we are thinking of leaving london

[hoxtonchick]

where do you reckon would be a good place to live?

not in the middle of nowhere, but fairly rural. or maybe a small town. oh i don't know! so far we're considering norfolk (possibly not enough hills), devon, errr, that's it.

my family are in yorkshire so i'm trying to persuade dp that north is a good idea. ds is almost 4, dd 4 months, so need decent schools. help!

Derbyshire? Have no idea about schools, but love Derbyshire!

i've never been there . it's beautiful though isn't it?

Lovely. Some really pretty villages, beautiful walks, but "life" as well

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Lyme Regis? There's a really good secondary school there I think. Not quite Devon but right on the border. What about your job though? How exciting!

ooh go up north... think what you could buy house-wise (if you're selling one down here that is)

Dp comes from Devon and it's lovely, but don't know if I could live there!

Were you not moving up to York some time ago? Thought that had been on the cards when I saw you at the farm, or maybe I'm just imagining things

For me the only move out of London would be to Hampshire, New Forest, Lymington area. Beautiful.

oooh, we thought about lyme regis tamum. i'm trying not to get too excited.... dp is just so miserable at work atm, & is veering towards a less stressy job whilst the children are small. i am delighted! the plan would be to cash in the equity we have in the house which should allow us not to have a mortgage.

you're right posey! second attempt....

great suggestions from everyone, loads of areas we hadn't considered.

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Ooh go on then, and we can have mini-meet-ups in the summer We are always dreaming of buying a holiday home there in spite of the obvious obstacles like not being able to afford it, and living 500 miles away. One of the main local estate agents (as you probably know) is Martin Diplock . I always think it would be a nice place to live as there's quite a thriving arty community, and I should think you'd need something like that if you leave London. Nice cities within a reasonable distance, too, and Enid as a near neighbour. What more could you ask?

we've already seen that site tamum .

Harrogate - rural yet great shopping/schools/facilities. Easy to get to. Perfect,imho, and I don't even live there, but wish I did.

Don't come to Medway. It's horrible. I give you fair warning.

Meggymoo - my inlaws are near there, dh grew up in the area and mil worked in the Antiques Centre on the high street until it closed a couple of weeks ago.

Every time we visit we buy ice cream and watch the boats down at the quay.

I thought I might be preaching to the converted, hc Can I tempt you with some stats on Woodroffe school ?

Edinburgh's lovely too of course

my parents are in york milge, harrogate's just a bit too close to home!

and i would luuuurve to live in edinburgh, but i suspect property costs as much as in our cheap-ish area of east london.

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Oh well, its still fab, and at least you can visit when you are at your parents.

i think harrogate's too posh for us too

It's not a cheap option sadly, but you could look here - I don't really know how it compares to London any more. Handy for oop north, and an excellent education system (just think- no more SATs, choice about what age to start....)

Stop me if I'm boring you

Norfolk apart from Norwich is pretty dull

a friend of mine moved to cornwall from london and is now moving to Whitstable. she describes it as having a brightony feel..but less wan*ers!!

ive never been!..she said colchester was rather nice and those east coast bits of suffolk.