non boaty, Wivenhoe or Brightlingsea to live??

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Mandarin331

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Please forgive an intrusion with a non boaty post, but we are moving back to the East Coast after a long gap and have narrowed the choice down to Wivenhoe or Brightlingsea.

Obviously we can do all the geographic and practical points, but what we
want to know is what are the communities like and what's it like living in either town

We are also keen to become involved in the local community -(not boaty focussed).

If there are any knowledgeable residents reading this who would be prepared to share their experience we would really appreciate this (either post a reply or send us a PM please)
 
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Hmmm...Brightlingsea or Wivenhoe?

Well, I guess that I am somewhat biased being Brightlingsea born and bred, but to compare the two towns is very difficult.

Brightlingsea for starters.

Only the one road in and the same one out makes the town feel somewhat special. A walk through the older part of the town will show ample evidence of the towns seafaring history. Talking of walks, there are excellent riverside walks along Brightlingsea creek or along the Colne up towards Alresford creek.

The town has a pretty good supermarket, an excellent Butchers and Fishmongers and a good Bakers. There are two superb farmshops one in Aingiers Green and the other in Alresford, both less than 10 minutes drive. For anyone wanting a wider range of shops, Colchester and Clacton are both 20 minutes away whilst Ipswich is 25 minutes to the North.

Pubs? Not as many as there used to be! at one time there were over 25 Pubs in the town! We are now down to a perhaps more realistic quota of just 8!

We are somewhat limited on restaurants...the Cherry Tree, the Brewers Arms and the Rosebud all have pub/restaurant facilities, the Raj in Tower Street is the locals choice for Indian food, whilst the touristy option is the Kovalam on the waterside. There are three Chippies and again the locals choice is Scoobies on Church Road, a national award winning Fish and Chip shop! There are a couple of adequate Chinese take aways and a very good Kebab shop.

What to do for a person who wants to get involved in the community? Well, Brightlingsea has won numerous Britain in Bloom awards over the years, and a volunteer team tend the gardens, beds, borders and displays around the town, they are always looking for volunteers and are a very friendly group. The usual plethora of Community support groups and Cub/Scouts/Brownies/Guides that are always looking for volunteer helpers...yes, there is a reasonable level of involvement for those that want it. The Brightlingsea Museum is also always looking for volunteer curators.

Sailing wise, two clubs, the Colne Yacht Club aimed at those with larger boats who enjoy cruising and racing and Brightlingsea Sailing Club which most people now agree is THE premier dinghy racing club on the East Coast.

The town also has Rugby, Hockey, Football and Cricket clubs as well as a Bowls club.

Public transport wise, nearest rail stations are Alresford and Great Bentley both about 10 minute drive or a regular bus service to Colchester.

Infant, Junior, Senior Schools and a 6th Form college complete our town!

Now for Wivenhoe.

Whilst I have never lived there, my daughters boyfriend lives in Wivenhoe, so we do get to hear about it warts and all!

A similar sized town to Brightlingsea benefitting from a mainline rail station and a 1/4 hourly bus service into Colchester.

The down side to Wivenhoe is probably the fact that it is a University dormitory town, making the towns 5 pubs fairly boisterous in the term time evenings. There is a better selection of dining establishments in Wivenhoe with a very good Indian restaurant and a recently opened French restaurant that is gaining fairly good reviews. A couple of chippies are also available one at either end of the town.

There are two 'minimarket' type supermarkets, the larger of the two is the Co-Op whilst there is also a One Stop just on the outskirts of the town. Both are adequate for most peoples day to day needs, with Colchester and its range of Supermarkets is 10 minutes away with Ipswich 25 minutes to the North and Clacton about 30 minutes to the East.

The sailing Club is very friendly and supports both Dinghy and Cruiser sailing on the upper reaches of the Colne.

There are also Cricket, Football and Bowls clubs. Being a town with close links to the University, there are also associations with the University Rugby and American Football clubs.

There are two junior and two infant schools, with secondary education in mainly Brightlingsea with some going to Colchester.

The issue that you may find with Wivenhoe is that being based on a main railway line it has over the years become very much a dormitory town with many of the residents working in Chelmsford and London leaving a fairly quiet town during the week.

There are the usual community support groups that seek volunteers, but nothing like the sort of volunteer groups found in Brightlingsea.


Well...that gives you a taster of what you will find in both places.

Value for money? Well, it is Brightlingsea EVERY time! Being on a main railway line immediately increases the house prices in Wivenhoe by some 10% over Brightlingsea, and IMHO Wivenhoe just does not have the same level of character that Brightlingsea has!

Best way to find out though is to come down for a few days and spend a day or so wandering around each of them. OK it won't give you a complete picture, but it will give you an overall feel for the towns.

If you want any further views or thoughts send me a PM!
 
Hi Cobra

Thank you so much for an amazingly helpful post, we really appreciate you taking the time to write such a long and helpful reply.

You've really given us some things to think about that we had never considered, we've always liked Brightlingsea as a port of call (and the butcher is great) but we never thought we'd have the opportunity to live there.

Thanks again - you may well bump into us in Brightlingsea later this year - all we have to do is to sell a house. We've printed your thoughts and will keep them for reference.
 
I have no axe to grind either way on this. Purely for amusement purposes, a Wivenhoe resident recently described his home town to me as: 'a drinking town with a fishing problem'!

High proportion of yotties must be the cause.
 
Thanks for the compliment John :-)

Wivenhoe seems a lot less studenty these days (compared to when I was one), presumably because there is so much more accomodation on campus now. Curry house in Wiv. was pretty poor last time I went, and some friends who went a few weeks ago echoed that as well. Kovalam in Brightlingsea is excellent, different food from your standard British curry house (which the Raj does very well), touristy? Usually plenty of locals in there when I go. Oooh I'm salivating. Pubs in Bsea are all at varying degrees of down-marketness. Rosebud is probably the pick these days, garden out the back with superb views over the creek and a good ever-changing selection of beers. The Railway is superb if you like a really basic boozer with excellent beer and eccentric landlord & locals (it's usually our first choice).

Wivenhoe is a bit more twee than Brightlingsea, and the waterfront development there is done very well unlike the Bsea one which looks like a prison block with the charm removed (the views from inside are great though).

Bsea better for shops/banks etc. Wivenhoe better for eating out. Both have excellent seawall walks, Wivenhoe woods very nice too (except when the May festival is on).

Foot ferry from Bsea runs to East Mersea and you can take your bikes - nice day out to ferry across to East Mersea (cue song), cycle to West Mersea for lunch, wobble back and plunge straight down East Mersea stone into the sea.

Mike
 
MikeBz said:
Thanks for the compliment John :-)
Click to expand...
A pleasure old boy!! :) :)

MikeBz said:
Foot ferry from Bsea runs to East Mersea and you can take your bikes - nice day out to ferry across to East Mersea (cue song), cycle to West Mersea for lunch, wobble back and plunge straight down East Mersea stone into the sea.

Mike
Click to expand...
Now maybe Mike you have just hit on the solution to the Mersea mooring fee issue! Drop the hook off Mersea stone, dinghy to the shore with fold up bikes, cycle round to West Mersea (is the Dog and Pheasant in East Mersea still open for business?? Always was a very pleasant yottie friendly pub). Yet again maybe not!!!
 
Now where I come from!!

Having lived in Wivenhoe for over 10 years and sailed from here for over 20, the boat has been in Brightlingsea for the last 4 years you will find there is a lot of similarities between the two.

Both friendly places, welcoming pubs and clubs and people

The differences are Wivenhoe is a bit more cosmopolitan, possibly due to the Uni and the station which may or may not be an advantage. Bsea definatly more isolated (one road in - same road out) and seems closer knit.

BSea still has industry, Wivenhoe commuters and retired people.
 
I think most of North Essex retains a certain charm and I have got to see much more of it recently.

I am spending a day a week in the Colchester area at the moment and am scouting about in all directions.

My only comment on the area is the lack of wheelie bins.

It's such a shame to see broken black rubbish bags all about due to birds animals etc.

Are there any plans to switch ?
 
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