Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Who has moved to the country from a city and been very happy they did?

42 replies

NormaJeanBaker · 06/03/2009 20:57

We have had an offer accepted on a place two miles from the sea surrounded by fields. I am a Londoner and had considered VERY carefully all the drawbacks for me - have thought about and discussed it for six years and hear all the negative stuff all the time. Who has done this and wonders why the hell they didn't do it years ago? Happy stories from people who are glad they moved!!!

OP posts:
OrmIrian · 06/03/2009 20:59

Not me. But we live in a rural area and are surrounded by people who have done this and seem to be very happy.

Original poster
NormaJeanBaker · 06/03/2009 21:01

Thanks. We have a London bolthole - have keys to my BIL's place and welcome to be there whether he is or not - he's often away so that makes it less like a sky dive and more of a bungee jump. I think.

OP posts:
sazlocks · 06/03/2009 21:03

me,me,me.
Moved from hideous, crime ridden, middle of big city where I had lived for 20 odd years to lovely West Mids countryside - best thing we ever did. It took a while to settle and make friends but seriously when I go back I am still soooo glad we moved. Good luck

OrmIrian · 06/03/2009 21:03

Whereabout are you thinking of moving to?

Original poster
NormaJeanBaker · 06/03/2009 22:39

Norfolk - north coast. Could be a huge mistake but have a very good feeling about it. Have had traumatic few years and a big change is more exciting than nerve wracking but I am used to pavements...

OP posts:
goldenpeach · 07/03/2009 16:01

We relocated from London to Rugby in August. All was fine in the summer but this winter has made us realised we miss the cosmopolitan aspect, the culture, the work opportunities (working from home was not that successful due to downturn and flood of freelancers), so we are thinking of moving to Oxford. Luckily we haven't bought anything, we are renting. So I'd advise giving renting a go.

Fleecy · 07/03/2009 16:07

North Norfolk is wonderful and very beautiful - but some places are full of second homes so might be very quiet in winter? Having said that, I'm in Norwich at the moment and we have considered moving up to the coast ourselves!

My parents moved up from London to a small village in the Norfolk Broads when I was young - they've never looked back.

Do you mind me asking where on the coast you're going?

hatwoman · 07/03/2009 16:14

we moved in Jan from outer London to the Peak District. It's early days yet but so far the balance is positive. However - I'm from the area so I knew what I was letting myself in for. the first and most positive thing is the utter beauty of the place. I look at the views everyday and it still makes my heart skip. In terms of looks I would find suburbia very claustrophobic, boring, and ugly now. We have a dog, I run and dh cycles, so between us we spend a lot of time outside. and love it.

a second positive is the friendliness of the place - we're in a village and have found it a lot easier to make friends locally than we ever did in london.

  1. the extra freedom the kids can have - I'm happy for them to play in the fields on their own, to walk to their friend's house etc
  1. occasional trips to London for work fulfil the dual purpose of getting me a fix of decent cappucino and confirming that I don;t really like it (London, I mean, not the cappucino)
  1. excellent local shops - farm shops, butchers, green grocers etc (but local = 10 mins drive)

downsides are:

I really miss my friends. We didn;t have friends who were round the corner but had some very very good friends between 15 mins to an hour's drive -close enough to invite then round on a saturday night at the last minute

driving everywhere.

and that's about it, to be honest.

Mutt · 07/03/2009 16:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wombleprincess · 07/03/2009 20:05

me, and went back to london today and althought i do miss it sometimes terribly i am so glad my daughter wont grow up to be able to order a "soya macchiato with a caramel shot" from starbucks by the time she is ten, or have spent half her weekends in a traffic jam!

i do miss old friends and plu factor (people like us!) but on the flip side i have met some lovely people, already made good and close friends, from walks of life i would not have met in london.

do it. but also know that you can go back if it doesnt work out, that was the agreement i had with hubby and it sort of took the pressure of.

wombleprincess · 07/03/2009 20:06

sorry, should have written.. pressure off...

Habbibu · 07/03/2009 20:27

I am very amused by the idea that you can only get coffee in London. What have we been drinking in the provinces all these years?

Anyway, grew up and have lived in several cities - live in a village across the river from a smallish city now, and love it. It's just fab.

Rollmops · 07/03/2009 20:55

Moved from SW London to Oxfordshire and couldn't be happier! Although the area we lived was one of the nicest in London, we are very happy in our small village by the river.
IMO London is great while you don't have kids but once the tiny terrorists come along, countryside has so much more to offer.

hatwoman · 07/03/2009 21:16

habbibu - it's more to do with a change in routine. in the old days I went into an office and would get a good cappucino on my way in to work. now I work from home in a small village. yes, I could get in the car and drive to the rather pretty market town 5 miles away and doubtless get a good coffee. or I could even go into the nearby city 10 miles away. but it doesnt seem particularly sensible, or worth it. I like my coffee but not enough to make a special journey for it. I spend most of my life now tucked away in my village and the only time I go past a source of good cappucino without going out of my way is, in fact, when I'm in London. which is not to say that London is my nearest source - but, slightly bizarrely, it is my most convenient.

wombleprincess · 07/03/2009 21:23

dont drink cows milk - when i asked my local coffee shop if they had soya milk they very sweetly said we could get it in for you, if you ring us the day before....

Habbibu · 07/03/2009 21:27

Fair enough, hatwoman. This type of thread (not this one in particular) often says "I'm sick of London, but will I cope in the country", which rather gives the impression there are no other cities in the UK at all...

hatwoman · 07/03/2009 21:32

good point - but I think that's what London does to you! certainly for us moving to another city wasn't an option. we're only dipping our toes in, at the moment - we've rented so could always go back...although I'm increasingly of the view that I don;t want to.

NorbertDentressangle · 07/03/2009 21:35

The only things I miss from our previous city life (other than some lovely friends of course) are:

-24hr public transport
-wide choice of places to eat out (beyond English, Indian and Chinese)

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 07/03/2009 21:36

wombleprincess, could you come to an arrangement with your local coffee shop that you supply your own soya milk?

I lived in Edinburgh for twenty years, the last decade in Portobello, just a few hundred yards from the sea. We moved to a very rural smallholding and despite the irritations of having to drive the DCs everywhere (until they got old enough to have their own transport) we wouldn't move back.

hatwoman · 07/03/2009 21:36

actually - there's another point re the coffee...in fact the village has a small tea-room type cafe, conveniently located inbetween school and home. so I've often wondered whether to go in after dropping dds off and see if they do take away cappucino. but I'm too afraid of looking like a complete southern ponce! can you imagine? it would be half way round the village before I'd got home...maybe I should go the whole hog and ask if I can "get" a skinny soya mocha frapuccino to go

Habbibu · 07/03/2009 21:40

Hatwoman - you'll be asking what the gaslights are next. And confusing the locals with your horseless carriage.

We have 2 cafes in our village - well - the one a mile away. Both do very good take away coffee. Esp. the one which is owned by the church and run by volunteers!

hatwoman · 07/03/2009 21:53

what neck of the woods are you habibbu? I really would be suprised if this place does a decent take away cappucino but I would love to be wrong. maybe I'll try it next week.

expatinscotland · 07/03/2009 22:01

We did and we are!

No more worrying about bloody catchment areas, friendlier people, child-friendly.

Rollmops · 07/03/2009 22:07

Our village has 2 pubs and an art gallery.
However, the neighbouring village is just across the river, walking distance at that and has all sorts of luxuries , organic shop, great butcher, a fabulous cheese shop and a lovely wine shop, much visited by yours truly , amongst others.
No idea as of the quality of local capuccino as only drink tea...
London will always be my port of call for girlie night out though.

elastamum · 07/03/2009 22:15

We moved to Derbyshire just before my husband left us. We are very rural 3 miles to nearest village with a shop. It is very dark at night and we are surrounded by fileds and forest on our doorstep. I love it and would never go back to a city, but it is very different. Having a large house with land brings a load of work, I am currently tryng to get someone to do my fencing and top the fields! You have to drive everywhre and really make the effort to find new friends esp as I am a single parent and definately not on the dinner party circuit!
Fortunately I have dogs and horses and these alway help me meet people. There is a lack of good resturants but we have a fab local pub where everyone goes and you can even order lunch with your dog sat under the table and nobody minds - cant get that in London

Swipe left for the next trending thread