Tunbridge Wells – what's it like?

Anyone live there or close by?

Is it a nice place to be?

Disgusted?

Compared to where?

I used to live in a pretty village (Groombridge) a couple of miles out of ‘RTW’ but now live in a fairly average nowhere town in East Sussex. I honestly prefer where I live now despite it being a cheaper area as the people around tunbridge wells are so up themselves its untrue

Town itself is boring – bland centre, ok old bit and loads of poncy gastro pubs etc.

Massive traffic problem means you can’t get anywhere 1hr either side of the rush hour in the morning and between 3 and 7 in the evening

Whole town has an inflated sense of its own importance – basically it lives up to its rep.

But I guess its ‘nice’ (except on a Saturday night as local youth likes a fight)

it is definitely “nice” – depends what you are looking for

lots of bars / restaurants / shops
good road riding (surprisingly quiet lanes)
decent mtb around ightham / ide hill / toys hill
posh bike shops
good schools
easy to get to london
kelly holmes’ new cafe in hildenborough
pretty middle class
lots of traffic in and around town

Yes it’s Nice but on an MTB forum it’s got no decent MTBing anywhere nearby AFAIK

Rotherfield has a few trails
Bedgebury is nearby
North Downs (Leith, holmbury etc) is about an hour away
South Downs just over an hour

I was born there, and used to live in Southborough, between T Wells and Tonbridge. It’s very nice, a bit provincial and clicky, Pantiles is very quaint, often used on TV, great cookwear shop, it’s got a very middle class whiff but believe me it’s got all the usual rough estates that makes this country so great. The surrounding Weald countryside is very beautiful, Penshurst, Speldhurst, Chiddingstone etc etc. Country pubs galore. MTB ain’t great, lots of muddy bridleways, yes Toy’s Hill up the road but the trails are mainly full of dog walkers, some fairly decent XC on the Greensand way heading over Crockham Hill.

Some nice rocky bits too, High Rock and one that looks like a Toad 🙂 Lot’s of Steam Railways in the area if that’s your thing or have young kids.

I agree with pretty much everything Winston said.
Nice place (good schools, nice resturants, etc) but a bit pretentious and middle class.
Traffic can be shocking – like really shocking.
Great geographical location though – lots of pretty countryside around.

Personally I wouldn’t live there (I live in Farnborough, Bromley, which is about 20 miles north) as there are nicer places around without the traffic chaos and without the middle class “mothers who lunch”

It’s a traffic jam, used to work near there. I cannot get across quite how bad trying to get anywhere by car between 7-11 and 4-7 is. I never got used to it.

Town is lovely though, friends live there and love it. Nice villages around that way too.

What Rewski said.

Town itself is boring – bland centre, ok old bit and loads of poncy gastro pubs etc

I dunno, it was pretty exciting while I was getting shitfaced regularly and once got my collar felt for touching the sign outside the Barn.

😀

I grew up in Pembury (it’s cheaper than the town itself, no train link!), parents are still there.

Thought TW was fairly boring as a teenager but see the appeal more these days now I’m mid-30s. It’s a nice town centre, decent restaurants, some excellent schools. Easy to get to London or the coast. Lots of nice quiet lanes for road riding, nowhere near as much (legal) MTB riding as other places but plenty of cheeky stuff. We used to just ride all the woods out to the west of Pembury and beyond (and I still do when I’m home), haven’t met anyone had a problem with it. PORC or Bedgebury otherwise.

North Farm traffic can be bad – hopefully will be alleviated by the bypass and new junctions that will be built there.

@ simon_g – that vid is spot on, reminds me of my crew back in the day, breakdancing at the bandstand, and going to barn dances, I mean illegal raves.

Ha ha! Brilliant video, reminds me of “cruising” Great Hall car park with NWA blaring provocatively out of my open car windows at full volume.

Yeah bwoy…..

Waiting for my son to finish footie down there and popped in here … http://www.thevelohouse.com

My mate Jon Carter lives there, and he’s a legend. End of. 😀

I live in Tunbridge Wells. It’s okay. People are a little up themselves, but so be it.