Where would you live?

[Tomahawk]

You don't have to keep the boat in the same town as you live.. But having a long journey to get to it is a pain..

We are facing the same question. Our choices are more limited as very few people seem able to deal with proper boats in this neck of the woods…

OH and by the way… we are not a football pitch!!! ,if it has to be a team sport ten it would be rugby.. we think maybe a tennis court..

 

[DavidofMersea]

That doesn't mean we all have to like the place, and I don't, some of us prefer something else which is lucky as otherwise the prices there would be extortionate

You don't have to like Mersea, but you never told us why you did not like Mersea

 

[Sixpence]

You don't have to keep the boat in the same town as you live.. But having a long journey to get to it is a pain..

That's why I was thinking about Southend for home which is close enough to the Crouch for moorings, plus still has good(ish) road and rail links. Just not sure if it's a town with life left in it these days. Having lived in Weston Super Mare and Newquay (Cornwall) in the past, I know how bleak life can be during the winter when living near the sea. Still young enough to enjoy a little evenings entertainment myself

 

[Sixpence]

You don't have to like Mersea, but you never told us why you did not like Mersea

Had to dash off otherwise I would have replied earlier, but think Marmite. Some like it, some don't, same with places really

 

[DoubleEnder]

But no where in Kent, it seems?

Very heavy Essex/Suffolk bias here......Honestly, just curious

 

[ChattingLil]

How far from your mooring do you want to travel?

Plenty of lovely and interesting places to live, but it all depends on how much driving you want to do to get to the boat.

Problem with Kent (Medway) is very limited day sailing options.

 

[DavidofMersea]

Very heavy Essex/Suffolk bias here......Honestly, just curious

I agree, but Norfolk and north Suffolk can be a bit bleak and cold, whilst Essex is more sheltered

 

[tillergirl]

Back in 2001, a year before I retired (sic), we were looking to move out of London nearer to TG which we kept then at Heybridge Basin. Heybridge was just too small for us in the sense that everybody knows everybody's business. Maldon is an attractive town but there was nowhere we thought we would like to live. We both liked Brittlesa very much, particularly the harbour but we couldn't find a house we liked. Everything close in is very tightly packed and didn't suit us. The more modern properties were really just nowhere interesting. We looked at Point Clear and St Osyth's and didn't like there. Didn't fancy Harwich and Suffolk seemed too far from the kids (which was a daft assessment really). Then we drove onto Mersea and just liked it; good access to 24 hr water, plenty of restaurants, interesting property choices, nice centralised village centre and nice people. Saw a house that suited us perfectly and went for it a year too early (before retirement) which gave me a 'orrid commute for 9 months. But it was worth it. The 'delights' of Colchester and Ipswich serve up most things we need that aren't here on the island. I can cycle to the jetty in less than five minutes, get the launch out to TG in 10-20 minutes depending on H or L water. Once ashore I can sit on the YC lawn and have a pint before cycling back up the hill (electrickery cycle!). I can walk to the beach in 4 minutes or the Esplanade with the GKs in 10. I can walk to the bank machine in 3 minutes and the Curry House in 4, the Library in 3, my motor mechanic in 5. We seem to get more than our fair share of sunlit mornings and with a south facing garden, summer afternoons and evenings are kind of nice. We have plenty of local friends. What's not to like? Well by the end of the summer, it's nice to see the back of the grockles but they do keep the shops going, Essex County Council car park policy of charging in the village car park which instantly displaced everyone into the surrounding streets (well done Essex CC) and that's about it. At the end of the day, for us it was as much about finding the house and environment we wanted as well as being close to TG. We were very very lucky.

 

[DavidofMersea]

Back in 2001, a year before I retired (sic), we were looking to move out of London nearer to TG which we kept then at Heybridge Basin. Heybridge was just too small for us in the sense that everybody knows everybody's business. Maldon is an attractive town but there was nowhere we thought we would like to live. We both liked Brittlesa very much, particularly the harbour but we couldn't find a house we liked. Everything close in is very tightly packed and didn't suit us. The more modern properties were really just nowhere interesting. We looked at Point Clear and St Osyth's and didn't like there. Didn't fancy Harwich and Suffolk seemed too far from the kids (which was a daft assessment really). Then we drove onto Mersea and just liked it; good access to 24 hr water, plenty of restaurants, interesting property choices, nice centralised village centre and nice people. Saw a house that suited us perfectly and went for it a year too early (before retirement) which gave me a 'orrid commute for 9 months. But it was worth it. The 'delights' of Colchester and Ipswich serve up most things we need that aren't here on the island. I can cycle to the jetty in less than five minutes, get the launch out to TG in 10-20 minutes depending on H or L water. Once ashore I can sit on the YC lawn and have a pint before cycling back up the hill (electrickery cycle!). I can walk to the beach in 4 minutes or the Esplanade with the GKs in 10. I can walk to the bank machine in 3 minutes and the Curry House in 4, the Library in 3, my motor mechanic in 5. We seem to get more than our fair share of sunlit mornings and with a south facing garden, summer afternoons and evenings are kind of nice. We have plenty of local friends. What's not to like? Well by the end of the summer, it's nice to see the back of the grockles but they do keep the shops going, Essex County Council car park policy of charging in the village car park which instantly displaced everyone into the surrounding streets (well done Essex CC) and that's about it. At the end of the day, for us it was as much about finding the house and environment we wanted as well as being close to TG. We were very very lucky.

Well said TG. I am surprised that more formites have not posted similar

 

[johnalison]

Mersea was of of the places, along with Wivenhoe, that had a reputation of being hard on newcomers. That was back in the '70s, but so much movement of population has occurred that these attitudes have mostly passed, with the possible exception of East Bergholt. Some friends of my wife, he a city lawyer, moved there and left after never making it to the C-list.

For us, transport was a partial decider, along with walking access to shops. I don't think many trains run from Mersea.

 

[DavidofMersea]

For us, transport was a partial decider, along with walking access to shops. I don't think many trains run from Mersea.

About a 100 years ago a railway was planned for Mersea. Land was allocated the Railway Hotel (Since named "The Fountain", and since demolished) was built

 

[AliM]

To be honest, the reason that we dismissed Mersea was that a work colleague that neither of us liked, was retiring there. The thought of running into him when wandering to the shops was too awful! The island is lovely though and we enjoy visiting (with false moustaches at the ready!)

 

[tillergirl]

To be honest, the reason that we dismissed Mersea was that a work colleague that neither of us liked, was retiring there. The thought of running into him when wandering to the shops was too awful! The island is lovely though and we enjoy visiting (with false moustaches at the ready!)

Fred Drift alert. Reminds me of a lovely chap I used to work for once. His wife wanted constantly to do 'adventure' holidays, climbing the Pyramids, canoeing up the Amazon and that kind of thing. After four years of that he begged his wife to let them go on a nice simple holiday to Spain and do nothing but lie in the sun. Eventually she agreed and off they went to find that for two weeks he was next door to the only work colleague with whom he couldn't get on!

 

[D&T]

Some have mentioned Southend. I live just to the east in Shoebury. I personally would not recommend Southend, it is a very large town and trying to get out of town can take quite a while (non stop traffic lights), plus significant traffic at certain times. There are some very nice parts, but central town is not desirable. The focus is still on day trippers (admittedly from Victorian times, but nothing nice about it now) and not a place to be late at night with no control over the youngsters drinking and night clubs, they even have an SOS bus in the High Street. Shops are just regular chain shops, with nothing special and discount shops.

 

[Tam Lin]

I live in Maldon. What's not to like?

 

[UncleAlbert]

I live in Maldon. What's not to like?

Shhhuuuush. Dont let the cat out of the bag.
Its bad enough that they want to build umpteen thousand houses as part fo the 'master plan'. Sadly it could develop into another SWF in about 8-10 years time. Oh deary me.

 

[DavidofMersea]

I live in Maldon. What's not to like?

A grotty High Street, a park full of screaming kids, no decent pubs or restaurants, not much car parking space (apart from next the park, and that is quite expensive), not much water in the river

 

[wingdiver]

At least they can get across their causeway at all states of the tide...
Then again, I do like Mersea.

 

[Sixpence]

At least they can get across their causeway at all states of the tide...
Then again, I do like Mersea.

An island where shop owners have to rely on summer tourists to pay the bills over winter, because they can't rely on local trade, and where people only live during the summer months, going away during the winter sounds like absolute hell to me. No wonder there's so many returns when I searched for grotty mersea. None of them smutty, just to clarify, erm

 

[johnalison]

Wivenhoe for culture, because of the university and a long history of Bolsevism.