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

Pembrokeshire, very rural. I commute 45 minutes each way to work by car and my office over looks the sea. It’s lovely

@BillywigSting you do sound happy. That's how I'd like to feel when we find somewhere. You obviously have everything you need day to day and then scope for more at the weekend. I just looked at train stations in Liverpool and you have about 8!

Im with @neversleepagain - living in Cheltenham and absolutely love it. Hills on the doorstep, parks in town, lots of brilliant restaurants and bars etc, fantastic schools, lots of brilliant kiddie groups etc, allotments, sports clubs, just a fantastic place to live. We moved from London 3 years ago and havent regretted it for a minute.

@Floralnomad We did look at Tunbridge Wells years ago. I think the only thing I'd feel is that being in that area I'd be a bit cut off from rest of the country (I know that sounds weird but it's having lived in the Midlands for most of my life!) However, maybe I need to consider areas not on list right now as none have ticked the box so far!

@mumonthehill overlooking the sea sounds wonderful. Would certainly be a change for my husband!

@ReallyLilyReally That sounds very positive. Do you work locally now? May I ask what things you would go out to with children if you just had an hour or two?

Newcastle. Awesome city, culture, incredible countryside (only live 5 miles from the city and it feels totally rural). The house prices compared to the south are ridiculously cheap. I wouldn't want to raise my children anywhere else :)

Another vote for Cotswolds/Gloucestershire I love living here

If you're looking at Leeds we're 40 min south - south /west Yorkshire border have Sheffield and Manchester not too far. Plenty of villages / market towns. Just look not to far from m1 for a reasonable commute. I have one dc who is nearly 16 and although we're in a village the market town (10 minutes walk away) has a station so he can be independent. We've got great state schools for both primary and secondary. Cheaper housing.

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

Where I am is about 5 minutes away from Otley Chevin (which is the picture) it's a lovely area for walks with great views. Half an hour and I can be in the Dales. 20 minutes to Harewood House, which has good walks but also big playground etc for the kids. There aren't any national trust places immediately on the doorstep, but there are quite a few within an hour (Fountains Abbey, Nostell Priory, Beningborough, Hardcastle Crags etc etc). At the same time it's 15 minutes on the train to the city centre.

@Leafy2018 did you look at the merseyrail stations too? Their trains are modern clean and very very rarely late.

We don't have oodles of stations because it is geographically a very small city. You can walk across the entirety of the city centre in 40 minutes and drive across the two widest points in a similar time. The buses are very good too most of the time and not all that expensive, £16 unlimited travel for a week on the more expensive company.

It's not as well connected as London but well, it's North of the m6 and not a capital city. But there really is something for everyone.

It does have it's dodgy postcodes but I challenge anyone to find me a city that doesn't.

The house prices are good too. We got a three bed terraced with a huge garden for less than 90k and now in our late 20s early 30s have no mortgage

@Nelly325 Newcastle is probably one of the very few other places I'd consider moving too, fantastic city

The position of DH's office versus the terminus station he would commute into will have a big impact on travelling time.

We are down in Bath* (IT husband gets train to work in Bristol- 15 mins train- 5 minute walk each end). We know loads of families who try the London commute for a year or 2 and then arrive at some sort of compromise (be it working from home 1 or 2 days week or compressed hours and staying over 1 or 2 nights or buying a bolthole there).

*DD walks 15 minutes to school, lots of NT land just outside the town yet plenty of shops and restaurants excellent schools etc. Downsides is that it can be a bit cliquey, loads of tourists and rapidly growing Uni (so house prices aren't cheap).

@Leafy2018 i did work locally but didnt like the slower pace so now work for my old company (in London) long distance. If i only had an hour or two and the sun was shining I'd go for a walk - either into town and the parks or out of town into the hills. If its rainy, LOTS of kid-friendly cafes and pubs etc, or one of the crafty dropins. OR out to one of the nice manor houses, or the alpaca farm, or over to Gloucester airport to look at the planes, or out to one of the little chocolate box villages to marvel at the beauty, etc.

Newcastle. So much to do in the city and the beautiful Northumberland country and coast right on your doorstep. Plus people are so friendly and affordable house prices

Not sure where you are in Hampshire that the commute is 2 hours each way, but loads of folk commute from Winchester where the train to London is under 1 hour.

I moved to London for exactly what you describe, the idea that in the limited time I have available I could :

1. Walk out my door to restaurants/pubs/huge park/river

1. That I didn't have to 'book' stuff. When I lived in 'not London' I had to book stuff well in advance or it was full etc. Now I can be much more spontaneous.

In Greenwich/Blackheath - South East London

I'm in Cheshire. Lots of pretty villages, towns and only half hour on the train to Liverpool, Chester and Manchester.
Loads to do. We moved here for the reasonable house prices and good schools.... And amazing places for my darling dog

I've lived all over the UK and settled in Chester. Love it. A city but not one you can get lost in. Easy commute to Liverpool or Manchester but it's rare I do, everything I need is within a 20 minute walk (including work!)
Bang on the Welsh border so 30 mins from the North Welsh coastline. But equally nice just having a drink walk along the river.

I’m in sanderstead (south Croydon / Purley) and I love it ! Lovely fresh air, I can get from home to work (Liverpool street) within 30 mins (fast train), very quiet and residential and plenty of families around - it has a country/ rural feel. In the area I’m in specifically - there are no pubs or bars; which some people may not like but I love because it means there’s no loud drunk people causing noise or trouble after hours and the weekends still feel ‘safe’.
We have are only 10 mins away from Croydon central which is great for shopping/ dining/ drinks and East Croydon has fantastic travel connections to get everywhere !

Definately something to consider x

Come back to East Mids! I’m Rutland, it is gorgeous- lovely countryside.

I'm trying to think where in Hampshire you are to not have everything you are wanting to find, that you haven't already got!

It can easily take 2 hours when the train is only an hour:

E.g. 10 minute drive to the station. Allow extra 10 mins to find parking space, walk to the platform, buy a coffee.
Train journey 60 mins.
5-10 minutes walk to tube platform, wait for train.
10 minutes tube ride.
10 minutes walk to office.

And maybe on the way back, you arrive a couple of minutes late for the train, and have to wait half an hour for the next one.

Perthshire! Prob too far for you to consider, but fab place to live. I raised my DC in a rural village, with just a 20 minute commute to work in the nearby town. Ridiculously low house prices by London standards (4 bed detached house, garage and decent garden still only £220K at today’s prices), stunning scenery - beaches, forests and mountains all in easy reach, two small cities within 15 mins drive, and the centre of Edinburgh only an hour away. Clean air, few traffic jams, great cultural life - tickets for opera, concerts or theatre much cheaper than London. The DC are now grown up and working in finance in Edinburgh, so very accessible to visit.

Frome and the surrounding area. Close proximity to Bath and Bristol. Direct train line from Westbury. Loads for kids Longleat on your doorstep and lots of NT places stourhead being very near.