Moving to the 'country'..... leaving london, have you made the move?

[Thyzoe]

My DH and I have lived in SW London for 11 years and now wanting a better quality of life for our DD, 16 months old, and hopefully a second baby next year. More space, a garden, river walks, quality of life, good schools are all the reasons why, but it is such a daunting thought leaving the hussle and bussle baby boom of SW London, all our friends and my antenatal girls who have become such good friends. Has anyone been in a similar situation and made the move? How did it go for you? Was it easy meeting other mums in a village? We are looking at South Oxforshire around Goring on Thames as an area. Any thoughts would be much appreciated x

I live near there in Wallingford and for the children its great. It is a rather strange county but on the surface appears very genteel - if you are the boden type yummy mummy then you will fit perfectly - if not then I would go more toward Oxford City.

I moved to a tiny n. oxon village 6 yrs ago. It's fab - ended up running the mum and baby group and everyone is really friendly compared to Londoners (but then Hannibel Lector would be friendlier than tube users )

Currently doing the same move to near Woodstock. Also worrying about it but there seems to be a lot on, people generally seem friendly and it is fantastic to have space for a swing and for DD to run around without having to be a multi-millionaire...

nice pubs in woodstock too

I;ve been told about a all-the-champagne-you-can-drink night at one of the hotels. I'm quite keen to try this out obviously in the interests of getting to know some people locally

Woodstock is lovely, we were there for wakestock recently.

Hi there, am all new to this but saw the lead and thought I would reply, im oxfordshire born and bread but moved to the big smoke 12 yrs ago, now I have a husband and a 19 month old im coming home as it were!!! Going to miss my mummy friend alot and would love to make some new ones and have an oppertunity for my little boy to make some new buddies as well, so any ideas of mum and toddler groups or good places to go would be much appreciated, im sure things will be very different from when i was 18!!! LOL ... xxx

Hi Camsmummy
I moved out from SW London to near Witney just about a year ago, and don't regret it for an instant. I really miss my friends too, and making new ones as a single mum working full time is pretty hard going.

But as you say, the space and the freedom is priceless.

Good luck!

Hi there, we're Cholsey (just down the road from Goring) and love it. I work with a guy from Goring with three grown up children who said it was fantastic for them. Go for it! We don't regret escaping out. Aim for a village that you can walk places to, without relying on a car. Goring would be fine, Moulsford just down the road less so (although very pretty).