Are Ashley Heath/Ringwood/Ferndown/Wimborne nice places to live?

[Bettina777]

My hubby and I are planning to retire to Dorset and are focusing our attention on the AshleyHeath/Ringwood/Ferndown/Wimborne areas but we don’t know what it would be like to live there. We are moving 250 miles. We are young at heart and keep pretty active so need plenty to keep us occupied - walking/cycling/nice places to eat etc.

We don’t want a place that’s too sleepy nor anything too big or busy either, but we do want it to be pretty and dare I say a bit upmarket.

Ashley Heath looks like it might be right (is Horton Road a busy main road?) and Ringwood (though not officially Dorset!) though the A31 looks a nightmare, but also Wimborne. Ferndown is a maybe but a bit big perhaps?

Can anyone who lives in these places give any insight into what it’s like and any info would be gratefully received. It’s so difficult moving somewhere new when you don’t really know if you’re going to get it right.

Thank you so much.

Yes. Of that list Ringwood and Wimborne are the more desirable. If you wanted a smaller village feel you could also look at Fordingbridge.

Horton road is quite busy. I think St Ives is a nice part of Ashley Heath area but very quiet. Not far from Ringwood etc though. You could also look further across at the forest villages and towns, Brockenhurst, Lydhurst, Lymington. Parts of Christchurch are quite desirabit like Friars Cliff and Mudeford.

Just be prepared for traffic most of the year. Ringwood or Wimborne would probably be the preference of those 4 but as PP says there are other places around that may be worth looking at also.

Find places that have the worst school catchments and then those places will likely be cheaper also as places like Ringwood with a catch all means it's competitive

Thank you Paddington. I did wonder if Ashley Heath might be a bit too quiet with little to do. I have tried to research Wimborne and think that is our favourite as it’s pretty, healthy with plenty to do with nice shops etc. Problem is trying to find a new build in the area as we’ve always bought new. Also, close to the coast but not too near to attract loads of tourists I am thinking. Do you have any more info on Wimborne - pros and cons?

Thank you Wobytide. That’s a good point regarding school catchments. How would you rate Wimborne compared to Ringwood? Although there are other villages around, we are not sure if they might be a little too quiet for us. Property availability is also a problem too.

Wimborne is lovely and there are new ish builds. There are also houses being built in Parley which, though it has few shops, is a nice area I think. Handy for the airport...and close to Ferndown.

Thank you Cittigirl. Worth a thought.

Have a look at public transport links and whether you'll be able to get around easily if/when you can't drive. My DP lived in Ashley Heath and moved because they had to drive everywhere.

Thank you BonnesVacances. Good point worth bearing in mind.

My in-laws retired initially to Verwood and then moved to Wimborne a few years later - they wanted somewhere that was slightly bigger than Verwood but still had a small town feel. They've been very happy there, and from visiting it dies seem a good place to live - good range of interesting independent shops plus some of the national chains, lots of pleasant walking in the area, close enough to bigger towns if you want to pop in.

Do you have kids? That will change my advice as a local.

The traffic!

That’s very helpful Countess thank you

No kids now. It’s just me and hubby that are retiring there Snowjokes

Wimborne Chase is a new build ....

Where is the traffic bad Nearlyspringyay? And how bad does it get?

Great. I’ll take a look Lulu.

The traffic : anywhere between the end of the M27 at Cadnam to Wimborne from around midday on Fridays until about 9pm on Sundays from Easter until the end of Oct. I averaged less than 30mph for that whole stretch of dual carriageway on Friday.

The traffic in Ringwood & getting down to Poole/Bournemouth in the summer is a nightmare. You can queue most the M27/A31. Bournemouth gets packed during the summer months. Wimborne is a lovely place though.

Thank you for the info re traffic.

I would look at Wimborne if it were me with you retiring round here. Ashley Heath there is very few shops and that's it really except for lovely walks in the forest. Ringwood is great but with the roadworks for the next year it will be driving you bonkers with all the traffic.

I also wouldn't limit yourself to new builds only. There are some beautiful properties in these areas, don't just rule them out straight away.

I obviously don't know your budget for property but I really like Blandford and its a lot cheaper than anywhere else. I wanted to move there but husband thought it too far away for work. We are in Poole now.

Have you considered Bridport also?

Thank you Snowjokes for the information - that’s very helpful. The traffic sounds like it’ll be a mare. Would probably have bought new in Poole if the budget could have run to it! The prices have rocketed!

Thanks Wobytide. We know very little about Brudport. We’ve had to narrow our search area down as one can go on forever looking at places and get nowhere and increasingly confused.

What areas have you ruled out?