - close to the coast - good transport links. Lots going on for kiddies and generally good schools - the local mn forum is quite active too

Original poster
divastrop · 20/07/2008 20:31

oh yes,i had a nosey there last night

i had it in my head that colchester must be bad in some way as ds and dd1 have friends who moved here from there,and i figured they must have been very desperate.i must ask the mum or dad why they moved,it will probably turn out to be some legitimate reason!

i like the fact its within easy reach of clacton on sea etc as well as i have fond childhood memories of those places.

OP posts:
smartiejake · 20/07/2008 22:10

Yes I agree Colchester is nice- the shopping centre is great and good links to lots of different places.

Also got one of the best girl's grammar schools in the country.

Original poster
divastrop · 21/07/2008 16:42

i dont know what a grammar school is....

OP posts:
topdolly · 21/07/2008 17:35

Diva My Mum lived in Clacton on Sea for as while - she was always going on about how good the secondary schools in Colchester are!!

purpleflower · 21/07/2008 17:44

Colchester is nice, I live there at the moment. Manningtree is ok with no car as its on the mainline train track 10 mins from colchester and 1hr from london, it's a great place to live and bring up children (It's not my home town honest ). There is much more housing in colchester though.

Sudbury is also good.

nikos · 21/07/2008 20:48

I moved to the north to get away from Colchester. Hated it. Too close to London to have anything big going on. Too expensive to go to London on a regular basis. Dull, dull place.

nikos · 21/07/2008 20:48

Also only good schools if you live in the right catchment.

Original poster
divastrop · 21/07/2008 22:10

nikos,are you my kids' friend's mum?

dull sounds good at the moment.

OP posts:
SuperSillyus · 25/07/2008 07:23

Diva we have a grammar school system here in NI. Over here the children do an 11 plus exam and the As and Bs can get placed in a grammar. They are trying to change it because of the pressure and sense of failure it gives to 11 year olds.
But the Grammar schools tend to be very good schools.
Though the other secondary and integrated schools here are brilliant too in fact.

Move to NI!!!

I think you should move to the place where you get onto a college course (nag nag )

topdolly · 25/07/2008 18:33

Silly - Yes Ed BALLS is abolishing them isn't he - or was it Peter Hain?

Guess they are determined to make the NI schools as crap as most of the English ones

SuperSillyus · 26/07/2008 09:13

Topdolly- T'was Martin Mcguinness

topdolly · 26/07/2008 21:17

Was it????

A sharp slap round the head for that naughty McGuiness boy at the back of the class!!!

topdolly · 26/07/2008 21:18

Are Sinn Fein anti Grammar school then?

SuperSillyus · 27/07/2008 09:04

Topdolly-I'm not an expert but I think they are not anti grammar school, I think alot of people (not just sinn fein) are anti 11 plus. It has been a problem for years. Only a small percentage get a's and b's so all the other children have a sense of being inferior at a very young age. I think it is that kind of thing.

The integrated schools (which I am committed to) don't require a's and b's. However I do think there needs to be some kind of streaming. Because children have different strengths. I went to a grammar school. Personally I'm all for choice.

And if there isn't enough choice I'd move too.

Original poster
divastrop · 27/07/2008 12:17

i thought grammar schools were abolished in the 60's or something-well,my mum went to one and basically told me that clever people went to them.i remember some people doing the 11+ to get into the catholic all-girls school when i was in year 6,but my mum didnt want me going to a 'convent school'

rosy-there is a college here.

OP posts:
itsmyparty · 27/07/2008 19:14

Silly IKWYM - trouble is that the abolishion of grammar schools over here has led to a decrease in social mobility and also an increase in schools which are frankly failing. Although grammar schools were divisive, they gave working class kids a way of accessing a good school if they were bright.

Now schools are allocated by house price - i.e. the good schools are in rich areas and those in poor areas are seen as "sink" schools.

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