to move rurally with a 1 and 2 year old?

[punnedout]

We currently live in a small town, and dream of rural living. I've found a house in the country, but it's 7 miles from the local primary school and only has one neighbour (and other houses in fairly close proximity down the lane, but no 'community' as such). It is 4 miles from 'civilisation', but there is nothing around it other than livestock! I am prepared to drive my DCs around, but am worried that they will feel isolated in due course. On the flip side, I think the rural experience will benefit them in many other ways.

Does anybody have experience of this and making it work? When my eldest starts school I know that I will need to ferry him around to see friends etc, which may be more inconvenient than living centrally, but surely this is doable? Am I condemning him to never having friends to visit him?

This has been our dream for years, but now that it may be a reality I'm having a wobble. It's a nightmare commute for me, but I'm not sure I'll be in my work location long-term, so I don't want to compromise our life for that. It's the DCs that I'm worried about.

I suppose what I'm saying (rambling) is that it's a massive leap of faith and there must be people out there who think it's worth it and make it work

yes, his septic tank def substandard. We simply never ever talk about ours except for one time when we had to have it emptied. Don't blame you for getting bored by that topic of conversation. Would put me off my cup of tea.

Mintyy
''Sounds like you lived in some sort of Enid Blyton novel AuntieDee.''

Pretty much and it's fab :) This is the view from the kitchen window :)

I don't have septic tank!!!!!

Punned

We moved out here when ds was 7 months. We converted an old barn with a big garden in a very similar sounding location to yours.
We are 7 miles from school and shops, 45 mins from decent clothes shops and a major town. We have since had dd so the dc are now 5 and 2.

Our previous house was a semi on an estate in the major town with a postage stamp garden and the neighbours from hell.

Living here is bliss. I wake up to peace and quiet and birdsong. The kids go out to play in the garden in the pjs and if they make a lot of noise it doesn't matter even at 7am!
We grow fruit and veg and the dc love picking and eating it before it makes it into the house. I'm yet to convince dh to get chickens but I will..
We are surrounded by fields but we do have grandad next door which is really good when I run out of something as he usually has it! He has ducks too which is handy for eggs.

I can honestly say I have made new friends living here than I ever have before. People make more of an effort here and invite each other for coffee. There are also loads of toddler groups in nearby villages and towns which I drove to with ds. I have found a bf too and see her everyday on the school run, we have each other's kids most weeks so the other can have a break and its fab.

There is a family a few fields over with two girls the same age as my two and they will be able to walk to each other's houses when a bit older. There is a local school bus from the gate but I chose to send the dc to a different school so I drive them there. Ds has made loads of friends and often has them back for tea. Everyone here is used to ferrying kids about to activities and picking them up from play dates so it's the norm really.

I don't know what we will do when the kids are teens as there really isn't much for them to do here. I hope they will get into sport or riding etc so they have hobbies to amuse them. There is a pool and a youth cafe nearby but I would have to drive them.
So we may move back to town when they are older I don't know. I don't want them to fall into the sex/drugs/drink trap which I know a lot of rural kids do (me!)

I find living out of town is less isolating.
I thought we are on a cess rather than septic tank.Our nose is our guide as to emptying.Its no issue -I've lived using long drop before (and wouln't worry me if I did again tbh)
Purple its good your neighbour has ducks.Chickens should be no problem for you then,Even a pair of geese.I'm considering upgrading to guard geese.

Auntie that is beautiful.I'd never go indoors,just make a shelter on that little patio bit.

If you can afford land for your children to roam free, great. You can't just walk over people's land, crops etc... So unless you are on a public footpath, you may need to get in the car to go anywhere. My kids only really meet their friends at clubs, every day I drive, EVERY day. Think about how you would cope if you broke your arm and couldn't drive. Internet is rubbish here, less than 2mb. Fuel is horrendous! Oil and Diesel! Nearest hospital miles and miles away (think A&E visits)!
Some communities are great, others are not that welcoming depending on where and when you land there. In a very isolated area you may be reliant on people you have nothing in common with!