A dream move to Dorset?

[Natalie5122]

Family of 3 currently living in Essex with a dream of living in Dorset. We have always visited Dorset for holidays with my husband and I getting engaged and getting married in Dorset so it’s our home from home. We live in a nice area, little one is at a nice school and family live close by…..

but we still dream of living in Dorset. We feel like it could happen in 2 years’ time when our little girl is 6. So we are currently looking at areas, we’d love semi rural and close to beach but obviously we need good schools and somewhere to grow up which will have lots going on. We were looking around Swanage. We feel Bridport is further from Essex but heard great things… we are just so confused and I want to make sure we get it right. Any advice would be great thanks!!

Remember that living somewhere is very different from visiting, especially if those visits are associated with happy memories. I live in Somerset rather than Dorset, but a similar vibe. Dorset is beautiful, but it has no motorways, parts of it get swamped with tourists in the summer and it famously has no motorways and most trains are on the slow Waterloo line. I'm not trying to put you off, but just be realistic about the lifestyle. Having family at hand for childcare is a big bonus of where you are now.

I would choose Swanage over Bridport out of those 2.

This is excellent advice, also you have to try to imagine yourself living there in the dead of winter!

Do it! I moved to my dream home in Somerset in 2019 and I've never been happier. I never liked living in the south east.
I absolutely love Swanage and spend a lot of time there. Unfortunately it's not in my budget to move there but it's close enough. I'm only half an hour from Lyme Regis so often go fossil hunting.
It's a totally different pace of life.

This is very true and something we really need to think about! It’s ok dreaming of living somewhere but it’s the day to day life we need to think about more

Thank you. Yes this is true! Luckily we love going Dorset out of season so I feel like we’d enjoy that but you have to think of both the busy and not so busy times.

I would say go for it. I grew up on Portland in Dorset, and it was a fab place to grow up. I've recently moved our family to the Devon Coast to try and replicate that lifestyle, and I'm so glad that we did it. Our kids were 7 and 4. Living with the coast on your doorstep is such a treat.
I haven't lived in Swanage or Bridport, but have visited both plenty of times and know people that grew up in both towns. I really like both places tbh. Bridport has had quite an influx 'post-Broadchurch' and became a bit trendier, so I think that there might be slightly more going on there these days. We've always enjoyed going to the market in Bridport too.

Have you looked at schools? I'm not sure of the secondary options in Swanage?
Also, have you visited off season?

I live in Swanage. Great for small children, not for teenagers as the public transport is very poor. We have 2 supermarkets - a small Budgens and a small Co-op. Both expensive. Nearest Tesco or Lidl 20 miles away. Ditto A&E (there is a minor injuries at the cottage hospital - there's a constant fight to stop it being closed).
Secondary options - the Swanage School, the Purbeck school (Wareham) or take the exam and go to the grammars in Poole (private transport).

Many people who work here or who grew up here can't afford to live here because of the price inflation from incomers (often retirees from London area) and second home owners and people who buy to let out as Air-BnBs - this is what's happening with the new houses going up despite the promises of "affordable homes" by the developers.

Thanks so much everyone for your feedback! Definitely a lot to think about. I really appreciate it x

Swanage secondary school but don’t know if any others so I’ll definitely have to look more into this. Yes we actually prefer off season when we visit 😀

I’d hate to move and get settled and there not being much for my little one as she gets older. It’s hard to know which area would have more going on. That’s why I thought of Bridport…but I guess no trains or real transport either. Only other option I had was wimbourne as we like it there.

I lived in Dorset as a young child - my parents are now in Somerset, and moved when I was a young teen. I was at boarding school during term time but the holidays could be loooong!

Unless you ride or are into country pursuits, as a teen in a very rural place, it can be boring! I did ride, and was very lucky that we had friends with swimming pools, tennis courts or sailing boats, so we had fun things to do - but we still had to rely on parental taxis until we'd passed our driving test, as public transport was (and still is) almost non existent. That brings a whole other level of worry (teens, cars and alcohol!) which I now appreciate as my own children are late teens now.

I adore visiting my parents, as do my children, but we mostly spend time at their house and in their large garden - going out to do anything involves a drive, and in the summer, getting out and about, or to and from the West Country is a total pain in the neck. Given that Labour, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that there won't be any road improvements to the A303 any time soon, it will only get worse!

If you are going to move, I'd probably choose to be close to Dorchester or Bournemouth - one of the larger centres, where there are good schools, but also a bit more for teens to do, and away from the summer gridlock of Bridport, Swanage etc.