Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Thanks Chrissie - that's a LOT of info on a LOT of towns. Very helpful to have your first-hand opinions on them :)

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Jasey, I have been looking at Canterbury and surrounding villages last night and today( thanks to BritWhore) many nice places and very safe.One hour on the train to London on the fast international line though( very expensive).
I am getting very confused myself,I wonder where we will end up:)

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Belles30 just to let you know about the season pass on the HS train. I'm guessing your husband would commute 5 days a week for a city job right? I think the season pass for the HS train is about £5,500 which works out to be about £100 a week. Might be a little cheaper doing it that way?!?! Maybe.....!!

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Hi Britwhore,yes checked it out as well,hubby would get a season ticket.Do you know if they have have concession for students?They have childrens fares but doesnt say anything about youth fares.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

I think they would have to buy a national rail card (I think it's £20-£25 a year) but that would give them 30% off I believe.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Oh brilliant!:)

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Ummm because its Essex...its where the beautiful people live...kent is next to France so has a faint whiff of garlic and BO.:thumbdown:

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Say that when your vantage point is Grays,Thurrock. With everything covered in 1/2" soot never has a place been so aptly named !! Now that is the *rse end of the universe !! You've been watching far too much TOWIE !! We always used to say the water went down the plughole the other way round in Essex !!

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

i never seen Towie i just grew up and lived in Essex that's all so i know exactly what is like. Anyway look on the other side of the estuary..nice big isle of grain power station..there:thumbdown:

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Each to their own ;-). The best bits of Essex ? Ongar,Epping forest,Rayleigh,Southend at a push. Unless you go to the whoop whoops. The rest is all modern dross like Sth Woodham Ferrers and Basildon/Pitsea ... Yeeeuuuchh.
No amount of money/beer/essex girls I'm afraid !!:D

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Soooo Jasey, are you back yet and what is your verdict on Kent? :)

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Ohh yes, I too would love to hear the verdict. :)

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Jasey, yooohooo! Are you there? :eek:

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Resurrecting an old thread but I wanted to see if Belles30 has had a chance to look at Westerham?!?!?! Looks like we might be renting in that village. Turns out the bus from Westerham goes to Bromley south (30 mins) and then the train goes from BS to Victoria (20 mins) and it's all under Zone 6!! So you can either use an oyster card or a travel card.

It's a lovely village with some great pubs and lots of history. My husband likes it as it's near his family (Tatsfield) easy to get to other family in Canterbury but also easy to get to the City for work. We've visited 3 times now.

Also he did mention something about "no staffies and tattoos on necks..."!!!!

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

be careful about downloading propertybee it installed all kinds of crap(spyware and nuisanceware on my computer, had to uninstall my browser and loss all my bookmarks to get rid of the toolbar it installed without asking

love this thread though:thumbup:

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

That's a nice tip ref the bus/train link from Westerham to Victoria, even though I think it more likely to typically run just over 1hr 10mins from Westerham Green to Victoria door-to-door, so to speak.

Was always a fan of the place when we lived in Sevenoaks, along with Brasted. Typically I follow part of that bus route (through Westerham and Biggin Hill) when I routinely drive from Gatwick to Bromley Common (see below junctions).

Only drawback I can think of is that it is rather hard to get onto the M25 there as you either have to almost go into Sevenoaks (Junction 5) or way past Godstone (Junction 6) the other way. Plus you cannot make a right to get onto the M26 towards Canterbury at Junction 5 so might as well go all the way up the M25 until it connects to the M2. Not really a big deal! Anyway, drawbacks can sometimes be positive news when they are not a major inconvenience to you personally but can potentially slash useful pounds off the rent or house price.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Not read the whole thread in detail but is there a reason Hertfordshire did not come up as a possible?

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

When the OP first OPd as I recall, he was looking at Kent and access to Charing Cross because that is where the work was or was likely to be. So Hertfordshire was not really of particular interest. OP was also from South Africa (not a Brit) and was looking at SA communities, one of which is apparently in Ashford, Kent.

OP wanted space, a detached property at a budget and plenty of room for his multiple animals to run around and thought he favoured Kent, though possibly also Essex.

So not much talk of Hertfordshire. Plenty of other threads cover that side of London favourably.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Folkestone is improving.. and there's lots of investment going on and a fast train into Kings Cross St Pancras... one to consider, I'd say.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Unfortunately you are in a difficult position, everybody has there opinions on good or bad areas based on their experiences.

Having been in this position myself many years ago, all you can do is make your arrangements as flexible as possible to suits you basic needs, ie close to work to reduce travel costs, cheapish renting, and good travel facilities.

This then gives you the time to "explore" and come to your own decisions. I appreciate schooling may be an issue and it's one thing you may need to deal with sooner rather than later, and if so, may be you time your move to coincide iht school holidays.

Unfortunately it is a time exercise .

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Not sure who/what you are referring to.

OP is long gone!

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Not gone Pete! Still here ... just been incredibly busy at work, but still here :)

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Chelmsford is a nice town!

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

We've all been waiting with baited breath for you to report back.



Seriously? I know they often like to play with boundaries of some counties but the last time I looked, Chelmsford was firmly planted in the middle of Essex.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Sorry Bo, there's a long story about why I haven't reported back, but the short version is that I ended up making a big change on the work front and have only settled in the last couple of months.

Last we spoke, we were just about to leave for our trip to the UK. We loved the time we spent there, and went to so many different places outside of London, from Kingston to St Albans to Canterbury, from Sevenoaks to Tunbridge Wells to Hammersmith (where we were based). We came back with a far more solid idea of how diverse England really is, and the kinds of things we enjoyed (and didn't) in each area. Of all the areas we visited, Canterbury felt like a potential home the most. This of course was based entirely on the 'feeling' of the place, and without any considerations about travel and costs and things.

There are many logistical things to consider, as well as the fact that the UK changed the rules on 9 July this year to make it almost impossible to apply for a visa for a dependent parent. They went from an age requirement to now requiring that the parent not be able to wash themselves and not be able to find ANY treatment for their condition in their home country. This has changed the game completely really, and I'm having to do a lot more thinking about the move purely because of this new limitation. I'm hoping though that in a couple of years that things change again and perhaps there'll be a better route then. Or we may have to try looking at another EU country first for a few years before making the move to the UK. Lots of thinking to do :)

Otherwise, how are you doing? Hope you have a great festive season!

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

The towns of Kent, the so called Garden of England - true enough but now scarred by motorways.......of such Kentish towns which I would suggest you steer clear of I would certainly include the so called Medway Towns.....Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester, and for good measure I would also chuck into the chavmix Dartford and Gravesend as well.

It's not by accident that the odiously notorious Jeremy Kyle has hauled onto his nasty TV show a number of his lowlife "guests" from those areas who had absolutely no hesitation in revealing to all the timewasting viewers all the sordid details of their sub sewer level existence of over fecund drink and drug addicted sexual exploits while leeching off the backs of the UK Social Welfare programs.

Re: Kent: so confused; no one seems to like any of the towns?
 

Says the bloke from heroin_bludger central. So much so Irvine Welsh wrote several novels on the subject .....