Good areas to live in East Sussex

Ms_Piggy_2

Newman School in Hove is excellent (or was 15 years ago - there's been a change of head since then!). Newman is the secondary school for the county. There's alsoa RC school in Haywards Heath, but the name escapes me ATM.

The RC school in Seaford is Annecy (sp!) which was always quite good, but I'm a little out of touch now.

HTH

MortgageMamma

thanks a lot, appreciate it

Squiggly_Diddly

In Eastbourne there is St Thomas a Becket which is primary (infant & junior). Never heard anything particularly negative about it. I know there is a secondary Catholic school in Bexhill cos I think loads of kids travel across on the train... Just looked it up - there is St Richards Catholic College but is actually a secondary school... Sounds as though it has performed very well in Ofsted etc. Looking at another school list on www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk - there are a couple of catholic primary schools in the Bexhill area too.

I would recommend the Pevensey area from what you say you would like. Sounds like it would suit you :-) There is Pevensey Bay which is the village by the sea (apparently the Chinese takeaway there is lovely).Actually I've just remembered there is a Catholic church there too. About a mile inland you have got Pevensey village (which is by the Castle), then adjoining that is Westham village. There are train stations for both, which are on the EB to Hastings line. And as before, heading out to Little Common/Cooden or slightly inland round Herstmonceux/Hooe is also lovely. You are also within a couple of miles of the Asda superstore, large cinema, Matalan, etc - local people will more likely refer to this as "The Crumbles" as that's what that area was called before it was developed. Officially it's now part of Sovereign Harbour - again which has some restaurants etc.

MortgageMamma

Thanks Squiggly, yeah Pevensey bay sounds nice, I'll make it the first leg of my explorations on 13th Oct. Kids think this is one big adventure and are thrilled, I am sure wherever we end up it will be a lot different from where we live now and I cant wait for all those quick trips to france Good feedback on the Chinese Takeaway, we have a chinese every sat night if we are staying in. Do you know of any good pubs where you can take kids, such as a Brewsters or Harvester or something kid friendly with a playground thingy with it?

Squiggly_Diddly

There is a Harvester at the Harbour (my little bruv is Lock-Keeper at the Harbour :-) ), but it doesn't have a playground area. In Pevensey Bay there are a couple of pubs right on the beach (mind gone blank as to what they are called... ) Think they are quite old-fashioned/traditional I think, but one has the bonus of being literally right on the beach, so you could sit there while the kids played.
In Pevensey/Westham villages there is the Royal Oak & Castle which has gardens - only a couple of swings/climbing frames, but is a nice pub. There is also the Smugglers Inn which I haven't been to, but has live music, and I'm sure their blackboard says they have bouncy castle etc. I shall have a look next time I pass!
The pub at Beachy Head has a kids playground area (although would probably take about 1/2 hour to get to from PevBay) as it's the completely opposite side of town!
There is the Mill Pub which is near me (so about 10 mins drive from PevBay), my little sis & her partner used to manage it but have moved to Bognor! It's a 2 for 1 pub & they have play area outside - it took quite a dive for a while after they moved but gather there is now a much better new manager who is pulling it back up again.
If you want to go further out then you have the Sussex Ox (near Wilmington, off A27), the Berwick Inn (just north of Polegate) which both are very family-friendly. And loads of other country pubs with nice gardens....
Just remembered, there is Coopers which is on the Stone Cross to Hailsham road, by Sharnfold fruit-picking farm - not sure which chain it is, has had a revamp recently & also kids playground I believe.

Debt_Free_Chick

Squiggly_Diddly wrote: »

And loads of other country pubs with nice gardens....

Yes - loads of country pubs. Just about every village has one If they don't specifically have a children's play area, they neverthelss welcome children and most have excellent gardens (although not much use to you in December/January!)

Squiggly_Diddly

Lol, but because they're MSE's they'll be wearing 10 layers of clothing & can take hot water bottles! :-)

EdInvestor

Could be wrong about this but I suspect you might be quite limited in choice of family homes to rent, even in the bigger towns (EB and Bexhill). However since you are "in the trade", so to speak.....:D

But would suggest that checking property availablility first might avoid wasting time inspecting areas which though desirable, have to be ruled out because there are no homes to let.

Hapless_2

St Thomas a becketts in Eastbourne id catholic primary, St Richards in Bexhill is catholic secondary.

I only know this because OH kids that live with ex went to St Thomas' and got kicked out because she lied on the application. told the head that OH was dead which was why she was unmarried. He got a shock the day OH turned up to take the kids on a school trip as he was a coach driver and his eldest said "it's my daddy" head said, "no your daddy is dead" L said, that's funny, who's driving the bus then?"

but I wander O/T, there are a fair few independant schools there as well.
Moira House, St Bedes, St Andrews etc. If that is an option.

Avoid Stones Cross like the plague, they are talking about building 900 new homes there.

http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/

tbh, it's not a place I would rush back to live.

Hapless_2

Oh yeah, stay away from Beachlands in Pevensey, it floods.