StefMcDef – Is that yourself Neil? The guy I was out riding with on the IOW a few weeks back?

Yup, tis me!

Thanks for the pointers everyone – doesn't sound as much of a biking wilderness as I was expecting.

It's only my missus that will be working at the hospital, I still need to find myself a job to go to. I'll be surprised if I can find something in Southampton itself (that would just make things too easy) so one of us will probably have to do a car/bus/train/bike commute. But it does mean that we may end up looking further afield if the missus is to do the commute.

I've got an interview lined up in Cowes on the IOW next Wednesday… not sure how that would work but hey ho…

Would cost a fortune to commute to Cowes every day and takes ages…

Cost a fortune, yes. Take ages, no. Only 22 minutes on the Red Jet. Weather permitting. And don't even think about working shifts.

Actually pretty common to live in Cowes and commute to Southampton. Houses are cheaper over here, but then you've got to factor in the monthly cost of a season ticket with Red Funnel.

Two grand on the Red Jet 😯 , £1,500 on the (slower) car ferry.

She said she's looked at it and it's cheaper just to buy singles than the £2k season ticket. Probably not much in it though, I would have thought.

fortune on the red jet but not a fortun on the ol' steamer which take an age. do you get increased salary because you are 'offshore'? I know the people working at the hosptial there do/

ok from what i remember:
Pubs
Crown in highfield is always good value for money (burgers hummmmmmm)
Platform tavern is a very nice one from a musical point of view so is the hobbit (although plenty of student in this one) both are own by the same bloke (IIRC steve).
Plenty of trendy bars in london road.
Nice restaurants are located in owford street area but in my opinion they are quite a rip off (bear in mind I am french here…). My choice would be CENO bottom of highfield lane. They do decent coffee and very original food.
The town part of portswood is getting very nice. There is a thai tapas bar (Mango) that do nice food, and a mexican restaurant that have just open where the fire place was.
A new pizza place (well 2 years old) do some fabulous wooden baked pizza (in an absolute frame or references 😉 ).

Brian's book shop is just right buy the pizza place and it's an amazing place for all sorts of odd book some nice coffee and if you can get to him a nice chat to the owner (he's very bernet like in some aspects).

In terms of shopping you'll get the major chains of clothing/hardware/shoes and even a mac store ;).

Like all cities it needs to be discovered. It took me a while but I really enjoyed it in the end.

Its probably changed alot since I was last there but I wouldn't live in Southampton if you paid me.

Saying that I live in Manchester so debatable/horses for courses I guess.

There are two hospitals in Southampton. If the job's in the General then theree's the satellite towns of Chandlers Ford, North Baddesley and Totton. All of these are quiet commuterville but closer to the trails.
If it's the Royal South Hants then commuting from any direction will take her through the centre of town and be a pig. Maybe live in Hythe and get the small ferry over then bus/walk/cycle a couple of miles?

The New Forest riding is good if you like places like Thetford but with a much greater density of pubs.

No mention of the Joiner's Arms in St.Mary's yet.

Possibly the best small venue in the country!

Southampton also plays host to Talking Heads, Hampton's and a number of other decent little venues and has always punched way above it's weight in terms of gigs. There's a new venue opening too, I forget what it's called, but I'm going on the opening night to watch Against Me co-headline with **** Up.

Easy to get to the Wedgwood Rooms in Portsmouth too if a tour slips through the net.

I used to go there a lot to skate and shop at Off-Beat (R.I.P). Reskue is the best skate shop by a million miles, The Hub is good for bikes and the city centre has all of the usual shops plus the giant West Quay development which has a branch of Krispy Kreme.

I find Southampton a little soulless on the whole, but it's in a good location.

Mostly Balanced – Member

There are two hospitals in Southampton. If the job's in the General then theree's the satellite towns of Chandlers Ford, North Baddesley and Totton. All of these are quiet commuterville but closer to the trails.
If it's the Royal South Hants then commuting from any direction will take her through the centre of town and be a pig. Maybe live in Hythe and get the small ferry over then bus/walk/cycle a couple of miles?

The New Forest riding is good if you like places like Thetford but with a much greater density of pubs.

Handy info, thanks. 95% sure it's the General Hospital.

Chandlers Ford, North Baddesley and Totton

totton has good access to the new forest, and a cool bike shop

chandlers ford has a big asda and a bike shop

north baddesly has a set of traffic lights and a somerfield (might be a co-op)

edit:

Handy info, thanks. 95% sure it's the General Hospital.

the other hospital is next door anyway

DT78
Gravity info:
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/gravity-project-overspill-photos.html

What thomthumb said, also i'm in chandlers ford and you could commute via lordswood to the general and have some fun on the way home
Also chandlersford/valley park is fairly quite area with lots of cycle paths, but somehow easier to use the road

Apologies for the thread resurrection been on hols…

Twirlip, I'm pretty close to the high street myself – mails in the profile if you want to meet up some time?

Don't suppose you ride a nice new looking orange cotic (soul I think?) seen one past my front door a couple of times….

Gravity looks pretty good, I'll have to see if I can get there

I lived in Basset Green in 97/98. Twas OK, rest of Soton was minging though..

There's a decent boat show on there this week!

Make sure you live in the Flowers Estate

1st year I lived in Pansy Rd[/quote]
erk – an ex Viole(n)t Road res here during my 2nd yr (was in Monte Halls for 1st/3rd yr).

No idea what the place is like now.

(I'm sure there was another Soton thread on here a while back?)