Swindon or Colchester?

neneromanova · 9 January 2018 at 12:39PM

Following on from my other thread, Dad was surprisingly receptive to us moving (We haven't asked about extra work force yet, small steps) so I'm looking into whether Swindon or Colchester is better.

Swindon: closer to family (2.5hr drive back) OH's Aunt and Uncle live there, We've lived there before (me only 4 months but OH years)

Colchester: I've only visited the outskirts twice, OH has visited loads before. Plus his Best mate lives there so he won't be there with no social life (His only reason he is torn over moving)

But what is either area like to live in permanently. Schooling, Shopping, Leisure etc.

Thanks

jackieblack · 9 January 2018 at 5:36PM

I live about 10 miles outside Colchester in one of the many surrounding villages/small towns but travelled into Colchester every day for school (from age 12) and then to work (pre children).
Like everywhere, Colchester has some lovely areas and some less lovely areas. It has its fair share of good and outstanding primary and secondary schools, including 2 grammar schools and a sixth form college and another FE college.
It has all the same high street stores as most other towns and a big Fenwicks department store. There are some out-of-town retail parks. For grocery shopping there are 2 Tescos, a huge Sainsbury, an Asda, a couple of Aldi and a Waitrose located in various areas in and around the town.
For leisure, it depends what sort of things you enjoy but there is an excellent zoo, local history (Colchester Castle) a theatre, multi screen cinema, football stadium, leisure centre, everything you would expect from a town of its size.

What I really like about this area is that there are some very rural parts and it is also close to the coast, yet still only an hour into London by train.

PeacefulWaters · 9 January 2018 at 6:24PM

If you google "Swindon magic roundabout" you'll choose Colchester.

jackieblack · 9 January 2018 at 6:33PM

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

If you google "Swindon magic roundabout" you'll choose Colchester.

We have one quite similar, but not quite as complicated

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester)
but it's fine once you've had a couple of goes

DCFC79 · 9 January 2018 at 6:48PM

jackieblack wrote: »

We have one quite similar, but not quite as complicated
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester)
but it's fine once you've had a couple of goes

Link doesn't work.

Not sure why as its identical to this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Colchester)

Anyway, that roundabout looks like a nightmare just like the 1 in Swindon.

jackomdj · 9 January 2018 at 6:54PM

jackieblack wrote: »

I live about 10 miles outside Colchester in one of the many surrounding villages/small towns but travelled into Colchester every day for school (from age 12) and then to work (pre children).
Like everywhere, Colchester has some lovely areas and some less lovely areas. It has its fair share of good and outstanding primary and secondary schools, including 2 grammar schools and a sixth form college and another FE college.
It has all the same high street stores as most other towns and a big Fenwicks department store. There are some out-of-town retail parks. For grocery shopping there are 2 Tescos, a huge Sainsbury, an Asda, a couple of Aldi and a Waitrose located in various areas in and around the town.
For leisure, it depends what sort of things you enjoy but there is an excellent zoo, local history (Colchester Castle) a theatre, multi screen cinema, football stadium, leisure centre, everything you would expect from a town of its size.

What I really like about this area is that there are some very rural parts and it is also close to the coast, yet still only an hour into London by train.

Swindon....
Like everywhere, Swindon has some lovely areas and some less lovely areas. It has its fair share of good and outstanding primary and secondary schools and an FE college.
It has all the same high street stores as most other towns. There are lots of out-of-town retail parks. For grocery shopping there are Tescos, a huge Sainsbury, 2 huge Asda, a couple of Aldi/Lidl and a Waitrose located in various areas in and around the town.
For leisure, it depends what sort of things you enjoy but there is an excellent zoo, a theatre, a few multi screen cinema, football stadium, leisure centre, everything you would expect from a town of its size.

What I really like about this area is that there are some very rural parts yet still only an hour into London by train.

So very similar on the surface. I don't know Colchester to compare. The magic roundabout is actually fairly easy to navigate, so long as you aren't a hesitant driver.

I wouldn't move somewhere based on just one friend. You may find that friend already has their social group and it doesn't work out that your OH just fits in with all their friends.

Have you considered work etc for either location?

thorsoak · 9 January 2018 at 7:20PM

On the access to Devon, Swindon wins hands down - there is good access to M4. Colchester has the disadvantage of the A12 - which is not so good. However, you can drive into London (city or docklands) within 1hr 30 mins. Stansted airport is just 35 mins away.

I too live near Colchester and I really love the city - it has so much history - you can even see evidence of where Boudicca burned the Roman city of Colchester!

jackieblack · 9 January 2018 at 7:41PM

DCFC79 wrote: »

Anyway, that roundabout looks like a nightmare just like the 1 in Swindon.

The trick with the roundabout is to think of it not as a roundabout at all, but a series of short stretches of road each with a mini roundabout at the end.
If you treat it as such it's really no big deal

Callie22 · 9 January 2018 at 7:41PM

One thing to watch with Swindon is that there's a HUGE amount of development happening locally at the moment, all across the town. If you are thinking of buying there, do your homework as to what potentially might end up next to you!

A lot of people can be quite rude about Swindon but honestly, it's no worse or better than other towns of a similar size and demographic. It has its good and bad points, just like anywhere else. It is however very easy (if expensive ...) to get a train to London and you are only a short drive away from places like Oxford, Reading, Bristol and Bath for shopping and culture. Swindon is still relatively cheap for housing, considering the area and transport links, so a lot of people choose to live there but commute out for work and entertainment/shopping etc. There are some very good schools (Royal Wootton Bassett Academy and Highworth Warneford to name two off the top of my head, although both of those are on the outskirts of the town) but sixth-form provision can be a bit patchy, especially if you're wanting an academic route. A lot of young people travel up to Cirencester College for A-Levels.

neneromanova · 9 January 2018 at 9:03PM

Yeah, OH's aunt and uncle say they have 7000 houses being built on the east of Swindon.

OH works for himself (and my dad) and can work at home so no need to worry about commuting.

I've heard that there is a massive rise in crime in/near Colchester. Is this true?

I quite like the idea of Colchester being near the sea, close to ports to go on holiday to Europe. But Swindon does have an Ice Rink (would like to go to hockey matches and do some skating with the kids)

I looked at prices to go to London from Both this Saturday. Colchester came out at £60 for 5 of us, Swindon was £170!! So Expensive!

Callie22 · 9 January 2018 at 9:19PM

There is the major development to the east (the Eastern Villages) but also development to the north (Blunsdon), the west (Tadpole Garden Village) and to the south (Witchelstowe), as well as quite a lot of smaller developments around the town. I would say at the moment that the town 'infrastructure' isn't necessarily keeping pace with the level of development and things are creaking a bit - roads and the hospital being two major areas of concern. Hopefully though there'll be some accompanying development of those kinds of things too.

GWR trains to London are ridiculously expensive, although you can get reasonable prices if you book early. Going west is little better, Bath and Bristol aren't too expensive if you take into account the savings on parking etc. And Swindon might be getting an indoor ski slope ... one day

Swindon or Colchester?

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