Hailsham?

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

Hailsham is fine, ignore the comments above from Eastbourne residents, Shinewater, Royal Sussex Cres and Northbourne are real residental masterpieces.
I moved to Hailsham in 1979, and much as I loved my home town, I would never move back.
Yes, Hailsham has some ropey areas, tell me which twn doesn't, but schools are good, a choice of about six primary schools, HCC is a sports college, with best improved GCSE results in E.Sussex, also close are Ringmer and Heathfield.
About 400 new homes are being built in Nth Hailsham, stretching out as far as Hellingly Hospital, where prices are a lot more reasonable than any other town locally.
Surrounded by countyside and good walks, Cuckoo Line is the old railway line and runs from Eastbourne to Mayfield at present I think, Abotts Wood is great for picnics and walks also.
Resonable shopping, athough the High Street has died a bit since Tescos was built.
10 mins to beach and Eastbourne, 30 mins to Brighton and Tunbridge Wells for bigger shopping.
5 mins to Polegate, main line station, and an abundance of great country pubs and restuarants.
Hailsham is fine, just do your homework first

 

[Paddy B]

I'm a member of the local residents association. There are a TOTAL of 532 houses under construction in the WHOLE of Hailsham & there are 2 other major develpoments on-going. That comment is therefore rubbish to put it bluntly.

To be honest I am not speaking with great authority but I was talking to someone at the developers and they mentioned that the ultimate aim was to join to the site on Hempstead lane to the one further North.

 

[nawtygully]

agree about the tesco.. my dear old mum always shows suprise on her face when she ventures up the town an see,s co-op still there it,s ok hailsham.. still call it home .. been oop here since 83..

 

[nawtygully]

i remember the train station running trains!!!!!!! 1/5d return if you will (child) lol

 

[Broady]

I live there and its fine in my opinion, I went to heathfield school though as the grades and school on a whole bar sports and so much better. It has a bad rep but all places have good and bad but I have never had any problems.

 

[oldalbiongirl]

Your mum will get a suprise soon as it is on its way now. They are closing it as it cant compete with Tesco. Hailsham has its good and bad points. Some good schools, some not so good. It seems to be dying town wise lately which is causing a few problems. If you want somewhere between Brighton / Bexhill what about Polegate? That has the railways station and also a lovely school in Willingdon.

 

[beorhthelm]

quite amusing all the Eastbourner's who say its full of pikey's and a shit hole, forgetting their manor has seen an influx of scouse druggies over the years and has many shit neighbourhoods.

My step daughter and a few mates live there and love it. The town's got everything you need and there's some nice houses. As mentioned, pikeys and chavs are around.

missing a rail station. you can get alot of house for your money (probably due to the lack of rail...) and its pretty easy to spot and avoid the rough areas. Waitrose and a Coop tells a story, with a nice if slightly dieing little high street. there are far worse places to live.

 

[seagull33]

I have lived in North Hailsham for about ten years now . Its okay. The town is a bit shite but to be honest I hardly use the town apart from the odd trip to tesco. Its crap for public transport as Polegate is the nearest train station but there is a bus link from hailsham to polegate so not all bad.

Personally if you looking at hailsham i would advise stay North of the town around Hawkswood or Harebeating estate or hellingly .

Houses are cheaper due to no train station i am led to believe . Not had any trouble (touch wood) in my area. Just dont move anywhere near Town Farm FFS. Its very comparable to Shinewater in Eastbourne !! lol

 

[Sheebo]

It's OK just avoid Diplocks and Town Farm to live. A little on the pikey side but Heathfield isn't far off it so i can't really comment! The North end nr Hellingly is really nice area - great pub called the Kings Head in Horsebridge too.

 

[Art Vs Science]

Badly built modern houses, Caravans, Car Boot Sales and Too Close To Polegate

 

[Pinkie Brown]

My line of business used to take me to Hailsham once a week. It earned the nickname of "Pikeyville" amongst my peers. Yes, all towns have their Chavs & Pikeys, however, for a small town, Hailsham seems to have more than its share in my experience.

By accounts (from a local friend), the place is well avoided when a travellers funeral is taking place too. Yes, there's plenty of worse places to live in the UK, but as for any image of a typically English market town?? Nah.....

A visit to Hailsham market on a Friday should give the OP a 'feel' for the place.

 

[Stevie Boy]

It has an Iceland and a Waitrose. What more could you want in life

and a tesco's, that why there are so many empty shops, the worst thing the council did was to let tesco build there

 

[Stevie Boy]

It's OK just avoid Diplocks and Town Farm to live. A little on the pikey side but Heathfield isn't far off it so i can't really comment! The North end nr Hellingly is really nice area - great pub called the Kings Head in Horsebridge too.

Owned by the weavers i believe, has been recommended to me by several people

 

[Sheebo]

Owned by the weavers i believe, has been recommended to me by several people

It is indeed Stevie - Dave plays for our darts team

 

[Neil]

Hankham a few miles from Hailsham is better if you want a villiage feel or Westham isnt too bad either

 

[Seagull on the wing]

I've lived in Hailsham for over 20 years and things to mention... You would be advised to have a car.
Avoid Town Farm and the diplocks to live in.
There are quite a few Albion fans here.
It has two good social clubs,HMI and the Top club.
Pikeys live down the road from me on a desginated site,never have any trouble from them. I seen the development you're moving into and it looks OK.

 

[s5.bha]

I second Polegate as an alternative to hailsham for you if your looking for somewhere between BTN and bexhill.
moved to Polegate 8 years ago,great place for families and the Primary and willingdon schools are good,Safe place as well and not much if any trouble that I've seen.
As for Hailsham..... it's a strange mix of people and cultures, due to the transport issues it has always seemed a bit cut off to me and your guaranteed one thing on every street...................................................................a fat girl pushing a pram !!!

PS..............Polegate's minus point is there is alot of palarse......

 

[bazbha]

I second Polegate as an alternative to hailsham for you if your looking for somewhere between BTN and bexhill.
moved to Polegate 8 years ago,great place for families and the Primary and willingdon schools are good,Safe place as well and not much if any trouble that I've seen.
As for Hailsham..... it's a strange mix of people and cultures, due to the transport issues it has always seemed a bit cut off to me and your guaranteed one thing on every street...................................................................a fat girl pushing a pram !!!

PS..............Polegate's minus point is there is alot of palarse......

You'd better phone the police cos the fat girl on my street pushing a pram has been missing for the last 6 years that I've lived here! That may be the case on the aforementioned Town Farm & Diplocks but the North Hailsham area the OP mentioned moving to is nothing like that. I quite like Polegate because of the Train Station but I assume the property prices reflect that. If you want a quiet place with a station I much prefer Berwick. Personally I prefer living in a bigger town but each to their own.

 

[Daffy Duck]

We moved to Polegate last year (born and bred in Brighton) and we love it. It's quiet, has a nice high street, great rail and road connections, and, according to my next door neighbour, (who recently moved from Burgess Hill) has really good schools locally.

Oh, and another thing, people always say "Good morning" to you, unlike Brighton where they look at you as if you've just landed from Mars!