does this place exist?

[gingerhills]

DC have grown up and DH is retired so we can now move away from the expensive London commuter village we've lived in for years.

We are prepared to move anywhere in England, pretty much, if we can find these things:

4 bed house with large garden for £650k or less

on the outskirts of a small town/big busy village as DH insists on having rural views and I insist on being walking distance from centre

town with lots of life - theatres, cinema, swimming pool, market and loads of community stuff going on

Not too cliquey - not too 'you have to be born here to belong here'

Ideally not Tory heartland. Diverse, bit left wing/arty eccentric.

ideally not more than 2 hours from London as we still have lots of friends there and I still have work meetings there a couple of times a month.

Does this place exist?

Frome in Somerset? Might be just over 2 hours from London though

@TheVolturi

If you come up to the North West you can buy something fit for a king for that price.

Not everywhere in the north west.

Norwich is approx two hour train journey to London. Gorgeous, arty, left wing city and some very green, rural areas nearby. Near the train station try Trowse or Thorpe at Andrew.

Bristol is not tory how very dare you!

Was also going to suggest mendips/Somerset levels. If I had a budget that size and was ready to leave Bristol city thats wjreebid

*thats where I’d go!

Wallingford or maybe Henley. Quite expensive though.

Might be worth considering Cambridge? Housing is pricey but you might find what you want in one of the larger villages or in a new build on on the outskirts. Might have to compromise on an allotment to make up the garden space. Train is pretty fast into kings cross and the city is not Tory. All sorts of newcomers all the time. You could get rural views but to be honest it’s a bit bleak and flat for my tastes! Great for cycling though, unlike the prettier hills here!

I live somewhere with a Tory mp it makes very little difference. I always find it a bit strange - typically because of fptp there will be tens of thousands of voters from other parties around! I’ve never heard a Tory saying they wouldn’t move somewhere because it was Labour! Plus I think at the next GE lots of the English seats will swing back, but the people there would be the same!

Frodsham.

What about some of the villages around rugby or Coventry? Or bournville in Birmingham?

It is around 2 hours on the train to Leeds from London. What about somewhere up that way?

What about Worthing?
Prices have shot up but you might just about be able to get a 4 bed for that budget. About 1hr20 to London on the train, easily accessible town centre with plenty of useful shops, very easy to get to Brighton or Chichester for more choice. You can see the Downs and/or the sea from large parts of the town, and it's generally very up-and-coming with lots of DFLs and people priced out of Brighton and Hove.

(Still Tory but the council is moving towards Labour and a new Labour MP in the next few years isn't beyond the realms of possibility.)

Totnes has a strong artistic/eccentric vibe. The local MP is Tory, but has come out against BJ. Or there's Glastonbury of course.

Somerset / Wiltshire?

Frome & surrounding villages. Nunney, Mells etc…. Westbury train station. Direct London line.
Frome does have a train station.

Wedmore, Wells area.

Castle Cary - has a London direct train station.

Bruton (has train station) & villages - Brewham, Batcombe, Witham Friary etc…

Corsley - next to Longleat estate & villages.

Butleigh nr Glastonbury. Somerton.

Good large villages / small towns with plenty going on in them or around them.

Try Clarendon Park in Leicester. 1 hour to London, loads going on and very definitely not Tory

Woodbridge

What about Wales? Labour heartlands. Places like Machen or Rudry etc

@EmergencyPoncho

I'm going to say Altrincham. It's not cheap but worth a look.

I'd file Altrincham under "Tory Heartland"! Parts of Hale / Bowdon might fit the countryside views /walking distance to amenities but probably not within budget. I don't think it's at all arty or diverse.

One of the villages outside of Cambridge- Histon/ waterbeach or the shelfords. Cambridge city is very left but south Cambs is Tory.

Well I think I've found exactly what you want. I've no idea what side of London you live on but I'm in south-east London and we've gone out to Kent more than anywhere else since we moved here and it's BEAUTIFUL- it's so green, so pretty, lovely houses - and you can stay away from the Brexity parts easily

Here's your house (near the loveliest castle in England - I'm biased ) - Hever

Walk into town, huge garden backs onto the river and countryside ....

Ooh, bit of a flood risk with that one (hence it being built with only stores on the ground floor).

Well, where I live is just like that, but it's just outside Edinburgh. Probably a stretch too far for you?

For £650k, you'd get a massive house, with sea views, parking for several cars etc, large garden.

Ours is a small town (10k people), but 15 minutes on the train gets you in to the heart of Edinburgh, which has everything you need. But closer still is Dunfermline, there is everything on your list. Takes about 7 mins in the car, but there are excellent bus links.

But in the town itself, we have everything you need anyway. Multiple restaurants, take-aways, tennis, badminton, churches, community clubs, bowling green, Tesco, Aldi, Asda, dry cleaners, charity shops, 5 golden sandy beaches, coastal path, woodland walks.

Not in the slightest bit cliquey - I'm English, never had a problem. In fact it's so friendly, we are always bumping in to people for a chat when we walk the dogs.

Have a look at :

Aberdour
Dalgety Bay
South Queensferry (a bit dearer property wise).
North Queensferry

We are in a 5 bedroom house which sits on the coastal path, with sea views - probably worth £250k. I can see Edinburgh from my windows.

Like I say, for £650k, you'd be laughing.

I used to live in London. No way would you get me back there, or even close - you can get so much more for your money if you move North.

Warwick and surrounding villages/Kenilworth/Leamington Spa. Super fast trains to London. Loads going on, great walks. Our view is open greenery right across to the Cotswolds on the horizon.

Oh, and a Labour MP! Boom