@PottererCrouch
The 'I couldn't be doing with that' brigade are jealous. All my life growing up in a big Midlands town, full of council estates, industrial estates, and shopping centres, and very little green space, or nice walks etc, I dreamed of living in the countryside. My whole life I dreamed of it.
Me and DH used to drive to other towns and cities, and passed through a few villages on the way, and could see signs on the B road we were on, saying 'this village 2 miles' and 'that village 1.5 miles. And I used to think 'awww, how lovely it would be to live up there..' Same when driving through mid/north Wales too. I thought 'aww how nice would it be to live in a little hamlet/village up here...'
I used to go for drives with my dad too when I was in my early teens, and we would go for picnics to Church Stretton, Ludlow, and places in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and mid Wales, and I LONGED to live somewhere like that.
DD left home 9 years ago (for uni) and me and DH (who had always lived in the middle of town, or in the suburbs since we started living together) decided to take the plunge, and sold our 3 bed 1980s house, and bought a little 3 bed cottage (with a BIG garden,) in a small village, 20 miles away miles. 2 miles from the nearest B road, and 4 miles from a little market town. Nearest city is about 12 miles.
Yeah we have to drive everywhere, but we had to do that quite a bit when we lived in a suburb of a town. DD's senior school and college were 3 miles, and 8 miles away, and took her 1 hour, and 1 hour and three quarters to get to by bus. So we drove her there and picked her up. We were able to, and it saved her a LOT of time, as the trips were 8 minutes and 15 minutes by car.
DH had to drive to work too, as he worked 10 miles away and worked funny shifts. Half the time he could not get there by public transport. And if we needed to go to hospital or any specialists - they were an hour to an hour and a half by bus, but 15-20 minutes drive. So a car was an absolute must.
Some appointments and things we had to do - including stuff with DD after school and at weekends, and things we had to do for our parents (if they needed taking somewhere,) needed a car, as public transport was simply not an option.
So, we need a car now? No biggie as we have pretty much always needed one!
As pps have said, I (and DH) absolutely LOVE it here, and will never EVER move. 5 minutes walk to woodlands,10 minutes walk to the canal, 15 minutes walk to the river, and multiple rolling fields and meadows. Some fields belong to farmers, but they let people walk around the edges, and they have little stiles to climb over, to enable you to go from one field to another, and through the woodland, and around the little meres and waterways...
The village has a strong community spirit too, a lovely Church, a little parish hall, a little primary school with 40-ish children, a tiny village shop, open 5 hours a day, (9am til 12 midday, then 1pm til 3pm,) and a pub where they have pub-quiz nights every week, and darts and a pool table, and a jukebox, and a little bowling green at the back of the parish hall!
Our cottage is in a little road with 14 other properties, all spaced quite far apart, and the neighbours are lovely. Everywhere me and DH and DD ever lived before (council estate/suburb/flat in a private block,) most people were OK, but a few were dickheads. Either nuisance neighbours or just aloof and rude. Even the ones who were OK however, kept themselves to themselves, and rarely spoke. There was NO community.
Out here, it's a different mindset and mentality. No-one tries to outdo anyone, no-one cares if they drive an old car, people wear 'scruffs' about the village and don't dress up, and no-one judges people. The suburbs were awful for this, with some awful people... Trying to keep up with the Joness, and constantly bitching and gossiping.
I love it so much here, and feel blessed every day I am here. There's not a single sound at night, not a car, or a person's voice, or loud music, or yobbos, or anything. Just a few distant sheep/cow sounds and a distant cockerel at around 7am. They don't wake you, but you hear them if you're already awake IYSWIM.
I would definitely recommend living rural/in a village. As I said, I will never EVER live anywhere but a village as long as I live.