WOULD LOVE TO LIVE IN A VILLAGE...SHOULD WE MOVE?

[noonar]

we have 2 dds aged 2.9 and 5. dd1 is v happy at school. we have lots of friends and live in a lovely area...but, we've been here 14 yrs and fancy a change. and our house is on a v busy road and we are sick of the traffic noise.

we have lovely villages 20 mins drive away, and i would so love to be somewhere more peaceful.

how can i tell whether this is a just a pipe dream, or a really sensible idea? would we be mad to give up our friends and life in a nice community, just because we're a bit bored? and i worry about disrupting dd1's schooling. she's v happy here she is.

have considered quieter streets nearby, but they just don't excite me in the way that a more to the country does.

am also worried we'd really regret it if we moved and didnt make friends easily etc.

any advice? anyone had a similar dilemma?

TIA xx

Well I live in a village with no amenities exept the play park and football pitch. We need to walk or drive to nearest town, but dual carriageway is minutes away to head for city and cinemas, train station, uni, college, major shops etc.

Since I moved here, my cats have been happier, I don't worry about locking doors, the neighbours aren't in your face but are friendly and would help out when needed, I 've had my dd and now my ds wants to move back with me cos he loves the freedom he has to play with the other kids (of various ages)

We just need to be better organised when it comes to shopping, and we get our milk delivered in bottles. I can't get much if I walk or get bus into town but dp gets stuff on his way home from work in the city, usually grabs loads of stuff when it's marked down in the eve!

For me it's heaven, and I don't want to move ever, but we need a bigger house and they don't come up often in places like this. Mine is ex-council with lovely big windows...

We live in a village and are still undecided after nearly 10 yrs. Every year we have the 'do we move' debate.
DH works in London all day. My friends are not really good friends but just people I have children in common with. It is like living in a goldfish bowl, which does have it's pros but also can be a bit annoying.
You can't just get away from the people. We all go to the same music groups, toddler groups, swimming pools etc.
Our village is a commuter village so it attracts a certain type of person (which we are not).
The school is great but the secondary school is 5 miles away in another village and is c**p.

It is a hard decision to make but if you are only 20 mins away from it why move anyway.

I wouldn't.

As I think you know Noonar, i moved out of Btn to a village 3 yrs ago, don't regret it one little bit BUT my kids are not at our local school.

I know Ditchling well, have several friends there, and used to work there myself!

Aren't there lots of traffic problems in Ditchling?

Noonar we go through the same dilemma regularly. Like Mabs I would probably have to drive into town for school. There are advantages of the local school though - you do get to meet people, I would feel isolated if I had to drive into town for school every day.

(mind you, one of the things that put me off, shallow person that I am, is that I didn't think I would have anything in common with the mothers there, based on what they were wearing )

It hasn't harmed my children to move schools - dd1 was in year 1 when she moved, but you probably would have difficulty moving back to btn - we weren't offered a school anywhere near where we live, and not one school had 2 places available for ds and dd1.

Hi, my family and I (hubby and 3 dd, 4, 2 and nearly 1)are about to move to a village called Blackwell in Warwickshire near Stratford Upon Avon from Melbourne Australia. We are doing a 2 year home exchange to be near hubbys Mum and family. I am excited and scared about it.. we currently live in a gorgeous beachside suburb of Melb, 5 km from city. We walk everywhere inc. to the beach. our new village doesnt even have a shop! so will be getting in the car a LOT. But Im hoping it will be a fab experience for the girls and us, living close to Granny will hopefully give hubby and myself the chance to flit off to France, or Spain or wherever for a cheap flight weekend..(NO KIDS)..
Does anyone live near there? would love to touch base and say hi...
Deb