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

Fife!

Stunning countryside, lovely people, easy access cities, beautiful beaches, too many activities to list.

Northumberland. Stunning countryside and beaches, Newcastle is on your doorstep so an easy commute. Houses are cheap, people are generally pretty lovely, I adore being here!

I live in Tonbridge ( about 4 miles from Tunbridge wells ) and work locally, London is only 45 minutes away, sevenoaks is nearer but much more expensive, near loads of places too.
I come from Lincoln and only really 4 hrs max by train, not far 180 miles away.

Another advocate for Ross on Wye. I grew up there and desperate to move back. You've got river and hill walks accessible from town, Malvern Hills, Forest of Dean a short drive. Easy links to M5 and M4 via M50 and A40. You get a LOT of house for your money. lovely town. If you need a train station then Ledbury or Malvern for town rather than city living. You can get trains to B'ham and London (stopping at Oxford and Reading).

We live in a pretty village just outside of Abingdon; the other side of Oxford from Witney. I’ve got miles of farmland on my doorstep to walk my muttleys around, am a fifteen minute drive into the centre of Oxford and have lots of lovely market towns within easy reach. The Ridgeway is not far-a fantastic place with amazing views.

Didcot is a ten minute drive and the fast train from Didcot Parkway into London is only 35 minutes. My Dd commutes into London everyday.

Petts Wood, south east London/Kent border. Great transport links to London and still in an Oyster zone so train fares aren't too astronomical, but surrounded by countryside. I can walk to farmland 10 minutes from my house.

Also a nice community feel and nice hight street with lots of restaurants and cafes and a few pubs.

County Durham. 3 miles from the coast where I walk my dog every day. And every day I tell myself how lucky I am.
An hour from beautiful Northumberland and less than 2 to the lakes.

Some really beautiful scenery and easy access to Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham.

People are mostly awesome too- since I got my puppy a year ago I’ve spoken to more people than ever before.

we live in Halifax small town with nice bits, within and hour we have Leeds, 1.5 hours gets us to Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, 2 hours to Birmingham. North of us are the fabulous Yorkshire dales, within 2 hours all of the Yorkshire East coast Whitby Scarborough, York, Harrogate , can easily do the Derby Dales and back for a day trip, and house prices are reasonable £150000 buys you a reasonable 3 bed semi

Agree with the others re Cheltenham! There is amazing countryside minutes away (could walk if you are feeling energetic) I actually think the views from one ot the many hills over Cheltenham, are some of the best. (And I've seen a lot of nice views)
They will also be building a huge cyber park..which means plenty of Tech jobs.

Fife here too. I’m only 20 minutes drive from Dundee and an hour from Edinburgh but can get to the train station in 5 minutes if needed too. Beautiful countryside and beaches, a great local food scene and friendly people make it a fab place to live. Houses are expensive in certain areas (like the East Neuk villages and St Andrews) but you don’t have to go far to find a lot of property for your money. If it’s possible to cross over from tech to gaming then Dundee is a hub of computer game innovation and there are also opportunities with the local universities for skilled professionals.

Folkestone...varied and beautiful period architecture, thriving arts scene and community with always something going on, stunning countryside on one side, breathtaking coastline on the other, 50 mins to London with an actually pretty pleasant commute, access to the continent for mini breaks, historical Canterbury just 15 mins away. Best move we ever made (and we’ve had a few!)

In the countryside near Manchester. I have hills on my doorstep but can be in the middle of Manchester in 20/30 minutes. There's a massive tech sector here.

Fife has loads to do.

Or around Edinburgh- East Lothian or Linlithgow to the west.

Around Stirling/ dunblane is nice.

The villages of Renfrewshire are nice and accessible for the airport/ coast.

Bearsden/milngavie are good for city access and near Loch Lomond/ Argyll.

House prices in all these areas are a lot cheaper than where you are so a big pay drop would still mean more disposable income.

Henley on Thames and the surrounding south Oxfordshire villages are fabulous for Reading and Oxford.

Maybe a bit left field - Surbiton.

16 minute commute to Waterloo. Right by the river, easy to get to Hampton Court, Bushy Park, or a drive to woods, Richmond Park, countryside, pretty villages etc., restaurants, coffee shops, schools...

Plenty of amenities on hand, plus very close to Kingston with loads more amenities.

Woodbridge, Suffolk, the perfect place! Wonderful schools, independent high st, gorgeous countryside, loads to do, sailing, beach, forests, plus incredible music at Snape and lots to do in Ipswich. Suits us down to the ground. Commute is rubbish though, not a trip you'd want to make everyday, though many do.

I'm in a village just outside High Wycombe. Benefits are easy to get to Oxford and London by train or car. Reading not so easy but doable if you don't hit the traffic on the A404 😄. Good schools and close enough to some stunning countryside to counteract the fact that you are near quite a big town.

I live in Bristol and I love it. It’s such a beautiful city, and there’s lots to do and great schools for the kids

Where in Hampshire are you? I am struggling to think why you can’t find places to walk within 15min drive? I’m in Hampshire and both DH and I are in the tech sector. I’m software development and DH data science. He works locally and I commute 45min to an hour by car. I don’t think you need to actually move to find a job outside London! There is a lot less here than in London but they do exist.

There isn’t a lot of NT here but we are 15 min drive away from both Winchester and Southampton. You can guess where we are probably! But looking at your list of places. Play parks, a lot of them here and many walkable distance. Farms, gardens, zoo and theme parks are all fairly local, maybe 20min or so. Then there are a lot of country parks etc.

Maybe you are just missing the East Midlands? Or maybe your DH is spending too much time on commuting? 4 hours is awful if you have to do it everyday. Is there scope to work regularly from home?

Are you North Hampshire, ie close to Basingstoke instead? That should be commutable by car to a lot of Thames valley jobs and it’s a lot faster by car than the train to London.

Between Warwick and Stratford.

I hear the sheep in the fields all day. Park nearby, village school. But only few minutes drive to station and just over 1hr into London, 40 minutes to Birmingham. Leamington is lovely and very nearby. M40 on doorstep.

National trust everywhere, 40 minutes to get to Cotswolds.

It's got everything. And I'm not local but I've really grown to love it round here.

I moved to Hampshire for work, and don't really like it! The area around Malvern in Worcestershire is lovely, and we used to go there loads. It is between Hereford and Worcester, so not sure how that would work for job prospects etc but you certainly get a lot more property for your money there than Hampshire!

South Ribble near Chorley
Houses are cheap, the people are lovely we are near Preston and Manchester for shopping. We have parks and countryside. I cant imagine ever living anywhere else

Just to say thank you so, so much for all those replies! It's like Rightmove has had some sort of love child with The Guarian's 'Let's Move To' page. Amazing! I will get around to typing some replies later but just wanted to say thanks!

We live in West Wales. Miles from anywhere, transport links are terrible!

However... scenery is wonderful. I can look out of my window and see the sea on one side, field of sheep with rolling wooded hills behind on the other. Just been out for a wonderful lunch time bike ride.

Jobs wise - if there's any chance of your husband being able to work from home you might be able to make it work. (I know someone local who works for a tech firm in Manchester, for instance). Other than that, there's some jobs in local/national government or there's the university in Aberystwyth. There's not a huge amount other than that.

House prices aren't too bad - not the lowest but I'd think a good deal lower than Hampshire.

A good many of the schools (particularly primary) are Welsh medium. They're generally pretty good at getting kids who move here up to speed, but it's worth being aware of that. Our curriculum etc. also diverges from England and is about to diverge even more, so it would be worth checking that out as well.