Ethelred_the_Unready

I love Kent.

I haven't been for maybe 15 years, but I had grandparents who lived in Deal. I loved the countryside, the close proximity to both London and continental Europe. Some of the towns are a tad dumpy, but Canterbury is nice, so are many of the towns along the coast.

MagsB

Jacey I'm a SAfrican who have lived in Canterbury for 5 years until 2007. We loved it and still get very homesick at times. I adore Canterbury, in my mind it is one of the nicest towns to live in the UK (we've travelled a lot!) Both of us would move back in a heartbeat. If you need to travel to London though it might be good to look into Ashford. There is a big SAfrican community in Ashford.

jasey

Hi Mags! I'm looking at Canterbury and Maidstone primarily, but thanks for the reply. What made you guys decide to leave the UK and come back to SA?

Tomsk

Another here who loves Kent. We lived in Dartford for around 15 years before we emigrated to NZ, & I'd suggest not to dismiss it too quickly. I'm not sure I'd recommend central Dartford, but there are some lovely villages nearby, good transport links to London & house prices are a little more affordable. Excellent schooling at the Dartford & Wilmington Grammar schools, or at nearby BETHS or Townley Grammar schools. St Olaves (mentioned earlier in the thread is an outstanding school, but super-selective). We have family in Orpington, Petts Wood, & Farnborough Village, so know those parts of Kent well too. Love, love, love Eynsford, Shoreham & Lullingstone.
Good luck with your Kent researches, nothing really beats getting out there & getting a feel for the place, but I kind of think that whatever you want, rural, pretty, cosmopolitan, schools, shopping (Bluewater!!), transport links, access to Europe, access to London, beaches, history........ you name it, Kent can offer it � ����

jasey

Thanks for the extra villages/towns - my list of towns to drive through in June is growing! Not to mention paying Bluewater a visit

Nicola1

What a great thread, more research for me

Pistolpete2

I could have sworn you said that Kent was off-limits for personal reasons (May 17th) so those of us providing information deliberately left Kent out of the equation.

Nicola1

I know, but I love how everyone has been so helpful to Jason in his search

My map search has moved slightly over to Hertfordshire, but it's taking up so much of my time. I suspect I may be a bit obsessive about this

jasey

Everyone has been amazing! And Pete is an absolute legend

MagsB

Oh my goodness, I haven't been on here for ages! We moved back mainly for family reasons. Elderly parents, our daughter is an only child and we wanted her to at least get to know her nieces and nephews. It was mainly my husband who pushed for our move back, and I think if I had my way we would have stayed. But anyway, we are hoping to return to the UK eventually. We were both hoping to return this year in fact, but the economic situation in Europe kept us back. We bought a house in George, it is a fantastic place to live and to bring up a child, so we will probably be here for at least the next 4 or 5 years, but also depending what will happen in SA over the next few years... Lucky to have British passports. Good luck with your trip next month, I hope you get to see all the places you want to see, and that your choice will be easy.

Lothianlad

While I was pootling around a Waitrose store today 24/05/12 I put a punnet of gorgeous looking fresh strawberries into my basket - as usual I checked out the origin of the strawbs as I ever only buy British grown - nothing else will do - all others, from abroad are, in my opinion, far less luscious, far less tasty than our own home grown fruit.

Spanish strawbs appear in February but not only do they look a lot different (a darker red and distinctive shape) from the British grown fruit but they also taste a lot different, not anything like as nice as home grown British.

The label today said "Fresh British strawberries - grown in Kent". The new season. They were absolutely bloody marvellous - the very best. The ones I bought last week were grown in Herefordshire and were just as lush and tasty.

britwhore

Kent is bloody lovely. especially this time of year. depending on husband's job we'll either live in west London or around Bromley/Chislehurst. I have MANY fond memories of going strawberry picking in Kent as a child and yes, they are THE BEST!!!!!

Good luck with the search.

Editha

I spent yesterday in Canterbury. Walked up to the North Downs and then looked round the town. Lovely area. Smashing day.

jasey

Thanks for the info Mags. Glad to know that you do still WANT to go back to the UK. Very encouraging! And yes, hang on to those British passports - pure gold

I had the same happen here with some minneolas, but Pete said those would be from Kent in the USA Would love to taste some Kent strawberries - will keep an eye out!

Hahaha. More gold stars for Kent, woohoo!

Can't wait to do the same next month

Pomster

Most of this stuff is grown at Thanet Earth...great play on names and they provide lots of the cherry toms for Tesco.

I spend far too long in Fannit. but I agree- the villages around the edge are lovely, such as Birchington, Minster, Monkton, Sandwich...