Let’s move to Dedham Vale, Nayland and East Bergholt, Essex and Suffolk

What’s going for it? Every day, crowds of Reggie Perrins pour out of commuter trains at Manningtree. London is just – just – about commutable from here if  the job at one end, and the paradise at the other, are worth the slog. Dedham Vale, they have judged, is worth it. Those commuters have been bred on a fantasy of unchanging English rural life in the lower Stour valley since John Constable picked up his paints: lush, juicy watermeadows, gnarly oaks, rampant wisteria and ickle villages painted like a jar of boiled sweets in Suffolk pinks, oranges and custard yellows. Constable’s paintings have seeped so much into the collective unconscious that everywhere your eye rests seems vaguely familiar. It has all been preserved just – just – the right side of twee, which, of course, is ironic, as Constable’s paintings were shocking for their depiction of the humdrum, ordinary working landscapes of their day. Dedham Vale is now a modern working landscape, of sorts, a kind of reverse Dorian Gray. The perfect picture remains the same, as those commuters, home at last, slowly age.
The case against Crowds. Come May, the coach parties from Shenzhen arrive and stay until autumn. If you commute, think of it as a daily timeshare: you go, they arrive, they go, you get home. But you can find quieter spots, westwards. I have a problem with perfection, but that’s just me.
Well connected? Yes. Trains: four an hour to Liverpool Street (65-75 min), three to Ipswich (13 mins) and two to four to Chelmsford (around 30 mins). Driving: the A12 passes through, making Colchester and Ipswich 20 mins; the coast at Walton or Felixstowe is 40 mins.
Schools Primaries: many rated “good” by Ofsted, with Nayland, Boxford CofE, Bures CofE and Dedham CofE “outstanding”. Secondaries: East Bergholt High is “good”.
Hang out at… The Sun Inn at Dedham is a stunner. For quieter pints, The Crown in Stoke by Nayland.
Where to buy Anywhere. There’s timber-framed manors, Georgian farmhouses, thatched cottages, Queen Anne. Dedham is especially pretty. East Bergholt slightly more ordinary. Nayland, away from the crowds, rather a gem. Not everything is cute: 20th or 21st century is cheaper. Detacheds, £250,000-£1.85m. Semis, £200,000-£400,000. Cottages and terraces, £180,000-£375,000. Rentals: few, but a three-bed house, £750-£1,200pcm.
Bargain of the week You’ll be lucky. This three-bed house in Dedham is a little old-fashioned, but it’s vaguely affordable at £300,000 with Palmer & Partners.
From the streets
Michael Munt “Dedham is an Essex gem. My pet hate – snobbish people pretending that the whole area is in Suffolk.”
Cathy Smith “Walk from Manningtree station along the river through Flatford to Dedham, and stand on the spot where Constable painted The Hay Wain. Try Dedham’s Essex Rose tearoom for a cuppa.”
• Do you live in Dedham Vale, Nayland and East Bergholt, Essex and Suffolk? Join the debate below.
Live in the Meon valley, Hampshire? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 2 June.