feelbritish

We have decided after spending our first summer here in South Bucks market town that it is too noisy and busy and are considering selling up next year and buying a nice bungalow somewhere in Dorset. We holidayed near Bridport and liked it. We dont want the large cities like Bournemouth or Poole and are quite happy to be inland a bit about 10miles from coast. We like the idea of a village location that we can get involved with which has a few amenities like pubs, village hall, perhaps leisure centre, doctors and local shops. A market town about 20 min drive away or bus ride is good where we have the banks and supermarkets. One we would like is a Waitrose because they seem to build in affluent nice areas. We have one in our town and I can walk there and grab a coffee. We do not want lots of kids or rows of terrace houses prefering a town with majority of detached or semi detached houses. A lot less social housing too! I dont mean to sound nasty by that but near our house where we were, where a very nice complex of 23 flats, town houses etc were built where the townhouses sell for over £500 000 flats for over £200 000 but with a couple of affordable properties thrown in and there are two with single moms and children and dogs and they have made our nice quiet place a nightmare with screaming and barking all through the holidays which is why after being here we realise we need to be with more retirees than families with young children. A place where we can feel peaceful hopefully for the next 20 years and grow old in. Hubby does not want the coast due to erosion and expense but has thought of Christchurch. He fly fishes and does beach fishing and will carry on with his vege growing either allotment or if garden big enough at home. I am an artist and want to get involved and love walking. Want to join some groups like WI and art groups but where unlike here there is not a waiting list! A good doctors surgery too because here we have one that is impossible to get appointment for and serves all 17 000 inhabitents. Also no new large estates being built like they are planning here. If we are far enough away so it is not easy to commute to London all the better but we do need good transport links to go to airport to travel every yearto Cape Town. Sounds a tall order! Also will consider just over borders of Dorset like the fabled Thomas Hardy's Wessex! Any ideas? We are going to be spending next year looking around. Will also consider Devon and Somerset but Dorset seems to tick most boxes with low population per capita and no motorways but with some good roads and an amazing coastline. Help!!!

Perth

OH wow Gail, I just finished reading SoS's update from Back Home. Everyone feeling unsettled. You do have me worried a bit about your issues, especially since I have no interest in being around young families. If you find the perfect place, let me know. We may come join you there

rebs

I live in a village in East Dorset - just on the border with Hampshire about 20 mins from both Poole & Bournemouth.

My sister & her husband currently live in Lancashire and they are planning to retire to Dorset in the next year or so and have been looking at areas over the last couple of years or so. They also don't want Poole/Bournemouth as being too busy.

I would say Christchurch is every bit as busy as Poole or Bournemouth - traffic there can be absolutely horrendous.

The further west you go, the quieter it will be.

My sister likes Bridport, Lyme Regis/Uplyme, outskirts of Dorchester and one or two of the outskirts of Weymouth. I think they also liked Swanage, but not sure if that's still on the list.

Having said that, I don't think they have any opinions on social housing/mix of community or any of that stuff so I don't know if that has figured into their choice of areas to hone in on.

Not too sure where the Waitroses are - we have two fairly nearby both in really nice market towns - one in Wimborne and one in Ringwood.

mikelincs

I was thinking, Ringwood, Dorchester, Wimborne would seem to fit the bill with what you are looking for, perhaps even Ferndown, none are that far from the bigger towns etc, they all have good transport services.

rebs

Agreed - although Ferndown is probably not so great - it's not terribly pretty compared to the other places. But, it has just had a brand new M&S food store open in the last few weeks

Did I read you were in Honiton, now Mikelincs? I've always thought that looks like a nice town - we drive through there on the way to my in-laws in Devon and often stop for a coffee or bite to eat there. Is it a nice place to live?

mikelincs

Yes, living in Honiton now, and it's a very nice place, only 20 mins by train to Exeter if we need the big shops, but we do have Iceland and the Co-op in the town, and on the outskirts there are Tesco, Lidl and Aldi, being pensioners we can get door to door transport cheaply through a local organisation, and also door to door trips to the Doctors and Hospital at times to suit any appointment. The Health centre is on the same grounds as the hospital and there is a pharmacy there as well, we haven't tried yet, but it's certainly withing walking distance to both, as is the rail station. and having to wear hearing aids I have got a disabled rail pass, so getting 20% off fares, and my wife has got passes to take her mobility scooter on the train (pass is free)

Mallory

I spent a week in Dorchester not long ago. I loved it. There is a Waitrose and M&S. Coffee shops, cafes. pubs, very nice. Two different train lines. I came down on the train from Bristol. Also there is a train that goes to Weymouth and Bournemouth, and I think you can get up to Gatwick (from memory).

It's close to Weymouth, Bridport, Lyme Regis, Swanage, Bournemouth, etc. The traffic in the resorts though is horrendous in the summer. Lots of retirees around there, also because of Poundbury (sp). Many buses to different places too. The only snag is - housing seems very expensive!

Editha

Our original plan was to move to Beaminster, just a few miles north of Bridport. Apart from liking the area, I have ancestral connections with the town. But we were put off by the house prices. We settled on Devon eventually, because we got a lot more house for our money.

rebs

Yes, it's very true that money goes further over in Devon. I think, in some ways my sister would prefer Devon - I know she has said in the past that as well as the price difference, she generally finds the available housing stock to be more to her taste (not exactly sure why).

But for her, the main driver is to be nearer to family - myself and another sister who is in Poole and being into Devon is just that bit too far away. So she is stuck with Dorset

feelbritish

When we are sitting way across the world dreaming of our "little britain" weseem to imagine it like it was or from the tv documentaries like Coast and Countryfile and Escaping to country! But Britain has moved on and what we knew has changed. It is busier, lots more builds plus new social ideas. Lots of young couples who were in London for work, can't afford to buy homes there so move out to commuter belts and the "old" home counties. Therefore if you are retired and have no ties to family for peace and quiet you have to be away from these areas. We just go 5 min away and find a nice village but cannot afford those houses plus you have to drive into town. We constantly hear traffic humming away from the A404, are now the stacking area for Heathrow when wind is of certain direction, lots of sirens and noisy traffic. It took my friend here from Perth Australia, actually Busselton, to pointojt to us the noise because you do get used to it. Our English friends were over when the racket was going on the other week and they even commented on it. Said that in a few years those kids grow up but in our case we are always going to have young families around because of the area we live in. Perth you will be renting so it can be temporary. As you know we owned this house since we left 15years ago so came back to it as itmade sense at the time and I am glad we did because we would have visualised this wonderful life instead of reality. Lucky our area is expensive and has the perception of posh so we should get good money for our house to enable us to buy a detached bungalow which is what we want. Having lived in a terrace we cannot do this again. I think that us expats who have lived in North America will struggle in the crowded small terraces when we have always had large homes so habing that dedatchment even if it is a small house is for us a must! You also cannot get into a complaint or dispute with neighbours because on the sale they ask if you have and so no one says anything, but puts their heads down and try ignore the situations. Also Brits seem to be more accepting maybe because no use complaining as they cannot do anything about it. Watch this space we will be on the move! On Zoopla there is a website that takes you to the area you looking at for democraphics, crime etc and it is good to use.

feelbritish

Thanks for the inputs because yes, although narrowed down to Dorset we like the areas around Dorchester, we are not adverse to just hopping the borders. We looked at Sherborne because someone mentioned on another forum how nice it is and are going to investigate. OH took one look at photos of it, I did the demographics and crime and it seems to fit the bill but unfortunately not much comes up for sale and we do not have enough money to buy outright without selling this house first! I think we will book a few days in and around Dorchester in October and look around. If a place in nice in Autumn and winter it must be better in summer. Yes we do have to watch out for summer holidaymakers that is why OH does not want the coast. I have looked in Honiton and it looks nice too. Beaminster also looks nice but crime is quite high and has lots of terrace houses. I am nervous of the town right next door called New Town, sounds like one of those 60's new estate builds. They do have 3 doctors surgeries which ticks one of the boxes! Our family were visiting yesterday with the granchildren and we told them that we are going to be away from here and they were very open to the idea but told us to get a spare room for them so that is at least positive. We asked if they would leave the grandchildren for a few days and they were quite happy so we are feelling far more positive now! Thanks for input.

feelbritish

Well well, OH has just booked a 1 night stay near Yeoville for Wed so we can do a 2 day recce! Asked me if leaving at 5am ok! Yeah! bring it on!

Pistolpete2

I'll PM you, if I may??

Pistolpete2

In spite of the fact that we didn't come to Weymouth with longer term residence in mind I personally cannot think of a more suitable place to reside in our retirement years.

Now of course that is very subjective and there are priorities for us, such as easy access to decent supermarkets on foot, a good range of good value restaurants with seafood on the menu, easy access to open country, (some) West Country atmosphere, no real need for a car, a couple of good beer pubs.......

A particular bonus is the milder climate than spots just ten miles inland from here.

South West Trains have had enough promotions that it has been possible to get up to London as needed for as low as sixteen pounds return and the three of us can get to Gatwick return for less than sixty pounds.

The only thing that hasn't worked here is the social scene.

We are not going to BUY here as there is ample supply of furnished rental property to meet our needs and we can move to Kent to occupy an apartment we have there if we need something more stable and more convenient for quick trips etc. etc. down the road.

There is a clear desirable area in Weymouth south of the town bridge in Rodwell and Wyke and property for sale typically turns over fast here and languishes elsewhere - subject to certain 'black' spots.

Indeed Dorchester is the county town and there is far more evidence of prosperity there in that there are TWO Waitrose and more (as perceived) well-to-do residents in the new-builds of Brewery Square and Poundbury. The town certainly owes a lot to the legacy of Thomas Hardy though. I'm not sure where the residents who live in the many half million plus properties in Weymouth do their shopping.

Anyway, there are in my view, more desirable leafy residential areas here in Weymouth but they come at a price and the market 'knows' the areas where otherwise quality properties are 'blighted' by the closeness of 'social' housing, along with parking problems and typically uncaring neighbours who leave the place looking like to tip. A hundred yards this way or that can make a world of difference.

Perth

Are you still doing short term furnished leasing Pete? We are increasingly attracted to this idea. I know we talked about it a while ago, but I still can't wrap my head around how we deal with not having a permanent address for NHS etc. I suppose if you are lucky enough to have one 6 month lease after another (even if you need to move - but stay in the same locale) it's OK?