Tell me about: Bournemouth

NVP

NVP

NVP

Soldato
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Looking to potentially move down to the beach with the wife and kids, however I've never been to this area so I have no idea where would be nice to live etc.

We've heard going closer to Dorchester is nice, but it appears a large variety of place exist between.


If I shout some criteria would you mind pinging back any suggestions of locations if known please?


- Great Schools (nursery/first school etc, kids are still babies).
- Detached property with green surroundings, not cramped estates.
- Village location but it needs accessible shopping.
- Max 1hr drive away from Bournemouth City.
 
I grew up both in Dorchester and then in Tuckton just outside Christchurch bout 20 mins drive to Bournemouth and very close to Southbourne beach/hengistbury head.

Have you looked at puddletown ? If you got the cash to splash its a really nice place to live. But beware property prices are easily over 500k for a 4 bed.
 
Nitefly said:
Most important criteria - proximity to Splashdown.
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No waaayyyy!! Slick!
iamtheoneneo said:
Have you looked at puddletown ? If you got the cash to splash its a really nice place to live. But beware property prices are easily over 500k for a 4 bed
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Thanks, nah I haven't looked anywhere yet other than close to Dorchester based off another recommendation regarding schools. Puddletown looks decent, just found a very nice house there although size is small for the money. Anywhere closer to the beach to be recommended? I've been told to avoid Weymouth for some reason haha

neil_g said:
depending on budget the new forest is within reach.
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New Forest looks like a huge area, is it all decent? It is the opposite side to which I've been looking, pricier that side too it looks. Budget wise up to 500k for a 4 bed detached, but can go higher if the right place comes up, just means I'll have to sell 2 houses instead of the one so preferably keep to half a mil. It looks like decent houses in New Forest border the 700k mark.
 
If you are happy with upto an hour travel to Bournmouth city centre, consider Salisbury, Fordingbridge, Shaftsbury, Dorchester as already mentioned, Corfe Mullen, and a bit closer Ringwood, Verwood, Westmoors, Wimbourne, Poole, Christchurch, certainly check out Verwood though, the inlaws are planning on moving there and you can get a decent house for good money.
 
Thank you, will check them out. Heard good things about Salisbury Cathedral.

Is it quite busy during tourist season around the outskirts as well, or is that kept to the coast and city centre?
 
Weymouth is fine - it is very small. Dorchester has a touch more pomp.
Bournemouth has quite a few iffy areas!

It all depends on your budget¿?
 
Bournemouth is a drug infested hell hole and prime candidate to be nuked from orbit when the xenomorphs arrive.
Hell even the coronavirus decided not to bother with areas like Boscombe.
Traffic is bonkers across the BCP conurbation and house prices are outrageously inflated for what you get.
To save money the local A&E is being moved from Poole Hospital to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital which is frequently gridlock locked during the morning and afternoon commutes. Good luck to anyone having a serious accident in west of the conurbation.
Stick to looking around Dorchester, Purbecks or the Wimborne, Ferndown area.
 
Yep traffic is horrendous throughout the area, Bournemouth is a crap hole really. Somewhere like the purbecks would be my choice.
 
There's a really nice restaurant where I had smoked haddock kedgery followed by deconstructed black forest gateau. It's was beautiful. We were only down to buy a cherry picker.
 
Thank you guys. When recommending Purbecks are you referring to the Isle of Purbeck or the Purbeck District (which looks to be the woody peninsular bit)? Or is it pretty much the same area?
 
It's proper title is Isle of Purbeck. On maps it's the peninsula that's surrounded on three sides by Poole bay and the English channel. Purbeck as a local government area was disbanded in 2019 and now it's part of the Dorset Unitary Authority which is everything in Dorset apart from Bournemouth,Christchurch and Poole (BCP) It's approx 30 minutes drive in each direction to Dorchester and Bournemouth (more in the summer).
 
I grew up in Salisbury and still have family and friends there. I wouldn't recommend it particularly, in my opinion housing is overpriced considering how poor the local jobs market is and it being 90mins to London, and the city centre is dying a death, full of empty units, coffee shops and charity shops etc. It does have some excellent schools (especially grammar schoold, but maybe a ways off for you) that attract pupils from neighbouring towns and villages, and the transport links aren't too bad (direct train line to Bristol, London, Exeter, Portsmouth etc). When you say you want to move to the beach, Salisbury really doesn't tick that box in my eyes. It's too far away to go to the beach on a whim so you have to make a day trip of it, in which case you may as well be a couple of hours away. Consider some of the villages south of Salisbury as mentioned perhaps, they will be that bit closer. My definition of beach living would be somewhere within cycling distance, or maybe a 20min drive.

As for Bournemouth it was a great place to go in my early 20s for nightlife, but also had a bit of a reputation, basically every Saturday night you'd have boy racers cruising round spewing out neons and drunkards cruising round spewing out vomit. Night clubs like Opera House where you would get free drinks all night on an entry wrist band until that got too out of hand, few fights breaking out. Popular destination for stag dos, hen parties etc. Not the sort of thing that would appeal with young kids I imagine. I think they might have cleaned it up a bit in recent years due to police action, shutting down some venues etc. In short i wish I'd lived there when I was young and single, I wouldn't live there now. Job market is much better than Salisbury.
 
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Macdonsk said:
It's proper title is Isle of Purbeck. On maps it's the peninsula that's surrounded on three sides by Poole bay and the English channel. Purbeck as a local government area was disbanded in 2019 and now it's part of the Dorset Unitary Authority which is everything in Dorset apart from Bournemouth,Christchurch and Poole (BCP) It's approx 30 minutes drive in each direction to Dorchester and Bournemouth (more in the summer).
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Thanks, quite a few villages to choose from, some nice properties that way.

neodude said:
Lived there for a year. Only advice I've got is avoid Boscombe at all costs :p
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Hah! Touristy, or scummy?


HangTime said:
I grew up in Salisbury and still have family and friends there. I wouldn't recommend it [snip]
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Thanks HangTime*, really appreciated. I think you're right in terms of distance to the beach, Salisbury is just too far. It's pointless if you can't just up and go for a couple hours on a whim, especially as the kids get older.

Wifey is booking us a little get away to the city itself in the next week so we can feel the vibe and see if any areas there actually appeal, although I think that'll be a low probability so most likely scout out some countryside between checking out the city and beaches.

I think the Purbecks is going to be a real consideration, but I think a visit to other areas is needed as there are many surrounding places where I've found house which are lovely sizes in green looking areas.

Cheers all :)



*Don't know why but your name always reminds me of Hangin with Mr Cooper :D
 
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