Where to live in South West

[Emsij123]

My friend has recently lost her partner. She is 59 and has been living quite remotely on Exmoor but now widowed, wants to move. She would like to remain in South West but with good connections to London, where her daughter lives currently. She'd like to meet new people and make new friends, so potentially needs to be close to somewhere reasonably buzzy (with things to do for people her age!) Her budget is between 750-1M. Any advice on villages/ towns in the South West to move to where a new life can be forged. She is adamant she doesn't want to be in Exeter as has unhappy memories associated with the place. Is thinking Dorset -- but doesn't know it that well. Can Mumsnetters help?

Sherborne is lovely and has good train connections. I'd go for living in Sherborne itself rather than one of the surrounding villages.

Sherborne has just been voted top place in the South West to live in some Sunday Times annual list - if that means anything! Dorchester or surrounding villages also has good links to London, we have friends who moved to Wareham which has a train station and seemingly lots going on. Dorset seems to be a magnet for arty/crafty people and also for the newly-retired so there are loads of volunteering opportunities. Her budget is ample to purchase a nice house outright. There are some lovely parts of Poole and Bournemouth but overall I'm not sure I would recommend them, there are some horrid bits as well and somehow travelling anywhere in that area seems to involve driving through the centre of one or the other town with all the attendant delays. I've always fancied Salisbury myself!

North Devon is good if you’re looking to move to the coast for retirement. Good public transport links in the main areas.

You can get a direct service into London Paddington from Tiverton Parkway (45 mins from Barnstaple just off the M5 J27) or you can catch the local service from Barnstaple to Exeter St Davids and change across to another train.

Tiverton maybe