Artsy liberal places to live in the U.K.? (But still beautiful)

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We live in London but our work is going wfh pretty much completely. We both wfh part time, but now it looks like it’ll be permanently that way, with maybe one meeting a week in London.

DH and I like living in London, but open to moving and our young DS does not like living in london. Whenever we go to the countryside for the day he says “can we move here?!”. So now we’re thinking maybe we’ll try out living somewhere else.

We are from London so actually don’t know much of the UK!

Can anyone suggest a liberal, artsy place to live that is beautiful and has a great community? The thing I like best about london is how easy it is to find a very friendly community.

No idea where to start!!!

Our family is London or SE, friends London or SE / SW so somewhere easy to get back to for that.

Any suggestions welcome! And we will start taking day trips!

Totnes ticks all your boxes. Main line to London too

Not York if you don't like stag/hen do's walking around absolutely bladdered with pink blow up willies on a Saturday at 4pm. Absolute disgrace of a town centre at weekend later afternoon early evenings.

I wouldn't describe St Albans as liberal but maybe there is something I'm missing?

Ok not as arty as many of these fab places but St Albans is becoming more arty. Film festival, vintage markets, small indie shops, 3 theatres, an Art Deco cinema. Expensive in the centre but if you want rural lots of nice villages around and 20 min to st Pancras

And sT Albans has a rare thing - an actual Lib Dem MP who is fab

Bridport has an arts centre, a theatre, an artists' quarter, loads of great pubs, restaurants and vintage shops and is within easy reach of beautiful countryside and beaches.

St Albans voted remain too.

Harpenden our neighbour is Tory

Lewes, totnes

The friends who I know who have moved their from London are very happy with the community & feel welcomed despite not being white. I believe it's a remainer, lib dem area.

Why do you think it's not liberal?

that was too @purplepeopleeaters

Brighton

Reed - I agree with you about Stroud, I live about an hour away and meet a friend for lunch there every few months, it's OK in its own way but I really wouldn't call it 'artsy' or 'liberal'. There is an awful lot of small minded attitudes and I don't get the feeling it is very inclusive. It would be quite a shock to someone moving out of London.

Lewes is ridiculously hilly (steep!).

Another vote for the Brighton/Hove area. We moved down from Central London to the Preston park area and love it. Close to the beach and not far out to lots of beautiful Sussex countryside. And quick into London on the gatwick express when you need to get to meetings.

It also has a fantastic community spirit that's really been emphasised during lockdown.

Norwich

Bristol is very popular with families moving from London. You could look at countryside areas just outside the city for the best of both worlds.

Stroud returned a Conservative MP in Dec 19.

@HappyHedgehog247

Totnes may be too far for you but it’s fabulous! Arty, lefty, real sense of community. River running through it with seals in the estuary further down and surrounded by stunning countryside and easy access to beaches. On a main line to Paddington but it’s not commutable.

As long as you get all your shots before going.

DP's from Devon. As a child of an antivaxxer, he sees Totnes as the likely UK origin point for the Zombie Apocalypse.

I was going to say Totnes or Hebden Bridge depending on which end of the country you want

Totems in Devon. Full of artsy stuff. mainline station.

Whitstable?

Saddleworth. Lovely villages, open countryside, fabulous community, wine bars and restaurants and close to Manchester.

You're thinking of moving on the say-so of your child? Seriously?

East Sussex around Brighton. Maybe Lewes? It's a bit twee but people seem to love it.
Not too far from London if your support network are there.

There's nowhere like London. I guess Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh are the closest you are going to get within the UK - but all of them are a lot colder and wetter.