have any mumsnetters left london and wished they hadn't

[albosmum]

Just my dh and I are thinking about it

Thread hijack - what makes Palmer's Green such a pit? I've been there to visit friends a few times, and never thought of it in such dire terms. In fact, from my limited experience, it seemed fine. What's wrong with it?

And I say this as someone who has wondered where she'd move if she were to leave zone 1......

Earlybird - hmm, hard to put my finger on it. We lived quite near the main high street and it was busy, dirty, noisy, crowded and I just didn't like it. Granted there are some nice leafy streets but all in all, I detested living there and was utterly depressed.

My friends were on Lakeside Rd, and I always thought the walk from the station was pleasant enough as I gazed at the large park across the street. Imagined it was civilised when I heard about the Farmers Market....was I wrong?

Hmm, yes, Broomfield Park is nice. Going that way is nice enough, it's the other way.

Tbh, I just wasn't happy in London, I hated it and was miserable so I probably just saw the bad in everything.

Thanks for your thoughts on it. Glad you're happier now..

CD, was this your thread? Or is there another one?

Oh - maybe it was this ?

Oh yes that second one was it!

Just an update on our recent move from London, if anyone's interested. We've just been back to the smoke for the weekend for the first time since we left a month ago. It felt v strange as we arrived as visitors after living there for over 20 years, but as soon as I walked into what used to be our local Sainsbury's which was teeming with what felt like more than the total population of our nearest market town, I knew we'd made the right decision (at least, for us).

We had a fantastic weekend - saw lots of old friends, ds went to a birthday party and had a sleepover with one of his best friends and I had a lovely evening out with a girlfriend, while dh babysat and watched the footie. Walked past our old house, which I was dreading, but it actually felt ok (although I don't know WHAT those new people are doing to our garden ). Coming back on Sunday was stress-free because we were going against the traffic - only took a couple of hours door to door - and there was still time to go for a walk in the lovely countryside and pop into the local for a quick half before supper.

I can honestly say it felt really good to be coming back to the sticks. My best friend used to live in West London while we were in the South East, and I ended up seeing her only about three or four times a year because it took so bloomin' long to get to her house. In fact we're probably about the same distance away from her time-wise now (if that makes sense!)

London's only a couple of hours away and we've got plenty of people we can stay with or do house-swaps with. Ds now goes to a school less than half the size of his one in London and they must have easily three times the playground space, including a lovely grassy hilly bit. I'm slowly beginning to meet a few more people and I love all the clean, fresh air and the rush hour that seems to last about 20 minutes and consists of about 5 cars a minute plus the odd farm vehicle.

OK, we may not have the vast choice of shops/restaurants, etc now, but I reckon if you do a bit of research and pick somewhere that's within easy reach of a nice town and a few amenities, there is definitely life after London - and it can be surprisingly nice .

what county do you live in frieda?

We're in Wiltshire, QV - can really recomment it so far. Too far to commute to London, though, realistically, but Bath & Bristol are both quite handy, as is the M4.

(mind you, haven't spent a winter here yet! )

Frieda where do you live in Wiltshire? it doesn't tend to get much sleet or snow in most of it? unfortunately. i grew up there and we always longed for more snow.