North East Essex’s main towns are Colchester and Clacton. They offer two very different feels; one an old roman castle town and the other a typical English seaside town. Consequently the practice populations are quite different with 3 distinct types: elderly and retired people living towards the coast with higher levels of deprivation and a more transient seasonal flux; rural village practices and then urban practices within Colchester town. This offers a tremendous varied experience for GP training and fantastic job opportunities afterwards with a practice to suit everyone.

Colchester has a rapidly developing busy town centre with regional acclaim for its shopping; and increasingly its restaurants and dinning; unfortunately rather less so for it road networks! The ‘Arts Centre’ in a former church is a renowned music and comedy venue hosting many of the major acts on their UK tours. Firstsite and The Minnories are contemporary art galleries with regular exhibitions and programmes for public involvement.

The surrounding countryside is very pretty with quaint villages and historic artist spots such as Flatford mill and Dedham vale, which the painter John Constable made famous. The area is extremely popular with walkers and bird watchers. Families and coastal enthusiasts are very well accommodated for in the area with the beach at Mersea only 7 miles from Colchester and the wonderful sandier stretches of beach at Frinton and Clacton only 15 miles.

The schools in Colchester are of a very high standard with Colchester Royal Grammer school leading the way nationally again coming within the top ten high schools.

Colchester has excellent transport links via rail to London (50 minutes) and Norwich (1 hour) and road via A12 to M25 (40 mintues).

In all, it’s a lovely place to live and work with something for everyone.