Any Kent/East Sussex damsels - help please!

[katkinn]

I wonder if any of you could help me please.

Anyone fancy their hand at being my "phil and kirsty"??!!!!

We shall be moving house next year (v much school and space related!!) from Central London and had pretty much decided that we were going to move to Sevenoaks (ideal for DH's job in the city)

But last night, DH bought up the idea of perhaps looking further afield and having a flat in London for him for during the week.

We already have a flat in London which we currently rent out, but we could keep that for us and then buy a cheaper house in the country. (as from what I've seen and from speaking to my sil last night, they are much cheaper when you're not near a station which we wouldn't really need to be)

BUT I've been looking last night and looking this morning and I have NO idea about areas South of Sevenoaks at all.

So my questions are, can anyone recommend some nice villages/areas to look at (schools are important to us - one of the reasons for moving is so that we DON'T pay for junior school - don't mind for senior school) and or some estate agents.

Thank you v much!!!

Ideally we're looking for no more than an hour and a half to London!

katkinn
xxxxx

[seashell]

hi, im from Kent but cant help you much, sorry as i am not sure of the best areas myself, esp school wise -i know sevenoaks is definatly good for rail to London.

we looked at Borough Green, DH really liked that - as not too far away from london but not sure of the train service from there.

sorry i cant be much help, ill ask DH when he comes home:smile:

[katkinn]

Thanks Seashell!! Sorry should have made myself clear - we're looking further afield than Sevenoaks as DH won't need to commute every day as he'll be staying in London during the week!

It would in fact be better if it's NOT really commutable to London by train (on an every day basis if you see what I mean!!) as then the houses will be loads cheaper!

Sevenoaks is really expensive as it's SOOOOOO convenient for London!!!

Will check out Borough Green though!!

Thanks again and I do appreciate any help.

katkinn
xxx

[seashell]

have a look at this website;http://www.villagesonline.com/counties/kent.aspx

i know West Malling is nice, Otford too... lots of them are but some may be too far out (ie friends of ours live in Faversham which is lovely, fully of character and only about 20 mins from the sea but might be too far to london

Whistable is a lovely seaside village too where id love a summer home:smile:

[Booh]

Oh I can highly recommend the small villages along the south downs around brighton.....well all along there anyway.

Good schools, as most are 'village schools' so only a few in a class.

Easy to get into brighton/hove etc, so you can have a good night life and life during the day that matter if you think you would miss the comforts of london too much!

Oh and fast train to london 50mins - so you can still have an easy day out to see friends!

[Petrus]

Bearstead in Maidstone is a really nice area, one of the best school in the area is there too, Maginford (sp) primary, and its right near the motorway (not so you can hear it tho iykwim)

[katkinn]

seashell, that's an excellent website, thanks v much - will have a proper look at that later!!

Booh - that is exactly the sort of thing that I'm after - can you do me a massive flavour and PM me some of the villlage names so I can search for them!!

Shellyandjoshua, I will check Bearstead out!!

I had a chat with DH at lunchtime and am now REALLY excited about this!! (have my heart set on a barn or an ousthouse!!! :ellie: )

katkinn
xxxx

[Booh]

Done!

[spritzer]

OK Kat, I will let you in to the best kept secret in Kent:ellie:

The very best non fee-paying school (cannot be beaten) is Cranbrook which serves the village of Cranbrook and the surrounding area. It is mega pretty around these parts and only about 30 mins from Tunbridge Wells but is not served by a trainline and so is less attractive to commuters. The train from Tunbridge Wells is 50 minutes but you can also get on further down the line at Frant or Wadhurst which are better for parking. The trains go to Charing Cross, Waterloo, London Bridge & Cannon Street so it would mean Mr Kinn could commute on Monday morning and Thurs/Fri and only be in town 3/4 nights.

Come down on the train and I'll do a reccy with you.

Good place to start re. Estate Agents are Freeman Foreman, Wood & Pilcher, and Humberts.

Hope this helps. Call me if you still have my number or PM me.

[katkinn]

Spritzer - can you pm me your number again hon and I'll call you tomorrow!! :ellie: :ellie: :ellie:

Thanks Booh!!

[spritzer]

Tis done:ellie:

[tigga]

I live in Cranbrook and have 3 children at Cranbrook Grammar. It's a brilliant school and we've actually stayed in the area so they can be educated there.
Cranbrook itself is a smashing little country town which we've never regretted moving to. The locals are friendly and it didn't take us long to get settled down. There aren't ANY parts of the town that I wouldn't recommend you moving to. The nearest commuter station is in staplehurst (about 7 miles away and where we moved from) and for supermarkets theres a co op in the town or tescos in Tenterden (10 minutes drive away).
If you want to know anything else about the town give me a yell.

[Minky]

oooooh! An Oasthouse!!! How cool!!!

I can confirm that Tenterden (if that's how you spell it) and Staplehurst are lovely. My friend lived near Headcorn but IMHO that is too far away :( from London (and moi!)

Happy hunting!

Minky

PS remember you will be close to the factory outlets at Ashford! :eek: :eek:

[WoollyNewty]

Ohhh Katkinn - you are seriously thinking of heading out of the big smoke then!? Wow - very very exciting!

[Chickpea]

Katkinn - not sure if you remember but I'm from Tunbridge Wells and have lived in Kent/East Sussex since about the age of 12.

I went to Cranbrook School and HATED it (I was bullied :( )

When I was there, if you wanted to be in the 'cool' crowd you had to be a boarder. As I only lived up the road I wasn't - so was classified as a 'pleb'. But that was a long time ago and I gather it's v.different now.

We're house hunting ourselves at the moment, but we want to buy a hovel with the intention of making it into a palace (yeah RIGHT!) Would love to talk 'houses' (one of my fav subjects) lets organise another Brom. meet!!!

cp
xx

[Chickpea]

I can confirm that Tenterden (if that's how you spell it) and Staplehurst are lovely. My friend lived near Headcorn but IMHO that is too far away :( from London (and moi!)



Tenterden is lovely, but not near a station, Staplehurst is good - I used to commute out of there when I lived in Sissinghurst. And Headcorn is not really any further away than Staplehurst (one more stop on the train - ie minutes).

I'd be inclined to recommend somewhere like Wadhurst or Frant, both on the Tunbridge Wells/Hastings line - just outside of TW. And there are some good schools around that way. One my friends has just bought what resembles a STATELY HOME just outside of Wadhurst - I'm SO envious!

[emgem]

Oohhh I'm glad I popped on here tonight to have a nose! I love the chance to do a "phil & kirsty". I must be mad but I actually miss house hunting!

I agree that Cranbrook is lovely - we wanted to live there but had to move closer to Maidstone. Headcorn and Staplehurst are both nice too and although you don't really need it there is a mainline station in both.

I love Brenchley, Matfield and Horsmonden too. Apparently Horsmonden has one of the best primary schools in the county. All three of those are no more than a 10 minute drive from Paddock Wood station.

Goudhurst is also nice but quite expensive. Tenterden is a small town and from what I remember there are good schools there. Tenterden has a bit more going on as it is a small town rather than a village and there are some nice shops there. There is also Sissinghurst, Biddenden and Benenden although your nearest station would be about 15 mins drive away.

I think if you go towards East Sussex you tend to get a bit more for your money and the villages are so nice. Wadhurst in particular is nice but its a bit more expensive as there is a station there.

There are also some villages around the Maidstone area which you might want to consider. West Malling is one which springs to mind and as someone already said Bearsted is very nice as well.

If you want to ask anything feel free but it might be best to pm as I don't get the chance to get on here very often anymore (work - boo hiss!)

Just a suggestion and I know Spritzer has already suggested it but why don't you come down here and have a look round. If its not being too cheeky maybe I could come too and we could all have lunch somewhere!

[Chickpea]

Just a suggestion and I know Spritzer has already suggested it but why don't you come down here and have a look round. If its not being too cheeky maybe I could come too and we could all have lunch somewhere!

c-can I come too?

Tunbridge Wells meet anyone?

[Lilybett]

Well, everyone has already suggested all the villages I had in mind :drama: but I'm always up for a meet - we can all sit down with a copy of Home Buyer over a coffee!

[seashell]

ill be up for a meet too LOL

[spritzer]

Well, that's a house-hunting meet in TW and surrounding areas confirmed!

Happy to hold at my house if weather is good as some of the older hooligans are not great at the whole shopping/ladies who lunch gig.

No problems with it being a Saturday if this helps Emgem and/or if Mr Kinn is away or working.

[Nettie]

Let me know any details and I'll see if I can make it too!

As you know Katkinn, could have helped on the Sevenoaks front but I think others will be more knowledgable than me when it comes to other areas - although I do have a few friends in Goudhurst and E. Sussex. Just to say though, someone mentioned Otford which, although pretty, I'd pretty much class as Sevenoaks. Is Sevenoaks definitely out of the question now then?

[Dazzling]

Whistable is a lovely seaside village too where id love a summer home:smile:

We bought a cottage in Whitstable last year for a summer home and have moved here and rented out our London home instead - I definitely recommend it and it's only an hour's drive from London. It's about an hour and a half to Victoria on the train and ten minutes' drive from Canterbury where all the big stores can be found.

It's a fantastic little fishing village and the prices are really good compared to London as it's still on the way up. PM me if you want more information or info on estate agents.

[lisa82]

i agree otford/ sevenoaks is nice, so is knockholt and cudham.

Tunbridge is nice, my bros just brought a flat there.

I used to live in biggin hill which wasnt to bad. Tatsfield is another nice place.

[katkinn]

Thank you so so so much everyone. I really appreciate it and will definitely be in touch.

A meet darn there would be marvellous!!!

Nettie - Sevenoaks isn't OUT of the question, we've just added another idea into the equation which we hadn't thought of before. Plus we were really really struggling to find houses that a) we liked and b) we could afford (but isn't that always the case??!)

This way we could possibly buy something far closer to our dream home.

But there's still loads to think about.

Otford is indeed lovely but as it's still really easy to commute into town, it's still quite expensive.

If we go further south towards Staplehurst and Cranbrook, from what I've seen and been told, we could get far more for our money. It's only half an hour further out which really doesn't make that much difference when DH will only be doing that trip there and back once a week (but it's still near enough if he DOES want to come back during the week)

Plus London then isn't TOO far away for me!!

(plus if we live in the country proper it give me an excuse to buy the mahoosive Chelsea tractor that I've always wanted :oops: :teehee: )

In the meantime, would people be up for another Bromley meet for a catch up and gossip????

katkinn
xxxx