Hi All, a belated Happy new year...well im off back to the Uk on Feb 5th, a delayed departure after a house purchase fell though in Surrey...Im lucky to have found a job in Poole in Dorset..can anyone who has experience with this town , kindly share their knowledge... is it a nice place to live, stay for while..looks nice on Google..Thx!!

I live in the area - moved from Canford Heath over to the other side of Bournemouth near to Ringwood.

I think it's a great area - plenty of places to choose from from older style houses or flats in places like Parkstone through to newer housing estates like Canford Heath. Expensive areas like Lillitput, Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs and one or two grotty areas like Turlin Moor.

Plenty of amenities - the quay, the beach, parks, Lighthouse for theatre and cultural stuff, shops, bars etc. Reasonable school selections if that is a concern.

Good links to London - just over 2 hours or so on the train, go the other direction and there are the Purbecks to explore.

Any more specific info you are looking for?

Thx.Ive found a place in kingston road, heckford way?? its quite central i think, seems like it could be good, poole pirates speedway, bike nights on the Quay...and quite a large population 120,000 ish so as big as a place like Norwich..Im looking forward to the move, the beaches will be fun too...Ive been on teh road for a number of years working overseas, so it will be good to settle down for a while, if i can!!

Yeah, I know where that is - as you say, good and central. Forgot about the speedway - very popular dog racing at the stadium too

Its going to be weird, i grew up in the UK..fond memories...then Mum took me to OZ at 18...stayed for a while, it was OK, people rave about Australia, but i coundnt wait to get out when i had the chance...now i have some freedom, i know folks talk about broken Britannia, but Australia is not all that...and ive lived a life there, not just vists, seem a lot of , excuse my french, S%^&....but whenever, with in between work trip s, i was caught in London, i enjoyed it, friendy people, funny people, and resilient people...so ive got this chance to go to Poole, looking forward to it,

Poole used to have a bit of a reputation as a huge retirement home by the sea....

From Wikipedia:

Compared to the rest of England and Wales, Poole has an above average number of residents aged 65+ (20.3%), but this is less than the Dorset average of 22.2%.

Have been to Poole several times, good shopping, with a shopping mall by the bus station with plenty of shops, also a nice pedestrian way dowm past other shops towards the harbour. Nice mixture of shops near the harbour as well. Ther is a big out of town centre with large supermarkets etc. Big bus station with regular buses to Bournemouth etc. We live about 30 mins away, by bus, not that far from Rebs from her post. There are also museums and, of course, Poole Pottery.