do you live somewhere amazing?

[RiverTam]

I'm talking location-wise, not house-wise.

After a summer of being out and about in the countryside we are (again!) pondering a move out of London. So I thought I'd turn to MN with this question.

Do you live somewhere amazing - I'm talking about fantatsic countryside/beaches, that kind of thing, somewhere you'd recommend unreservedly? Good schools, decent housing, access to a bit of culture should you fancy it. City, small town, village.

It's me, DH and DD (4).

Anywhere in England. North, south, east or west, or slapbang in the middle. But not London .

Just somewhere you think couldn't be bettered. Oh, and why would be good to know too!

thanks for all this - lots of food for thought!

Going to be living just down the road from you very soon!

Durham an hour away from Yorkshire/The Lakes/Northumberland. 20 mins from a beach, great schools, great train links to London/Edinburgh, 20 mins to Newcastle. Just a beautiful small city with a great community

Lots of bang for your buck up here as well!
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44638957.html

If you move here ish we can hope tightpants will turn up sometime too

The north east coast
Tynemouth is especially beautiful, but I'm a biased Geordie.

um, well, that house is certainly big...

Northumberland is also on the holiday list, I've read many times about the fantastic beaches up there.

North though - it's just so cold! We are often freezing in Birmingham, the change in temperature from down here is very noticeable - even when I go from the inner city to the burbs to see my mum it is often markedly colder. But equally, one of the things that puts me off Cornwall is no snow, or it's very rare. I like a proper winter, me. And the rain in Cornwall!

so, how welcoming would your communties be to a born-and-bred Londoner who, with the best will in the world, will almost certainly be experiencing some kind of culture-shock?

Bath and Bristol both brilliant, but if you want something smaller but still amazing, Wells is your place. Also v friendly to ex-Londoners as there are quite a few ex-big city types. Amazing countryside too.

You'd fit right in if you came to Bath. Loads of ex-Londoners (some of whom still work in London, with a bit of working from home and weekly commuting).

Forgot to say in my first post: great schools (state and private).

I agree Wells is nice, but I couldn't cope without a train station.

"so, how welcoming would your communties be to a born-and-bred Londoner who, with the best will in the world, will almost certainly be experiencing some kind of culture-shock?"

I'm a born and bred Londoner and was made very welcome where I live. I came here via Leeds though and didn't find Leeds a culture shock at all.

RiverTam - after I got fed up with my dm going on about 'ooh I'll have to bring my thermal vests to come and visit you when you mive oop north', I did a little research.

Average yearly temperature in Kendal is something like 0.6 of a degree lower than Oxfordshire.

Let's avoid mentioning average yearly rainfall though...

South devon ( south Hams specifically) love it here, not as far off the beaten track as Cornwall but lovely.

Is Oxfordshire as exposed to the wind chill factor that you have to take into account in exposed spaces, though, Holmes?

I live in Cornwall. Hoot you can keep the seagulls At least bin day is getting less active now the babies have literally flown the nest and the parent gulls stop foraging for food!

Its so laid back. Beautiful, peaceful, love it. I go past Devon and the general hustle and bustle of busy cities, traffic, more people will always give me that initial moment of surprise!

I'm in south Cornwall, very near the most southerly point of the UK. It can get a bit boring in the winter with less to do and summer as you may well know is very busy with tourists but I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Neighbours are friends, you say hello to everyone you walk past, exploration of nature is at your fingertips. On Sunday, me and DS were blackberry picking whilst a herd of cows grazed around us. Nothing in sight but grass, tress and the distant ocean. Perfect!

Haslemere, Surrey is lovely. My friend lives there and everyone seems very friendly. Beautiful countryside and not far from the coast or London.

Hampshire. I absolutely love it.

I live in a village close to the sea and I have 2 major cities either side of me. I live less than 10 minutes from the motorway and 5 minutes from a train station which can take me to London in an hour and 30. I have woods and countryside 15 minutes from me.

I've lived in Hampshire my entire life and I still feel overwhelmed with how lucky I am to live here sometimes. Something that always does it for me is sitting on top of "the hill" and looking out over Portsmouth and the sea. I then turnaround and I'm in a different world - gone is the city and instead I'm looking at green fields and countryside for as far as the eye can see.

Kent
Good links to London , good schools , lovely beaches
You can pop to France for the day
I love it

I love Wiltshire, either the Pewsey Vale around Devizes/Marlborough or further West near Corsham/Bath outskirts.
Traffic isnt too bad (apart from Bath itself), beautiful countryside, great independent shops, farm shops, loads going on. Athough quietly Tory (ie not overbearing), its got a growing alternative or boho vibe.

Well I guess not, compared with being up a mountain or something, minkah! But, as I understand it, it's the north east that's really cold and windy. The north west is predominantly wet. Rainfall is hugely more than where I am now. Annual hours of sunshine not too numerous either .

North Essex/Suffolk boders are really lovely ans still commutable to London.

Norfolk is gorgeous. Norwich is a wonderful small city that just has such a nice feel about it.

I live in a tiny village on the edge of Dartmoor and can be on a beach in 20 mins too. The views from my bedroom are beautiful!
I love living here, can't imagine living anywhere else.
We are 30 mins from Exeter which is a fab city- great shops, cafés, restaurants etc. Plymouth is 40 mins and has lovely bits like The Barbican and theatre Royal.
Good schools too in this area.
The only complaint I have is crappy mobile signal and broadband can be slow- no sign of fibreoptic broadband here yet!!

Bumping this so I can read about more amazing places people live