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.

I worry that I would find Suffolk and Norfolk too flat for my liking - I do love rolling hills both to climb with the dog and for the views from the top!

Then seriously consider chiltern hills. Thame area is a 10 minute drive to the m40, also easy for the M1, and extremely easy for London

It’s not all flat in East Anglia. Cambridgeshire is flat, Lincolnshire is very flat Suffolk less so.

Why not book a holiday in some of the places? You can then get a real feel for what they are like.

Another reason to consider the villages in East Kent round Folkestone way. You can climb hills and see all the way to France. And the high speed train goes from Ashford to St Pancras in 40 minutes.

No aircraft noise except for Spitfires being flown over to keep them ticking over about once a fortnight and the occasional coastguard helicopter.

Suffolk. Particularly east of Newmarket. It’s very rolling hills and walks friendly around the gallops. Villages such as Ashley, Moulton, Cheveley are beautiful and there are some best kept secret Michelin star pub restaurants hidden away. If it’s good enough for Claudia Schiffer and John Hurt. 😉

The Chilterns. Look at the villages around Henley on Thames.

Thanks everyone - we will definitely do some proper exploring before we decide for definite on an area but did this post as we wanted to get some ideas on areas to rule in and ones to rule out! We hadn't thought of as far north as Yorkshire but will look a bit more at that area as well as the Warwickshire/Teme Valley area plus Rutland area and possibly Cranborne Chase/Tisbury etc. Our primary concern with the home counties are that while they are beautiful and definitely easy access to London, with current government house building targets we worry what that means with building on or next to greenbelt particularly in these areas which offer good connections and services nearby. We absolutely love the Cotswolds so will keep that in the mix too but definitely not the very pretty and overrun villages (Castle Combe, Stanton, Bibury, etc) which are starting to resemble Disneyland on a summer day! I think areas that sit within an ANOB might be a good cross reference. 🙏

At the moment Southampton airport has a pifully low number of flights a day - traffic is still only a third of what it was pre Covid. The runway was too short for the type of planes the low cost operators use, but it was extended (north) towards its perimeter in 2023 to try amid mitigate this. It can’t be extended south because the A27 is in the way! So it still has quite a short runway.

Many of the Sussex villages north of the A27 are in the South Downs National Park, which, at the moment…, the protection that brings :)

Developments are sought after in flat areas, building costs lower. When it gets hilly, narrow country lanes developers back away.

having lived near the NF for most of my life and now being in Wiltshire, I have to say I’ve noticed way more planes (of all types including military old and new) going over in Wilts than in the NF

My DH’s family is from Macclesfield. As an ignorant southerner (born and bred in the Cotswolds- which are lovely), I assumed Macc was just a northern mill town. It is… but it’s also on the edges of the very lovely Peak District. There are lovely outlying villages, and beautiful walks.

I believe Sheffield also backs on to the Peaks.

We’re in Winchester and I love it. South Downs, New Forest and Wessex/Wiltshire downs all on your doorstep. Under an hour on the fast trains to Waterloo. Salisbury only 30 minutes in the car. Lots of cultural things on in both cities. There are lots of rural villages nearby but personally we wanted to be in Winchester itself. Lovely smart small historic city with good cafes/restaurants and walks for miles along the water meadows even from the city centre. Main roads/motorways can get busy, but if you’re not commuting everyday for work and not travelling at peak times it’s fine, plus if heading into the countryside it’s fine.

Lots of ideas and I'm not sure if Worcestershire has been mentioned. If not have a look. It's beautiful, rolling hills, orchards, fabulous dog walking areas. Some amazing properties for your budget.

There are some lovely houses in and around Petersfield, and it ticks all your boxes. This one is nice for example: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161169878?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

Petersfield is lovely and does tick your boxes.

Framlingham in Suffolk, lovely town close to the heritage coast or around Burnham Market in North Norfolk. Both areas have gentle rolling countryside rather than the flat fenland countryside. There are gorgeous ridge walks with views to the coast just inland from the North Norfolk coast.
Further away the Gower Peninsula with fast trains from Swansea to Paddington that run hourly stopping in Cardiff and Bristol if you fancy a City fix occasionally. Dog walking heaven and definitely no aircraft noise as the transatlantic flights are fully airborne by the time they reach South Wales.

Yes, area between Petersfield and Winchester on the South Downs is wonderful. We often head up that way. Meon Valley is lovely too.

We spent 20 years in West Sussex (village 5 miles outside Horsham), but that was getting very built up and busy. So we then tried the Welsh borders fairly near Hereford for 4 yrs. Although it was very beautiful, it wasn’t easy getting back to London and felt too remote for us. So we then moved to Winchester where I had previously lived years ago. The benefit of Hampshire is it’s so well connected for getting elsewhere compared to even Sussex. You’re not hemmed in by London and the M25. It’s 50 minutes to Oxford by car, direct train there also from Winchester, plus the West Country/New Forest is close by. We can also pop back into Sussex and I love being back near the South Downs, although on the Western edge this time. Day trips into London are a breeze. We too are in our fifties and empty nesters and there’s always somewhere to go living here, be it into a city or in the middle of nowhere.

High Weald AONB - stunning views. Rural bit towns/coast/airport/London within reasonable reach. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157726961

Kent and E Sussex

OMG I grew up in Swife Lane! It's hellish in the winter! Also not near a train station which is why my parents moved in the end.

What about North Yorkshire - two hours into Kings Cross, incredibly beautiful and you could get a lovely house…

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148188659#/?channel=RES_BUY
Check out these views 😊
Whatstandwell has its own train station change at Derby for London trains. It’s about 1hour 30 minutes from Derby to King’s Cross via Leicester on a fast train.

Surrey! Parts of it are right off the flight path. Gorgeous walks in all directions around Esher, Oxshott, Cobham, Guildford - all with good train connections to London (Less than an hour). If you want more remote, places like Shere or Shamley Green are chocolate box pretty but not on the train line afaik.

Another vote for rural Kent & East Sussex. Beautiful countryside and much nearer to London. I know a pp said heathfield isn’t accessible to London, as a commuter I’d agree but at just over an hour it’s a darn sight closer than derby or Lincoln!!!!

somewhere like Mayfield in East sussex
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/158663339

Stunning house with annex near Cranbrook Kent
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161628671

huge oast house in Kent:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147674486