HELP! People who have moved to the country from London I need your advice (long, sorry)...

[CountessDracula]

Am having a mare

We live in London currently in a lovely house in v nice area (which we are just finishing doing up) with lots of friends, great primary schools, dd just settled in brilliant nursery, easy journey to work etc...

AND NOW....dh has been offered an excellent job in Winchester. I grew up there and am tbh not overly keen on going back, though if I look at it objectively I can see the benefits (near parents, bigger house with garden 10 x size of current one, no planes, traffic etc, dh will have much chiller lifestyle, we will get to do country things (whatever those are, stumbling around in shite IME))

BUT... I love living in London. I have lived here for 20 years, I love it. When I go to the country I go bonkers. Everything is so slow and annoying. The shops are crap. The food is awful and even nice restaurants give you bloody baby corn and mange tout with everything. Culture is non-existant (I love theatre, opera, gigs etc and go a lot). I will miss all my friends. Plus I will have to commute 4 days a week and it would add at least 40 mins each way onto my journey, but not sure I would really mind that as could sleep in the morning and work in the evening (or drink v&t lol!) I would still see dd in the evenings.

My question is, once I am there, would I chill out and stop being such an arsehole about all this or am I doomed to a life of dissatisfaction and woe? I don't want to go if so!

Other downsides - the schools are nowhere near as good, would have to pay for private in all probablility. There is nothing to do as a teenager but get pissed and take drugs. There is NO WAITROSE (ok that is my main problem I admit )

I really really want to do this for dh. He reckons he has no prospects in London. This firm tried to get him twice already and he turned them down (about 3 years ago). They are, for them, offering him the earth. He will take a paycut but will have much better prospects and life. I want to make him happy but I don't want to make myself miserable in the process.

WHAT DO I DO?

Don't forget I grew up in the country. I was not always such an horrendous ponce

If you can get a seat.

You do if you go 1st class apparantly

(which I would)

Not when everyone is so f'd off because there are four carriages instead of eight so every bugger in the world piles in there.

Well I would kick them out then!

Anyway, am feeling a little more positive now.
To cap it all there is no decent wine shop in Winchester either Even the Oddbins is crap. Thank god for the internet

tsk now have to go and put shopping away, just think if I was in Winch could have had another half an hour on mn

Message withdrawn

Oh no cod am now quite fancying it

OK CD I have some great news to add to this thread, something that will really make your mind up for you, something no-one has discussed yet. Hopsitals and Dr's. I have to tell you hat you wll be OK my darling brother has just been offered the job as pediatric consultant at Southampton so everything will be fine. You have the best possible Dr in the world

Message withdrawn

CD - not relevant and very nosey but I'm intrigued...what line of work is DH in where his prospects are better outside of London and with a lower salary? (As I said v. nosey so feel free to ignore )

CD, we moved from London to Bournemouth via Spain. We have been in Bournemouth for over 2 years now and I miss:

-my friends in London
-nights out in London
-London pubs
-Brentcross
-travelling by tube (dunno why)
-the multicultural population of London (Bmth is very AngloSaxon)

but here I have
-new friends plus lots of weekend visits from old ones (like PPH, I see them less but really appreciate them when I do ss them)
-nights out in bmth - always easy to get home as it is never far away

Soton is good for shopping thoug it lacks the charm of London

• my parents here means I always have a babysitter / help etc which is brilliant and so I get to go out with dh more -We also have the beach and New Forest - ds never tire of there but I suspect he would tire of the museums and galleries in Lnodon if we went every day in the school hols. -Some good local schools both state and private.

All things considered, I am glad we made the move out of London but, in my heart, I will always consider mysefl a Londoner.

CD, Talking of shopping where can I get Mac makeup in Richmond? We are probably there this weekend and I want to stock up.

sorry, lots of types, illiterate me I am

god... typOs

Beety, can you find them in the SouthWest? Nowhere here bloody well stcoks them

Oooh never tried to buy it in Richmond but I would guess the HoF place there, Dickens and Jones, would sell it if anywhere did, they do in the City.

hmm good reason to move, would be closer to Beety, PPH & Cod for meetups!

Has anybody asked Winchester if they want you ?? A move to the country with 'London attidude' spells disaster..
FWIW, moved from Notting Hill to a market town 'up north' 15 years ago and wild horses (of which we have a few) wouldnt drag me back. We visit less and less.

I think you should leave your Richmond cemetry and give it a go, your dh and children will be happier.. (no hunting now tho..)