Escape to the country

ThorpyFX

HAL9000 said:

We're currently living in Crawley. A town with a population of about 100,000 in West Sussex. Regularly turns up in 'crap town' lists, but is actually very conveniently located within half an hour's journey to London or Brighton, well served by motorways, rail, and is only ten minutes from Gatwick. Like any reasonably-sized town it has its problem areas, but it has been our home for nearly thirty years now.

Anyhoo, Mrs9000 and I are thinking it's time to relocate. The south east (as anyone who lives there will know) is getting massively more busy and more crowded than ever. Huge amounts of housebuilding going on. Car parking becoming increasingly difficult. Any car journeys are taking more time than ever as going any distance seems to involve an obligatory being stuck on the M25.

I've always been a townie, but since Mrs9000 is a Norfolk lass, our current thought is to move to a village or very small town within the Broadlands AONB. Probably with a population of 3000 - 4000. So far fewer amenities than I'm used to but I have to admit I'm actually quite liking the idea of a quieter and more relaxed way of life.

Anyone done anything similar? Did it work out for you? Anything we should be aware of that might not be obvious?

It's still early days and at the moment all we've really done is to narrow our search area, check out stuff like local pubs, GP surgeries, bus and rail links, etc. However, any advice or words of wisdom from your own experiences would really be appreciated.

Ta.

we moved to a lovely town called brackley near silverstone. beautiful area, close to oxford, the cotswolds and has a real community spirit about it. The town is lovely and so are the people.

EricTheWeary

As much of my patch at work is rural/ small town Worcestershire there are a lot of places I see that I think would be nice to live. Although by and large they aren't cheap places to live; the value of our house wouldn't get much in some places. There is also a demand for new housing and in some areas new property is being built at an astonishing rate so what have been small towns/ villages are expanding rapidly. What might be a population of 4000 now might be double that in ten years. 
If I occasionally stumble across house buying programmes on the TV to get somewhere nice you do seem to need to have a lot of money to throw at it, or at least a lot by my standards. 

Axe_meister

We are thinking of moving to Devon is six years time. A house in the country with no neighbors.
I hate living in London. The only good thing has been the rise in house prices since we bought the property 17 years ago.

boogieman

Strangely enough Mrs B and myself are currently looking round W Sussex for somewhere to move. We like the area around Rye and Battle so far. It won’t be for a year or so but it’s definitely on the cards. We live in Surrey (the crappier bit, don’t believe all the preconceptions about golf clubs and stockbrokers) and we’re getting more fed up with our noisy neighbours, plus if the Heathrow expansions go ahead we’ll have planes flying directly overhead twice as often and at much lower height. 

Some interesting insights into village life, looks like a small town is a better option then? 

Kilgore

This escape to the country lark is a con.

It sounds appealing, but three months in you're sitting in the living room enjoying the "view" ( some god forsaken bit of scrub land or field) that you got bored of in the first week, eating manky carrots from the farm shop and dying for an Indian or Chinese.

A nice town is fine, but small villages, don't do it.

Jimbro66

You don’t mention work or family @HAL9000 so presumably neither limit where you go? They are often the two big ties to a region.

Other than that it sounds like a good move. There are several members here who live in Norfolk and could probably advise you on the pros and cons. I suspect, for example, that there might be less of a live music scene than you are used to. Some very good friends of mine moved to Broadlands from the Midlands some years ago and have not regretted the move at all.

Around the millennium I moved from London to Cornwall where I stayed for ten years. Loved it

HAL9000

boogieman said:

Strangely enough Mrs B and myself are currently looking round W Sussex for somewhere to move.

I know of a house coming up for sale in Crawley ;-)

Flanging_Fred

I can understand why you’d want to get out of Crawley. Despite working in Manor Royal, I haven’t been in to the town centre for at least 6 months. There is literally nothing left in the town of any interest or relevance to me now. Once Maplins shut down, which I occasionally popped in to get bits and bobs, it’s just not worth the bother.

HAL9000

ThorpyFX said: 
We moved to a lovely town called brackley near silverstone. beautiful area, close to oxford, the cotswolds and has a real community spirit about it. The town is lovely and so are the people.

I occasionally have to visit the Mercedes F1 HQ there as part of my work. It does indeed look lovely. If it wasn't for the fact that Mrs9000 has friends and family in Norfolk, that looks practically perfect.

sev112

An older colleague at work has done something similar but decided to list what they needed

easy access to 
doctor, hospital, supermarket(s), pubs (if only one it will shut down), post office, social activities, train station, etc
which took them from a big town to Southsea 
odd choice?
well it is on the coast, it is close to nicer coasts, close to France, has all amenities and is probably as developed as it is going to be.  Plus the benefits of limited cliques

i think I’ve had a life time of downsizing going from the East End of London, to central Reading, to Reading suburbs, to the edge of countryside and town just during the normal cycle of life.
I really like where we are and would happily retire here if it weren’t for the astonishing amount of house building, road building, deforestation and increasing crime around here now.
3 more years and our daughter is off to uni.  So that might be the time to plan for.  
Id love to be up a mountain or by the coast, but given that I’m pretty ill enough already, I think civilisation is going to be my necessity for retirement!

ESBlonde

The yoof find it harder being teenagers in villages, nuffin to do mate, or if there is something it's in a neighbouring town and public transport is scant and ends mid evening. Dads taxi service ;-)

I see not having takeaway food as a huge plus. One major weekly shop and get a deep freezer. You can still have last minite pizza, just whack it in the oven. You might not have a cash machine in walking distance, or even a post office in some locations. How ofton do you need those in reality?

Amazon/Parcelfarce/UPS deliver to your door, the danger is if you cant sign for it they take it back to thier depot two towns away. But the likelyhood of having a decent neighbour to take parcels in or leaving them lightly concealed in the back garden is far greater.

Norwich does have quite a good 'scene' aided by it's university status amoung other things. the broads are nice but unless you are 'boaty' they only have so much charm. the open skies are noticable and many decent walks or cycle rides exist (Marriotts way for example).

Small towns like Attleborough still have some old world charm and old ironmongers shops, Butchers, specialist retailers etc. on the high street as well as supermarkets.

There are certain concerts/events that only happen in the Big Smoke and so you will have to travel for those, but how ofton is that in reality? Decent Broadband and satelight TV can make home anywhere.

It's a different lifestyle for sure. Fom my part I have lived in big and medium sized towns but prefer small towns and villages. YMMV.

Blaendulais

As you get old access to a hospital is important for definite some friends move to bude - miles away from hospital and sure enough one partner got ill with the other having to drive miles! 

Jalapeno

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Japan is on the cards here. Rent out our flat in London, and rent a small house in Japan. Just need to figure out what I would do for work. Maybe work remotely and freelance doing production work.

Would put the future of TNBD under pressure somewhat wouldn't it ?

ESBlonde

The getting old and making appointments is a consideration we had a couple of years ago. It was this them convinced us to stay in our present home, Convert it when the time comes for whatever needs we might have (stairlift etc.) and ensure we can still access essential amenities.

To us the benefits of being near grandchildren outweighs the benefit of living by the seaside, we can drive there when we want. The cash we save not moving pays for more holiday adventures for all of us. Meanwhile we keep the friends and neighbours we have and live in a nice community.

Jalapeno

VimFuego said:

we moved from a commuter village just inside the M25 (and basically part of Borehamwood) to a tiny village (pop about 150) 1/2 a mile from the middle of nowhere 9 years ago. Pluses are it's incredibly quiet here and at night dark (you need a torch if you get up in the night) and the countryside here is amazing, plus only half hour from dartmoor and the coast. Downsides, everywhere is a car journey away, work wise you need to be prepared for a long commute or work from home, small villages are incredibly clique, and everyone thinks they know your business and think they have a right to tell you what to do. If you don't join in with the village activities you risk being ostracized. We are actually thinking of moving and are looking at a small town or larger village, at least there is a bigger range of things to do. 

Ah .. The village shop gossip, and WI mafia.

When we moved in to our current place, the housebound pensioner next door already knew the name of our cat before we moved in !!!! Apparently "Mrs Smith told me" - only we didn't know a Mrs Smith hahahaha !!!!

When I was working in Belgium, the other neighbour rang me up to tell me my wife was going away somewhere for the weekend, I replied (from Brussels) "I know, she's sitting next to me"

CHRISB50

ThorpyFX said:

HAL9000 said:

We're currently living in Crawley. A town with a population of about 100,000 in West Sussex. Regularly turns up in 'crap town' lists, but is actually very conveniently located within half an hour's journey to London or Brighton, well served by motorways, rail, and is only ten minutes from Gatwick. Like any reasonably-sized town it has its problem areas, but it has been our home for nearly thirty years now.

Anyhoo, Mrs9000 and I are thinking it's time to relocate. The south east (as anyone who lives there will know) is getting massively more busy and more crowded than ever. Huge amounts of housebuilding going on. Car parking becoming increasingly difficult. Any car journeys are taking more time than ever as going any distance seems to involve an obligatory being stuck on the M25.

I've always been a townie, but since Mrs9000 is a Norfolk lass, our current thought is to move to a village or very small town within the Broadlands AONB. Probably with a population of 3000 - 4000. So far fewer amenities than I'm used to but I have to admit I'm actually quite liking the idea of a quieter and more relaxed way of life.

Anyone done anything similar? Did it work out for you? Anything we should be aware of that might not be obvious?

It's still early days and at the moment all we've really done is to narrow our search area, check out stuff like local pubs, GP surgeries, bus and rail links, etc. However, any advice or words of wisdom from your own experiences would really be appreciated.

Ta.

we moved to a lovely town called brackley near silverstone. beautiful area, close to oxford, the cotswolds and has a real community spirit about it. The town is lovely and so are the people.

Small world.

My wife's aunt and cousins all live in Brackley. They all moved from London / Surrey borders a few years back, and love it. They keep on trying to persuade us to move up there. It's tempting. It is a really lovely place. 

WiresDreamDisasters

Jalapeno said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Japan is on the cards here. Rent out our flat in London, and rent a small house in Japan. Just need to figure out what I would do for work. Maybe work remotely and freelance doing production work.

Would put the future of TNBD under pressure somewhat wouldn't it ?

Oh if we did it the band would undoubtedly finish, or they'd carry on without me. 

shrinkwrap

My nephew moved just round the corner from Silverstone (from London) - looks nice.

Me I'm West London near Heathrow and considering the south coast, but thinking being near a town would be good - then there's the need of a music room and being able to make noise.

p90fool

thumpingrug said:

thumpingrug said:

Moved three years ago from a town of 150000 to a village of 4000.  

Village of 4,000? Our nearest town only has a population of 900, and the county town is only 4,500, though it's all relative obviously.

Does 900 count as a town?

In Powys, yes. 

MrBump

Norfolk is lovely, and underrated.  Norwich as a city is pretty great too - not too big, not too small.  I lived around there in the sticks for a short while (Costessey), and would definitely consider moving back when the little burdens move on.