Advice - Haywards Heath/Wivelsfield/Burgess Hill

[User removed 4]

Hurstpierpoint is close enough to Hassocks.

For the commuters Hassocks is better because there is a 20% chance of getting a seat on the train. From Wivelsfield or HH there is a 0% chance.

seriously, it depends what time you go in , id say 0700/0830 you've hardly any chance , but outside those times you'll do ok.

 

[User removed 4]

Well yes, it is really, but we're talking about mid Sussex here, not East Surrey. And Haywards Heath is gash.

Ive been to reigate , and its not a lot different to haywards heath if you're talking restaurants and bars.

 

[Common as Mook]

seriously, it depends what time you go in , id say 0700/0830 you've hardly any chance , but outside those times you'll do ok.

If you are a commuter 0700/0830 are prime commuter times. I have never travelled outside of those times.

 

[drew]

wivelsfield green is a village thats nowhere near the station , they are two distinct places.

Wivelsfield Green is one village and Wivelsfield is another, neither of which are near Wivelsfield Station.

What are they like to live in? My friends, who are in their early 30's and might start a family soon, have asked specifically about shops, pubs and restuarants.

They've also asked about noise from Gatwick? I figured that it wasn't a problem. (its a bit of an issue for them as they used to live in the Heathrow flightpath; drove them mad).

Thoughts?


cheers

You mention that they are planning a family and go on about pubs and restaurants!! What sort of kids are they planning to bring up?

To be honest, there is little to chose between the towns but there is, at council level, an element of snobbishness on the part of H/H. There are better bars in H/H (Broadway) but B/H has far more traditional pubs. B/Hill also has a cinema (which I don't use) and a far superior leisure centre (which I do). The schools in B/H also have a better record.

In terms of housing, you probably get more for your money in B/H because of the previously mentioned snob value to H/H.

Both have excellent links to Brighton and the big apple to the north.

Take your pick however, if your mate works in London, probably better plumping for B/H as there is more chance of getting a seat on the train in the mornings (Wivelsfield station probably the best as you can also pick up the trains from Eastbourne to London there).

 

[BHseagull]

burgess hill & haywards heath are much of a muchness... (although the people who live in haywards heath tend to think they are better than those from burgess hill).

neither have great shops, but are obviously close to brighton & crawley.

restaurant wise, i'd say about the same. haywards heath has more, but they are all very similar (cafe rouge/prezzo/zizzi's). basically chain italians. again, both are close enough to brighton to warrant taking a 20 min train ride for a better choice of restaurants.

pub wise it depends what you want... haywards heath has more of a lively night life, but you won't get too much variety. burgess hill is alright for the odd night out & the pubs/bars differ a bit from the standard corridor style bar you get in haywards heath.

i would recommend either burgess hill or haywards heath. not necessarily because of what they have to offer themselves, but for the things they are close to.

 

[User removed 4]

If you are a commuter 0700/0830 are prime commuter times. I have never travelled outside of those times.

I have caught trains from haywards heath at various times between 0547 and 0627, there is always a fairly large amount of people at these times, this is because haywards heath is a favourte with city commuters , who tend to travel in before the "prime" commuter times you mention.

 

[Simster]

Ive been to reigate , and its not a lot different to haywards heath if you're talking restaurants and bars.

When chefs like Tony Tobin decide to open up in Haywards Heath, call me.

You seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that I don't know HH. I do, I grew up IN and around HH for the first 17 years of my life, my mum has always lived within 5 miles of the place so I know it reasonably well. In addition, we even considered moving to mid Sussex ourselves only a few months ago but decided against it because we thought HH was DULL.

There is one road in HH with "decent bars", and I promise you, they simply don't compare to what Reigate has to offer. In addition to which, while the schools are OK, Reigate has some of the best state schools in the country. Reigate school has better results than any mid sussex 11-16 school, and St Bedes is better than most private school results. Throw in the fact that Reigate has loads of sports clubs, a new multi million pound park, and it closer to London and HH just doesn't compare.

And quite a few others agree with me, which is why my house would be around half the price (just over) if it was in Haywards Heath.

 

[User removed 4]

which is why my house would be around half the price (just over) if it was in Haywards Heath.

do caravans depreciate that much according to where you park them up ? im surprised about that.

 

[Marshy]

There really isnt a lot to choose between the 2 towns in my opinion.
I would say they should plump for whichever has the house they like in it.
Just warn them that there are certain areas of B.Hill and H/Heath you wouldnt want them buying houses in.

 

[Scampi]

so predictable, its got lots of people who want a pleasant environment to live and bring up kids, with easy commutes to london, brighton and gatwick, its got no more or no less snobs than any other place.

I beg to differ. When I was looking for a new house, I was put off Haywards Heath by two things. 1) Because of the rail links property is terribly overpriced if you aren't going to be commuting to London and 2) the number of residents i spoke to who think it's something other than a dull commuter town with poor shopping.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

Burgess Hill Wivelsfield and Haywards Heath and awful soulless places full of people who are desperate DESPERATE to live in Brighton and Hove. (smile) (lol)

 

[Brighton till i die]

I cant believe how much cr@p people say about H/Heath - i think its a cool, up and coming town.

Loads of resturants, shops, a nice little "strip" of funky bars and great train links.

Not overly keen on B/Hill, as mentioned above some areas are f***ing rough, but others are quite nice.

Personally i'd go for Cuckfield, Balcombe or Warninglid if they want somewhere nice n quiet and good for kids (schools)

 

[Durlston]

Burgess Hill has friendlier people,a much better supermarket in Tesco's with cheaper prices than Haywards Heath's Sainsbury's and fresher food.

Drinking wise,neither are anything special.There's some nice traditional pubs in B.H like the Weald,Woolpack,Top House,Cricketers that have reasonable beer.H.H's Broadway is good but spoilt by rich-kid twats.

H.H seems to have a feeling of wannabe middle-class and snobbishness.B.H is a bit depressing and slightly run-down.Very different places.

 

[portlock seagull]

I beg to differ. When I was looking for a new house, I was put off Haywards Heath by two things. 1) Because of the rail links property is terribly overpriced if you aren't going to be commuting to London and 2) the number of residents i spoke to who think it's something other than a dull commuter town with poor shopping.

Careful Scampi, you coming across as someone who's got some chips to go on your namesake shoulder. HH is a bit dull (it's got so much better though in recent years on the entertainment front) and the shopping's not great. But then it's not a huge town is it? And people use the internet now. Moreover, how long do you spend "down the shops" versus in your home - and on that front, it's excellent as are schools, low-level crime, links to London etc e.g. everything that pushes house prices up because people want to live there. As a kid I bemoaned all of the former, but as an adult, you soon see why your parents wanted to live in a place like that for family reasons. It's the same up here in Maidenhead. God damned awful town centre; but I'd don't live in the town centre and other town centres are 15-30mins. And I don't go to restaurants and pubs there. I go to those in the surrounding area which are amongst the best in the country. You don't have to stay anchored to your postcode mate!!!

 

[portlock seagull]

Burgess Hill has friendlier people,a much better supermarket in Tesco's with cheaper prices than Haywards Heath's Sainsbury's and fresher fruit.

Drinking wise,neither are anything special.There's some nice traditional pubs in B.H like the Weald,Woolpack,Top House,Cricketers that have reasonable beer.H.H's Broadway is good but spoilt by rich-kid twats.

H.H seems to have a feeling of wannabe middle-class and snobbishness.B.H is a bit depressing and slightly run-down.Very different places.

Absolutely ridiculous statements. Huge generalisations.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Burgess Hill has friendlier people,a much better supermarket in Tesco's with cheaper prices than Haywards Heath's Sainsbury's and fresher food.

Drinking wise,neither are anything special.There's some nice traditional pubs in B.H like the Weald,Woolpack,Top House,Cricketers that have reasonable beer.H.H's Broadway is good but spoilt by rich-kid twats.

H.H seems to have a feeling of wannabe middle-class and snobbishness.B.H is a bit depressing and slightly run-down.Very different places.

Portlock, to be fair as a Brightonian thats what I would say about BHill and HH in a nutshell. Generalisations yes but thats the impression I have.

And I have been to Bhill and HH plenty of times over the last few years.

 

[drew]

Burgess Hill Wivelsfield and Haywards Heath and awful soulless places full of people who are desperate DESPERATE to live in Brighton and Hove. (smile) (lol)

Tim you are sad.

I cant believe how much cr@p people say about H/Heath - i think its a cool, up and coming town.

Loads of resturants, shops, a nice little "strip" of funky bars and great train links.

Not overly keen on B/Hill, as mentioned above some areas are f***ing rough, but others are quite nice. Bentswood is a nice area of H/H then?

Personally i'd go for Cuckfield, Balcombe or Warninglid if they want somewhere nice n quiet and good for kids (schools) what schools, kids would have to get the bus everyday if you are talking Warden Pk and there is absolutely zero nightlife in those three villages.

As for commuting, I used to get the 7.07 from Wivelsfield for about 8 years and probably only failed to get a seat on about 10 occassions. For London, I would always use Wivelsfield as you pick up the trains from Eastbourne as well as those from Hove and of course Brighton.

 

[sod1]

I cant believe how much cr@p people say about H/Heath - i think its a cool, up and coming town.

Loads of resturants, shops, a nice little "strip" of funky bars and great train links.

Not overly keen on B/Hill, as mentioned above some areas are f***ing rough, but others are quite nice.

Personally i'd go for Cuckfield, Balcombe or Warninglid if they want somewhere nice n quiet and good for kids (schools)

i'd tend to agree with everything you've said, i lived in HH most of my life and spent 2 years in the Wivelsfield end of B/H (Maple Drive to be precise, now that is rough)

another option would be Lindfield, some parts of which are within walking distance of HH station

 

[Brighton till i die]

As for commuting, I used to get the 7.07 from Wivelsfield for about 8 years and probably only failed to get a seat on about 10 occassions. For London, I would always use Wivelsfield as you pick up the trains from Eastbourne as well as those from Hove and of course Brighton.

I went to see someone in Bentswood the other day, i thought it looked a bit "edgy" - how bad is that area??

as for schools i meant primary schools mate, and Warden park is in cuckfield so only a walk away

 

[Blackadder]

I'm happy to live there. The Shops are not the most exciting and the (well served)Railway station could do with an uplift.

On the upside. Schools are good. Streets are generally safe to walk at night (Though not as safe as 20 years ago but I think that's the general way of the country at the moment)

I brought a number of workmates down from Crawley recently to the Broadway, one evening and they were pleasantly surprised.

HH is not everyone's cup of tea (my son's have both moved away with their jobs) but on the whole, I Like it!