to wonder what country life is really like?

[longestlurkerever]

I've always wanted to start a thread to ask what people in the countryside actually do at weekends and after work, but thought it might come across as a bit rude. But there have been so many threads asking how people can bear living in London lately that I am just going to ask.

I love beautiful countryside. Sometimes I feel if I moved somewhere glorious I could just sit and drink in the view and feel happy. But then I kick myself and think "but what would you actually do?" Where would you take the kids when they're driving you mad and you just need to get out of the house? Would you really just go for yet another walk? Do kids really keep themselves entertained all day with a stick like MN would have you believe? What about when it's dark at 4pm or wet every weekend for months?

So, people who enjoy country life - can you describe what you actually fill your time with? Especially if you're a bit meh about horses and animals in general? Or is that no one who lives in the country?

But I can't fathom getting up the next day and doing it all over again seasons... the answer to that is we get proper seasons and weather, so it all looks, feels completely different!

Collecting conkers here would lead to finding all sorts of other stuff, secret spaces made by new/old grwoth, mouse holes, colours, contrasts, camera opportnities galore! Smells, sights, sounds you can hardly imagine... 4 hours later you would find yourself back at the car or house... winter days bring hot chocolate and a teacake and that cozy snug warm feel... no time to wonder about it, lost of oppertunity to do it again, differently... acorn, helicopters, beech nuts... balckberries, damsons...

And there are as many places to go as there are in a city... as much variety too, some is just a bit further away! But much is right on the doorstep and free!

Wizzywig - yes, I suppose that makes sense. The thing that does irritate me about London is how difficult it is to get out of - especially as the surrounding countryside is a bit meh, and the nearest coast is busy. Although trains are good, if £££.

I didn't grow up in London, so am not one of those people, but I have never lived in the countryside.

There is countryside and countryside though. I live on the Wiltshire Somerset border about 20 minutes from Bath to the north and 20 minutes from Longleat/Centerparcs to the south. It's a small town, green and pretty, so you can be walking through a forest or by a river in a few minutes, but on a boring Sunday 30 minutes on the train and you can be in Harvey Nicks in Bristol. We also have a cinema, Wagamama/Nandos etc, independent coffee shops, and a big Boots with proper makeup counters. This is perfect for me - I grew up in a village in Yorkshire between Leeds and Manchester so I need options.

I couldn't live any further down into Somerset. There are towns that literally have a post office and a pub within 30 miles.

What a funny question!! People in the country do the same as people in towns!!

This weekend I've taken ds to rowing and dd to netball match, been out to dinner, supermarket shop, bought a v nice pair of shoes on impulse! Walked the dog, looked at endless flooring samples etc etc.

We have the same stuff as towns you know! Cinemas, theatres, restaurants etc etc.

I live in a v small village (no shop / bus etc etc) about 6 miles from a riverside town - it's v much an area people move out of London to for the schools. We have fab shops, Michelin starred restaurants, clean air and can be in central London in an hour (better journey then when I lived in Clapham).

I think it's easy when you live in London to think that the rest of the world are backward, culture deprived yokels!!

longestlurkerforever

I miss London. I miss living in London. I can be at Waterloo in just over an hour (& £20 train, & £8 parking), but it's not the same as living there.

I live in what's technically a village, but lacks any character as its a real 'drive through' place, semi rural. Not proper countryside though, I think I'd actually prefer that - fields, trees, dogs, wellies...here it's just as dull as fuck. Yes we can drive to shops (deep joy), cinema, soft play etc but you need a 'place' to go to, whereas in London you're IN a place, there's so much to see & do without have a thing or place in mind, you just go out.

However, chances of buying a house, anywhere I'd want to live, in London are as remote as the Queen deciding to live in a two up, two down.

Must remember to buy a lottery ticket this week!

We live in the countryside and never struggle to find things to do. We're 10 miles from the nearest town which has good shops, cinema, swimming pool and soft play but actually don't go there much. We're immensely lucky to also be only 30 mins from the most beautiful coastline, not the 'kiss me quick' type of seaside resorts but miles and miles of sandy beach and woodland walks. Bliss.

We have a 3 acre garden so my kids really can entertain themselves all day with a stick! Well, that and climb the trees, paddle in our stream, ride their bikes (not many places you can do that in safety without being on roads/paths), just poke about making things out of bits and pieces they find laying around, blackberry picking off our brambles (we've just made 3 huge raised beds so there will be lots of veg/fruit growing going on soon I hope), they ride their quads in our paddock...the list is endless. They are excellent at entertaining themselves, something I wonder whether children who grow up in a more urban area are good at?

My eldest DD has just started to learn to ride a horse so having our own in the near future is looking like a possibility, that will provide plenty for her to do with mucking out etc as well as riding. When the weather is bad the children play indoors - Lego, drawing/painting/craft activities/baking. They also spend a fair amount of time when it's raining playing Minecraft but as they are outside pretty much the rest of the time I'm willing to let it go over my head rather than be too strict about screen time. On Sunday's if we don't have anything else planned we love to snuggle and watch a movie with the wood burner fired up. My teenager does need lifts occasionally when wanting to go shopping or meet friends but I just suck it up as one of the very few disadvantages to living where we do. All her friends live equally as remotely, albeit in different villages, so she's no different to everybody else that she knows.

I'm sure the countryside must seem boring compared to the hustle of living in a city but I can't think of anything worse. I also couldn't imagine a life where I would feel the need to go somewhere just to keep the children entertained. Here I just open the back door and shove them outside

I like the community spirit of a country village. I know most of the people on my street, and we all look out for each other. You could knock on any door in the village and people would have a vague idea of who you are and would help you out.

I like getting my eggs and veg from the neighbour down the road as I pass her house on the dog walk. I like that my postman delivers parcels through the cat window and stands for a chat whenever I answer the door. I like that I can stroll through the village without 20 people rushing past talking on mobile phones.

Those kind of things make up for the lack of things to do for me.

I lived in London and did nothing, because it was so tiring. I found the tube tiring, the people everywhere and the noise drove me mad. I couldn't walk anywhere slowly because I'd automatically follow the pace of other pedestrians and end up rushing to nowhere. There was so much to do, but I do no less now I live rurally. But that's because I don't like having things to do all the time. I love doing nothing.

Many of my London friends think my life is boring. It probably is. There's only so much you can do and there isn't the variety of London. I only live about an hour (max) away from London in case I ever want to watch a show or visit something in particular. The need hasn't arisen yet though

I think that when you don't have everything on your doorstep you need to use your imagination more.

We also have a (council owned) stately home near us which has a lovely grounds a working farm that is also an attraction for children, a fantastic adventure playground and an excellent farm shop. They often have events throughout the year ranging from music festivals, food festivals etc to children's activities based on seasonal themes - Easter, Halloween, Christmas etc.

We live very rurally and I've always loved it. DH and I both grew up on farms and have never liked living in a town. We tried it once and neither of us coped very well with having neighbours right next door and the general hustle and bustle. Our children don't live at home anymore and they've all chosen to live rurally too. When they were small we walked a lot, rode, went for bike rides, baked, they swam in streams in summer and froze their arses off building dams etc Most people on the farms around us had children so we socialised with them and still do. I don't really like the city but we normally visit once a week or so for meals out and shopping.

I ride a lot at weekends and walk for miles with the dogs as well as bake and meet friends for lunch at the local pub on a Sunday. I run a lot too as does DH and he also cycles.

During the week I go to body combat, meta fit, yoga and swim on the way home from work.

It's not for everyone but I can honestly say I never get lonely or feel bored.

We get the train into London

We don't really live the country life though - more semi-rural village. We do have to drive just about everywhere.

We live on the outskirts of a village in Norfolk. We have a pub that does food (and a really nice pint), a shop with a deli counter and off licence, a coffee shop, a primary school, a dr, and a playground. We also have lots of footpaths. And a huge garden backing onto open fields. And open fields at the front. And fast broadband (faster than my parents in a town).

I can be on a dual carriageway in under ten minutes, and in Norwich in half an hour for shops, restaurants, museums etc. They let us yokels in, you know. We don't even need a passport.

If for some reason I didn't have a car, the nearest train station is just about in cycling distance.

At weekends we do what most people do... We walk the dog, get a coffee, do jobs, maybe go into town. Sometimes we even remove the straw from our teeth and take off our wellies

I live on the outskirts of a large but isolated village with about 1500 occupants. There is no bus service at weekends and the 2hourly bus that runs Monday to Friday. You do need at least one car. At weekends we carry on as most people do, if we go out for a drink in town and want to stay out a bit later than 10pm it's cheaper to book the premier inn and have breakfast than get a cab home. Normally we stay in, watch Netflix, walk to dog etc

If I lived in the country, I wouldn't like having to drive everywhere. I'm always struck by the fastness of the country roads and the lack of pavements when I drive through the countryside.

I agree with Ollycat. I live very rural - isolated house about 1.5 miles from nearest village. But I can't imagine my weekend (driving kids to sports clubs, lunch out in pub, trip to library, dog walk/scooting, supermarket shop, friends for dinner) would be any different if I lived in central London.

When kids were younger, it was the same - soft-play, playdates/coffee with friends, toddler groups, baby signing classes. What does anyone with kids do - it's all same old, same old.

Teenage years may be different though.

At the moment we are fishing
I love peace and quiet.

In my experience, life in the city is theoretically full of amenities but in practice choices are limited because things to do are expensive, more crowded and take ages to get to due to traffic. I don't know how much time city-dwelling parents spend taking their kids to cityish things like museums and cutting-edge 'events' but I suspect it's not that much on balance.

We walk our kids everyday which takes ages whether it's at a park, beach or forest. Washing the dog is hell good messy play which also takes ages.

Provided you have a car there are usually church toddler groups, libraries and baby faffing classes same as anywhere else.

And provided you have people to meet for coffee, there is usually a tea shop.

There are brownies, scouts and youth groups.

The things I miss are a good cinema, an eclectic second hand book shop and coffee shops that open late. Having said that, the time we used to spend sitting in traffic was much more than time spent accessing those things.

They are excellent at entertaining themselves, something I wonder whether children who grow up in a more urban area are good at?

I don't know - my dd2 is tiny really. Dd1 is not great at it, no - I have tried shoving her into a big garden on holiday - but if there is another child about I don't see her for dust. She strikes casual friendships very easily - which I struggled with as a child. Perhaps we breed different skills?

It's horses for courses thought isn't it? I can't bear living in a city (although good restaurants and theatre are nice) and absolutely love where we live now. We have a big house and an acre of land and there's always plenty to do. Plus we get to see lots of wildlife in our own garden, bats, deer, badgers, owls etc. I can easily while away an hour just bird watching.
It suits me, it wouldn't suit my brother for example.

Reading this thread with interest as we're thinking of a move to country life too.

To be honest I'm not someone who has to be entertained by going to see stuff all the time, I find constant days out a bit wearing. I'm quite happy going for walks or working on my garden, chilling or reading. I have a couple of hobbies I meet up with other people to do every week. I do go to the theatre and the cinema and concerts and museums and galleries but not every weekend and not just for something to do, only if it was something I particularly wanted to see.

We live about 5 miles from the nearest town, but we are near a railway station so my teen transports herself and the older ones can drive. My ten year old has been playing football for the village team this morning and has now disappeared round to his mates on his bike; he is quite capable of entertaining himself. My DH has gone for a bike ride, my elder DS has gone for a run.

I grew up in a rural village and loved it - not a lot of "amenities" but still saw a lot of friends round at their houses or went on walks (did a lot of walking on my own which I still love). In fact, I would love to have stayed but I got priced out of the local area and ended up moving abroad.

we live in what is disguised as v rural - nearest international airport is 30 mins, motorways only 10 mins though and London train 5 mins walk to teeny none manned 3 platform station but surrounded by single track roads and fields and farmers, nearest shop is 1mile same for pub although there are more pubs slightly further a field. Nrst supermarket 6 miles and petrol even further. There are swimming polls, a local club or two with pools and other facilities including racket sports, cycling, local attractions and museums there are plenty within 10 miles as it is fairly touristy over one side, smallish local town with library and shops, swimpool and small museum, bowling slightly further affield as is cinema although there are 3 within 20 min drive. There are approx 4 National Trust style places within 30 minutes and another 2 slightly further. Train we have access to Bham and London and all places in between. However if we want to catch the bus we have to phone them up the day before!

I think it depends how rural you are. I live in a small-ish town in a fairly rural area, but with larger towns in an easily driveable distance. For me, without me and DH both owning a car it would be potentially quite isolating, as there is no train station here, and bus services are poor. However because we both drive we can freely access restaurants, shops, etc whenever we want, without having the noise and chaos without having to live in the middle of it. We tend to spend most of our evenings at home, but that's largely because we have 2-year old DD now. Before then we used to go out pretty often, although if both me and DH wanted to drink we would have to go somewhere in town so neither of us had to drive, so that was a bit limiting as there's only really a couple of decent restaurants there. Often though we just to take it turns to drink if we went out further afield. Other than that our life is probably not much different to people who live in cities. Contrary to popular opinion we have fibre internet and Netflix etc!

Smelly!

Farms around here have been muck spreading this last week and the smell is great for clearing the sinuses! House stinks if you leave the door and windows open but better than smog

We are now in a small town an hour from a smallish city. The town has shops, cafes, library, groups for various activities. City has more/bigger shops, cafes, bigger library with longer hours, theatre. Both places have nice walks and small hills, wooded areas, parks. We had a house in a field when children were younger - wherever we lived I'd have taken them places. True, living there would have been hard if depending on buses, but activities very similar. My DC often would go for walks alone, older looking after younger ones - much like my experience of childhood on the edge of a city decades ago.