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!

You need to not give a monkeys when your car inevitably gets it’s wingmirrors knocked off/ scratched down the side as the roads are so narrow too.

@merrymouse

“merrymouse I managed to answer nonetheless. Wasn’t so hard.

Yes, but not necessarily helpfully.
OP seemed to think so as she thanked me…”

I’m not sure which post she was thanking you for, but I hope it wasn’t this one:

“the answer to the OP's question is that she finds her weekends very dull because there's not enough to do and the people, with exceptions, are not wildly interesting.”

If you genuinely can’t understand the problem with your post, and why the the best reading you could hope for is ‘unintentionally humorous’, it’s difficult to know where to start.

That wasn’t actually the post but congrats for caring enough to trawl through the thread.

You can read it how you like, it’s true. If you genuinely can’t understand that not everyone is going to like every area of the country, what can anyone do.

No trawling required. It was quite a memorable post. It would be offensive if it didn’t reveal more about the person making the comment.

Having visited London regularly for years as I have family there I can tell you the differences between life in the cheshire countryside (I live in a hamlet, we have a pub and a wi, there's a nature reserve behind my house and the school is tiny)

I am about 15-30 minute drive from a large town and 1hr from 2 major cities.

There is no public transport, loads of activities to do but all drivable.

I can see the starts so clearly, there is zero light pollution. When it snows I am usually fine if the road is gritted and if it is not it can be tricky.

WiFi is pants, no one knocks on my door bar the local lady delivering the village news letter. The main crime is fly tipping.

Schools are amazing, free high school school bus picks up outside my house and drops off again as there are no pavements.

Very low violent crime figures, my kids are safe when they go out, no one drops kids off at school smoking or in pjs

Council tax is v expensive and you are off grid
For gas and water

Oh and parking is free and easy

@BarbaraofSeville

Howls at the worldly sophisticated Londoner scouring multiple shops for canned haricot beans, without realising you can just rinse the sauce off baked beans, which are probably one of the most widespread food items in the UK, even in Not London.

Absolutely! Totally rolling my eyes at this!

@merrymouse

No trawling required. It was quite a memorable post. It would be offensive if it didn’t reveal more about the person making the comment.

If you want to find the experience of someone you’ve never met offensive that’s you to you.

I’d suggest your claim that ‘most people’ spend their weekends gardening and walking the dog may not be as universal as you think. Or perhaps it is and perhaps that’s the problem.

Real life outside London??

There is none. Please stay where you are.

The rest of the country and the population of around 60 million people don’t have a real life. We are all horrid shadows of the real life that is London.

Please we’re begging you, for your own good and the life of your unborn child, stay in London.

😂😂😂😂😂

@LaChanticleer

Real life outside London??

There is none. Please stay where you are.

The rest of the country and the population of around 60 million people don’t have a real life. We are all horrid shadows of the real life that is London.

Please we’re begging you, for your own good and the life of your unborn child, stay in London.

Really made me chuckle.

Ok so read the first pages of replies snd maybe the rest follow on that theme. I've lived in London, moved out to a town 70 miles away and really happy to be back in London. I'm not up the west end every day but I just love the 'vibe', for lack of a better word.
Your day to day might not be vastly different, but there are some things to consider.
A friend did move when her kids were very small (snd she was brought up near where she moved to so no surprises), but it was very different from a grown up perspective. In the car for everything. Kids did go to nearby school for primary but then to separate secondaries so back in the car for even longer school run. Very insular and they ended up joining the local church once they realised the social scene revolves around that. Miles away from their friends. Basically she was pretty lonely. And she couldn't let her kids out to ride their bikes or walk to the local village - those high hedgerows, speeding cars and winding roads are not bike friendly! Farmers are not that happy to have you traipsing across their fields either.
In London you are generally a few minutes walk from shops cafés, transport, parks, museums, all sorts. It's the walkability I like.
If you want peace and isolation and don't mind being a taxi go rural. If you want hustle and bustle and kids who can get themselves out and about stay where you are. Of course it doesn't have to be either/or - a smaller city or market town may be a decent compromise. I think when your kids reach secondary it highlights the issues.

@LaChanticleer

Real life outside London??

There is none. Please stay where you are.

The rest of the country and the population of around 60 million people don’t have a real life. We are all horrid shadows of the real life that is London.

Please we’re begging you, for your own good and the life of your unborn child, stay in London.

😆

I’m really thinking I’m going to have to leave London permanently and join all you sane people.

@ukborn

Ok so read the first pages of replies snd maybe the rest follow on that theme. I've lived in London, moved out to a town 70 miles away and really happy to be back in London. I'm not up the west end every day but I just love the 'vibe', for lack of a better word. Your day to day might not be vastly different, but there are some things to consider. A friend did move when her kids were very small (snd she was brought up near where she moved to so no surprises), but it was very different from a grown up perspective. In the car for everything. Kids did go to nearby school for primary but then to separate secondaries so back in the car for even longer school run. Very insular and they ended up joining the local church once they realised the social scene revolves around that. Miles away from their friends. Basically she was pretty lonely. And she couldn't let her kids out to ride their bikes or walk to the local village - those high hedgerows, speeding cars and winding roads are not bike friendly! Farmers are not that happy to have you traipsing across their fields either. In London you are generally a few minutes walk from shops cafés, transport, parks, museums, all sorts. It's the walkability I like. If you want peace and isolation and don't mind being a taxi go rural. If you want hustle and bustle and kids who can get themselves out and about stay where you are. Of course it doesn't have to be either/or - a smaller city or market town may be a decent compromise. I think when your kids reach secondary it highlights the issues.

Again is not unique to London ,I live less than a mile frima large town in the northwest just like London everything is on my doorstep , if you are going to compare at least compare like for like 🙄

I'm sorry but I keep seeing this in my watched threads and the title makes me chuckle to myself
There is no civilisation out of London!

There is no civilisation out of London!

Shhhh! Keep up the pretence, so people like the OP don't realise.

speak for yourself Chanticleer we have very civilisation here, even saw a Man Bun in the wild while out hunting for mung beans the other day.

And she couldn't let her kids out to ride their bikes or walk to the local village - those high hedgerows, speeding cars and winding roads are not bike friendly! Farmers are not that happy to have you traipsing across their fields either.

So she moved to the country without any realistic idea of what that meant.
Of course you can’t go wandering where you fancy.

@DomesticatedZombie

speak for yourself Chanticleer we have very civilisation here, even saw a Man Bun in the wild while out hunting for mung beans the other day.

A man bun in the wild! I'm hoping you had your catapult with you.

even saw a Man Bun in the wild while out hunting for mung beans the other day

ooo you have waepons You are in an advanced civilisation. We're still trying to figure out how fire works, here.

@ukborn surely no one over to the countryside with the belief that they can traipse across farmer’s fields as they please?! I know some Londoners are out of touch but that’s a new level of stupidity and arrogance.

Maybe we should assemble a welcome basket/survival kit for OP?

A catapult from @Maireas, field notes for stalking beans from @DomesticatedZombie ...

What else?

@Stravaig

Maybe we should assemble a welcome basket/survival kit for OP?

A catapult from @Maireas, field notes for stalking beans from @DomesticatedZombie ...

What else?

An emergency hamper consisting of tahini, haricot beans and brown rice.

I'll throw in some dry sticks to make fire with, as a generous gesture of welcome.

In London you are generally a few minutes walk from shops cafés, transport, parks, museums, all sorts. It's the walkability I like

Pretty certain people in my city can do that. Except museums. It's a bit of a walk to our nearest museum - but i guess people in London don't always have museums just a few minutes walk away. As London is a massive city and it has museums but not always just a few minutes walk away.

I'll add:

• A soothing soundscape, but instead of birdsong/waves/crackling fire, it's bustling coffee shop/car horns/jackhammers/dozens of different languages all at once (this last I do miss outwith the big world cities).

• A giant jar of activity suggestions, from genuine local recommendations, to challenges (go see what x is like), to all the satire in this thread (lamping for rabbits, knitting with seaweed etc). Pull out a random suggestion, sorted.