Moving (again) - views on north Kent coast

rlw · July 17

Whitstable to Broadstairs basically. Good bits, bad bits?

Fed up with York as it's never very warm, usually quite damp and too far from that London.

And so dark in winter, although very light at this time of the year.

Fancy returning home to where people have accents I can understand and don't have their tea at 6.00pm.

Lived in York for 5+ years and the tourists have never bothered me - it's never like Oxford Street at Christmas - so seaside is no problem.

Fair budget too. Thoughts?

Neil · July 17

No idea but it must be nice to come home again.

EricTheWeary · July 17

My nephew and his family live in Ramsgate and love it. He works in London part of the week and they are very particular about things like schools.

boogieman · July 17

We’re in the Weald of Kent, we moved from Surrey a few years back. We love it.

Must admit I don’t know much about the north coast towns, except that Whitstable is very trendy, therefore extremely busy in summer and housing is expensive. It does have a Peter Cushing museum though and Vic Reeves/Jim Moir lives there, if that’s any incentive.

My wife’s family lived in Margate years back. Her advice: don’t move to Margate.

DrCornelius · July 17

Not North Kent but we were in Tenterden (mid Kent) a few weeks ago en route to Rye and it was bloody lovely . Stopped at a bakery for a cake and a coffee and got chatting to a lady working there and she said she moved from Whitstable to Tenterden a few years back as Whitstable was all second homes and London tourists now. I asked her if she regretted it and she said she loved Tenterden and quite a few of her family are looking to make the move now especially with Whitstable house prices so high

ESBlonde · July 17

It’s some years since I worked in that area so my opinion is dated.
the old seaside towns like whitstable are dying and full of homeless, been that way for decades. The locals tend to avoid.
further round like broadstairs is ‘nicer’ if you are spending your own money. Rams gate has some nice areas but is small and out on a limb as far as fast access is concerned. If you like the buzz of York have you considered Canterbury, it’s not dissimilar as a vibe and has some nice areas.
get yourself a long weekend visiting and see how you feel.

rlw · July 17

ESBlonde said:

It’s some years since I worked in that area so my opinion is dated.
the old seaside towns like whitstable are dying and full of homeless, been that way for decades. The locals tend to avoid.
further round like broadstairs is ‘nicer’ if you are spending your own money. Rams gate has some nice areas but is small and out on a limb as far as fast access is concerned. If you like the buzz of York have you considered Canterbury, it’s not dissimilar as a vibe and has some nice areas.
get yourself a long weekend visiting and see how you feel.

Whitstable is thriving I think. Lots of new houses, and pretty affluent.

I agree that everywhere has its grotty areas now including both Margate and Ramsgate, but so does York. I have dealt with a drunk who had slit his wrists and cut his throat; mrsrlw dealt with an overdose victim last week - both living on the streets.

Ramsgate has HS1 into St Pancras and South Eastern into Victoria, both quicker than York - Kings Cross and cheaper too.

Canterbury is too far from the sea - that's the important bit.

GoFish · July 17

Whitstable does have the most ill positioned offshore windfarm I have ever seen. I'm all for renewable generation but this seems to have been placed perversely to be in everybody's eyeline. Just, why?

I'd choose Ramsgate over Margate. Canterbury is big but no sea.

Never been to Broadstairs - going this weekend and will report back.

Jfingers · July 17

Broadstairs has some lovely beaches and is nice in a quite posh sort of way. I've not been to Ramsgate but an old mate, drummer with Bad Manners lives there now and seems to rate it. He and his lady run a cafe there.

VimFuego · July 17

my cousin lives in Whitstable, she loves it. I gather it has many of the same issues any commuter town has; traffic, not enough GP's etc etc, but it's on the coast. Mrs F and I went there about 20+ years ago or so, it was just starting to thrive, you could see that it had been down at heel, but there was already a lot of investment and upscaling of the place. As others have already said, now it's quite upmarket.
Not sure I understand wanting to be closer to London. I did that 3 years ago and now can't wait to get away from the place.

rlw · July 17

VimFuego said:

my cousin lives in Whitstable, she loves it. I gather it has many of the same issues any commuter town has; traffic, not enough GP's etc etc, but it's on the coast. Mrs F and I went there about 20+ years ago or so, it was just starting to thrive, you could see that it had been down at heel, but there was already a lot of investment and upscaling of the place. As others have already said, now it's quite upmarket.
Not sure I understand wanting to be closer to London. I did that 3 years ago and now can't wait to get away from the place.

Given the choice, and the cash, I would happily live in SW1, SW3, SW7 or W1. Maybe even NW1. Love the place. It's home to me.

boogieman · July 17

DrCornelius said:

Not North Kent but we were in Tenterden (mid Kent) a few weeks ago en route to Rye and it was bloody lovely . Stopped at a bakery for a cake and a coffee and got chatting to a lady working there and she said she moved from Whitstable to Tenterden a few years back as Whitstable was all second homes and London tourists now. I asked her if she regretted it and she said she loved Tenterden and quite a few of her family are looking to make the move now especially with Whitstable house prices so high

We’re about 15 minutes from Tenterden. I like it. It’s a pretty little town, good shops, has a small gauge steam railway that goes to Bodiam Castle and back, plus a really, really good fish and chip shop.

We looked at living in Rye before we moved to where we are now but decided against it eventually… the old bit of the town centre is very narrow, it’s always busy and the parking round there is an issue. The outskirts where things are better aren’t particularly interesting though. We go to Rye Harbour fairly often to take our dog for a walk, it’s got a great nature reserve next to the sea, good walking trails round the area, a cafe, bird hide plus a few old WW2 pillboxes.

boogieman · July 17

ESBlonde said:

It’s some years since I worked in that area so my opinion is dated.
the old seaside towns like whitstable are dying and full of homeless, been that way for decades. The locals tend to avoid.
further round like broadstairs is ‘nicer’ if you are spending your own money. Rams gate has some nice areas but is small and out on a limb as far as fast access is concerned. If you like the buzz of York have you considered Canterbury, it’s not dissimilar as a vibe and has some nice areas.
get yourself a long weekend visiting and see how you feel.

Whitstable is very upmarket nowadays, rammed full of yuppies or whatever the latest term is and most definitely not dying. It’s been known as Soho-on-Sea for a while .

I’d agree that some other seaside towns in the area are rough as a badgers arse. Dover is an absolute shithole nowadays, full of druggies, homeless people and displaced immigrants.

Jeremiah · July 17

My grandparents lived in Broadstairs - my impression was that it was mostly full of retirement homes and old people, but maybe that was just because my grandparents were old and so mostly knew other old people.

AlexO · July 17

We've been going down on Holiday to that part of Kent every year for a while now and we love it.
My brief summery of the different towns.

Margate - Arty, bit hipster, lots of Londoners moved over hence the Shoreditch by the sea nickame. You do see every single type of person around which I like. Great food options. Does get a little more edgy as you head towards Cliftonville.

Broadstairs - Feels more upmarket and family orientated than Margate. Bit more traditional.

Ramsgate - Few mates who have been priced out of Margate have move there, I've never got a feel for it, always felt like the poorer cousin to the others.

Deal - Bit further down the coast but a very nice 'Middle class" small seaside town. Lots of posh delis etc.

EricTheWeary · July 17

boogieman said:

ESBlonde said:

It’s some years since I worked in that area so my opinion is dated.
the old seaside towns like whitstable are dying and full of homeless, been that way for decades. The locals tend to avoid.
further round like broadstairs is ‘nicer’ if you are spending your own money. Rams gate has some nice areas but is small and out on a limb as far as fast access is concerned. If you like the buzz of York have you considered Canterbury, it’s not dissimilar as a vibe and has some nice areas.
get yourself a long weekend visiting and see how you feel.

Whitstable is very upmarket nowadays, rammed full of yuppies or whatever the latest term is and most definitely not dying. It’s been known as Soho-on-Sea for a while .

I’d agree that some other seaside towns in the area are rough as a badgers arse. Dover is an absolute shithole nowadays, full of druggies, homeless people and displaced immigrants.

Probably fifteen years ago now we went into Dover before going to the ferry just for a look around and a coffee. It was unpleasantly rough and we never got a coffee. The combination of COVID and Brexit has made most town centres seem more run down these days so gawd knows what Dover is like now.

JMS96 · July 17

I live in Sevenoaks so not an expert, but we do visit these places frequently. I’d be tempted by Deal, Walmer, Sandwich, Winchelsea, Rye for small coastal town vibes, and Ramsgate and Folkestone for slightly larger places by the sea. Hastings also but that’s a bit further from where you’re looking. All of these seem on the up, fairly pleasant places with good connections to London. Whitstable is lovely, but there’s not a lot to it and full of tourists. Not much of a beach in my view either.

Jimbro66 · July 17

I’ve lived in north Kent for nearly 13 years, having moved there from Cornwall (yes, I know). I’ve spent time in all the coastal resorts so here’s my take on them:

East to west: The Medway towns are all pants. Sheppey has some nice spots and property is cheap - but for a reason. Faversham is a pretty little market town with a surprisingly active live music scene but it’s inland from the coast. Whitstable is a gem of a town with lots of character and always bustling but the beaches are meh. Property is very expensive. Nearby Tankerton and Swaylcliffe are retirement land. Herne bay is a pleasant resort that sadly lost its pier. It doesn’t have the bustle and character of Whitstable. Birchington is OK-ish, having a reasonable town centre and nearby beaches. It’s one of the less expensive places property-wise. Westgate-on-Sea (retirement land) leads you into Margit (as it’s pronounced locally). Since the Turner Gallery opened there some years ago the council has tried its best to improve the town’s down-market image, with limited success. The beach is great but gets very busy. @chillidoggy lives there so you could ask his opinion. Cliftonville is, again, retirement/bungalow land but does have some excellent beaches nearby. Broadstairs is another gem with a decent town centre, great beaches, lots of restaurants, plenty of live music but, inevitably, expensive property. Ramsgate is really quite nice down by the harbour area and has some decent beaches but the town is meh. Sandwich is a lovely olde worlde town but is inland from the sea. Deal is OK: A pleasant coastal resort with nice strolls along the prom and some history to it. I like Deal. Dover is the pits. Folkestone is OK down by the harbour but the town centre is meh, but with some nice areas around it.

Transport links from all those resorts vary so should be researched to see if they meet your needs. Don’t rule out Canterbury unless you really must have a sea view. It’s within easy drive of many of the resorts I’ve mentioned, has an excellent town centre with lots happening (it’s a university town), restaurants and theatres, and has a high-speed rail link to London.

rlw · July 17

Jimbro66 said:

Transport links from all those resorts vary so should be researched to see if they meet your needs. Don’t rule out Canterbury unless you really must have a sea view. It’s within easy drive of many of the resorts I’ve mentioned, has an excellent town centre with lots happening (it’s a university town), restaurants and theatres, and has a high-speed rail link to London.

Transport links - except to London and Edinburgh - from York are total shite. And I've waited on the platform at Bromley South long enough to see that east Kent is well connected.

Dannic · July 18

DrCornelius said:

Not North Kent but we were in Tenterden (mid Kent) a few weeks ago en route to Rye and it was bloody lovely . Stopped at a bakery for a cake and a coffee and got chatting to a lady working there and she said she moved from Whitstable to Tenterden a few years back as Whitstable was all second homes and London tourists now. I asked her if she regretted it and she said she loved Tenterden and quite a few of her family are looking to make the move now especially with Whitstable house prices so high

Howdy neighbour, I’m from Woodchurch.

As for the OP, not sure if you’re restricted to north Kent, but my mother-in-law has just moved to Hythe. Good range of small independent shops and bigger Waitrose style stores.

She really enjoys being active with long walks along the sea front. There’s a long pedestrian walk that goes all the way to Greatstone.

17 miles round trip (if your so inclined).

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Moving (again) - views on north Kent coast

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