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 keep Hermes busy”...

...“Surrey is boring and full of snobs”..

Raspberry and Alsohuman you can’t beat a Fenland sunset. Wouldn’t live anywhere else. Although slightly envious of DH who I’ve just dropped off at train station for an evening in London

@ShannonRockallMalin Hope he has a fab time! I wish it wasn’t so expensive to get in, would love to do a theatre trip. But by the time I’ve bought train tickets for me and DD and then theatre tickets it’s like £300 without a meal

Is Surrey full of nigels then, I imagine it to be middle class dullsville

Which counties are interesting and why?

There are ups and downs to every place. I don’t know Surrey very well, so won’t comment.

But if you live in Hampstead, OP, you’re probably minted with very high standards.

Well it depends where you live in Surrey. Not every town is villagey/countrysidey. I live in Surrey and in my town half of it is nice and the other half is not so good

Surrey used to be fun until they finished the M25 - which then gave the green light to everyone from everywhere that moved to London, made their mint and then moved to Surrey to commute to London.

So don't blame the County for it being dull, blame the 'London Money' commuters for bringing their 'dullness' with them, and causing London-similar property bubbles in places like Reigate and the now-not-so-poor Redhill.

Haven't lived there for years as I found all those London commuters so boring and the prices of rent well out of reach of simple-folk like myself.

Kingston isn’t in Surrey. It’s in a London borough.

This is a very triggering statement for the postcode mafia.

I grew up in Surrey and I totally agree. So dull! I left for uni and never returned, which my parents can’t seem to understand. My mum in particular is very much a Surrey bore.

Kingston is a Surrey address.

Nope, it’s not. It used to be but it’s now a London borough.

Google it

but they are definitely in Surrey.

In the case of Croydon, only if you are still living in the early 1960s

Grew up in Surrey,left home to train as a nurse in London and never moved back.Lived in many places including Italy,now in the Midlands.I miss the trees,being near the sea and the glorious South Downs.

I don’t miss the traffic,always astounds me whenever I visit my brother in Sussex,it’s awful.

Couldn’t even afford to move back to the road I grew up in now.

How do you define boring though? Obviously a village will not be the same as living in London wherever you are in the country. The big advantage of being in a Surrey village is the fact you can get to London if you want a taste of London life. Guildford and other centres will have a different feel as well. Same as St Albans will be different to smaller villages in herts or Bournemouth will be different to a village in Dorset.

You get these posts every so often about Surrey being dullsville but no-one every really says what would be better in comparison.

Ooh I have just slagged Surrey off on another thread.
Definitely not everyone there is as you describe OP but there is a “type” and it’s not one I felt terribly comfortable with, despite fitting in some respects the profile you describe.

In the case of Croydon, only if you are still living in the early 1960s

Oh Lordy, don’t tell me Macmillan’s been voted out? And is that nice man Douglas-Home still at the FO?

Is Croydon really exciting then? It sounds like the place to be if Surrey's status as boring or exciting rests on its shoulders.

Can't believe a pp tried to claim the South Downs for Surrey! They belong to Sussex, a far superior county/ies

Dillyson, all counties I’ve lived in have been interesting in different ways, you just have to find the combination that appeals to you.
I need nature, hills, reasonable weather most of the year and access to at least one city with a decent arts/theatre life. I can cope without the sea if there’s a decent river and I like history.
So I could just as easily post a list of negatives about each county as I could positives.
I found London hard after 4 years because there were too many houses all squashed up together and no proper silence or stars. Norfolk and the fens are too flat. Lancashire it rains too much...Yorkshire winters can be very very long. Cornwall is a long way from interesting cities and is somewhat mono cultural. Oxfordshire is too far from the sea.
But I’ve enjoyed everywhere I’ve lived, and moved on.
Currently in Sussex and love it.

Croydon's certainly got more going on - all the way from stray cattle and sheep rustling on its outer reaches to gangland warfare towards its most Northerly aspects.

It's not just the dire Brutalist expanse of the centre (which is being fairly comprehensively torn down and rebuilt) or the dilapidated social housing, it's also got areas of ancient woodland, farming, medieval buildings and utter peace and quiet. And a quarter of a mile from any of the southern borders puts you into in full blown farming country.

I think that's why some find it hard to adjust to not officially being in Sunrrey anymore - once you're living on the edge of the North Downs, it really doesn't feel like Greater London.

@isabelleSE19 Maybe they are getting the South Downs muddled with the North Downs?? North Downs go for miles, but agreed nowhere near the South Downs! And you can see the Shard from the North Downs in Coulsdon.

YANBU op (although I should mention I used to live in Hampstead and found the endless smug yummy mummies incredibly irritating too..)

I still address post to Coulsdon, Purley and Caterham as Surrey Croydon I don’t though, it’s like it’s own mini City.

I live in a posh bit of Surrey. I drove through Addlestone this morning though, it’s important to stay grounded isn’t it.

I’m so glad you didn’t stop. We don’t need pompous arseholes like you in Addlestone.