| Product: |
Sutton in General |
| Date: |
02/05/08 (58 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Good shopping, good night life
Disadvantages: Not as good as Croydon or Kingston
I have been a Suttonite for my whole life so I thought I'd write a review and detail some of the weird and wacky characters in Sutton as well as Sutton as a whole. However, I won't talk about the schools as I have no children!
Sutton is located to the south east of London and is considered to be part of London. To get to London, the best way is to catch the fast train to Victoria which takes about 25 minutes. There are numerous buses that also go into London but they obviously take much longer. It is for this reason that many people have moved to Sutton. It is close enough to London to get you there easily but far enough for you to escape all the hassle
In terms of areas around Sutton, Croydon and Kingston are the more popular destinations if you want to do more hardcore shopping or drinking as these are bigger and have a massive choice. Croydon is only 10 minutes by train and Kingston is about 30 minutes by bus. You also have the area borough of Epsom and Ewell nearby which is only about 15 minutes drive but feels like you're out in the sticks. There are plenty of lovely green areas and of course there is the Epsom Racecourse which has its own attractions.
Sutton high street is basically one long road. It is not one of these high streets that go off on different roads but don't let that fool you, it will still take you a good 20 - 30 minutes to walk from the very top of the high street to the very bottom. The whole way down you will be surrounded by shops which include the usual things like Debenhams, M&S, Woolworths, BHS, HMV, Zavvi, Waterstones, numerous phone shops (all basically opposite each other), Curry's Digital, lots of sport shops, etc. As far as I'm concerned, there's more or less everything you need. There are always new shops opening and I have certainly noticed that the quality of these shops has steadily been increasing over the years. In terms of Supermarkets, you have got a Morrisson's and Asda in Sutton but also have a Tesco and Sainsbury very nearby so there is plenty to choose from.
In terms of night life, there is plenty of that in Sutton. Within a radius of 2 minute walking distance, you have about 10 pubs / bars and 3 clubs (Vodka Revolution being the largest one). The close proximity of these pubs and clubs is very useful but it does mean that any new places that aren't located conveniently don't really get a chance to compete. The majority of the pubs are 21 and over with the exception of the Wetherspoons pub which is 18 and over. Apparently, a few years ago this pub was making one of the highest profits of all the pubs in Surrey so that tells you how busy it gets.
There are plenty of restaurants in Sutton. These range from the bog standard Pizza Hut to Italian, Chinese, Thai, Spanish and Indian. More recently, Burgershack by Smollensky's has opened up. This was originally a Smollensky's bar by they changed it. There are plenty of restaurants with varying price tags and all fairly close to each other. There's also the usual fast food places like McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, etc.
In terms of things to do, there is an Empire cinema which has around 7 screens and always shows up to date listings. There is also a bowling alley with many lanes, a Riley's pool and snooker club which has about 20 tables to choose from. On a nice weekend, there is sometimes a miniature fun fair that happens at the top of the high street. On the odd occasion, there are various markets that will appear all the way down the high street such as a farmers market, German market or French market. You may also see displays of dancing or musicians in the street to keep you entertained. There are also a couple of good gym's nearby and a fairly small park just off the min high street that is nice in the summer as well as a couple of larger parks nearby. Sutton library is also very good. It has recently been refurbished and looks very good.
Sutton station is a very good station. As I said previously, it takes 25 minutes to get into London and these train come around every half an hour or so. Otherwise, you can get a slow train which takes about 45 minutes. There are 4 platforms so most places nearby are within easy reach.
There really are some weird characters in Sutton. The most popular, and recently deceased, was the affectionately know "Jesus Man." He used to walk around in a white suit with a long grey beard and used to hand out money or cigarettes if you asked him for it. One of the more recent characters is the Wizard. This is a man that walks around wearing a purple cape and has a black cat. I'm yet to encounter him but if you search for him, or Jesus Man, on Facebook then you can have a look at them. The final person I'll mention is a woman that sits on a wall near the station and wears a 1930's dress and pretty much just sits and smokes all day. She is completely harmless. Obviously there are more characters in Sutton but these are my main ones. All of them are harmless really but give a lot of character to Sutton
Overall, I'd say that Sutton is a good place to live. I'm not going to sugar coat it and say that its crime free and wonderful because it isn't but it could be a hell of a lot worse!
Summary: I've loved living in Sutton and despite its flaws its a good place to live
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