Shotley Gate takes 18th place as best place to raise a family
OneFamily has compiled a list of the top 20 hotspots to raise children. Now in its fifth year, the report takes into consideration 71 sets of data under the categories of Education, Property, Safety, Childcare, Amenities and Population.
Shotley Gate is a coastal village at the tip of the Shotley peninsula where the Rivers Stour and Orwell open to the sea. The village is steeped in history, including a strong naval and nautical background. Nowadays the town has a population of 11,000 and is a popular destination for tourists and walkers. House prices for a two-bed property are on average £191,178 and schools in the area have an excellent reputation with results at both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 higher than the national average. It’s an ideal spot for those who don’t mind a short commute in order to enjoy a rural lifestyle with the family.
With local estate agent Fenn Wright selling many family homes across IP9, with towns and villages including Woolverstone, Bentley, Capel St Mary, Freston and Holbrook, the property company has utilised the report’s postcode tool to find out how the postcode district performed when compared to the national average, using the same categories. In summary, when compared to the national average, the area is far safer, offering a better education, cheaper houses and an excellent lifestyle for families.
Here are the results
Case Study
Fenn Wright’s Marketing Consultant, Denise Parkinson, her husband Ricky and their four year old daughter moved to Woolverstone on the Shotley peninsula earlier this year.
“We have lived in East Suffolk for 15 days and so are very familiar with the Shotley Peninsular. I’m not at all surprised the area has made the top 20. We really are living in a very unspoilt and beautiful area of Suffolk. We moved to Woolverstone from Woodbridge just six weeks ago and it feels like a holiday compared to where we lived before.”
“Our new home backs onto the grounds of Woolverstone Hall, home to Ipswich High School, so we only have a short walk across parkland for the school run every morning, whilst the River Orwell is a short walk away too. Ricky commutes to Westminster every day, but Manningtree Station is on the mainline to London and is only a 20-minute drive through countryside. I can go for days without using the car because I mainly work from home and the school and marina are so close. The surrounding amenities are brilliant too – we have the award-winning Suffolk Foodhall close-by, as well as other peninsular villages such as Chelmondiston, Shotley and Holbrook, which all have pubs and shops too.”
“We spend a lot of weekends on the river in our boat, sailing up to the docks at Felixstowe for example – our 4-year-old daughter likes to see the big ships and cranes! We often drop anchor at Pin Mill and dinghy into the Butt & Oyster pub – how Swallows and Amazons is that?”
“There is a strong sense of community on the peninsular too – maybe due to its colourful history and literacy connections. For example, some of the residents are reputed to have been sympathetic to smugglers shipping contraband into Ipswich Docks in the 17th century. Pin Mill is the setting of the opening chapters of both We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea and Secret Water, by Arthur Ransome.”
Some of the pretty homes for sale in and around IP9 with Fenn Wright
Chelmondiston – £675,000
Mill Farm House is a Victorian property with many characterful features typically associated with its period. Of particular note are the attractive fireplaces. Other key features include views over the River Stour and beautiful gardens.
Holbrook – £575,000
Situated within the heart of the popular village of Holbrook is this detached family home. The oldest part of the house is thought to originally date from the 18th century and has been sympathetically extended over the years to now provide flexible family accommodation set over two floors.
Tattingstone – £435,000
An individual Victorian cottage, recently extended and modernised, giving the feel of a new home yet retraining the charm of a period property with a bespoke kitchen and entertaining space.