What are your experiences living in a rural area? Any regrets? Advice needed!

[cabinbythelake20]

Looking at buying a home 🏡

Me and DP are early 30s no DCs yet

We both love the outdoors and spend considerable time in the country, walking, exploring etc Neither of us enjoy going out drinking or being in a busy city.

We both work in Manchester and are looking at moving to a quieter peaceful area.

There is a house on the market about 10 mins drive from two towns/villages but the location of the house is very rural, few shops and few neighbours. Lots of open land around the house. Travel into the city centre is not too far away (30 mins drive outside of peak hours). Both have flexible jobs and hours so can work outside of rush hour.

I guess I'm looking for experiences of those who have moved to a rural area and if you have any regrets?

For those who are from Manchester the areas we are considering are tabley/mere/hoogreen/high legh/plumley. (The two towns/villages I referred to are knutsford and lymm)

Thank you in advance

Your photos show a main road. I lived much deeper into countryside.

4x4 was necessary for us. Buy 2

I grew up rurally. Nowhere was walking distance. My parents asked if we would ever want to live in their house, DH was well up for it until I pointed out I couldn't work, you have to do the school run twice a day (in the car) because there is literally no other option until dc go to secondary school. Then the council provides a coach because it's over the max distance.

It's lovely for adults and the kids like going and running around in their garden but it would be very isolating with a baby and it's rubbish for teenagers. And getting in the car every single time you want something gets old.

And they have a cesspit rather than mains drainage, and 100 year old drains. I have fond memories of the Xmas Day the drains backed up and my dad spent most of the afternoon with drain rods unblocking them

We moved from London to a far more rural area and we love it! We made a mistake and bought somewhere too rural for us initially and the things we learned that time around were:

• If the open land and fields around you are farm land, don't expect peace and quiet. Getting woken up at 6am by tractors is something we stupidly never even thought about and it was a common occurrence. It'd literally shake the house and sometimes go on all day.
• The constant loud bangs from bird scarers are incredibly annoying and sent our dogs loopy.
• The SMELL. When farmers spread muck on the fields it reeks, having the windows open wasn't possible without the house stinking.
• The dust. So much dust when things are being harvested, again, having the windows open wasn't really possible.
• We thought we wanted to be in a house with no neighbours and nothing around, but in reality this just meant the house took a real beating if there was ever bad weather as there was nothing to protect us.
• No gas or oil central heating meant we had to have LPG gas which cost a bloody fortune. And you have to be so organised with it as if you run out unexpectedly sometimes it can take a week or so to get more delivered. Nightmare in the winter.
• Nowhere to walk the dogs. Although it was fields everywhere it was all farmland, so off limits. It ended up being a further away drive to a country park than it was when we lived in London.
• Water is more expensive. Something we didn't expect, but the water company said it's because they have to pump the water out further?

General things we've learned

• We have to be more organised when it comes to shopping and things like that. Running out of bread for example is more of an inconvenience, but you get by. If you have a craving for chocolate late of an evening, you're out of luck. Everywhere nearby shuts early and often, things like chip shops only open one or two days a week.
• Everyone seems to be in bed by 8pm!
• There's definitely a greater sense of community. Where we are now have scarecrow competitions and "who can grow the biggest potato" competitions and all sorts of little villagey events. Often lots to do if you want to be involved.
• Nothing goes unseen or unnoticed in a small village.
• There are approximately 0 takeaways that will deliver
• Very few chain restaurants around, which is both fantastic and inconvenient if you like to treat yourself on Tesco clubcard vouchers from time to time. It means a trip into the city.

On the plus side, the quiet, the beautiful scenery, the feeling of being safer, the fact we're spoilt for choice with places to walk the dogs and explore make it all worth it. It's a stunning place to grow up and it's such a treat to look up at the sky at night and see stars upon stars upon stars. I could never go back to city life now.

Oh yes, i forgot the cesspit and no gas issues. They can come as a shock if you’re not expecting them.

Pretty much as PP's have said, but particularly the mud

We wouldn't change it for the world but it's sometimes annoying when DS(16) wants a lift at midnight and we like to be tucked into bed at 10pm We often need to remind ourselves that this was our choice and we need to do all we can to ensure DS doesn't miss out because of it. He and his mates have however managed to work out an acceptable rota between us parents, which eases some of the pressure.

Also factoring in how long it takes to do anything simple - a routine trip to the GP is at least an hour for example.

You need decent vehicles and both be happy to drive in all weathers. Also forget any notions of an impromptu night out, as PP's have already said its a logistical nightmare of getting there, then (even more importantly) getting back and then arranging to pick the car up the next morning.

I would definitely say go for it, but be prepared to be part of the community. The people who don't get on in our village are those who move in but are very insular and don't get involved in village life. It's all very well having a bustling circle of friends elsewhere, but a bit tedious when your neighbours are indifferent to you because you didn't attend the botanical art exhibition / jam and produce show / tractor run (delete as applicable)

I love it. No regrets and we now have DD.

We live in a tiny hamlet, no shops or pub but there is one just over a mile away. 10-15 mins to a small supermarket and 45 mins-1hour to a city pre-lockdown (I’m told it’s quicker now).
We are unsociable buggers though who aren’t interested in going out and happy to drive everywhere. I have a horse, DH shoots and we live in a very agricultural area which suits us.
The one thing we do have is excellent fibre and that was our only condition. We ruled out some areas based on that as need super fast internet for work and leisure. No phone signal though!

We do have a fantastic but tiny primary school in next village but secondary is a 25 min coach trip away.

It’s not the place to live if you don’t like cows or sheep though, we had one incomer who moaned about the noise of lambs and the smell of slurry

10 mins from a town is not that rural, sounds like you'll have ready access to some facilities.

I love living rurally, but it suits me. I'm not a big socialiser and I love walks and gardening.

The things that I think come as a surprise are having to shop carefully as you can't pop to the shops (this sounds like it might not be a problem for you) and having to be stocked for.being snowed in. Also more regular power cuts which last for longer times.

I think people in rural communities can be unwelcoming at first. If you stick with the community, and make an effort to join in, people come round

I've lived in such a rural area that at night time you couldn't see a little bit down the garden, it would be pitch black. I'll be honest it didn't suit me, I hated it. I missed noise, we couldn't get broadband and I wouldn' t see anyone unless I drove off to go to the shops, about 15 minutes away (we lived next door to a farm but you rarely saw anyone). You couldn't walk around there as absolutely no paths and very dangerous roads so you really were an island. We live in the country now but have some neighbours and the shops aren't as far. I think you'll know how you feel OP. If you get excited when you drive around there, cool, if you keep wondering if you can manage, I'd probably keep looking