Suffolk, Norfolk or Essex.

Gingster, exactly! My parents moved to the coast in retirement. It was a long (and boring) couple of hours away - by car or train.

Although ok in the summer, it was bleak, cold and miserable in the winter. Sea mists, no shelter and many local shops/facilities closed out of season. They were surrounded by other elderly, doddery folk in bungalows too!

We have a holiday home right on the coast in Suffolk - had it for 23 years. We love it and have often thought we would live there permanently. We are now in our early 70’s and realise that it’s not the place for old age. No bus or shop , no family or old , close friends nearby (1hr 30mins away).
We will stay put in Essex. Rail station a 2 minute walk, bus stops the same, doctors and town 10 minute walk, hospital 20 minute drive, countryside nearby and seaside 20 minutes. AC a walk away and friends, clubs etc in easy driving distance . No sea view but hey Ho! We will keep our seaside hideaway as long as we can but our permanent home it won’t be!

Rather than decide on an area - why not find your ideal home?

I've found the area I'm interested in. The problem is the scarcity of properties available that fit my criteria.

He he FoghornLeghorn, dim, ignorant, idiots?. Have you ever met a TOWIE member? Some actually have quite clever, entrepreneurial business acumen. Our well educated, intelligent DD who runs her own business worked with a few.
Where we lived was called the Golden Triangle - central line into London in 30 minutes, gyms galore, good shops, health centres and best of all beautiful Epping Forest on the doorstep with its wildlife.

Germanshepherdsmum

We lived in N Essex for over 20 years. It’s a beautiful rural area - nothing like many people’s idea of Essex.

I’m on the east coast, close to the Suffolk/Essex border. North Essex is beautiful and it makes me really angry when people who have no idea what they’re talking about denigrate Essex. I also loathe TOWIE as because of this outsiders think we’re all dim, ignorant idiots.

Dorset we moved to Suffolk in 2019 and of course along came Covid!
We are mid 60s and live about 8 miles from our son and family. We are in a village midway between Diss, Bury SE and Thetford. Diss is a lovely little town and we like BSE a great deal except for the sugar beet factory which has a smell all of its own in the autumn and winter! We are not far from the A14 for escaping from here.
We would have loved to be by the sea but Woodbridge etc are low lying and likely to flood more often as the climate warms. The coast is a delight to visit but to live there? No, the roads are awful. The 36 miles to Minsmere consistently take 75 minutes (and I have never been criticised for driving slowly!)
Lovely people in Suffolk, great wildlife and good garden soil! I recommend it.
Realistically, in time we can sell our house at a profit, as we have extended and improved. When we need to be in town we shall do it, but for now, we will enjoy our rural idyll.
Good luck!

Germanshepherdsmum

We lived in N Essex for over 20 years. It’s a beautiful rural area - nothing like many people’s idea of Essex.

We lived in W Essex for several years, Loughton. It was quite fun! What you see is what you get!

We lived in N Essex for over 20 years. It’s a beautiful rural area - nothing like many people’s idea of Essex.

I’m in North Essex and there are some lovely villages here. Myself and DP love visiting Suffolk and I do wonder if we will end up there one day. Our favourite places are Woodbridge and Southwold.

I do think that it depends upon your age. if you are in your early to mid sixties then go for it - the are all sorts of groups that you can join, depending upon your interests. If you're much older, it might be more difficult.

We live in the countryside, outside a small village with a couple of bars and a shop and a baker but there is very little by way of public transport. We're planning what to do next once we cannot cope with our house and garden. One friend, who sadly is a widower who lives in a nearby town has met several people because he walks to one of the local cafes for a coffee and has met people there. Once people have seen you a few times they start to say hello and you can move from there, if you wish.

BigBertha1

The North East Essex Suffolk border is lovely and I would move back there tomorrow if we haven't priced ourselves out of that market. We moved to East Cheshire to be near our daughter and its not how I thought it would be.

That's where I live. Essex Suffolk borders

I have so enjoyed reading EACH of your comments, such kindness and excellent advice and tips. We are looking around Bury SE/Beccles/Saxmundham for starters, Really I cannot say thank you enough, tips that can be added to my list. ?

A couple in a group I go to are moving to Suffolk, apparently they have some family near by but not their children. This led to a lot of discussion amongst the 15 or so at the group and the majority decided they would either be staying where they are or downsizing in the area. We had all had examples of people who had started off well but found themselves cut off from friends of many years and family sometimes found themselves driving miles to visit and sort out problems. One lady said her mum and dad had insisted on moving to the sea, they lasted six months. It needs a lot of thinking about. I am also in Kent and I know how busy it is.

Norwich is a lovely city, lots of individual shops, theatres, quite buzzy. And easy to get to north coast and the Broads from there

Chardy

I love the N Norfolk coast to visit. I think Sheringham has all the important things mentioned in the posts above, except a hospital which is in Cromer.
A few questions - where do family live? How important is access to London? What social things do you want access to? (Theatre, craft groups, choir etc). And the difficult one, have you thought about how you'll cope when one of the 2 of you is left alone?

Sheringham has really gone down over the years unfortunately. As with so many seaside resorts, everything is open during the holiday season but in the winter it’s miserable and dead. I go there purely to visit the optician and beat a very hasty retreat!

Beccles is a lovely little town

Lots of good advice on here Dorset. it is very important to plan ahead and not just think about the here and now. We did a lot of research before moving to the countryside. We did not want to be in a remote village without any facilities, we looked at where the nearest Doctor's surgery, Dentist and hospitals were and was there a bus service. How close where shops, cafes, restaurants and theatres was also important to us. We were in our early sixties when we made the move, within two years Mr J was diagnosed with cancer and now also has other unrelated health problems which curtail a lot of our previous activities. So having a hospital not to far away and shops etc nearby has worked for us. Do think about your needs and perhaps future needs so that you make the best choices that you can. Good luck with it all.

I lived in Suffolk for over 20 years before moving to France. It has changed a lot during the intervening 12 years but it is still a beautiful county. I would suggest that rather than go to village, chose one of the towns that's on a railway line. I lived in Woodbridge for the last 2 years and thought that it was an excellent place to live. There is a cinema and I lived near to the river where there are some lovely walks. I could also walk to the shops and there was a health centre and a good pub (Adnams) near by.

Moving further north there is Saxmundham, Beccles and Halesworth, all on the East Suffolk line. The trains don't run very late on this line.
Moving eastwards Bury St Edmonds is also lovely.

My neigbour, and good friend, and I moved back from Spain at the same time. She and her husband were in their mid seventies and lively, social people that enjoyed a wide circle of friends.
They bought a really beautiful house with fantastic views in Suffolk. I envied them but, shortly afterwards she became disabled and, to cut a long story short, they ended up completely isolated never seeing anyone. The only person they saw in the week was their cleaning lady.
They have just moved again (in their eighties) to live in a city near their adult children.
What seemed an idyllic rural dream turned into a nightmare for them.
I agree with what others have said. You need to future proof your dreams. In your early seventies everything seems fine then, poof, age catches up.

The North East Essex Suffolk border is lovely and I would move back there tomorrow if we haven't priced ourselves out of that market. We moved to East Cheshire to be near our daughter and its not how I thought it would be.

I live in North Suffolk. Norfolk and Suffolk are rather "out on a limb" compared to Kent. You have a lot of driving before you get anywhere. Consider where friends and loved ones are, how often and how easily you could visit them. Is public transport easy if you couldn't drive?

There are so many more NT type places to visit in Kent and Sussex, and the weather is warmer. The East Coast can be very cold.

Would Sussex be a better option?

I love the N Norfolk coast to visit. I think Sheringham has all the important things mentioned in the posts above, except a hospital which is in Cromer.
A few questions - where do family live? How important is access to London? What social things do you want access to? (Theatre, craft groups, choir etc). And the difficult one, have you thought about how you'll cope when one of the 2 of you is left alone?

We are in North Norfolk. It’s lovely but takes ages to leave it. If you want to visit friends and family then it’s not the easiest county.
We are in a village without any facilities , we do have a bus stop round the corner which used to have an hourly service but no longer as frequent so am thinking about moving to be nearer a bit of civilisation. Norwich or Sheringham perhaps.
It seems to me that one can leave it too late to make changes so go for it while you still have time to make a new life.
I looked out of the window the other day and remarked that the gutters need doing again. DH informed me that the gap between the gutters need sealing.
My response was to snap- “and that’s something else I won’t be able to do when you are dead!” ?
He, like many others, thinks he will be extremely healthy and fit until he dies peacefully in his sleep. I hope he is right

I am in Essex, we have a mainline station at the end of our road approximately 1 3/4 miles away, down hill so easy to walk if you are able.

There is another mainline station in next town (about 7/10 minutes drive) which goes to a different London station.

On a traffic free day we are 10 minutes from the coast and 10 minutes from the countryside.

We have two University Hospitals in easy reach by public transport, along with GP surgeries nearby, local restaurants, small Tesco’s Express, Sainsbury’s Local and a small but well stocked Co-Op along with an Aldi within walking distance. I want to move but DH constantly reminds me of all these advantages, along with three of our AC and families in walking distance.

Only downside is soaring property prices.

If you are in Kent assume you will have made a few trips through the tunnel to explore the areas you mention.
Some years ago we spent many a pleasant weekend in Suffolk looking around the villages/ market towns for a house. Prices at that time were much lower but this has levelled out a bit now.
North Essex is attractive, Norfolk too, but it can take hours to get there. Friends live in the north and it takes us close to 3 hours each way from the tunnel.
I would have liked to move, probably to Suffolk, still would, but we didn’t in the end.