Do you live near/sail out of Southampton?

Southampton is a wonderful city. It’s one of the nicest areas to live in.

Yes there are some not so nice areas. Everywhere has them.

Yes you can get into a pub fight if you want to. You can do that anywhere.

BUT

There are a lot of very nice areas to live in and around.

If you are looking for close access to the University and London you have lots of choices. Here are a few:

For the wealthier there is the New Forest: Ashurst, Lyndhurst etc.

For cheaper but still very nice: Fair Oak, Areas of Hedge End,

And in-between: Hamble & Bursledon

You don’t say how old your children are. I can personally recommend Wyvern Schools (Fair Oak Infants and juniors and Wyvern Technology College).

Eastleigh, while knocked by some is an older fashioned railway town but it has good connections and a cinema, bowling etc for the kids. Also perfectly safe to let your teenagers lose in.

There is also great out of town Hedge End as well!

As you can guess, I write from personal experience - I live in one of the villages mentionedd, my business is in Eastleigh and all of my 5 kids have attended (or still attend) the schools mentioned. PM me if you want more info.
 
Every town with a population of 50,000 or more is going to have some places/pubs/clubs in which violence erupts at weekends. Such paragons of middle class England as Winchester and Guildford routinely see weekend injuries from brawls. I'd expect Southampton and Portsmouth, each with some 250,000 residents, to suffer 5 times as much violence.

But only in quite narrowly defined areas, and only nightimes, Thursday through to Saturday.

Seajet's experiences perhaps reflect the places and times he choses for entertainment. I don't think they're valid for drawing conclusions about the relative violence of various towns. Far better to check the police stats. Or better still, sit in the A&E section of the local hospital to watch Saturday night activity from 22:00 onwards.

Mind you, that might put you off the idea of living anywhere in England!

In Southampton around 50,000 of the population are linked to University activities as staff or students. This gives the town a good cultural vibe, which nicely counterbalances the rather rough lot of yotties who over-celebrate after their races. The outskirts of the town are delightful. There's even a "footballer's wives" ghetto just north of town, replete with large palaces set in acres of wooded land . . . not far from a busy small airport, and 1 hour rail links to London.
 
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The only things I know about Southampton are that I bought my previous boat from there (someone at SSC, nice people) and a quote from the time of the Gulf war..


"There's no beer, no prostitutes and people are shooting at us. It's more like Portsmouth"*
- an unnamed soldier on Sky News refutes claims that Iraqi city Umm Qasr is 'like Southampton'.

Ive always thought that Southampton water looks an interesting place to sail rather than scenic
 
perhaps we should clarify that The Royal Southampton,and Southampton Sailing Club are two very different clubs; the Royal adjoins Ocean Village and to my knowledge has no dinghy section; the Southampton Sailing Club is on the Eastern shore of Southampton Water and closer to the Dockhead at the mouth of the Itchen, where both types of craft are sailed, and is a very friendly club.

My own club at Warsash has a large junior section and about 300 dinghies that are used for local and regional racing and training. A membership approaching 1500 members of which a large number are Family memberships. As mentioned previously the club is also an approved RYA Training Centre. A phone call to Charon Baggeley on 01489 583575 will get you any details of membership and fees you require(Family membership is the 'best buy'); the subscription is pro-rata during the year but the joining fee is a one-off , equal to a full year's sub. Worth visiting to see the all -tide (dry) or wet launching facilities, and apply for a club mooring before/if you eventually go for a cruiser from the dinghy.

PM me for any other information.

ianat182
 
Southampton is ok -- a little third world sometimes. But for sailing I think perfectly fine. Southampton Water is just long enough to get things settled down and stowed away -- it's no burden getting out to the Solent. A much bigger disadvantage is the Solent itself -- a relatively long ways to get out of to get to open water, and full of crazy traffic, including race boats tacking right under your bows . . .

The main downside is that berthing is quite dear, if you're not used to the South Coast.
 
PhillM said:
Southampton is a wonderful city. It’s one of the nicest areas to live in.

Yes there are some not so nice areas. Everywhere has them.

Yes you can get into a pub fight if you want to. You can do that anywhere.

BUT

There are a lot of very nice areas to live in and around.

If you are looking for close access to the University and London you have lots of choices. Here are a few:

For the wealthier there is the New Forest: Ashurst, Lyndhurst etc.

For cheaper but still very nice: Fair Oak, Areas of Hedge End,

And in-between: Hamble & Bursledon

You don’t say how old your children are. I can personally recommend Wyvern Schools (Fair Oak Infants and juniors and Wyvern Technology College).

Eastleigh, while knocked by some is an older fashioned railway town but it has good connections and a cinema, bowling etc for the kids. Also perfectly safe to let your teenagers lose in.

There is also great out of town Hedge End as well!

As you can guess, I write from personal experience - I live in one of the villages mentionedd, my business is in Eastleigh and all of my 5 kids have attended (or still attend) the schools mentioned. PM me if you want more info.
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I notice the nice places you mention are all AROUND not in Southampton. IMHO not a city I would choose to live in, it has no centre/ sole.

Then there are few cities I would choose to live in if I had to, Auckland and in the UK Glasgow would be high on the list.

So there is no accounting for taste...
 
onesea said:
I notice the nice places you mention are all AROUND not in Southampton. IMHO not a city I would choose to live in, it has no centre/ sole.

Then there are few cities I would choose to live in if I had to, Auckland and in the UK Glasgow would be high on the list.

So there is no accounting for taste...
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Around, in, all a bit hard to define in a city that stretches along 2 rivers.

All mentioned are nice places to live that have easy access to both universities and London. They are family friendly and conducive to owning a boat.
 
Seajet said:
Nerissa,

sorry but you may not like what I have to say; Southampton is a pretty violent place especially in the evening, after a few experiences I wouldn't dream of strolling around in the evening, this includes Ocean Village where I saw the most violent scrap I've ever witnessed, ending in 6 police cars inc dogs !

If you could get a bit out towards the New Forest it would be a whole different ball game, we have friends there just on the outskirts of Totton who love it.

Sailing wise in Southampton Water, there have been threads on this very recently; the concensus seemed to be 'fine but a long drag out to the Solent, usually with the wind funneling against one'.

It might be worth thinking about keeping your boat in Cowes, either in one of the marinas or up the Medina ?

Easy ferry access.

Have Fun whatever you do,

Andy
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All generalisations are wrong!

I was warned off going to Ocean Village earlier this year as Southampton F.C. were playing at home that evening. No problems at all around the marina or walking to and from a curry house in Oxford Street. My son cycled down from the University to join us and said some parts of the city were "a bit lively".

Personally I can recomend Cams Hill School in Fareham and Peter Symonds Sixth Form College in Winchester.
 
DJE said:
All generalisations are wrong!

I was warned off going to Ocean Village earlier this year as Southampton F.C. were playing at home that evening. No problems at all around the marina or walking to and from a curry house in Oxford Street. My son cycled down from the University to join us and said some parts of the city were "a bit lively".

Personally I can recomend Cams Hill School in Fareham and Peter Symonds Sixth Form College in Winchester.
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My son (aged 15) regularly goes to St Mary's to watch the footy with one of his mates, without the slightest concern on our part. Like any big city, Southampton has its problems but you soon learn the places to avoid at chucking-out time. However, I would agree that it's a bit soulless and lacks a coherent centre. If you want somewhere near the University, there are some nice bits just off The Avenue, in Bassett. Personally I'd avoid Chilworth (which I assume is the Footballers' Wives territory referred to above), because, um, it's Footballers' Wives territory.

Another vote for Peter Symonds, where No 1 Daughter has just spent two extremely happy years and got into the uni of her choice. I forget the exact ranking but iirc, it's the best sixth form establishment in Hampshire with the exception of Winchester College, Alton Convent School and St Swithun's, all of which are private and cost ££££££££££££££. The schools in Winchester are mostly very good and all three secondary schools (King's, Westgate and Henry Beaufort) are "Outstanding" according to OFSTED.

The moral of the story is to move to Winchester and commute to So'ton. If you can afford it ..... :eek:
 
+1 for St Marys. My wife and kids have been going there since it was opened. Somtimes I go to! NEVER seen any trouble or had any concerns. Often when we are not going, my eldest (21) will take our youngest (12) and this causes me no concern at all.

I dont have experence of Peter Symonds College but know plenty of people who have been there successfully. My older kids have been to Barton Pevrill (in Eastleigh) and that's been fine.
 
Generalisation or not,with the dubious benefit of as much experience as I feel like donating I know what I like and it ain't Southampton !

I must admit haven't actually been shot at there, while some berk with a real rifle took pot shots at Father and self in Old Portsmouth years ago, but I'd still prefer Pompey.

Even better, avoid both and go for Chichester to the East or the New Forest to the West, but beware road traffic at either.
 
Each to their own :).

"Southampton" covers quite a wide area, and a variety of habitats. Imho, it's a bit like telling people who want to live in London that they shouldn't do so because it can be a bit dodgy in Tottenham. There's still Hampstead and West Dulwich ...... :D
 
Nerissa said:
There is a possibility we may have the opportunity to move to Southampton next year. I've never been there and don't know a lot about where to live - we would need to be nearish the university and the train to London, and need to take secondary schools into account but obviously I am also keen to use the opportunity to put myself in the way of a bit of sailing which is not possible where we currently live. Anyone here got any hints/tips on where to live, how to go about doing this. Ideally, I would like to get a boat of our own (Wayfarer or 20-22ft daysailer sort of thing). My spouse is reasonably keen but kids not so much. Any advice at all would be welcome.
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oooo get a laser Stratos or an SB20 :-) or Just use the University boats for free

Hamble!!
 
j24jam said:
Why is anyone trying to convince sea-egit that southampton is nice....keep him away!
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If you got the 1970's version of 'Pans People' waving signs saying " I want a bloke with an Anderson 22 and his big spinnaker pole " I might be interested;

as it is please consider yourselves entirely safe from a visit by me. :)

P.S, Top Tip; if living in Southampton Buy A Big Gun.
 
Seajet said:
If you got the 1970's version of 'Pans People' waving signs saying " I want a bloke with an Anderson 22 and his big spinnaker pole " I might be interested;

as it is please consider yourselves entirely safe from a visit by me. :)

P.S, Top Tip; if living in Southampton Buy A Big Gun.
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Sadly im not old enough to know what the "pan people" reference is and by the look of the anderson 22 website its not such a bad thing that im not old enough to remember those either... :D
 
southa mpton is a great place to live. weather is usually better than the rest of britain. the eastern suburbs are great for families. schools are good. my kids went to wildern and barton peverall and did very well. always felt safe in town at night as have the kids. sitting in the garden all we hear is birdsong. very happy 25 years here.
 
Seajet said:
Why the hell would I want to know about dinghy clubs, Peter ?!

Take 2 visits to Southampton - at the Frog & Frigate pub I was crushed against the ledge on the bar when a gang of yobs burst in and felt I was lucky to get away without cracked ribs or worse.

At a nightclub in Ocean Village we were bored so went to leave, then a doorman held us back, " hang on lads ".

Seajet. You come here a lot then. The Frog and Frigate shut down around 2007 and the Ocean Village night club disappeared when they knocked Ocean Village down and re-built it.

I have just come back from a sailing trip to Iceland, Reykjavik where, in a crowded pub I was knocked to one side by a very rowdy lot and with one grabbing me. It was then sorted by the many bouncers on every pub door. Using your logic,; I will not be going there again
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