Moving to Weymouth from Leicester??

miners5000

Hi everyone, I am looking for a bit of advice if possible please! I recently divorced and had lived in Leicester for 20 + years! I always liked Leicester because it was quite liberal where I lived, most people were open minded and it was multicultural which I liked. Some people who visit Leicester can speak negatively of it but I know living there it has lots of good people and never had any issues. I was fortunate to live in a good area which I suppose helps too. Anyway without boring you with my life story I moved away after a nasty divorce and have struggled in the various places I have lived as they have felt so culturally different especially in small villages as you would expect as it is quite a different environment. Anyway my son who lives with me full time has is heart set on moving to Weymouth in Dorset as he likes it and also has friends that way. I have visited in both the summer and winter and I do quite like it but I am concerned if it has much of the culture that I like ( Art, Music, diversity etc ). It does not strike me that it does and Bournemouth feels closer to the culture of Leicester but then I understand it has its problems nowadays like many cities unfortunately. Has anyone here moved to Weymouth from Leicester or come from the similar type of city and if so how have you found it? I know it has lovely beaches and scenery and all of that but what about the culture of the people who live there. I notice it is 98% white British in terms of demographics which concerned me a little. Please can anyone expand on this, I do like Brighton btw and know Weymouth is certainly not that diverse but what is it like generally? I know there will be all sorts living in Weymouth but don't want to move anywhere that is closed off. thanks for listening, Ben

gwynlas

Weymouth in summer would be fine but I think of it as a bit cut off in winter once tourists leave.and there is some deprivation
West Dorset is attractive and Dorchester is the county town with museum.
Bournemouth is much more diverse with the universities etc and there are cultural activities yesr round. There are some problem areas but nothing major.
East Dorset borders on the New Forest so offers other activities
New Miltin in Hampshire is just over the border and cheaper gives access to the coast and is not that far from Southampton by road or rail.

maman

I'd be considering work opportunities for you and your son before making a move. 

Southampton is a very multicultural city more comparable with Leicester than a smallish town like Weymouth. 

miners5000

thanks for this, much appreciated! I guess one of my main questions is if weymouth is open minded, as I would not want to move anywhere that is racist in any way as I have lived in places like that before and I cannot connect with those types of people. 

Albermarle

miners5000 said:

thanks for this, much appreciated! I guess one of my main questions is if weymouth is open minded, as I would not want to move anywhere that is racist in any way as I have lived in places like that before and I cannot connect with those types of people. 

It does not directly answer your question, but maybe worth noting that in the Brexit referendum, Leicester voted Remain by 51% and Weymouth voted to Leave by 61%.

As an aside, a few years ago I stayed in a rental cottage just on the outskirts of Weymouth. It was on a main road with the sea a few hundred metres behind us. One evening I went out for a walk to the local pub.
When I got back to the cottage, my comment was that the area was not very seasidy/holidayish at all, and reminded me of Leicester ! ( somewhere I lived once) 

miners5000

sorry I don't fully understand your point, Leicester might not look pretty but it has lots of good people who live there. I went to a place called Preston in Weymouth that people said is the best area, its a small village with a small time mentality for me that's the worst types of places to live, a small insular bubble, certainly not a good place to raise a family in my opinion. I guess for me a good place to live is not what the fabric of the city, town or village looks like it's the people who live there. To give an example I once lived in what looked to most like a idilic picture postcard village however most people were racist who lived there, very closed off in there thinking, for me it was the worst place I ever lived, I made the mistake of thinking it looked nice but it was awful. I guess people unfortunately become a product of their environment.

chrisw

Are you not stereotyping, the very thing you're trying to avoid? How can you say that most people who live in villages are racist? That's racist in itself. Maybe it's your attitude that's the issue?

Albermarle

miners5000 said:

sorry I don't fully understand your point, Leicester might not look pretty but it has lots of good people who live there. I went to a place called Preston in Weymouth that people said is the best area, its a small village with a small time mentality for me that's the worst types of places to live, a small insular bubble, certainly not a good place to raise a family in my opinion. I guess for me a good place to live is not what the fabric of the city, town or village looks like it's the people who live there. To give an example I once lived in what looked to most like a idilic picture postcard village however most people were racist who lived there, very closed off in there thinking, for me it was the worst place I ever lived, I made the mistake of thinking it looked nice but it was awful. I guess people unfortunately become a product of their environment.

I was not really trying to make a point. It was just a light hearted anecdote, also linking Leicester and Weymouth.

If you are looking for a place with liberal views and a cultural vibe and a multicultural outlook, then you are mainly looking at places like  London, Leeds, Brighton, Oxford, Bristol . Manchester , Edinburgh . Big cities/towns rather than smaller places. 
Although some exceptions maybe places like Hebden Bridge, Frome or Totnes.

Grizebeck

it will be a bit of a culture shock for you

miners5000

If you read my comments I did not say all people who live in villages are racist, I said many were in the village I lived in, and many people were in other villages I have lived in and I have not experienced this in a multicultural city, it also exists in many small towns as the mentality is different, again I am not including everyone but it is true in many parts of the UK sadly. I have lived in Many cities and towns including London and my comment is that through experience there are definitely more closed off people who live in villages and often small towns, I did not include everyone in this statement. I know many people of colour who have expressed the same feeling. I guess you live in a village as you are offended. 

NorthernKitty

University cities/towns will have more of a cultural mix than smaller towns, with different languages spoken making it even more interesting. I grew up in a 'white English' village, my nearest town's cultural mix was virtually non-existent unless you count the families running 2 Chinese takeaways and a Tandori. There were probably 9 non-white kids in my secondary school of 2000 pupils in the 7 years I went there. I moved to Bradford and never looked back. 30 years later my old home town is a major mix of black, white, Asian, Eastern European, and Miscellaneous.