The peace and tranquility of the British seaside is the idyll for anyone wanting to bring up their children with a backdrop of fresh air and lots of time outdoors.
The Witterings, in West Sussex is every child’s dream place to grow up, with stretches of beautiful beaches and perfect waves for keen surfers. The area has become a popular destination following the pandemic, with Londoners making their way a bit further down south.
The serene dune-filled beaches are part of the reason why the region is award-winning – coveted as one of the ‘best places’ to live year after year. The quaint town is something straight out of a storybook, with chocolate-box cottages and classic British pubs dotted across.
It has also been named the “best place to grow up” along the British coast by Great British Life and it’s not hard to see why. Tourists from across the UK and beyond also enjoy the lovely bit of British coastline, and it is a popular holiday destination.
Wittering’s villages have been described by estate agents Knight Frank as the place “for parents who want to send their kids sailing after school and clambering over the rock pools at the weekends”.
If you take a stroll along the calm harbour, you’re bound to see a plethora of yachts waiting for their next trip out to sea.
The area has significantly cleaned itself up over the last 70 years, and older readers may remember the time that architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described Witterings as a “jumble of bungalows and chalets near the beach in an untidy half-grown-up state.”
Now, the quaint village draws more similarities to higher-class regions, such as The Hamptons and the infamous Bondi. The area is also home to some pretty famous faces, with Hollywood actress Kate Winslet moving down in 2015.
Houses do not come cheap however, with properties averaging around £840,000 according to Rightmove. A detached home will come to just over £1,200,000 on average – so relocators will need deep pockets.
If you’re not ready to make the move from the Big Smoke just yet, there’s plenty to do for a day trip. There are plenty of watersport schools dotted along the coastline, and Natural Surf school is an acredited establishment that takes all keen surfers from ages of three up.
There is also a stunning National Trust site, East Head, just around the corner which is the perfect photo spot.
The shifting sand dunes and salt marshes are home to an array of wildlife, that even the untamed eye can spot.