To think Surrey is the most boring place on earth?

[bricklanebagel]

DSis has moved there recently with her two kids, so they can get a dog and have more of a villagey feel.
I visited and my lord was it dull.

The people I met were all the same. All of them commuted into the city. Law or Finance, take your pick. They all dressed in the same country-esque garb, thinking they were in the deep English countryside. (No Veronica put down countrylife, you live in Surrey). Probably went to Oxbridge.

It seems to be very tory, all very much competing with each other. Keeping up with the Joneses whilst thinking secretly they’re too good for their 4 bed semi worth £1mil.

AIBU?

I grew up in part of Surrey just like the OP describes. Best thing I could say about my home town was it was half an hour by train to Waterloo. No youth clubs except the Young Conservatives who closed theirs once they realised no-one went on to join the Tories, no way of getting anywhere if your parents wouldn't drive you. Everyone I knew went to university elsewhere and never went back. Then a new generation want to get out of London to somewhere leafier and produce more bored teenagers.

There are too many people & too many cars on the road in Surrey, as a Pp says. I hate how crowded the roads are if I need to drive.

@jackparlabane really? Lots of people I know moved back here or to greater London after uni. A bunch of us stayed put & went to uni IN Surrey. That wasn't by design though, I just liked my uni, if it had been further afield I'd have still gone.

I moved to Surrey and love it here. Except, the London Surrey Cycle Race. Fuck off to another county the lot of them.

In the same way Croydon is - postally - Croydon, Surrey.

It isn't. Postally it's just Croydon and the postcode. Some websites force you to put a county in but it is incorrect.

What a strange viewpoint? You know Guildford is in Surrey right? Huge ice rink with ice hockey games, canal, every latest cool shop you could ever want or need. Huge university and science research park. Far from boring there.

Kingston isn’t Surrey postally at all. Put any postcode from RBK into the post offices address finder and it will be

40 Mumsnet Lane
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 111

No mention of Surrey, as it isn’t Surrey.

OhTheDramz

We'll have to agree to disagree - not least because the Post Office postcode finder doesn't show any counties

Rural Sweden is the most boring place on earth. AND IT'S BLOODY SNOWING AGAIN.

@EnthusiamIsDisturbed

You said “many parts are Boden and beige”

Which parts?

And what makes them more “Boden” over say, Dulwich or Clapham? Both are places I’ve lived in, and both are places where white middle-class folk seem to create their own Joules-powered enclaves of parent friendly cafes, etc?

The amusing part for me is how many people I’ve met in the last 8 years who have left London seeking larger housing, more countryside, and come here.

So if all those Boden wearing ex Londoners are here, surely there’s more of them in London where they came from etc...

Agh, it’s so silly even arguing this stuff. As someone born and raised in London I know it’s vibrancy and cultural riches, but you’re comparing apples with pomegranates here - it’s not a fair fight so to speak as for many, London will always win out for being more interesting by default.

@OhTheDramz

You’re both right and incorrect:

Correct in that Kingston is part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, which is part of the ceremonial county of Greater London. So technically as you said, Kingston is in London -

however -

Surrey’s County Hall is in Kingston, and centuries ago Kingston was part of the old “hundred” (county) of Surrey.

So as a result many people including my folks, believe Kingston to be an integral part of Surrey due to its historical association

Ha! Try living in the Fens....I miss Surrey....

Have you ever been to Thornton Heath?

I've never come across that geographical self-obsession anywhere else.

Ah, I see you've never been to Yorkshire.

I live in the Fens too @Raspberry, I wouldn’t move to Surrey if you paid me.

I think it is your sister and her coterie.

Let’s hope it isn’t in the DNA.

This thread has actually made me want to move to Surrey, especially after Chicky’s post.

Hang on - when did Staines, Woking and Runnymede stop being Berkshire?! Are Windsor and Slough also part of Surrey now?

@alsohuman I think I miss my friends more than anything, and the people I grew up with. Easy access to shops, I get everything delivered online here. Oh and trees...so many trees. But I don’t miss the insane house prices, or just the sheer amount of people! It was nuts last time I went back. I do like a Fen sunset

Croydon, Kingston, Sutton etc are Greater London boroughs but they are definitely in Surrey. Same as Romfotd is in a London borough, but is thoroughly Essex. Twickenham is Middlesex.

Take a trip to Lincolnshire. Now that's boring.

@Raspberry, I go into London about once a month for a shopping/culture fix and keep Hermes pretty busy too! But, oh the sunsets and the huge skies here ...

I live in Surrey now (close to Kingston but unarguably Surrey) It's perhaps boring compared to London or New York and not at all boring IMO compared to where I grew up - Suffolk then Bedford. Other people may disagree given we all like doing different things. What a really odd troll-y thread.

Oh are we doing this again?

Only boring people get bored, OP.

Another vote here for Hampshire.
I can always tell when we've crossed into Hampshire from another county, the trees and landscape is so lovely.

Middlesex isn't even a county anymore.

If you want to argue Kingston and Croydon used to be in Surrey, you can also argue that Battesea and Clapham used to be too.