UKC

My fam and I are thinking of moving out west.

Mendips/area around Wells is on the radar, also now thinking of the area around Exeter, although not in the city itself, but city within 30mins would be handy and Exeter does have the only decent climbing wall in Devon (although I may be wrong).

Access to a good seconary school is a priority, but we are also looking for somewhere semi-rural and have dreams of land/smallholding/good life. Maybe somewhere near Dartmoor (although I'm put off by the inland rain!). Are the coastal bits a bit pricy/full of oldies and tourists? Torbay doesn't appeal. Is Totnes nice?

Any views from local residents? Good places to look? School catchment really is high on agenda.

Thanks

In reply to Owen W-G:

The Quay is a fine wall, but The Barn is also just in Devon (not really relevant to you). South Hams (the area south of Dartmoor) is rather full of middle class retirees and property is fairly expensive. Totness is a strange place, full of old hippies yet always votes tory! I have friends who live there and it's fine to visit, but I wouldn't want to move there. 

Personally, I like the area between Okehampton and Exeter to the east of Dartmoor.

In reply to Owen W-G:

Lots of areas to look at within 20-25 minutes from Exeter but obviously more expensive. Further East Colyton Grammar School has an excellent reputation. We moved to Exmouth twenty plus years ago and love it. Lots of small villages around the area too. When we moved we spent several weekends based in youth hostels to get to know the area better. Good luck with your search...

In reply to Owen W-G:

I grew up in the South Hams and various school friends have migrated back that way as they've had kids.  I loved my teenage years there, mainly mountain biking, beach parties and once we were old enough to drive, surfing.  As an adult, there's few jobs in the area which pay well enough to cover the eye-watering house costs and a relatively small number of middle aged people.  The 6 weeks of the summer holidays can be a little painful, too many people on small roads (for the same reason I don't think it's a great area for road cycling)  Local climbing is a bit esoteric, but you have loads of options a little further afield, Dartmoor granite and Torbay limestone.

Totnes is a nice town, still associated with an alternative lifestyle but now considerably more wealthy than when the first wave arrived.

Best mate lives in Ugborough, near Ivybridge, just south of the A38 and likes it for family life.  This area is less second-homey and therefore cheaper and more real-life.  Being near a main road makes travelling around easier, I'd have a look at Ashburton/Bovey Tracey etc.  Don't know them well but friends have lived in them and thought they were alright.  In terms of activity, easier access to the moor than South Hams, but harder to get to the beach.

If South Hams is appealing and you have specific questions, feel free to drop me an email.

In reply to Owen W-G:

Its a lovely place to live and bring up a family.  We've never been tempted to move elsewhere. 

The prices vary of cours, but some sweeping generalisation....

East Devon is nice but pricey,  especially outside of Exmouth.  Commuting in from the latter is a bit of a challenge despite the train. 

Torquay,  cheaper but very variable (polite!), nicer bits like Ipplepen,  Marldon,  Kingskerswell are all easy to get at now.

Totnes, hmmm, different,  yes very different and can also be pricey now. Not a great fan of that bit...

Dartmoor,  hard to find much there. Bits around the edges are nice, Bovey, Liverton, Ashburton are pretty good and have a good community feel to them. 

Mid Devon can be the best direction for good value, Tiverton, Crediton,  Tedburn and many others.

I can think of decent schools in all these areas and even some of the City ones are surprisingly OK (there's my Country Boy unconsciously bias, right there).

In reply to Owen W-G:

I live on the western side of Dartmoor, the opposite side to Exeter, and you're right about the rain (about 1200 - 1500mm a year where I am). Exeter side and Torbay area are much better in this respect as in the rain shadow of Dartmoor. Still fairly wet compared to some places though.

For outdoor lifestyle its great though, lots of varied (and esoteric) climbing in Devon, on Dartmoor, Culm coast, day trips to Cornish granite etc. Also, lots of fantastic coast and beaches in day trip distance.

Having lived in the area for long time, would echo other views on this thread. Not many well paying jobs and in some area (particularly South Hams) property is very expensive due to retirees and 2nd home owners. 

A38 corridor tends to be a bit cheaper and easier to commute places. Also, some very nice spots around edge of Torbay that are very nice, and more affordable. 

Ivybridge College apparently very good, if you wanted to come that far west. Dont know about schools further towards Exeter, sorry.    

Totnes - running joke is that its "twinned with Narnia", which is even written on the road sign.

In reply to Owen W-G:

We live not far from Newton Abbot, and absolutely love it. I'm from Sheffield originally, and would struggle to move away now. 20 mins from dartmoor, 20 mins from torbay crags, lovely countryside on the doorstep. 

Depends what you want to be close to, but living the wrong side of Exeter if you want to be on the Moor or coast can involve a lot of sitting in traffic. 

The best wall in Devon imo is the hangar in Plymouth. If you want to be near a wall, make sure you live near the a38

Thanks everybody, some great thoughts to think about.

I'm still a bit puzzled by schools situation. Seems to be a lot of private schools in the area, but i can't seem to find a state secondary we should be thinking about getting close to.

In reply to Owen W-G:

We live just on the Eastern edge of Exeter, which has great access onto the M5 and hence pretty quick to Dartmoor or Torbay. If looking any further north or east than this then I'd make sure you are close to either the A30 or the M5 as otherwise you're likely to add quite a bit of time for getting to these places. Places out in the direction of the A377 are likely slow to access any of the main south Devon areas, but if you're keen on surfing they might be good for better access to the north Devon beaches etc.

I don't know too much about secondary schools (our kids are too small). There are still some grammar schools (Colyton has already been mentioned in East Devon, there's also Torquay grammar and probably some others). I have no idea how entry to these works if you haven't done the 11+. I don't think any of the state schools in Exeter itself have sixth forms - they all go to Exeter College. It may be the same for many of the schools in the immediate area too.

In reply to Owen W-G:

Back in the day....my day...a really good one was Clyst Vale Community College just to the E of the city. The new town of Cranbrook has appeared since then, but I think it still has a good reputation. Slightly further out, in the same NE direction is Uffculme Community College....the arch rivals! They are pretty good i think.

South and West you have Teign School at Kingsteignton which has a very good reputation and also South Dartmoor College at Ashburton  (may have rebranded?) which again is well thought of and hugely active in outdoor ed type stuff.

My kids all went to Dawlish Community College, which competes for status and results with Teignmouth all the time....not sure who is winning at the moment! Our kids all did fine there. 

To be fair, the schools out of the city all seem pretty good.

There are quite a few Private Schools here...Torbay Boys and Girls Grammars for example.  Many strive to get in them. 

I personally am not a fan of 6th Forms. IMHO they extend "school" when what the youngsters need is a step change in the direction of adulthood.  So whether a school has one of those or not wouldn't be important to me.  Hope that helps. 

In reply to Owen W-G: Without wanting to hijack this thread my daughter starts at Plymouth uni in sept and my wife and I are considering moving to Plymouth probably in time for her second year. I’m guessing most of what’s been said about Exeter is going to be very similar to Plymouth. We will be going as semi retired middle aged folk looking at some part time work when we get there, suspect there maybe a bit in the hospitality sector in cafes etc as the gov does it’s best to scare away any Europeans 

In reply to Owen W-G:

Re school catchments. PM me 

In reply to Wainers44:

I work in education so I'm not going to pass judgement on the local schools but my daughter (and son who is still there in Y11) went to Coombeshead College in Newton Abbot and then on to Exeter College for A levels (we live in Ipplepen which is about 15miles away from Exeter and, whilst we had to do a lot of ferrying to the train station in Newton Abbot, the train itself worked well...most of the time). Wainers44 is right that there are quite a few public/independent schools in the area but the local grammar schools (3 in Torbay, 3 in Plymouth, Colyton) are state funded, not private. Students have to do the 11+ to get in. I used to teach in Exmouth CC and Ivybridge CC, both of which are huge secondary schools (approx 2500 students) for which there are pros and cons. The Exeter schools have all been rebuilt in the last 15 years, with the exception of St Peters (I think), but they do have the best Ultimate Frisbee team in the country! None of the state funded Exeter schools have sixth forms, students tend to go to Exeter College, or Bicton agricultural college, some make it over to Exmouth. Exeter also has a dedicated maths school for sixth form maths/physics students.

Exeter has had a real growth spurt since the Met Office moved to Devon and its infrastructure hasn't kept up. It's a nightmare to get into and out of. Plymouth is much cheaper to buy a house in than Exeter...it has its advocates but I am not one of them. I like Torbay a lot as a climber, but it isn't without its issues...but again, cheaper housing can be found here (same is true for Newton Abbot).

As Ged has said, The Hangar in Plymouth is a good bouldering wall, The Barn over near Tavistock is an esoteric gem and The Quay is currently Exeter's main wall although I believe there are plans for a Hangar to be built in Exeter as well in the not too distant future.

I ended up in Ipplepen by chance really, it was never somewhere we were actively looking to live but as chance would have it, it is perfect for climbing...I can walk to Torbryan in 10 minutes from my house, drive to Torquay in 15 minutes and am 15/20 minutes away from Bovey Tracey. I'm still discovering new places despite having lived here for over 25 years; mountain biking, paddle boarding, coasteering, surfing, walking the coast path...and of course some of the best climbing in the country!

But don't tell anyone, it's busy enough as it is!!

In reply to tomrainbow:

You fool Tom. You've given the game away now about the Denbury - Ipplepen - broadhempston triangle as being the next best climbing venue to lleida.

Schools wise, as others have said, theres plenty of decent big comps around. I work in one of them, and between Newton Abbot and Ivybridge, I'd happily send my daughter to any of them. 

In reply to Owen W-G:

On the climbing wall front, I recently saw a few articles saying The Climbing Hangar is looking to make a centre in Exeter, having also built in Plymouth.. if that helps.

In reply to Owen W-G:

Plymouth.  Geddon, as we say in these parts.

In reply to Owen W-G:

We live ~20mins east of Exeter in a small village near Honiton

Pros:

nice countryside, quiet, good road cycling, Lyme is nice (out of season), good access to Dartmoor & Dorset (~1h15 to Portland, 45mins to Haytor, 50mins Ansteys), good access to A30/A303/M5 (1h20 to Bristol via Taunton)

good regular train connection from Honiton into Exeter

very close to the illustrious Colyton grammar, also the Kings in Ottery

Cons:

No local climbing... 20min west down A30 to get to M5 by Exeter before heading onto the moor or lime crags. I seem to spend a lot of time driving up and down this bit of A30 to either go climbing, bouldering or mountain biking!

poor access for surfing, a right schlep to get anywhere decent

The Quay wall is 30-35mins drive as you have to go round Exeter, but if the Hangar do open a wall at Sowton this would be a game changer for me, fingers crossed!

In reply to Owen W-G:

I grew up in Ivybridge and had a fantastic time growing up with Dartmoor on the door and all the coastline. I started climbing outdoors and loved the variety. Ivybridge College was an ideal education setting for me with lots of outdoorsy opportunities. 
Ivybridge is expanding rapidly so there is affordable housing but it feels very different now. 
There’s a good spread of climbing walls now so plenty of choice and a great climbing community around. 
The South Hams does get pretty frustrating in the holidays and there really aren’t the job or housing opportunities you’d wish for. 
I’m very grateful for the place I grew up and feel it shaped what I’ve gone onto do with life.