To ask what it’s really like to live rurally?

[BuffaloCauliflower]

Currently holidaying in the Lake District and as usual wishing I could up sticks from London and move to somewhere beautiful and with real community. But having grown up on the edge of London I’m so used to a world where there’s buses every 10 minutes, 24 hour supermarkets 5 minutes away, lots of jobs, lots of schools, I know I really have no idea what it would be like to live in the countryside. I’m definitely in a nice, more affluent part of the countryside right now and there will be areas far more rural than this, so trying to think broadly, I know not everywhere will be the same.

What jobs do people do? Everyone surely can’t commute miles and miles to cities. Where I am now I’d guess a lot of farmers and a lot in hospitality, but that can’t be all. What’s the transport like? Does it matter? How do your kids get to see their friends when they don’t drive and everyone’s houses are so far apart? Can people move from the city and be happy, and accepted into small village communities?

A broad question I know but there’s such a range of places that will all be different, but would love the real story instead of just the ‘holiday’ view of the country.

Disclaimer: I’m aware as a born and bred Londoner my concept of what is rural might be really wrong, and that I also very likely have some rose tinted views of the countryside. I’m not trying to offend, so please be kind, I’m genuinely trying to learn!

Nought re accidents etc - you just have to accept that it might take a very long time for an ambulance to come, IF available. (Both road ambulances and air ambulances have to cover a vast area.) In some parts of Scotland, local people are being trained as first responders to support casualties until the professionals arrive. An equal problem is as mentioned by the poster who lives far to the north of Inverness. Hospitals can be hundreds of miles away; a brief appointment can involve an overnight stay in a B&B or similar.

Fresh fruit /veg is a problem even in Scottish rural towns. It's the supermarkets' 'just in time' supply-chain policy that's to blame, as much as anything. To get to our nearest supermarket, it's 60 miles over steep, single-track, sometimes snowy roads, and a ferry. Then we arrive at the supermarket and find fruit and veg with just a 2-day 'best before' date. Even in a fridge, they often don't last that much longer. You have to get used to frozen ones, and , yes, grow your own. Though it's not always easy to grow fruit/veg all year round in cold and windy places (too exposed for a polytunnel) that have not much daylight in winter.

Security as in horror films doesn't really worry most of us too much, I think. Why would anyone bother to drive miles and miles just to attack some random stranger? If the house looks wealthy or has expensive machinery/boats outside, then that might attract thieves, but, as a previous poster also said, there's a lot of poverty in rural areas. Drunk driving and dangerous driving seem to be issues that the local police worry about most.

I live in a villiage with a population of 6000. Lovely views, quiet, friendly etc the downside is one shop, one pub etc gets a bit tedious but luckily we are a 35 min drive to Glasgow and 50 mins to Edinburgh. I could be at the coast in under an hour too. I think semi rural would suit you too op.

I live in a village in Hampshire, very chocolate box thatched roof type places (not my house but many of the houses are).

We have the best of both worlds though as a 10-15 minute drive to the nearest town takes you to a main line station into London (1hr 15mins).

Both DH & I work in the City and commute in - DH every day, I try to work from home 1-2 day's a week.

We're very lucky that our little village still has a grocers, butchers, bakers, etc.

We do get quite a lot of snow when it happens so a 4x4/SUV is a must. People in the village do look out for each other, for example in the snow we will go around to all of the neighbours to see if they need anything from the shops before we head out (those that don't have a 4x4)

Both of us grew up in a rural setting but have lived in cities/large towns since then.

The things we noticed most were:

• People are friendlier and there's more of a community feel

• It's very dark at night without any streetlights but you never feel unsafe

• Things like going to the cinema or popping out for a meal happen less frequently because it's more of a trip

• You notice nature and the seasons a lot more and just things like how loud the dawn chorus is if your window is open (its lovely!)

• We can still get Ocado but no Deliveroo, Uber, etc

• The local Chinese takeaway only accepts cash!!!

• Going to a bank is a pain, I haven't had to so far but god knows where my local branch is, a proper 'trip' of about 45 mins I think 🤔

• Tonnes of stuff going on in the village to get involved in (though most don't commute as much as me and so start at 6pm!)

I can't PM from the app and not too bothered about being identified....I live in a village that is 10-15 mins drive from Alton, Hampshire called Medstead. There are a few lovely villages around this area.

Alton has a mainline station into Waterloo and we're just off the A31 so easy to connect to the M3 & M4, not that far to the A3/M25.

Also not far from Basingstoke, Reading & Guildford for large shopping areas and employment.

In terms of costs here £535k bought us a 4 bed detached with garage so cheaper than London. If you commute by train into London it's about £5k per year (large employers often do a season ticket loan so you can buy an annual ticket and pay out of your salary monthly as this is the cheapest way).

Daily is much more expensive - £46 per day! - but you'd never buy a day ticket as a commuter.

This thread's got me thinking - is there any official distinction between a village and a town? I know there's a formal definition of a city. And what's the difference between a village and a hamlet?

There are just over 200 people where I live, which I think feels different from 6000 or more.

I would call 200 people a hamlet.

A hamlet is somewhere that is small enough not to have a church or village 'centre'.

Villages will usually have a church and some form of shops/village hall/pub.

I think if you’re used to city life, it would be silly to move isolated rural, rural. There are small, rural market towns with a few pubs, shops, supermarkets, buses to nearest cities every 30 mins etc dotted about the country (can’t speak for the LD as not from that area and have never been) that are 10 mins away from lovely countryside and 15/20 mins away from other towns, maybe 30 mins away from the nearest city etc and that would probably suit you better. You could always sell up after a few years and take the next ‘rural’ step up if you felt like it.

I have lived rurally my whole life, am a total and utter country girl through and through. Myself and all my friends loved it growing up, we were all horsey/in the YFC though which definitely helped as there was always lots to do and we were never bored. The village I grew up in was a 15 min drive to the nearest town which had a shopping mall/ cinema/ pubs and a couple of nightclubs and 30 mins drive to the nearest city which obviously had all of the above and then some! Used to be in the city most Saturdays shopping with my friends etc. During the week I’d be down the yard (stables) after school or at YFC meetings/ balls/ dinner dances etc when I got older. I had the best of both worlds and that’s 100% the childhood I’d want for my kids.

I still live in the same part of the country now, aged 34. DH and I are probably going to start trying for a family in the next year and have moved to a quaint, picturesque village with a post office/ shop and a lovely village pub, that has a mix of young 20/30 somethings and older farmers frequent. We are now 15 mins from our closest city and you get 4 buses a day there and back from our village. We’ve never used them though as we drive in if it’s during the day for shopping etc and get taxis for drunken nights out as it’s only £13 each way, which between 2 of you, or more if we have friends getting ready and staying at ours, is really nothing.

So yes, in short I’d go for a village or market town not too far from the nearest city.

Apparently (after research) a town has a market...or would have historically had a market as some may have closed.

A once or current market. Ok, that's as good as anything.

wheres - well, we have a church, and a village hall. No pub or shop. I guess it must depend a lot on previous populations and what they left behind.

....and I’d think 200 was quite a large village. City nearly.

We get online shopping deliveries.

We have enough doctors to reduce impact of delays in ambulances. Plenty of emergency equipment available and everyone knows where to go for whichever emergency it is (Obstetrician or emergency consultant, for example).

We don’t really have much crime except perhaps a few people drink driving. Most people have guns and large dogs. If anyone had concerns about ‘odd people being around’ they’d be seen, spoken about and asked what they were doing sitting in a van at 9pm or similar.
We have protected dark skies which are genuinely beautiful.

Housing is very expensive and there is no social housing. The current average for our village is 970k. Social housing is being discussed but local view is that we have sufficient tied cottages to provide for lower income families.Ii don’t necessarily support that view.

Most commuting is paid for by work or offset against business expenses.

I’m sure a remote Highland farm would present different experiences and more challenges. We are a bit spoilt like the PP who lives near Alton (not too far from us). We are close enough to use town facilities but remote enough to not have negative impact of urbanisation.

I live in a small village in North Wales. I grew up here but moved away for Uni and for about 10 years after that. I lived and worked in Cardiff, Oslo and the South East of England (Watford) so was used to a more urban environment. I moved back up here about 8 years ago and initially moved to the suburbs of a local town (I was very wary of moving back to a place with only 1 shop). I have recently moved back to my native village. I work full time from home in the same Industry I have always worked in. My office is in Reading and I go there about once every couple of months. I also travel to client sites a few times a year (US, EU, London etc..) The rest of the time I am home. Times have changed here and it is ONLY because of those changes I can live here. The village got fibre broadband 6 months ago and without that there wasn't a good enough internet supply for me to work from home. we also got supermarket deliveries a few years back (before that it was a 30 minute drive to the nearest supermarket). There is no mains gas, the only mobile phone provider with any signal is EE and it is very patchy. There is 1 pub, 1 spa shop and a village pharmacy. The Dr. surgery is only open mornings. There are 3 buses a day (am, lunchtime and pm) down the valley to the nearest larger village and back. From there you can get buses or trains on to smaller towns. Lots of people bike down the valley to this larger village if they don't drive rather than wait on the bus. There is a bus to the local secondary school. Lots of people own a dog or a horse. Plenty of people here commute out to Chester / Shrewsbury or Manchester - a couple of hours round trip a day to Manchester.

Everyone knows you. Everyone speaks to you. Mostly they are very nice and friendly (sometimes a bit mad!) The village school is terrible and Welsh to my daughter goes to another school 30 min drive away. I share the journeys with my sister who also lives here with her primary aged kids.

I have a dog so love the countryside and the walks. The pace if life is slower and it feels like home. I love it now but wouldn't have done so in my early 20s. In fact as a teen I couldn't wait to leave!
Amazon deliver. We spend lots of our spare time wandering the hills, mucking about in streams and rivers, having picnics and generally being wild things. It is far harder in the winter to keep amused.
The locals are very proud of getting electric in 1969.
There is no cable!

Beautiful views and wildlife to watch at all times of the year. Life enhancing in so many ways. But...
In Winter we get snowed in. In Summer we worry about the water supply (already worried this year). Fallouts with neighbours in our small community can be very uncomfortable for everyone.

and I’d think 200 was quite a large village. City nearly

Eh? You think 200 people is large, almost a city?!

That's about 60ish households. That is not a city. Or a town.

and I’d think 200 was quite a large village. City nearly

Cherry have you been on the booze this morning already? We lived in a small village of just under 1000.

I live in a village of under 200. It's tiny. No shop, no bus. A pub that has miraculously stayed open.

I’m teasing. Ours is 44 people at the last count.

Social housing is being discussed but local view is that we have sufficient tied cottages to provide for lower income families

your parish council is being idiotic. If they don't find room for social housing it will be forced upon them. I can't stand villages like this - almost always wanky expensive ones not too far from London.

We've just had 16 low income houses built in the orchard near us. It's a bloody good thing, the last thing I want is more grumpy ex military retirees from Surrey moving here!

Ours is 44 people at the last count.

That sounds so stifling. Do you have many young people living there, or have they all had to move for jobs and further study?

Ah yes Fazackerley the ones who don't want that awful social housing spoiling their village of half a million plus houses.
I had that before we left the village. Heated debates on the fb residents group about it, lots of us said it would be a good thing and places need to grow and change is good. Christ you'd think they were wanting to slaughter newborns to offer to the gods 🙄

We need young people! We need kids! The houses are really nice as well.

What is really driving me mad at the minute are people who (and this has happened twice so far this year) are moving from London and buying small cottages with a bit of land, then demolishing the cottages and building fuck off 5 bedroom homes instead. If you want a 5 bedroom house and let's face it, unless you have four children you don't need one, then buy a fucking 5 bedroom house in the first place.

Grr rant over.

Born, grew up, lived and worked rural so fully qualified to answer

Good points -
Pretty in the summer
Quiet
Can sunbathe naked ( but only when it's sunny and warm ) theoretically without being disturbed ( see tourists below)
Usually have generous sized house garden and parking

Bad points -
Snowed in for week at a time in the winter
Isolated can mean that you are vulnerable
Bugger to get anything done to cars mechanically - have to arrange lifts etc
Miles to the nearest local shop / pub / station / bus route / anywhere / neighbours / friends
Tourists in summer walk across your property without permission ( and have picnic nicked on my lawn - I kid you not )
Roads can be hazardous as they are narrow windy and drivers think they can still drive like they are on an A road
No phone signal
No broadband
Mud
Pot holes big enough to loose a tractor down
Get stuck behind tractors wherever you drive

Moved into a large busy town a few years ago - bliss - would never move back !

That went right over my head then

I've read some of the other posters, and I think what you think/make of rural life is as much about you as it is about the place you choose. If you want super-faster fibre broadband, hot & cold running take-away/food deliveries and theatre nights on your doorstep - stay in London. You could go the whole hog and find an isolated mansion miles from anywhere but, in reality, most rural living is about small compromises for big gains. We don't have public transport, so have to drive everywhere BUT we don't have road rage & traffic jams. We don't have theatres on the doorstep BUT it makes it that much more special when we do go. It is 4 miles to a shop, so we plan to have "emergencies supplies" just in case (UHT milk, dried goods/tins etc) BUT we can walk in the countryside with clean air and open space. You pays your money and takes your choice