What's it like d'arn sarf (Southampton / Portsmouth) ... ?
Discussion
Simple enough, really.
I may be moving from up here (North West) down to the Southampton / Portsmouth, but know absolutely naff all about the area, which is where you guys come in, oh knowledgeable PH'ers.....
Me and the OH would prefer to live in a village-type location, as I doubt we could take the culture shock of the breakneck pace of city life you lot down there have
Any advice / comments / warnings / stupid remarks etc greatly received. Ta
I may be moving from up here (North West) down to the Southampton / Portsmouth, but know absolutely naff all about the area, which is where you guys come in, oh knowledgeable PH'ers.....
Me and the OH would prefer to live in a village-type location, as I doubt we could take the culture shock of the breakneck pace of city life you lot down there have
Any advice / comments / warnings / stupid remarks etc greatly received. Ta
It's lovely! haha. Well, I live in Gosport and actually like it, you're not 'in' Portsmouth just a small ferry road over! 
Also, I was up in Skegness at the weekend and was actually glad to be back down the south! People drive better on the motorways and seem to know 'LANE DISIPLIN' down here. Better weather and you also get the lovely 'solent' protected by the isle of white its great if you wanna start some form of water sports!
Also, I was up in Skegness at the weekend and was actually glad to be back down the south! People drive better on the motorways and seem to know 'LANE DISIPLIN' down here. Better weather and you also get the lovely 'solent' protected by the isle of white its great if you wanna start some form of water sports! 
I grew up in this area so know it pretty well.
Rule #1. Avoid Portsmouth like the plague. It is a s
t-hole. I am not saying this to take the piss out fo the scummers , but gods honest truth, it is truly a nasty place.
Rule #2. Follow rule #1 & you can't go too far wrong.
Where will your jobs be?
If they are Southampton way, you could do well to consider Romsey, Lyndhurst or Beaulieu. These are all small towns with good links into Southmpton, but can all get busy during the summer (to be honest, the whole area gets pretty chocka with grockles during the season). Warsash is nice (I went to University there), as is Swanwick & Hamble. If you really want rural, look at Brockenhurst / Pilley or some of the other villages in the New Forest. However, bear in mind that it can be busy driving into Southampton in the mornings.
If you are working in Southamton, try to come in from any direction other the "The Avenue" (bottom of the M3), this gets horribly choked up in the morning. You could look around the Winchester area (avoid Eastleigh), but it will mean coming into Southampton down The Avenue - something I would choose not to do. However, it is a beautiful city with lots going on & loads of good villages surrounding it (Hursley, Easton, Sparsholt etc).
If they will be Portsmouth way, I would consider Petersfield or Bishops Waltham. Both medium sized market towns with good linke to the A3.
For either Portsmouth or Southampton, you could go for the really left field option & live on the IOW. There are fast ferries to Portsmouth from Ryde & fast cats to Southampton from Cowes. A lot of people do this, but you have to be pretty committed to the travelling (it is only 35 mins or so, but can get pretty bumpy in bad weather.
No matter where you choose (Portsmouth excepted), houses will be a lot more expensive than up North.
There is loads to do around the area. Naturally, the New Forest in on your doorstep & there are watersports aplenty, but you also have the IOW, quick fast cats to the channel islands from Poole, great links to London, the downs are just south of Guildford (only about an hour away at weekends)etc, etc, etc.
Rule #1. Avoid Portsmouth like the plague. It is a s
t-hole. I am not saying this to take the piss out fo the scummers , but gods honest truth, it is truly a nasty place.Rule #2. Follow rule #1 & you can't go too far wrong.
Where will your jobs be?
If they are Southampton way, you could do well to consider Romsey, Lyndhurst or Beaulieu. These are all small towns with good links into Southmpton, but can all get busy during the summer (to be honest, the whole area gets pretty chocka with grockles during the season). Warsash is nice (I went to University there), as is Swanwick & Hamble. If you really want rural, look at Brockenhurst / Pilley or some of the other villages in the New Forest. However, bear in mind that it can be busy driving into Southampton in the mornings.
If you are working in Southamton, try to come in from any direction other the "The Avenue" (bottom of the M3), this gets horribly choked up in the morning. You could look around the Winchester area (avoid Eastleigh), but it will mean coming into Southampton down The Avenue - something I would choose not to do. However, it is a beautiful city with lots going on & loads of good villages surrounding it (Hursley, Easton, Sparsholt etc).
If they will be Portsmouth way, I would consider Petersfield or Bishops Waltham. Both medium sized market towns with good linke to the A3.
For either Portsmouth or Southampton, you could go for the really left field option & live on the IOW. There are fast ferries to Portsmouth from Ryde & fast cats to Southampton from Cowes. A lot of people do this, but you have to be pretty committed to the travelling (it is only 35 mins or so, but can get pretty bumpy in bad weather.
No matter where you choose (Portsmouth excepted), houses will be a lot more expensive than up North.
There is loads to do around the area. Naturally, the New Forest in on your doorstep & there are watersports aplenty, but you also have the IOW, quick fast cats to the channel islands from Poole, great links to London, the downs are just south of Guildford (only about an hour away at weekends)etc, etc, etc.
Edited by schmalex on Tuesday 2nd December 21:58
A quote from Iraq with regards to Pompey;
Defense Minister Geoff Hoon in the Commons said:
Umm Qasr is a city similar to Southampton.
British Squaddie said:
He's either never been to Southampton, or he's never been to Umm Qasr. There's no beer, no prostitutes and people are shooting at us. It's more like Portsmouth.
TJW said:
It's lovely! haha. Well, I live in Gosport and actually like it, you're not 'in' Portsmouth just a small ferry road over! Also, I was up in Skegness at the weekend and was actually glad to be back down the south! People drive better on the motorways and seem to know 'LANE DISIPLIN' down here. Better weather and you also get the lovely 'solent' protected by the isle of white its great if you wanna start some form of water sports!
Ditto...Gosport here as well. There are some nice parts, it's just that getting out in the mornings is a nightmare. Also, I was up in Skegness at the weekend and was actually glad to be back down the south! People drive better on the motorways and seem to know 'LANE DISIPLIN' down here. Better weather and you also get the lovely 'solent' protected by the isle of white its great if you wanna start some form of water sports! magic torch said:
Southsea is a good compromise, like a village within a city. But, there's good and bad parts of Southsea too. I'd aim for PO5 area.
Avoid Southampton, fking sthole.
I would rather burn my nuts than live in Southsea. It is a dilapidated sAvoid Southampton, f
king sthole. thole. Personally, I'd always aim for a SO postcode over a PO (IOW excepted).I also agree that So'ton is a bit of a s
thole as well (however it truly is infinitely better than Portsmouth)magic torch said:
Southsea is a good compromise, like a village within a city. But, there's good and bad parts of Southsea too. I'd aim for PO5 area.
Avoid Southampton, fking sthole.
From what I know of Southsea having lived on Clarendon Road for a while, the nice bits are very, very expensive, and the crap bits are very, very crap.Avoid Southampton, f
king sthole. 
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