Moving

We've had our main holidays in Christchurch for more than 30 years. Know it and all the surrounding areas well. If possible we will move to C asap. The people are very good and while the mix of shops is not as good today and may well change more there is plenty of shopping outside ( and a Waitrose plus M&S food in town) and the medical services are good.

The traffic is increasing so rush hours are just about as bad as everywhere else but you can avoid all that.

^Not Ferndown!
It would be like living in giant care home^.
Lemongrove I'm not following you around, but you're popping up everywhere!
I'm going to tell our Michelle what you've said. Remember Michelle of Bournemouth "beige cardis" fame? Her family have lived in Ferndown for ages and love it. Devon was and still is nice for holidays although Sidmouth might be a bit on the nose just now.

Yes Christchurch is lovely

Lovely place just down the road from us

Not Ferndown!
It would be like living in giant care home.
Christchurch is ok if you have to be in Dorset, but why not move to a town in Devon, a bit cheaper and plenty going on.

We hope to move this year if we can decide where to go. Just over 60 so we have a few years yet before we have to think about final moves etc. We were thinking Ferndown or thereabouts in Dorset or maybe Suffolk. Hard decision to make..........

Thank you for all your inputs, there is so much to think about.

Rachand Yes, we're a friendly lot oop north! ( Well - most of us!) A couple who have always lived in London, but moved up here recently to be near their daughter were most complimentary about us. They settled in at once, and have just joined our choir.

I think it's very difficult to tell what a place will be like no matter how much research you do beforehand. It's the people who make the difference, isn't it?
I knew of a couple who moved to a market town which is supposedly in the top ten of places to live, they hated it as they found the people such snobs. Such a shame as they'd dreamed of moving there for quite a while before they upped sticks.
So yes, rent first if you can, it's better than jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Good luck.

Well 9 years ago we decided to move to Christchurch from living in London, as we thought it was such a lovely place, and its is very pretty. 3 days living there I realised we had made a mistake. I ended up hating the place! Why, obviously so different from London, so partly a culture shock, buses so infrequent and forget Sundays. And I know this will annoy/upset people but people weren’t very friendly, to be honest we found them ‘up themselves’ “were from the New Forest, I’m ever so important”. It took us nearly 18 months to sell up and get out of there and move up North, never regretted that move, and never ever want to go there again!

It is difficult 21c to find anywhere, unless you are extremely lucky, to find locations that remain ' what they used to be'. I would not necessarily rely on one ' locals' perception as opinions differ. Make yourself a list of what you are looking for and if you want to obtain character references! what could be better than a visit to the pub/pubs in that location.Be wary of acres of open space, if you are looking for 'open spaces' as these have a habit of turning into major roads or housing estates.

Lovely place to live. I feel it has more character than Bournemouth and more like a small town. If you can afford it, go for it.

We moved to Barton on Sea (east of Christchurch) when we reitired 2 years ago. Love being close to the sea lots of places to walk including Forest. Love it don’t hesitate. Great train service to London still for theatres and lots going on locally in Christchurch and further afield.

Suggest you rent for a minimum of 6 months to see if you like it. It will be very different from 35 years ago. Yes, I realise you know that!

Christchurch remains a nice place to live though I prefer where we live in Bournemouth.

I vaguely remember Christchurch receiving the accolade that the people who live there are the happiest in Britain!

I find it a little too quiet and prefer Westbourne ..... Cafe culture and all that!!! I'm still young at heart.

Property prices roughly the same. The closer you are to the beach - the more expensive the property.

The whole area is great ....

Lived there years ago, married at Mudeford. Only take the train from Winchester for a day out in summer. Many tourists then and I believe it is the town in UK with the most pensioners. Lovely surrounding area with New Forest, beaches of course. Theatres in Bournemouth, Poole. I would go and enjoy your retirement there, all the best.

Friend of many, many years standing lives there, and is very positive about it. But I do tease her every time her MP hits the national headlines for being a twerp.

The people of Christchurch were recently given a 'referendum' about whether they wanted to join with Bournemouth for council services etc. They voted NO. The council took no notice and merged anyway! I live nearby in the New Forest.

Christchuch is not as nice as it used to be, lots of established shops closing down in the high street but they do have some out of town shopping 'malls'. It does have a good, mainly volunteer run small cinema/theatre and a large library and a railway station. Possibly, the police station is still there too, I'm not sure.

My friend lives there so I visit often and I love it. Pretty, peaceful, nice shops and restaurants and good access to visit many other lovely surrounding areas.

We live in Bournemouth and my daughter lives in Christchurch. If I had a choice I would love to live in Christchurch but unfortunately due to property prices we cant afford it. I love it over that way, beaches, the town is thriving and there are some good doctors surgeries over there which I think is always good as you are getting older. I wouldnt hesitate to move there - its a lovely part of Dorset.