So if someone DID want to swap houses for a few days for a cheap holiday...

[WilfSell]

...and if someone hypothetical who looked a lot like me and sounded a lot like me and who lived where I live said they wanted a house swap, would anyone actually be interested?

I don't want to give too much personal info out but I live right on the border of Staffordshire, Shropshire and South Cheshire.

What would you need to see on offer to tempt you into a houseswap in the Heart of England?

I tried to houseswap on MN last year but no-one would

We live near Legolan/Thorpe Par/Chessington day trips into London etc etc

We have a small house but quite a few beds???

Don't know the area - tell us what's good about it!

and what your house is like, obviously [nosey emoticon]

Oh god, i'm gonna have to namechange after this aren't I ...

Well, the area:

Day 1: Alton towers - thrills, screams and now a spa...
Day 2: Walking in the Roaches, followed by boat trip on Rudyard Lake and afternoon tea in Buxton
Day 3: Beeston Castle, the best castle view in the world
Day 4: Chester Zoo
Day 5: Drayton Manor
Day 6: Gladstone pottery - throw pots, visit history of the toilet exhibition (yes, really).
Day 7: Hang out here, walk in woods, sunday lunch at the local pub, pick a few tomatoes and rocket leaves from our veg patch, drink sparkling wine by candlelight under our trees...

Or there's also: Trentham Gardens: barefoot walk, fantastic play area, fabulous Italian gardens, Lake, Monkey forest (with real monkeys), Go Ape treetop thingy, outdoor entertainment etc; or further afield, many things to do in Cheshire (Stockley Farm, Tatton Park), Shropshire, even Manchester and Birmingham...

Stoke is a dump; Staffordshire on the other hand, is an utterly beautiful county, undiscovered and often untouched.

Perhaps if anyone is seriously interested they could post or CAT email details and I can send you stuff about the house

I don't want to swap with you but I'd look for what I always look for in a holiday place:

• places to visit nearby, suitable for children
• proximity to beach
• playpark nearby where kids could let off steam before tea
• nearest supermarket
• attractiveness of setting

not necessarily in that order

Alton Towers! A winner

Actually, you've made it sound like a great holioday place and my first thought was Heart of Chuffing England??

Maybe you need to say what you would be looking for too, if you were looking to swap that is

and what/where would you maybe considering to swap for?

Oh you're putting me on the spot now! I was idly wondering and now you're gonna want me to book dates aren't you?

Well, I guess the usual: would need to be big enough for all 5 of us with baby stuff (cot, highchair, stairgates - we have all this at home BTW)

happy otherwise to go/consider anywhere that would be holiday-ish and we like: rural, little towny villagey with places to push pushchair to and eat in cafes etc. Would love art gallery or mountain or lake or beach as added bonus.

London or other funky city swap would be good (not Manc: too close and, er, come from there...)

area sounds great, bet your house is too - am sure you could sell it with a few choice pics of veg patch and sparkling wine under trees scenario. I've never done a house swap (flat in my case) - but would definitely be sold on a place if the house was gorgeous.

• places to visit nearby, suitable for children
• proximity to beach
• playpark nearby where kids could let off steam before tea
• nearest supermarket
• attractiveness of setting

Well I would be on a non starter here then

• there's Wickstead Park, and I'm sure there's others too - Gullivers(?) in Milton Keynes, - not sure about anything else as we never go out

• beach - almost as far as you can get really

• park - oh yes - we have one of those - 1 minute (maybe less?) walk from the front door and you have a lovely big park with enclose play area (plus climbing thing for older kids)

• nearest Supermarket.....well depends if you don't mind Morrisons - 10 minute walk away, also have a HUGE Tesco 5/10 minute drive away and a small(ish) Sainsburys (Aldi in town).

• attractiveness of setting

well my 3 bed semi in suffolk coastal dive town would be no good.

although close to the beach, there is piss all else without driving!

oh and i have a double bed, a triple bunk, single bed and cot!

Wilf you must live near me - that's exactly how I describe where I live.

I don't want to swap with you because you clearly live very near my mum. But I can say that the area is lovely and has lots to offer in terms of nice countryside, farms and walks and stocking up on crockery.

I have thought about this houseswap idea before - we are in Liverpool, 5 mins from the beach [with the Gormley Iron Men on it]. Perhaps there is a need for a whole swapping thread?

oops - that's reminds me Jarm - I've got the Cot and the Travel Cot here too

I've really got far more sleeping spaces than is needed for a family consisting of 1 adult + 3 DC - especially as one DC is still a baby

Ah, now I didn't say within walking distance for all those things: you would probably need a car in Staffordshire to get the best.

But actually, within walking distance of my house there is:

lake/gardens
woods with walks
gym and sportscentre, tennis courts
village pub
golf course with it's very own curry house
small supermarket

Now some of you who know the area will be able to pinpoint this exactly so please don't out me cos I really want to hold onto Wilf.

You know, not a house swap as such, but I was just wondering the other day whether I could persuade someone to come and live in my flat on the outskirts of Milan for a couple of weeks while I go on holiday. No need for a swap, but would have to be a cat lover as my 2 pussies would need looking after and cuddling....

Just testing the water to see whether there'd be any interest for the future....

Sorry for hijacking your thread.

Would you be interested in a northern Italian break? Unfortunately the flat is only 2 bed as only have 1 dd but there is a sofa bed in the lounge as well.

I'd quite like a break in the heart of England. Have never been down that way.

you see no-one ever wants to come here!

Brangelina I'd love to cat sit for 2 weeks but there's no way dh would let me go on my own so can't afford it I'm afraid!

Milan?! Can you accommodate a family of 5? Would your pussies - rofl - cope?

Ah, not this year but maybe in future...

Cargirl, no actually I would be interested in doing Legoland/Thorpe Park long weekend sometime so don't rule it out. But need to think about it obv. we considered going to a local hotel recently but ran out of cash so house swap would be much cheaper actually...

Still haven't run this past the DH - may find my big plans totally kiboshed.