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.

That sounds lovely Paddington! We don’t know much about Lymington except it’s opposite the IOW! How does it differ from the other coastal places eg Milford OnSea, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Poole? Is it quieter and prettier? We didn’t want to live in a place completely overrun with tourists.

Lymington is a pretty town I think, it has a decent high street which is sadly becoming more rare these days. Compared to Milford and Highcliff it’s much busier, it’s a proper town. It has a good market too. It does get busy in the summer but then all of the places you mention do too.

Christchurch always feels like a suburb of Bournemouth to me. Poole I don’t really know but it’s really quite big and again, it kinda merges into Bournemouth so a different feel to Lymington I imagine.

Id be happy to live in Lymington myself. Right on the doorstep of the forest, plus the IOW is a short hop away too.

Thank you Lonelycrab. Your thoughts on those places are very enlightening.

I grew up in Ferndown and left about five years ago. The high street has suffered in recent years. Lots of estate agents and not many independent shops. It does attract retirement age due to the number of care homes around but the traffic can be a bit of a nightmare. It also has a mix of areas, some very expensive, some not so. And it has a lot of young family areas which probably wouldn’t be your thing so you’d need to have a good look around.
As pp have said, Wimborne really is lovely. A good variety of shops, pubs and cafes. It has a bustle about it but still feels small. Definitely spend some time and travel about. Check the transport links as well. When I was growing up the buses were few and far between though I think Wimborne was better equipped than ferndown.

I would definitely for Wimborne or Christchurch. One advantage they both have is a theatre, The Tivoli in Wimborne ans Regent in Christchurch. They both get touring comedians, musical acts, plays etc and have their own cinemas.

I will add that Milford on sea is absolutely lovely. But The problem you’ll find is availability, and the fact it’s serious £££ to buy there now.

Yes Lymington is a pretty town with a thriving high street from what I saw last weekend. It’s what MN would call “naice” I guess! We have friends who live in that area and the vibe is very much sailing and horses! Milford on sea is expensive and pretty but small and quiet and feels a bit out of the way.

Shaftesbury and Sherborne are both really pretty and good for retirees with loads of clubs and activities.

Thank you all for your comments. I think we have decided that Ferndown is not quite right for us and having done a bit more research, Wimborne and surrounding areas together with the prettier and quieter(!) coastal villages are favourite. We also like the look of Blandford Forum too - there are so many lovely places in the county it’s hard to choose! Hopefully when we make our trip down it will become clearer! x

I would carefully consider where you live, the traffic in this area is horrendous and particularly bad during the summer. We have to plan any trips out (even to the supermarket) around the peak travel times for tourists as the roads come to an absolute standstill. Ringwood is currently struggling with lots of businesses closing or moving away because of the roadworks and new road layouts. Wimborne is much nicer town although again suffers during holiday season with tourists and traffic bypassing and heading to the South West. We are actually planning to leave the area as we spend most of our free time dodging traffic jams.

Thank you for your help.
One major concern for you all to pitch in with - the traffic situation in all these areas. So many of you have mentioned the traffic congestion and chaos due to roadworks and tourists and so we wonder how bad does it really get as it is beginning to cause us major concern. The thing is we are keen road cyclists and walkers but don’t like busy roads with traffic at all. Where we live we cycle/walk on country lanes where there is very little traffic and want to replicate that. But we also want to be in striking distance of all the amenities of a nice town without the need for always taking the car out. Do all the surrounding roads off the main A roads also get clogged up with traffic too from people trying to cut through to avoid the queues on the main roads?
Any comments gratefully received. x

There are major road works around wimborne, ferndown, parley, ashley heath atm, it causes massive traffic jams . Its partially to road improvements and new cycle lanes especially in ferndown but also there are new housing developments being built. One causing issues is the old wimborne market has recently been demolished and a retirement village being built, the other is in Leigh Rd. If you google a house for sale in Leigh Rd and do a streetview it will give you a good idea of whats going on. They built a new roundabout at canford bottom a few years ago and that has causes major issues with traffic ever since. You can google the new developmenrs being built, I think there is one planned for Victoria Rd in wimborne behind the hospital which will affect the town centre a d fhe road out to blandford. If you lived in wimborne, ferndown, cheistchurch everything you need is within walking distance.

Dorset is the only county in the country without a motorway. Christchurch has the novelty of a "bypass" that passes straight through the middle of it. Google the Canford Bottom roundabout at Wimborne and marvel at the traffic lights.

Traffic Planning hasn't been this County's finest hour for many decades. Add with it being a tourist county it obviously impacts. Yes you can find places that avoid some of these issues and you can be in the countryside in minutes so all is not lost and you can often learn to live with it if you find a location where you don't need the car too much.

As others say earlier probably best visiting and seeing what it is like at weekends and some different times. It isn't helped currently due to the works at Ringwood and through the New Forest the main road was also being worked on which caused it to congest even more. When it's all done it will alleviate a bit but the escape to the M27 will always be an issue. Personally I wouldn't live away from a train line down here as I find that quite reliable and useful but it's not for everyone I know

Dorset is the only county in the country without a motorway

& Cornwall.

Or the Isle of Wight

If you are keen walkers and cyclists I would suggest Fordingbridge as it is close to the New Forest and doesn't have the same traffic issues of the other places mentioned. It is about 20 minutes to Wimborne and 10 mintues to Ringwood from Fordingbridge. I have lived in Christchurch and it is so congested so I wouldn't recommend it.

& Suffolk, Norfolk, Rutland and one or two others

Never trust what others tell you......

Ok it's got a bloody awful road layout

It really is difficult to get around without a car and the traffic is truly terrible. During the summer we don't venture out on Sundays from lunchtime onwards as the traffic jams reach back to Wimborne which is tourists returning home from Devon and Cornwall as well as those visiting Dorest. We use back roads if we HAVE to go out but so do all the other locals so those roads get busy too. The Forest is beautiful but again it gets very busy with people trying to bypass the traffic jams on the A31. So many people believe that it must be idilyc living here it really isn't, a regular discussion between our neighbours is whether they should wait to go shopping/to the tip/take the dogs for a walk in the forest because it's sunny/weekend and the roads will be clogged up. If you want a quiet place to live and cycle safely this area is really not for you.

Once again, thanks to you all for your latest comments which are so helpful and much appreciated. When we come down to visit we will no doubt see what the traffic is like and expect to be stuck in the congestion you have highlighted so clearly!!! We are determined we won’t be beaten!

If you pop down for a weekend & you live in the London area, aim to hit the M27 around 4pm on the Friday & leave around 5pm on the Sunday for the full experience!

And if you’re heading down to the Lymington area, come off at J2 of the m27 and come in via Ashurst, this gets you around the Lyndhurst traffic lights, the queue there can sometimes be horrendous.

Bettina777, we're also looking to retire to Wimborne. Did you make the move in the end?

Hi Alltheusernamesaretakennow. We didn’t make it to Dorset in the end as we couldn’t find the right property for us around the area so moved more locally in the country. We may try again one day…………… Good luck with your search x

seeing a GP in Wimborne is a constant challenge as they add more and more housing. It’s about three weeks to see anyone for care. The only GP surgery is struggling with the increased volume. It’s a pity because it’s a really fabulous town with lots of places to meet up and lovely walks.
I’d probably opt for Ringwood which is close to the forest and easy to access Southampton or Bournemouth with good roads.

Ferndown is pretty boring with no real cohesion. It’s a bit of a suburb.
Ashley Heath is similar.