Where to buy for beautiful rolling english countryside and lots of dog walking options

[PoodlenotDoodle]

Hello this is my first post on Mumsnet! We are recent empty nesters and starting to thinking about our next and final house move. Here is a basic list of our requirements. I am hoping for some advice on areas and villages that we should consider and any thoughts are most welcome:

1. Around a 2 hour or less train commute to London
2. Beautiful rolling english countryside
3. Away from large towns
4. Away from major airport/flight path
5. Areas with pretty villages and nice housing stock
6. Great dog walking options in local vicinity is a key
7. Budget around £2m (or less!)

I expect you will all say "The Cotswolds" and we do love the Cotswolds but we also want to consider other areas that might be less on the tourist trail and still come with a similar offer. I have read that the "Notswolds" (Northamptionshire/Rutland etc) area is worth a look but have not actually been to this area (we know the Gloucestershire/Somerset area well) so any thoughts most welcome on this area as well as any others we should consider. Thanks in advance.

Am considering a move to Wiltshire. Which villages do you like and why? Thank you!

Its currently nice because it hasn’t got a train line to London. It still has a few farms.
Sadly since commuting became less if a thing and Londoners all want out of London the building has started. Give it 5 years and see how those massive housing estates to the south and the flats in the villages ruin the character that it’s clinging onto.

This! Also Petworth area, graffam, fittleworth, west burton, bury. I’d do a search within 5 miles of Petworth.

I just saw this one doing that search.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157523105

I love this road. And the walks up on black down are amazing. It’s well below your budget but needs work. (No idea what kind of house you are after - this isn’t a mansion…)

The Deverills in Wiltshire or many of the nearby villages would tick your boxes.

The only two airports near the New Forest are Southampton and Bournemouth, not too many planes and only a few fly over the Forest. Probably more disturbance from RAF practicing night flying once in a blue moon. But if you did come this way do learn about the wildlife and I hope your dogs are well trained.

I think Worcestershire is massively underrated, the Teme Valley has some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK

Lewes!!

It’s the most beautiful market town surrounded by gorgeous countryside - the villages of Firle (including Charleston which has the annual literary festival) and Glyde, which has Glydebourne Opera House and the Love Supreme Festival at Glyde House.

It’s proper posh though - we live in Hove but regularly go to The Depot cinema and restaurant there, and the clientele are seismically different from our city!

The Meon Valley Hampshire

Tbh you’ll struggle with that budget. Maybe look north.

For flight paths - just watch flight tracker a few times. NF looks safe!

https://www.flightradar24.com/50.64,-1.70/8

Please check out the other maps for things like flooding, dark skies, noise, sunlight, etc

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4935470-tools-for-house-buyers

And use the Area360 add-in for RM on Chrome when looking at specific homes.

Where I live ticks all your points except for point 1 (I'm in South Yorkshire).

It is exactly like that. There’s a couple of air b&bs in the village if you need a base while you explore. With your budget you would get an incredible home in this area - definitely worth a look!

I live about 10 minutes drive west of Southampton Airport and disturbing planes are rare enough to be commented on (comparing with, for example, Richmond, where there’s always another one along in a minute). Mostly the fights are north/south and really only regularly noticeable through Colden Common/Eastleigh/Southampton. As it is a smaller runway it doesn’t get the big aircraft and it isn’t massively busy.

your requirements made me think of the Stockbridge area/rural test valley.

I would go East rather than West purely because the East of the UK is much, much less wet. Rainfall is becoming more of an issue and if the outdoors is your thing, you don’t want to be constantly wet or damp.

I live in a Yorkshire village, 30 minutes from Leeds station which is then a 2 hour train to London on the quickest train (most trains are 2h15h). But I can walk from my front door into some of the Yorkshire moors and I’m within a 15 minute drive of a few quaint villages.

There are other villages that are closer to Leeds if you wanted to be closer to the station. I expect the same is true of Sheffield and its nearby villages.

Have you lived with airplane noise before which is why you are against living somewhere with it? I only ask cos it’s a noise you get pretty used to very quick as someone who use to live at the end of a runway at Heathrow. Just worried you will limit yourself when choosing arears to live,

I always remember a friend saying that if they moved away from the kids then they would choose an absolute fabulous area that the kids would want to come and visit lots. The think about living somewhere as far away as Leeds, Sheffield would be the cost of train fares and the length of car journey for your visitors. I would explore much nearer options 1st.

interesting - where East would you look?

We currently live with some aircraft noise but it isnt much of an issue but we really would hate to move to a beautiful quiet rural location only to be under a flight path! I dont consider planes flying at around 20,000 feet to be an issue (not sure there are many places in the UK which has no flights overhead!), I am more concerned about those at 10 or 15,000 ft or lower and definitely those arriving at regional airports (low cost carriers for example) which might be coming in at 1am in the morning.

Have heard people say in the countryside there can be lots of noise, not sure what noise they may mean.
Maybe buy somewhere on the fringe of a National park where it can’t be spoilt by new housing.

I’m on the southwest side on NF and we get the occasional plane from Bournemouth overhead, usually the Ryanair to Faro which seems to bank south. Have a look on flight radar. Planes head out from Gatwick overhead the Isle of Wight but are so high by that point that they are seen but not heard. The occasional helicopter heading for Chewton Glen. All more of a novelty than an annoyance.

it definitely rains more here than in London - look at the met office map that tracks precipitation every 15 mins to see how it sweeps up the Channel and makes landfall.

Not sure I would buy in Kent as it’s a bit out on a limb! Don’t know Kent though.

I would look at Suffolk. It’s much quieter than many places and has exactly what you are after. You also have the coast in Suffolk to explore.

I don't recall every hearing or seeing a plane over the New Forest.

I like the New Forest but it gets really busy. Try getting through Lyndhurst in the summer, it gets gridlocked. My friend lives in Burley and the traffic if you want to go anywhere is horrendous.