Allotments 4 All

 Samela, we moved to the coast from Essex 21mths ago, it is a nice place BUT we have put our bungalow up for sale, we do not feel at all happy here i am very lonely the peeps here do not seem to want to speak to strangers at all.

Of course you are much younger & have children so you would be excepted very quickly,  Want to buy a bungalow LOL LOL..  Much quieter & slower which is nice, if only the natives were friendly.

One of the perks.

My daily dog walk :)

Ooh lovely pic, Betula! Where are you? Reminds me of Herefordshire...

By the way, I hope I don't offend any Welsh or Scottish people with my remarks about difficulties for English people in those countries. As with everything in life, the majority of people are helpful and nice, it's just a minority that can make life difficult. But the child's social experience is more brutal; where an unfriendly adult might just be abrupt, your fellow seven-year-old will come right out and kick you in the shins. :S

My parents were quite shocked when they heard my (and my brother's) stories years later - they hadn't been aware of the half of it...

But of course that was only one part of it, I loved Mid Wales, and living in the hills, having our garden and our chickens, a river running by at the bottom of the field (most soothing sound ever) and the birds, the trees, rambling old houses, space to run around - and the peace and quiet. It's tough to make the choice, but I'm very happy with our compromise. No London Transport! What a huge improvement in my life! :D

I think a big thing to consider is if you feel have to earn a good salary to maintain a certain standard of living.  I commute up to 3hrs a day when I go into the office as there are no jobs for my skills in my local semi-rural area ( I wish I'd trained as a solicitor or something!) .  If I were to take a local job I would at best earn about half of what I do now, and it would be a similar level of stress and responsibility,  I could get a less stressful job locally and earn about a third.

Tough decision, but may have to be taken soon. 

I have occasionally had local jobs, but economic drivers, takeovers etc have scuppered those & there tend to be only one or two "big" companies in the area, so if they are not taking on, it's trecking long distances to the nearest employment area.

Try renting out your city property ( if it's yours) and renting in the country first, see if you like the change before committing.  Personally I get lack of green fever everytime I have to go to London - takes about 4hrs to set in!

Hi,

There is a lot of good ideas here, lots for you to think about, I do understand how you feel too, the countryside is such a wonderful place, mind you I love London too but then I don't live there.

I live in Hampshire and I would suggest similar to others, try moving away but not so far at first.

My OH works in London (45mins by train) and we have the rural life.  That way you could do your move gradually, if your family are still in London you would not be too far away, and you would not be losing your friends either.  There are lovely villages all around London, doesn't matter which direction, one advantage of this way is closeness to ferries to escapt to France!

I would say follow your dreams, there is no point wishing you had done it in later life.

The only thing I would say is once they get to teenage years your children are best with some sort of public transport otherwise you are forever being the taxi!  It is worth having that in your choice as it comes sooner than you think.

Am excited for you.

T.

Wow, what can I say! thank you all sooooo much for your advice.  

Ace, I love your replies, you really make me laugh LOL  I thought I was being brave moving 2 1/2 hours from London... Seems quite far to me! ;D

Betula, thanks for pointing out the obvious things that I hadn't even considered, banks, shopping, Dr's and NO takeaways.... eeeeekkkkk and wow, what a picture!

Mike77, sooooo true about the chav's, this area's full of hoodies

Hellohelenhere, you've really given me something else to think about with the kids.  It's good to hear it from someone who been there and done it.

Larkshall, thank you for you're wonderful advice

froglets, salary is our major problem.  My husband can work from any of the 200 office throughout the country but we don't want to live miles away from his work as neither of us want him to be commuting for hours everyday.

Tulipa, also fab advice.  Being close to family and flights/ferry's to France is also important to us.

Gosh, there's so much to think about. Thanks everone for your help.  Despite it being a big change, you all seem to love it so maybe I will too  :)

Sam x

one of my many dog walks!

Wish there was a starbucks at the top of this hill ;DView over the village.

i wish there had been a starbucks when i took that photo betula.....was bloody freezing.
the whole canal was frozen solid something i haven't seen in years the only bits that weren't were the lock mouths.
great hangover cure though :D

I think the one definite is that if you hate living in London, you must leave. Precisely where to go is now the question.
We chose Reading for logistical reasons; I looked at a train map to see where we could go where we could still get to London easily and be within reach of major airports - my husband is a musician and travels a lot. It also puts me much closer to my parents, in the Cotswolds.

Then I looked up rental prices, and discovered that it's waaaaaay cheaper than London - Slough, which is the next town in towards London, is much pricier.

Then we visited, and liked it a lot, and simply can't understand why Londoners all say 'ugh! Reading' as though it's the arse-end of the universe. It has two rivers and lots of canal running through it, for a start, and I do like a town with water!

We don't know people here, bar one friend who lives nearby. But I've got involved with the local LETs organisation and we're meeting people that way, and also through musical connections. We're not madly sociable, we don't go to pubs and so forth, so it's not really an issue for us - plus we have a social life in London which is near enough to maintain.

You'd need to move more towards the south coast, for getting to France I guess? If you go by ferry? But other than that, I reckon a similar compromise would work for you. If you can find a small town that you like, where you can afford to live, where your husband's company has a branch, and where you still have a lifeline to London if that's important... and you can live on the outskirts of the town, perhaps, so you pretty much are in the countryside - wouldn't that tick all the boxes?

When I was young, we moved around quite a lot as my Dad worked on power station construction, and lived in villages or small towns. As we kids approached teens, parents moved to a larger town, so we wouldn't all die of boredom. The following move, to the smallest village yet, was a great relief to all of us.

I live in a village now, after several years in and around towns. One of my teenagers can't wait to get out, mainly because of the problems of transport to meet friends. The others are perfectly happy here.

It's about 8 miles to the nearest towns, but an easy walk to the local primary school, doctors and village shops. Banking and grocery shopping mostly done online. Nearest takeaways 5-10mins away in next village. Various activities for different age groups in the village hall.
But 20 mins to the hospital, and when we needed an ambulance it took nearly 40 minutes. (First response paramedic took 8 mins).

Buses once an hour, and take ages to reach town by the time they've looped though all the other villages. Somehow, it's always 58 minutes till the next bus when it's cold and one of the kids needs to get home :-X

Sally

MIKE77,

Great picture.you can almost feel the cold just looking at it. :)

We moved from Leeds to Otley 2 1/2 years ago. I must say I love it out here in Wharfedale. We can go to the 'big city' if we want but I have found that you can get just about everything you want from local suppliers. Things may be more expensive, but then you don't have the hassle of lots of traffic/petrol and people get to know you.
It has take a couple of years for both of us to start making friends locally - but then we are here for the long run...

There are so many benefits:
Lots of cheap/free manure
Cheap firewood
No one minds you keeping a cockerel!
A bit slower pace of life
I can see Ilkley Moor from my back garden!
Lots of walks for the dog.
Within a few miles we have some really beautiful walking country.
Otely has quite a thriving community too with lots of events: Walking festival, Beer Festival, Folk Festival, Victorian Fayre, Farmers Market...

The house is pretty small, but the garden is long and there is room to build an extension (when one of us wins the lottery).

I now run my business from a wooden shed in the garden - with my pot-bellied stove to keep me warm as I write my programs. In the summer I have the door open and  watch can my veg grow. What more could a boy want?

What do I miss - er, nothing!

I agree with Hellohelenhere, especially her last paragraph. 

A village or a small market town would probably tick all the boxes but live on the outskirts, not where you are likely to encounter the binge drinking brigade on Friday and Saturday nights.

You may also wish to consider schools for your children and may find this helpful when deciding where to go.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/parentpower/league_tables.php

I have always lived in a village with beautiful countryside.  There is a class structure though in those I have lived in but it doesn't bother me too much.  The main thing for me is opening my curtains every morning and seeing these views.

Good point that Pauline makes, about small towns at the weekend! City dwellers are sometimes amazed at the bedlam - small towns can be like the Wild West on a Saturday night. All the local youth concentrated in a few bars and maybe a single 'night club', and much drink taken...

Newtown, Powys, hit the headlines a few years back for their Santa Fun Run that turned into a mass brawl: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/4081415.stm

:D

Lovely pics Pauline.Another country pic for you.Thought people on this site may like it ;D

Quote from: ACE on January 19, 2009, 22:09:04


Don't forget to touch your forelock and grovel to the squire ;D

Sorry Ace, I grovel to no one. I treat all as equals, be they Foreign Princes or Down and Outs. In 80 years I have had little trouble with it.

I agree with Larkshall.

I did the move the other way,  Cornwall to London.  Found life very strange.  I did think that the LBC radio Sunday night program was a set up and probably a comedy sketch.  The discussion was always about sexual problems. The wife and I used to laugh about it.  It was the way people were then.  Everything and everyone seemed to be so up front.  I was told things about people I met within 5 minutes that I knew it would take years to find out at  my old "home".  Funnily enough no one spoke on the tube and eye contact was an absolute no no.

Don't get me wrong I liked a lot of the people I met but I suffered from information overload.  So bear in mind that to some people a simple hello and a discussion about the weather is broaching on a week long residential course.

As an example I used to go to a small garage in my village to fix the car (well on old banger I had bought there)  I could spend 20 minutes talking about seemingly nothing just to get a light bulb.  Even now when I go back I have to be careful not to be too up front.

My wife's family were"incomers" in a nearby village but they were soon part of the community without even trying.

If you go there looking for the squire you will find him and his family, problem is they will be as far away from the other residents as you are ::).

If you really find city living unbearable then I would suggest that you do it  But remember don't scare the locals 8).

Bill

Hi All,

Wow, what  response! ta very much.  You've all given me lots to think about. 

Mike77, your photo.... WOW it's beautiful

Paulins7, your photo too is beautiful. How about swapping houses and moving into my flat in London and I'll move to your house....?????  :)

Everyones given me fab advice and lots to think about.  Been looking at lots of places on good old rightmove but can't decide on an area.  With a maximum of £180,000 to spend, some places I can afford a mansion and others a mobile home! I've been looking at Somerset as my hubby's main office is in Exeter.

If anyone knows of a nice place to live, with good schools and sky reception let me know   ;D

Sam x

What about Dawlish in Devon?  It's a small town with a lovely beach and a railway station.  Houses aren't too expensive either as these show:
http://www.findaproperty.com/searchresults.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&areaid=1639&prt=1&abeds=1&bedrooms=04

There's also Teignmouth which has some of the best Primary schools in Devon. 
Both are within easy reach of Exeter. 

Why not take a holiday in the area at Easter to see for yourself how beautiful Somerset and Devon are?