Talk to me about real life outside London

[Herewegoagain84]

We’re considering the big move out. I’ve been a Londoner all my life and always considered I would stay, but I’ve got a third child cooking and I think it’s time. I know it sounds mad but I’d love to hear what your life outside London is like - especially with children at the weekend. We have everything so accessible to us here and always plenty to do. Can you talk me through how we might be spending our time and what activities you do / how weekends are spent? If you lived in London previously was it a good decision to move? Thanks!

@ufucoffee

Stay in London. We have loads of southerners moving up here with their loads of money and it's pushing the house prices up. Thanks

Southerners are moving North because they can't afford to live in the South anymore, though. It's horrible that it pushes house prices up but if prices came down in the SE, people would stay put.

I live in a northern town (one that is generally mentioned on nice places to live in Yorkshire threads) - at weekends we take the kids swimming, to gymnastics, to lots of nice countryside places, to the park etc. Cinema and bowling are nearby, there’s a couple of theatres in the nearest city and quite a few museums, castles etc. I don’t feel that my kids are living a deprived life by being 200 miles from London!!

@Armadeus

And let’s not forget a lot of northern towns are far from bustling. People banging on about how great the North is probably don’t live in the areas that MNetters warn us about lol They can afford to live in places like York and Harrogate, the dales, Knutsford, Chapel Allerton or wherever is a nice m/c enclave.

Nope, still think there’s life outside London

middle class Londoners moving out of London with money to spend will most likely end up in the bigger cities with the facilities they want

I’m equally sure that there are many Londoners for whom the availabily of opera and sushi is really a non issue.

I would probably be described as middle class, I live in a small midlands city, I don’t know if I can get sushi because I don’t want it. Not that fussed about opera either, but I have plenty of options for theatre, cinema, gigs and concerts, all of which I indulge in regularly

In terms of activities, much the same although most of the museums around me aren't free like London. My husband has really struggled though moving out and not driving (he has eye condition and can't). We are in a small city but still buses aren't frequent and no tubes or trams so he often feels pretty limited about where he can get to, unlike when he was in London.

My kids have grown up to be decent kids without the need to visit a museum or art gallery.

Were rural (3 miles from nearest shop/village) They had access to football and a swimming pool. At home we have electricity so they browse the internet,watch tv, xbox…..

Our weekends are so prescriptive in London

OP, can you come back and explain what you mean by this? I’m in London and don’t find it prescriptive at all!

The only difference is we don't get the 'London' tourist things on our doorstep. But believe it or not, there are other things to do outside of London such as theatres, museums, science places, country homes, parks, festivals, the list is endless, probably more than in London.

Our weekends consist of my my dd horse riding, household chores, parks, walking the dogs, swimming, kids activities and sometimes we might go out for a meal, to the cinema or theatre, and we're pretty rural. The difference to London is we drive rather than use public transportation

Outside of London generally people cannot reverse park and you can get away with dressing badly and looking like shit.

Also people tend to rave about a new amazing restaurant etc but when you go it’s like the shiftiest place you’ve ever eaten in London.

Apart from that about the same. Oh money goes a lot further.

I can’t comment. We still point at cars in our beautiful village.

Wow, so many incredibly rude responses . She is asking for advice, that's all!
OP, I live in Cheshire with twins age 11. They do all the usual after school activities like ballet, Gym, guides.. at the weekend we can go to Chester shopping (lovely city) we have museums, restaurants, national trust properties, the beach in Wales, gorgeous walks in the countryside, theatres, cinemas... But without the big city worries of London (and the cost) the country is your oyster ...go for it!

I'm confused really what you are asking for. I'm on the south coast and most weekends are filled with just normal extra curricular activities. They have swimming, ice skating and language school. After all that, they just need their down time to relax instead of doing more. In the half term we have been to ninja warrior, a museum, a country park trail (which has go ape but it's got damaged by Eunice), a sewing workshop, an observatory, treasure trail and more swimming. There are things for children to do everywhere. It'll just be different things. You might have the natural history museum but we have horse riding, canoeing and paddle boarding at our door step kind of thing.

We moved 'home' after 14 years when I was pregnant with our second. You need to plan where you're going and do your research obviously. We moved to the town I was born in. We have AONBs and National Parks on the doorstep and have walked a lot (with the kids), there is the usual misery of softplay. We chose a university town carefully so we would have the cultural side of stuff and have a good indie cinema and theatre that caters for families. We can get to the nearest city in an hour for other galleries and museums, which doesn't feel like a big deal really when the equivalent in London was about the same by tube. We love having more nature and quiet spaces on our doorstep. Just do your research. Good luck.

@emmathedilemma

I'm genuinely baffled by this question! What do you think people who don't live in London do on a weekend?? They go to swimming lessons, dance classes, music lessons, sports clubs, out for lunch / dinner, play in the park, visit museums and tourist attractions, go to the beach, friend's birthday parties.......I think the only thing that really differs is how long you might spend driving to such activities depending on where you live.

It’s not the same at all really. We don’t have to drive because the tube is amazing - we have the finest museums and gallery’s in the country. A great choice of Royal parks and the list of weekend clubs and after school activities is absolutely endless; sport and dance yes, but also filmmaking at the imax, Lego at imperial college, drama at Rada, impro at central school, dressmaking, exhibitions - the V&A, Science, Natural history all have regular kids activities. British Library, the reading rooms have writing workshops, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, the list is endless and there is undoubtedly far far more to do in London than rural areas or smaller towns, and you don’t need a car. There are definitely benefits to living outside of London too but I totally understand Op’s question and deliberations. We moved out op, only to Hertfordshire for good free schooling, thankfully we rented out London place out for a year. We hated it and now we’re back.

I live in Sussex and like to spend my weekends in London, if that's any help

Lived most of my life in a fairly quiet city on the south coast, moved to London at the beginning of the noughties - biggest difference was lack of good public transport - had to run a car, which I no longer do I'm happy to say, there was a lot less going on, only 1 theatre, 1 art gallery, 1 museum, so many more people seemed to go out purely to drink a lot - Friday and Saturday nights seem much more civilised in Central London,cafes and nice bars open, much more child friendly - I wouldn't go out in my old city on a Friday or Saturday night, and certainly would take children
But, the shops were much better, I had a range of big supermarkets close as well as a very nice shopping mall - London shops just not as good, especially for non food items, unless you go into the West end, which I find too hectic. So pros and cons I'd say

You know what OP, I get you. I moved to Nottinghamshire 20 years ago, as my fiancé lived here. I’m a self employed goldsmith, and whilst being here offered many favours ( lower mortgage, rural environment on your doorstep, no tube train commute), I found it very hard to adjust to living here. Depending on where you live ( I now live in a small semi rural town) t I think it can be difficult. I miss museums, galleries, decent shops on my doorstep. When I first came here there were no Costa or Starbucks, and virtually all the shops closed at 5 !. It’s a bit better now. You can’t not have at least one car - at the weekends, to go anywhere, because there is no decent public transport. It can feel constricted sometimes, and small minded. I’ve found rural views very different. Originally I had a jewellers here and women would often try something on and say “I’ll ask my husband”. At first I thought “ask your husband what?”, but there is a dearth of professional women here, and 20 years ago they simply didn’t self purchase anything!!- their husbands bought everything for them. . There are lots of farmers and women are simply farmers wives. I’ve found it very very hard to make friends due to the lack of professional and highly educated women here. Many women here have never worked in their life !. At first that was a completely alien concept to me, although I’m used to it now. I remember going to a large party here and a woman saying to me do “you have children?”. ( at that point I didn’t). I didn’t know what to say - because I pressed her and it appears she had never worked- All she really had to talk about was the children. So I would say move to the country, but be forewarned life can be very different …in Little ways he thought you would never even notice.

Some of these answers are hilarious 😂

I’d move back in a heartbeat if I could afford to. Outside London I miss the culture on my doorstep, wandering around museums on rainy days, the parks, the easy and cheap public transport, the good local independent restaurants, the corner shops with more than Happy Shopper type stuff. I miss cholla bread, good bagels, and career opportunities. I miss the variety at the cinema.

I love my beaches, the woodlands, the lack of pollution and ease of getting away ahead of the London crowd. But those are the only advantages.

Leave a door open for yourself if you can. Or look at moving near another cultural centre. It’s a shock at how little there is beyond the chain shops in some places. My town has two unis and it’s still culturally barren.

I think the best thing, OP, is to get out of London and travel around a bit before making a decision. See what kind of life you like. The area known as Not London is fairly big and varied!

Hmm, maybe don't risk the countryside, the natives sound hostile...

Love the bravery of OP question and the hilarious ( rude replies )
I do get it tho

But also ask is Docklands same as Richmond ? Depends on where in london

We lived somewherrr very densely packed and affluent - so we could stubble into a multitude of options and never drive , occasionally bus
Or tube

Out of london , depends on suburbs, countryside , metropolitan , small town and also wales / Scotland or even Northern Ireland !

I would say most people on london centre can get away without a car but that’s a bigger issue elsewhere
Out of london having local family and friends is an issue as they aren’t full of incomers from all over

It can be tough living somewherrr where everyon went to the same grammar school and now the same mums groups

I think education is the biggest factor
In london - it’s not a lot of easy options for senior age state schools in every area
Some parts of the country have grammar and private options

Good luck !

Only 2 main differences....1 people are a lot more friendly and 2 it's also a lot bloody cheaper...... You couldn't pay me enough to move back to London again 😭😭😭

We moved from London to the Cotswolds. We all pretty much do the same things. Surprisingly art galleries, theatre, book talks, amazing restaurants and such like are actually closer as some of the larger villages have some pretty amazing facilities. I love the lack of traffic and no traffic lights as do the kids. Everyone is incredibly friendly and there’s a lot going on. I love being in the heart of nature too, obviously we got a dog! I miss London but won’t ever go back.

@Bangolads

We moved from London to the Cotswolds. We all pretty much do the same things. Surprisingly art galleries, theatre, book talks, amazing restaurants and such like are actually closer as some of the larger villages have some pretty amazing facilities. I love the lack of traffic and no traffic lights as do the kids. Everyone is incredibly friendly and there’s a lot going on. I love being in the heart of nature too, obviously we got a dog! I miss London but won’t ever go back.

I would love to know where you are in the Cotswolds!