Why Live In Tunbridge Wells?

By AGidney | Sunday, March 21, 2010, 11:58

According to the Telelgraph there is new research from

The Pantiles Tunbridge Wells

Savills which shows there are even more well heeled families moving out of

London towards the suburbs, Kent and Sussex. High earners are searching for nirvana; smart

towns, good schools and beautiful countryside.

“The moves they make are about stages of life,” says Lucian

Cook at Savills Research. “People want a change from living in London. They

search for a different lifestyle and want more sober, family time. They trade

off space against travelling time and there is often a real sense of them

returning to their roots or moving to be closer to older family members.”

Tunbridge Wells is a favourite with its close proximity to

Gatwick, fast road and rail links to London and its fair share of good schools.

Many people also choose Tunbridge Wells for the eleven plus and its selection of

grammar schools.

But how many of us are happy once we’ve made the transition?

Does moving from a fantastic city like London to a more insular and provincial

town fulfil the dream? If you have moved

into Kent for the grammar schools are you not appalled by the preoccupation of

this one exam? Parents talk of nothing else for the two years preceding the

exam. How many of you have sat down to dinner with other couples with eleven

plus aged kids and not mentioned the E or the S word?

I wonder whether we are all a bit mad paying over the odds

for houses on the doorsteps of the perceived best schools or, as I’ve recently

heard, renting a second house in Tunbridge Wells those few extra meters closer

to a chosen grammar school, for fear of not getting in....?

What is it that attracts us to Tunbridge Wells when just

over the border in East Sussex there is that same fast road and train link into

London, cheaper property and better state schools?

Re-post Write a story

Ads by Google

Comments

Good luck with your move to Tunbridge Wells tartanneil. TW is certainly very different to Brighten, but think you'll be fine. We a friendly bunch (generally!) and there's lots going on, depending on what you are into. When do you get here, and what do you like doing, perhaps we can help?

By AbigailA at 17:07 on 15/11/11
Report
Work means a move from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells. Am I in for a culture shock?

By tartanneil at 22:31 on 07/11/11
Report
I was interested by a comment above that stated that a man who went to a local toddler group was shunned simply because he was a man. I noticed that at our private prep school, those women who were working full time were also shunned and shut out from the main activities simply because they had nannies. There was a two tier system with the full time housewife being the top dog, and those who needed to work for a living, or those who took a pride in their contribution to the family coffers, being subliminally 'put in their place' (another word for which might be bullied and excluded) by the mommy mafia. I guess this happens in any smallish town but it is a sign of parochialism which could hurt people who don't behave according to the 'norm' or who are in a minority. I also read that there were issues for black parents being welcomed into the fold at local schools. I hope what I read and heard was inaccurate.

By Classyfried at 19:20 on 13/05/11
Report
@SweeneyBird : We moved to TW from Highbury 10 years ago (whew!) for a number of reasons, including the fact that No1 Son was not responding well to London private school hothouse pressure. He and DD (we have a matching pair) got into good grammars. But the key is to find the right primary school - and of course to have the kind of children who can do well in the test in the first place. Grammar school - like North London private schools - is not for everyone. There are good church secondary schools (RC and CoE) and the local comprehensive has been taken over my one of the grammars, so that should improve. But ...

The private schools don't have the streetwise feel of London private schools. Coming from the borders of Hackney, I found them too precious by half. Same with many school communities. I know a house husband who was pretty well shunned by all the baby and toddler groups he approached simply because he was a man. This is Middle England, and there's no way of getting around that.

As to cultural activities - thank goodness it's 50 minutes to the Hayward and the Southbank. But I still miss being able to drop in at the British Museum, Tate Britain or the V&A on a whim. The trains are probably as not as bad on a daily basis as the bad press they get. But we've structured our working lives so we don't commute. Not sure I could have kept my sanity otherwise. The fluorescent train trip home after a lovely evening out is a real mood killer.

Thanks to Twitter, I have met many more interesting people (including Anke and Mrs Anke) and many great TunWellsians. And the demographics of the town are changing - a lot younger than the popular press would have you think. When we came here, about 90% of the restaurants were Italian or or pizza, there are now more alternatives - but Brasserie Blanc left. Coffee shops dominate, and there is a Continental cafe society feel that has sprung up that is very nice.

But the tone and feel of the town is still set by the Hobbit land that surrounds it. That's great if you're looking for quiet and tranquility. But if you like real urban buzz and convenience, there are trade-o*** to be made. For example, getting DD to a Russell Howard gig at the 02 this Sunday is going to be a mission. Public transport, even locally is well nigh non-existent. Going to the out of town cinema by public transport means, in effect, a day trip. You are not likely to diminish your carbon footprint!

Also, there's a 'chav' v middle-class/grammar divide among teenagers that you won't hear talked about much. Since the recent recession, there are even tramps and homeless people, the most famous being the legendary Duvet Dave. The town has a grot spot problem, thanks partly to a Borough Council that is driven (due to voting demographics) by village priorities - the town centre itself, where we live, is not given the type of thinking and attention that an forward-looking urban centre deserves.

I would say 'Consider Sevenoaks as an alternative' but then to give TWells its due, it really *is* the happening place around here. Young people from Sevenoaks (and Tonbridge and Paddock Wood and Wadhurst and Groombridge) come here to 'hang' and this is the fourth urban centre in Kent because the town has a large shopping catchment area.

Conclusion: If you're leaving London and going South TunWells is *the* place to be. But it pays to know what you're moving into because the town's reputation (the good and the bad) doesn't tell the full story. The alternative for country-loving families might be Wadhurst, one stop on from TunWells, with a good primary and comprehensive school. (Historically, people who live in Wadhurst, which is in East Sussex) have been able to go to Kent grammars, but I am not sure whether this is still the case.

By urbanbunny at 10:43 on 16/02/11
Report
I love living in Tunbridge Wells and think that for a town of it's size outside London it offers a great selection of shops, bars and restaurants equal to London. Add to that the green spaces and fantastic architecture then its win win...I moved here because it was the only place which reminded me of Chelsea without the **** off price tag!

Not having any children is probably a blessing given the lengths one hears people going to get their sprogs into Claremont school seems a bit off the wall!!

However Tory and old fashioned it may be it's still pretty, glamorous, cultural and quirky!

By ninafield at 17:44 on 16/12/10
Report