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Rural living

Looking to relocate to the countryside? Find advice in our Rural Living forum.

Original poster

Moving to/Living in East Devon

31 replies

GetSmart · 10/03/2019 14:27

Hi mums, to cut a very long thought process short, does anyone live in/have moved to East Devon? If so, what's it like please? I have two outdoor loving kids aged 7 and 4, who love beaches, brownies, gymnastics, horse riding etc so love plenty to do, we're thinking of moving to the area.

We relocated 'up north' two years ago and it hasn't worked out as we'd hoped, so I'm naturally nervous about a complete change again. I have been to the area looking at schools and a couple of property and actually wanted to find the negatives and failed, it was lovely. Had a great flight down there and met some very pleasant people and saw some decent schools etc. Just want us all to settle somewhere and get it right this time!

Any advice, good and bad on the area would be really appreciated xx

OP posts:
SquishyFishy · 10/03/2019 14:29

Lovely part of the world. You could do a lot worse

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 10/03/2019 14:30

YES! I grew up in East Devon so I’m very pro! What towns have you got your eye on?

Frangipane · 10/03/2019 15:08

Just commenting because I want to follow this thread. We are probably making the move down there in 2 years time. I know the area a little from visiting, but have no idea what each place is like to live in. If I can hijack the thread a little, dh and I will be past the stage of having to worry about children and schooling. We just want a quiet location, not in the centre of a tourist destination, but close enough to decent amenities, e.g. larger shops, hospitals, etc. I am thinking of East Devon as it is reasonably close to Exeter and good transport links, also dh's work, but we have no idea where to look beyond that.

Sorry OK for the hijack. I hope you get some good advice here which I can piggyback off!

Frangipane · 10/03/2019 15:09

That should say sorry OP.

Original poster
GetSmart · 10/03/2019 15:10

We've looked at Honiton, Aylesbeare and Luppitt so far. We did look at Sidmouth but although beautiful wasn't quite our age demographic. We are very open to suggestions as we don't know the area too well. I would like to be within reach of the airport so I can get back north easily when needed and also East Devon due to access to the motorway.

OP posts:
Original poster
GetSmart · 10/03/2019 15:14

I would really like a strong community too if possible, with moving to a new area. Plus, the kids are beyond toddler age groups so won't have too much of a chance to meet other mums, except from the school gates. Don't want to feel isolated and would love a welcoming and active community x

OP posts:
Namechangeforthiscancershit · 10/03/2019 15:31

Sidmouth is actually a lot more fun than it seems! Those are all good options though. The great thing (I think) about East Devon is you have the rural lovlieness but you also have the bright lights of Exeter Grin and really good motorway/train links.

Ottery is lovely if it’s not too small for you. Topsham is quite trendy at the moment too.

Are you likely to want the DD’s to go to the grammar (I did, so no hate either way!) as that will affect things a bit, but all the secondaries are really good.

Original poster
GetSmart · 10/03/2019 15:40

I won't push the grammar but if they want to try/are able to pass the exams then we wouldn't stand in their way! We looked (online) at Kings and also Honiton and both seem good schools. Is there plenty to do with the kids and are the schools friendly to newcomers? I know that sounds silly as most kids are, but we had a few settling in problems (all sorted now) when we first arrived 'up north' as girls can be girls and it felt a bit clicky. Equally, are people keen on newcomers to the area? Thanks for posting by the way x

OP posts:
Namechangeforthiscancershit · 10/03/2019 15:50

Honestly I would be amazed if you didn’t have a really warm welcome in any of those places. I moved in (I think) year 4 from Exeter and was plenty of other kids were moving around too, not cliquey at all.

There’s tons to do. It probably leans a bit towards the physically active stuff, so if you were join a sailing club, or something like that you’d have a huge social circle pretty quickly. There would be a few towns where people are “born and bred” but not the ones you’ve mentioned, so you won’t find people that set in their ways x

Original poster
GetSmart · 10/03/2019 15:58

That's really lovely to hear, thank you. We're absolutely an active family so it sounds like it would suit us down to the ground.

Now let's hope brexit sorts itself out ASAP so some new properties would come on the market! Who am I kidding :o)

Thanks for the comments, they're really helpful xx

OP posts:
DobbyTheHouseElk · 10/03/2019 16:02

There is a current thread, someone wanting to move to South
Devon and lots of posters recommending East Devon. One poster has an Instagram for East Devon and it’s amazing. You might get recommendations from that thread as well. I’ll see if I can find it, but I can’t do links.

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 10/03/2019 16:04

Happy to help (or rather to encourage you into it I guess!). A lot of people do relocate to Devon so there are always new faces and if you’re the kind of family who like getting active and involved I think you’ll love it x

DobbyTheHouseElk · 10/03/2019 16:04

@DevonshireDarling posted loads of good advice.

It’s in “-chat” titled “if you live in south Devon come and help me plan our move”.

Hope that helps you.

SquishyFishy · 10/03/2019 16:23

Whimple is nice, Sidmouth is younger than it may seem upon first appearance. Lympstone is beautiful. Too be honest , there aren't many bad bits although I'd probably avoid cranbrook like the plague

nombrecambio · 23/03/2019 13:12

We moved to small village in east Devon about 6 months ago. We're not Devon folk and have never done village living before.

It's lovely. The community is friendly and welcoming and lots of events & activities. It's been great. I have nothing negative to say.

Original poster
GetSmart · 24/03/2019 16:28

Thanks everyone for your messages - it all seems really positive. It's just whether we've the bottle to up sticks again in the hope of getting it right this time! x

OP posts:
whynotbroccoli · 28/05/2019 08:44

Hiya, realise this thread hasn’t been active for a couple of months but I wondered OP if you’d made the move? We’ve had a similar experience it sounds (moved 2.5 years ago from London to Bath, and it’s not really worked out) and we’re now looking at East Devon, and hoping to find friendly, open community for us and kids of 10 and 7.

Would love to hear how you got on and pick up a couple of tips. We’ve been looking at Ottery, Honiton, Sidmouth, Exeter outskirts.

Original poster
GetSmart · 29/05/2019 14:41

Hi whynotbroccoli, sorry to hear it's not worked out for you in Bath.

We've not made the move yet - we put the house on the market but had nothing to go to so we took it off again! Sounds crazy as we have to take the plunge but we are not prepared to move into a rental as it then roots us to area as the kids will need school places. It's so hard and we so need to get it right this time. It's still on the cards but I think it's likely to be next year now. In an ideal world, let Brexit play out (however that maybe) and maybe there will be a bit more confidence in the property market with more coming on the market and more people looking. We were trying to move before the next academic year but we've missed the boat now.

Best of luck. Would love to hear how to get on. I looked at all your proposed areas and also over towards the Dorset border and they were all lovely.

OP posts:
whynotbroccoli · 31/05/2019 18:14

Hi GetSmart, great to hear from you. It's so hard with the property market all over the place like this isn't it? We were on the market for 6 months and then accepted an offer in January and aren't likely to complete before end of July as our buyers have been so hesitant.... talk about an exercise in frustration. I hear you about not wanting to rent. Feels like we have to decide on an area before we've even lived there, and we're also looking for a suitable area for our business too, which complicates matters somewhat. Sometimes feel like my brain might explode!! Right now, we're considering staying put until the kids have finished secondary school, but as that's basically 10 years away it's a big deal when we're not really happy with the area.

Best of luck to you too, would love to hear how you get on... let me know if you decide to pull the trigger.

Colcat50 · 28/06/2019 23:01

We relocated to East Devon 3 years ago knowing no one and with an 11 year old starting secondary school. We had put her in for the Colyton grammar 11 plus in the September which she passed. We chose Ottery St Mary as we also viewed Kings school and if our daughter hadn’t passed the 11 Plus we wanted a good school. We lost out on a place at Colyton as geographically there were other children nearer to Colyton than us who had also passed, but actually that turned out to be a good move as she has made many friends locally and is doing extremely well and predicted to get G.C.S.E grades 8 and 9. From my point of view, I struggled a lot to start with as I left lots of friends behind in the South East, but I wouldn’t live anywhere else but East Devon. There is loads to do locally, including, pixie day, Tar Barrels and food and drink festival being the biggest in Ottery. Lots of clubs for children and for you to make friends, brownies, scouts, dance clubs, hockey, netball, loads more. My daughter joined gymnastics at Honiton and now is in competition classes, she swims at Sidmouth and I work part time at Sidmouth. Lots of buses ( I don’t drive) to Exeter, Honiton and Sidmouth. After a bit of a lonely start I have lots of friends and there are lots of clubs for adults to join to make friends. You won’t regret moving here and everyone is very friendly.

Colcat50 · 28/06/2019 23:10

Sorry I meant to add, don’t rule out renting. We sold our house in the South East and rented for a year as if we didn’t like the area we were not tied to a house in an area we didn’t like and could move to another village or town in the school catchment. As it turned out we loved Ottery and took our time to find a house that we liked as we had heard many people who rushed to buy and ended up regretting their purchase. They liked the area but not the house. It has been worth the stress and wait as we now have a lovely house in a older part of town where people have lived for a long time and have made us feel very very welcome and we are glad we didn’t rush to buy a house as some of the ones we viewed looking back we wouldn’t have been happy in those houses and have a much bigger and nicer house now that we love.

newmummalion · 28/06/2019 23:35

I live just outside of Exeter now but also lived in the city and have been in Devon 10 years this year after growing up in Essex. It's absolutely glorious. You have the moors, the estuary, beaches, cities, Cornwall all within an hours drive.

If you've been considering Honiton, I would suggest looking at Budleigh Salterton, Woodbury Salterton, Ottery St Mary, Newton Poppleford. All lovely places and a bit more off the tourist track than say, Sidmouth.

Good luck!

whynotbroccoli · 30/06/2019 11:27

Thanks for posting Colcat and Newmum, we've pretty much narrowed the search to Ottery partly due to schools, both primary for DS and secondary for DD, and the fact that it just 'feels right'. It's great to hear there are loads of clubs and things to do in the area as our daughter is very sporty so we'd be looking for football, netball, cricket and swimming for sure, and lovely to be surrounded by so much water with the sea, rivers and choice of pools close by.

Also very comforting Colcat to hear you made it through the lonely stage after leaving lots of friends behind. I feel the same about leaving Bath, even though we only landed here 2.5 years ago. Have to remind myself that children are very adaptable and they'll make friends again, as will I. East Devon has always had a weird pull for us and if we don't do it now we probably never will!

Annoyingly there's hardly anything to rent in Ottery (good advice not to buy - we made that mistake here in Bath and I'm tempted to do so again but know you're right and we should wait a while) but I'm hoping to see a place next week - might not be perfect but will get us a toehold and we can take it from there, as long as they take cats!

Can I just ask you Colcat if you've found Kings to be a friendly and inclusive school? Our daughter has Aspergers (high functioning autism), she's bright and gorgeous and copes well in mainstream education, but does struggle a bit with friendships. Would be good to hear an insiders' take on the school as we were very impressed when we visited, but you never really know what goes on until you're in it, iykwim.

chorusline79 · 30/06/2019 11:34

Just saw this thread pop up, very timely as we are moving to ottery in about 3 weeks time, I'm swinging between excited and nervous! We have a school place at ottery which seems like a fantastic school with great facilities, with the hope they will go to Kings. We have family in honiton, Tavistock Plymouth so Devon makes sense for us and for the kids nearly 3 and nearly 5, I think it will be a fab lifestyle. Just hoping it will be easy to integrate and make friends but from what I have seen so far the people have all been amazingly friendly, helpful and warm. Good luck to anyone else making the move too!

chorusline79 · 30/06/2019 17:23

Whynot - hope the place you see is ok and will do the job for now! Rentals are rare aren't they. We are renting there too as we can't sell our place at the mo but I'm actually glad about renting for the reasons another posted listed, as we are thinking at least we will be able to act quickly later down the line when we are ready to buy. Good luck!

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