Places to live in East Devon, Dorset or Somerset?

[helix402]

Crewkerne is ok, the downside is the large through road going through the centre of the town. This brings trade but detracts from the town a little. There are some good villages on the outskirts.

[JackRatt]

Had a bit of a look round at the weekend.

We were a bit pushed for time, so never actually stopped and had a walk around anywhere, but Ilminster looked like a good balance of character, bustle and amenities. I liked Beaminster and Broadwindsor too, but a friend who lives nearby informs me they're both packed with OAPs!

The residential bits of Seaton also felt a bit like God's waiting room. Or Skegness (which is worse). Quite liked Axmouth - it's tiny, but you have the amenities of Seaton almost within walking distance. Not sure about being on the main road to the seaside, though.

Taunton was as expected - fairly uninspiring large town but with lots of very posh schools for Mrs JackRatt to ply her trade. Had a look at Bishop's Lydeard but wasn't bowled over; Corfe nice, but possibly too small.

South Petherton seemed to be a very sleepy old village surrounded by miles of fairly soulless modern development. It was a bit of a ghost town when we drove through on Friday afternoon.

For reasons that aren't entirely clear Mrs JackRatt didn't really take to Bridport. To be honest, a nice place there is probably beyond our budget anyway. She wasn't especially keen on Crewkerne either, but did like Misterton.

Closer to home (literally) I like Axminster, but finding somewhere that's not crammed in with a hundred other bijou modern developments could be tricky. Conversely, there turned out to be more to Kilmington than I remembered. Still pretty tiny, but we can practically see my parents' house from there and it's only a five minute drive to Axminster.

Colyton was good too - the houses seem to be quite densely packed, but it feels like it's got a proper village centre and there's not too much modern development. Made a note to check out Colyford next time we're down as well.

Thorncombe was lovely, but I think too small and too remote. Hawkchurch just big enough and just close enough to civilisation to be a possibility. Pub looked nice too.

On the whole, it seems we want a large village or a small town. Somewhere on the outskirts of, say, Beaminster with fields nearby and a decent sized garden would be perfect.

Edited by JackRatt on Friday 8th April 16:07

[egor110]

Worth bearing in mind a lot of these villages/towns have lots of building coming up in the future .

The local councils have to put up x amount of houses and all the local councils are able to do is put forward preferred areas of development, they can't block it.

I could take you to places in Taunton/ Bishops Lydeard which are houses backing onto fields at present but that's going to change.

[JackRatt]

egor110 said:

Worth bearing in mind a lot of these villages/towns have lots of building coming up in the future .

The local councils have to put up x amount of houses and all the local councils are able to do is put forward preferred areas of development, they can't block it.

I could take you to places in Taunton/ Bishops Lydeard which are houses backing onto fields at present but that's going to change.

Very true. It would be a shame to pay a premium for somewhere with 'far reaching rural views' only to have a load of new homes plonked there in two years' time. We would have had exactly that with one of the houses on our shortlist the last time we moved.

For the smaller places that might not be such a bad thing, though. Kilmington looks like it's gaining a small number of reasonably sympathetically designed new houses - maybe enough to attract a few more people of our age to the village rather than retirees or second home owners.

[OtherBusiness]

Off to look at a property in Barton St David (between Yeovil and Glastonbury) and having no knowledge of Somerset and that area, wondered if anyone can give me an idea please? Having looked at the EA website with regards to flooding I am not sure if I should be worried or not!

Edited by OtherBusiness on Tuesday 12th April 08:24

[JackRatt]

There is a very small possibility this may have taken a more urgent turn. Mrs JackRatt has spotted her "dream job" at a school in Taunton.

Perusing nearby areas this morning. What's Wellington like?

[Dixy]

Depending on which school in Taunton may colour your location. Taunton is st at comute times and the three public schools are in very different locations. Blagdon Hill or Staple Fits Payne would suit 2 well and be good for getting to the south coast as the road across the hills would be fantastic in the TVR.
Wellington has some very good points but some less choice areas.

[egor110]

JackRatt said:

There is a very small possibility this may have taken a more urgent turn. Mrs JackRatt has spotted her "dream job" at a school in Taunton.

Perusing nearby areas this morning. What's Wellington like?

If it's Taunton school i'd look at somewhere around kingston st mary or around the quantocks like west bagborough, crowcombe.

Slightly cheaper have a look at cotford saint luke , it's a new estate build on a old asylum but it is surrounded by fields, at any point in the village walk 10 minutes and your in fields, the kids there still build dens in the woods and it seems to be a good trade off of close to taunton yet in the country.

[vsonix]

egor110 said:

rcc2003 said:

East Devon and Lyme Regis is an area where house prices can ultimately make living there possible or impossible. £300k will buy you a house in Beer or Lyme but expect no parking, a small house which will need maintaining with old style central heating etc. In a Seaton it will get you a bigger family house, more modern with the sea but without the picture postcard Devon life image, Axminster the same without the sea and more run down in my opinion. In Honiton you get good transport links and are close to Exeter which is a great place which has changed into a modern city with a buzz about it. You also have lots of small villages dotted about which are lovely but they are just that, a village which means a 6 mile round trip for a pint of milk and the school run twice a day. I have lived here on and off for 20 years and still being near a big city. One thing for sure is that you need a car around here!!!

Is Exeter really a buzzy modern city?

I watch lots of gigs and Exeter is not a must do location for bands/promoters , whereas Bristol is.

I live there, and the answer is 'barely'. A lot of bands do play in Exeter, the Cavern has been a stalwart of the indie/rock scene for over 25 years now but tends to focus on more up and coming or underground acts. The University used to get a lot of bigger bands in - the Exeter Lemon Grove was once on the mid-sized venue touring circuit alongside the likes of Nottingham Rock City, Wolverhampton Civic etc and used to host many big acts - Blur, Oasis, Fatboy Slim etc etc - but the venue got its public license removed due to noise complaints from surrounding residents and is now for students only. Sepeaking of 'students only' this is one of the big downsides of Exeter nightlife - most of the clubs are either grab-a-gran meat markets or alternatively so studenty that you'll feel like the oldest person in the room if you're over 25. In fact, therein lies the problem with Exeter, most of the 'buzz' is focussed round the students and their scene, the entertainment aimed at adult professionals is still somewhat lacking. If you're into dance music, there aren't any real clubs that draw big name DJs - The Phoenix does the odd D&B or Techno night but still feels like a band venue putting DJs on the stage rather than an actual club. Everything is closed by 2am. There's a pretty good food and drink scene as far as Devon is concerned but it's focussed more round local produce cooked in a simple way (not that there's anything wrong with that) - but if you're into ethnic foods the quality and authenticity is nothing like you would expect from a big city.

Edited by vsonix on Sunday 17th December 15:28

[JackRatt]

egor110 said:

JackRatt said:

There is a very small possibility this may have taken a more urgent turn. Mrs JackRatt has spotted her "dream job" at a school in Taunton.

Perusing nearby areas this morning. What's Wellington like?

If it's Taunton school i'd look at somewhere around kingston st mary or around the quantocks like west bagborough, crowcombe.

Slightly cheaper have a look at cotford saint luke , it's a new estate build on a old asylum but it is surrounded by fields, at any point in the village walk 10 minutes and your in fields, the kids there still build dens in the woods and it seems to be a good trade off of close to taunton yet in the country.

An old asylum? Isn't that one up from an ancient Indian burial ground in terms of spookiness?

It is indeed Taunton School. Quite an imposing place.

To be honest, the traffic is the biggest thing that puts me off Taunton. Admittedly, they'd closed some of the roads for a half marathon when we were there the other weekend, but it was like central London traffic makign our way out towards the Quantocks.

It's a very remote possibility at present - it turns there's no way we'd be able to get a mortgage for another year anyway, so we'd have to rent or something - but it gives us something to ponder.

Edited by JackRatt on Friday 15th April 09:46

[egor110]

JackRatt said:

egor110 said:

JackRatt said:

There is a very small possibility this may have taken a more urgent turn. Mrs JackRatt has spotted her "dream job" at a school in Taunton.

Perusing nearby areas this morning. What's Wellington like?

If it's Taunton school i'd look at somewhere around kingston st mary or around the quantocks like west bagborough, crowcombe.

Slightly cheaper have a look at cotford saint luke , it's a new estate build on a old asylum but it is surrounded by fields, at any point in the village walk 10 minutes and your in fields, the kids there still build dens in the woods and it seems to be a good trade off of close to taunton yet in the country.

An old asylum? Isn't that one up from an ancient Indian burial ground in terms of spookiness?

It is indeed Taunton School. Quite an imposing place.

To be honest, the traffic is the biggest thing that puts me off Taunton. Admittedly, they'd closed some of the roads for a half marathon when we were there the other weekend, but it was like central London traffic makign our way out towards the Quantocks.

It's a very remote possibility at present - it turns there's no way we'd be able to get a mortgage for another year anyway, so we'd have to rent or something - but it gives us something to ponder.

Edited by JackRatt on Friday 15th April 09:46

That was probably the worst day you could of visited, traffics stopped for 30mins to let the runners get out of taunton and silk mills is shut so it backs up there also.

Normally the roads are busy rush hour like any other other town at rush hour, ie around 7.45'ish the traffic can be queued up from the marine camp pretty much all the way into Taunton and similar when everyone heads home.

If you look around kingston st mary or cheddon fitzpaine then you'd the right end of town for taunton school and can avoid the traffic on the a358.

Re the asylum you buy a old place in the country and you've got no idea how many people have died in that house.

We've got friends who live there and although it's a new build it's really green and leafy, you can get into fields easy , there are loads of green open spaces, tree lined walkways thru the village, for it's proximity to taunton and reasonable prices i think it's hard to beat.

We took our dog there for a walk this week and there are kids in the fields building dens, that's the sort of thing i thought died out in the 80's, you never see that sort of thing in towns.

[P155flaps]

We've not long moved out of Cotford St Luke and I wouldn't recommend it at all TBH.

We lived there for 8 years and have many friends there and allot looking to move. Gradually gone down hill over years hence why prices of houses in that area not really risen at all.

We were lucking one of the nicest / biggest houses in village backing into field and no through road. Most aren't like that though. Parking a night mare in allot of it, allot s and rentals now. We have had 2 friends driven out of houses due to noisey neighbours.

Allot kids hanging around in groups at night. Plus there is allot of affordable houses going up. First batch of 80 going in and more to the north of village on 10 year plan too.

Some nicer little areas but 4 out of 6 friends looking to move (but within few miles) says allot!

[JackRatt]

egor110 said:

Re the asylum you buy a old place in the country and you've got no idea how many people have died in that house.

Don't worry, purely a tongue in cheek comment about the horror movie cliche, not the place itself.

So, perhaps to turn this around the other way: Where should I definitely avoid in or around Taunton?

It's a very slender possibility, but if Mrs JackRatt was offered this job (and did take it) we'd be probably be looking to rent initially. That means we'd settle for somewhere smaller (and generally be a lot less picky) to keep costs down until we were ready to buy.

[egor110]

JackRatt said:

egor110 said:

Re the asylum you buy a old place in the country and you've got no idea how many people have died in that house.

Don't worry, purely a tongue in cheek comment about the horror movie cliche, not the place itself.

So, perhaps to turn this around the other way: Where should I definitely avoid in or around Taunton?

It's a very slender possibility, but if Mrs JackRatt was offered this job (and did take it) we'd be probably be looking to rent initially. That means we'd settle for somewhere smaller (and generally be a lot less picky) to keep costs down until we were ready to buy.

Lambrook,halcon,wedlands are the rough bits but there council, social housing so doubt they'd be the ares you'd look at anyway.

Renting wise look at norton fitzwarren ( massive new build there), bindon road, bishops hull then at least your right end for taunton school.

[Loulou43]

Hi all, I appreciate this is an old thread but just came across it when researching Honiton and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction.

We are moving from the South east countryside to Devon next summer and making our first trip to look at areas in a couple of weeks.

We have two teenagers , one who will be starting college and the other starting year 10 and would to continue the village and countryside life we have here but not to be too remote for the kids sake.

We are staying in a rental in hiniton but never been before so not sure at this stage is a possibility of a permanent new location but we will be driving around so any thoughts of areas to suit would be hugely appreciated!

We will be renting at the beginning until we find somewhere to buy.

In my ideal world, I would love to be somewhere in the countryside but not too far from the beach!

Thanks so much

[LordHaveMurci]

Honiton has good access, that's the best bit!

It has grown in terms of housing but the infrastructure hasn't caught up, all depends what you're looking for really.

Plenty of lovely small towns & villages around Honiton, Tipton St John etc.

[Loulou43]

Thanks so much for the response !

In terms of what we are looking for is, I’m guessing the tricky part !

Somewhere that is definitely a village with plenty of countryside to walk the dogs but not a million miles away from a good secondary school and college (I’m guessing we cannot guarantee on a school coach service that we have here). But also somewhere where the kids can take the bus into a town that is safe for them to meet up with friends and has a bit of life than what the countryside won’t offer!

We definitely do not want to be a town. That would be a culture shock for us because we lived in the country for so long !!

Exeter college does the course that my son wants to do and I hear that has a good reputation but haven’t researched any others of Schools yet !

[LordHaveMurci]

Look at Ottery St Mary - the Kings Scool is very good & it's close to everything you want.

Whimple is a good village, plenty of others too, some with Pubs etc, some more remote than others, all depends on what's important to you.

[PistonBroker]

This is the school I'd be looking at in that area.

https://www.colytongrammar.devon.sch.uk/

Tbh, we've even considered it from here in Taunton.

[Chris71]

Welcome. Hope you find somewhere you like.

Woodroffe in Lyme Regis used to be good and is (well, certainly was) a non-selective state school. Colyton Grammar is excellent, but very hard to get in.

That area to the north of Honiton is great value. There's a train station near there (Feniton or is that further west?) and access to the M5 so you're not stranded. It does tend to be very quiet, though - lots of little villages as opposed to the larger villages/towns to the south and east.