Relocating advise - Dorset Hampshire

[MoominBear]

Hello,

We are hoping to move to a more rural area, closer to the coast, within the next year or two. We are considering Dorset and Hampshire but are struggling to narrow down specific areas to visit. Instead of booking a holiday rental and driving around aimlessly, we’d like some guidance.

Based on our research, it seems the New Forest, the outskirts of Christchurch, and the villages west of Poole Harbour, possibly Wareham, might be good options. We want to be within 30 minutes of a nice beach suitable for swimming and sports like windsurfing. Additionally, we’d like to be within driving distance of attractive towns or villages with shops and restaurants and a nice community feel. Lovely walks in nature are a must, preferably with a mix of forest, heathland, and wetland.

We want to avoid towns and villages that are frequently gridlocked. House-wise, we are likely looking for a four-bedroom property with one or two acres and a few outbuildings for a workshop and our animals. Depending on work, some of us may need to travel frequently to Berkshire, so we don’t think we could go any further west. Reasonably good transport links would be ideal.

I would really appreciate any suggestions of nice places to move to and any areas to avoid. Thank you

If you are into watersports, I'd look at Dorchester for easy access to the National Sailing Academy in Weymouth. There is a great windsurf club there and Portland Harbour is amazing sailing water.

Christchurch can be very gridlocked in the summer months due to tourists.
Have you thought about Milford on sea? Village right by the sea, busy in summer months but I would say gridlocked.

Verwood is within easy distance of the roads you will need to do the things you want to do - and right by Moors Valley country park. Ringwood and Wareham are worth looking at too.

I live near Swanage. It's a nice town with the beach, the nature - but miles from the nearest decent supermarket, A&E, things teenagers want to do... Wareham (9 miles from us) is at least on the railway line to London and a fairly short drive to Poole. That would probably would suit you better - or perhaps Wool which is near Wareham and also on the main railway line but with lots of smallholdings in the vicinity. It's within easy reach of lots of beaches from Weymouth right round to Shell Bay.
Yes, there is lots of tourist traffic but if you live in this area you are usually travelling in the opposite direction to the tourists.
DH worked in London and Slough for many years, commuting from here.

Not wanting to be gridlocked rules out the New Forest and Christchurch.

Avoid the Forest if you don't want gridlock.

I'd look at the trains and work from there. For Berkshire, you'll usually have to change at Basingstoke probably, but Bas to Reading is only 20 minutes and trains are fairly frequent. However, there is a train from Bournemouth to Manchester which goes directly through Reading. This would mean you've got options from Weymouth, Dorchester, Crossways (Moreton station), Wool, Wareham... Depending on how far you want to drive to a station, villages like Broadmayne or Owermoigne might be okay. Also places like Broadstone or Corfe Mullen maybe. if you go east of Christchurch, other than Brockenhurst, trains are much less frequent for the stations through the New Forest.

A35/M27/M3/A34/A33 are all good when they're running well, less so if they're not...

I grew up in Dorchester and lived at quite a few points up that railway line, plus worked in Southampton and Reading... I do Basingstoke to Bournemouth in an hour, about another 40 minutes to an hour to Dorchester,. Depends partly which bit of Berkshire you want - Newbury, Reading, Slough could be very different in time.

I liked living in Romsey, too, though the train is a bit rubbish- change in Southampton.

Not at all, there are parts of the New Forest that don't get anything like gridlocked - the Northern Commons, basically the area around Ringwood/Nomansland/Fritham/Woodgreen is normally busier in the summer but far from gridlocked as some of the more southern towns can be. However the transport links from this area are dire.And the further north you go, the further you are from the sea. But the walks are just what you're looking for. You may have to choose one or the other.

I'd second Ringwood as an area worth investigating, rail access is nonexistent but road is OK, the proper Forest is a short drive away as is the sea. Plenty of places would have the land you need and Ringwood is a nice town which still has some community spirit. That's not to say that other places would't suit you, it just happens to be one I know about.

Depending on your budget, I'd be speaking to one of the New Forest specialist estate agents such as Spencers. They will know which areas that would meet your requirements.

Thank you all for your replies, there’s a lot to digest. We are making a trip to Wareham shortly, any suggestions for other nearby villages we should definitely visit?