If you love where you live (UK) please tell me why!

[Leafy2018]

We currently live in Hampshire. Been here for 6 years - married and have three children. My husband works in London. The commute is just not working for us (four hours a day) and he doesn't like working in London. We moved from The East Midlands where we enjoyed lots of walking and activities together as a family (there's not much to do round here that doesn't involve travelling for miles), our life just isn't the same as it used to be in terms of work/life balance. We're trying to figure out how to make some changes in order to regain more time as a family. This could be moving somewhere with faster trains into London or moving somewhere cheaper and therefore my husband could take a drop in salary (it's only him working but he is on a very good salary currently.)

My husband is in the tech sector so Reading, Oxford, London have been main focus but would consider anywhere. We've been to look at several different places but none have really grabbed us. Probably best place has been Witney. Nice high street with access into Oxford. We really miss having lots of places nearby to go out to - and by nearby I mean 15 minutes or less away (people here seem to think nearby means up to 40 minutes!) Places I can go and take our baby during the day - national trust, farms, play parks etc There need to be things nearby so we can be spontaneous.

I'd love to hear about where you live if you really like it! Anywhere - I just need inspiration so I can do a bit of research! Feel as though we might need to do something drastic as we are just not getting the family time we used to.

Thanks! X

We live in the Cotswolds. It's beautiful and close to many places. We're near West Wales, Bristol, Birmingham, Cornwall, London and Oxford, all between 30 minutes to 2.5 hours away.

The countryside is wonderful and we spend most weekends walking and discovering new places. It's near to Cheltenham which has fab schools and the country has the best grammar schools in the country. I love where we live.

Gah, county!

@neversleepagain thank you - we looked at the Cotswolds actually - and went to Cheltenham, which we liked (although weren't sure how much to 'pop out to' nearby as no Natural Trust close by but happy to be proven wrong!) Cotswolds in general are lovely though - agree! I like the fact that there are nice little villages to go for a coffee and a mooch around. I'm keen to find somewhere with places I feel safe going out to with 3 children on my own.

That sounds nice @Goosebury - house prices are extraordinary down here...

Edge of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. Awesome place to live.

If your views are like this @Goosebury I can see why you are happy there!

@Goosebury

Morecambe.

I live in Sanderstead, which is complete Home Counties but closer in than you currently are - everyone commutes into London but it's 25 minutes to Victoria from our local station. It's z5/6 so it also has the benefit of cheaper travel.

We love it. We're right on the doorstep of the green belt so not only have we got local downs, protected woodland and AONB land, but also we're close to places like Box Hill for more green space. We're not far from Chartwell, Hever, Knole, Leeds Castle etc. Local farms for small children (Godstone farm is less than 20 minutes away), 2 Oustanding primaries and one secondary locally plus an abundance of excellent private schools. We're not far from Croydon or Bromley for older kids to mooch (and for shopping), but far enough out to feel much less urban! Lots going on playgroup wise, local leisure centres for swimming and other activities (plus a lot of the private schools have pools which are open to locals at the weekend).

I was exceedingly dubious when I moved in with DH here ten years ago but we've been really happy. We have 3 DC and just moved locally, it works well for us.

@LBOCS2 Thank you very much for the helpful reply! I'll have a look at that. Do you find the people friendly? Assuming yes as you sound so happy,

Ross-on-Wye

Just the nicest little town. The type of town that kids can have some freedom and dare I say it relatively safe! Nicely placed for access to the Midlands/M4 corridor/Wales

We live in the Scottish Borders and I commute to Edinburgh on the train in 55mins. That way we have the best of both worlds with the countryside and city on our doorstep.

Probably a far too big move from the south but we love it here. Generally less people so the health services aren't so stretched and funded education through uni are the two main benefits!

Plus the house prices are seriously cheap.

Malmesbury

@thirdtimeluckythen I went to Ross in Wye with school but not since then. I'll take a look. Safety of children is important. Our eldest is just at the stage of going into town on their own.

@Leafy2018
I lived in a small city previously for many years and my older children had nowhere near the same lifestyle as the younger one does. It really has been a brilliant move for us

@Teacaketotty That sounds a good balance. I would rule out a big move at all (we also have a move abroad as a possibility.) And you will still have proper snow... we've had in once in 6 years since moving her. The Midlands had much more!

@Leafy2018 Absolutely - My car had a dusting of snow this morning!

I grew up in the Oxford side of the Cotswolds (very near Witney!). Have you tried Woodstock, Charlbury or Burford?

It's still going to be job dependent, and how much of a commute he is happy to do.

I live in north Leeds and love it. It's got a decent job market (and I think a reasonable amount in tech, depending on which sector), shops and museums etc. But also very close to accessing the countryside - we can be in the Dales in half an hour. National Trust places dotted around, albeit with a bit of a drive (but I think that would be true of most places).

@QuarterMileAtATime I have looked at Charlbury on google maps but think we might need to go back there. Benefit of that area is having Reading and Oxford to go at for work as well as London. Think Burford would be too far for initial commute to London if that's how we did it...

I live on the edge of Liverpool, I absolutely love it.

Right on my doorstep (20 minutes walk) are meadows, woodlands and streams, and in the other direction is the city centre and all the things that has to offer, and it has plenty, museums, art galleries, fine dining, theatre, loads of interesting things for dc etc beautiful historic parks and lots of outdoor activities as well as typical city stuff.

I'm a half hour away from the beach, and because of where I live in Liverpool, about an hour into Manchester city centre, (live right by the train station) and all of the interesting things THAT has to offer.

I also live on a lovely road with very pleasant neighbours, right next to a little shopping village with a library, shops, cafes, restaurants and bars etc.

I'm walking distance to work and like my job, and even closer to dc school. I don't need to drive anywhere.

I would prefer it if it didn't rain quite so much but the people here are so warm and friendly and down to earth, and everything is so close by I'd be hard pushed to find somewhere I'd prefer to live

We live in Kent and I love it , 30 / 40 minutes to drive into London , 30 minutes to the channel tunnel , 30/40 minutes to the coast and lots of lovely countryside .

Yes, Burford's not great for public transport links, so would only be feasible with a job move.
Charlbury has a train station with direct line to Oxford and London so a better bet if job stays in London. It has a primary school and is in reach of 3 or 4 high schools in neighbouring towns with transport provided to some. It is smaller with fewer amenities than Witney but has most things you'd need there and has a more rural feel with that.
Good luck! Must be quite daunting having such a wide potential search area!

@whatsthecomingoverthehill Yes, agree - I think we do need to cut the commute time as it eats into our time together too much.

I haven't thought about Leeds. I think I'd need to have a look a tech sector. I'd like to be more like ten minutes away from a nice walk or NT (we were spoiled where we lived before!) but the museums and shops would be good for older ones.

Thanks for all the info.

For a completely different area, I'm in Cheam now, which is SW London to some, Surrey to others! Commuting to London around an hour and all the amenities of being in the London fringes, but lots of countryside.