Best rural places to live!

[mummysho]

My husband, son (1 year old) and I are looking to move to a more rural location somewhere completely new, just wanting a fresh start and a new adventure! We're looking for somewhere rural but not too far out as we'll need a school near by, preferably a village? We're keen on Wales and lake district areas so far but up for some other suggestions? Anyone else done something similar? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

I love North Hampshire ££££ and West Wiltshire ££/£££. The Notts countryside around Newark is also lovely and not mega expensive.

Or anywhere around Ross on Wye. It's fabulous there. Symonds Yat and Goodrich are lovely places.

The dream area would be a village within 30 mins of York. It's heaven round there.

Or Perthshire in Scotland.

Worcestershire is lovely too, as is Shropshire.

Came on to suggest Herefordshire as well. Or Worcestershire/Herefordshire border around Malvern/Ledbury. Not as expensive as The South and Wales is a quick drive!

Definitely the Yorkshire Dales. Check out the villages in Swaledale. I'd live in Muker if I could.

Mid Wales and Shropshire are great with beautiful rural areas but good links to civilisation too!

North West Scotland. Sea. Beaches with white sand. Amazing schools with tiny classes.

Completely agree with the suggestion of Herefordshire and Ledbury/Malvern - truly beautiful area, some lovely village schools (St James's primary school in West Malvern is awesome), great road connections to Wales, the Midlands, etc, good railway links. West Malvern has a really strong community ethos too.

Fab theatre in Great Malvern that regularly hosts major London plays and performers and the Malvern Hills are absolutely stunning - no surprise that Elgar was so inspired by them.

Agree that the Wye Valley area and Symonds Yat are gorgeous too. Check out Ross-on-Wye which is a pretty market town with a great range of shops and facilities and set within the loveliest of locations. It's just off the M50 so has fab links to South Wales, Hereford and the Welsh Marches.

Hay-on-Wye also worth a look as is the lovely Ludlow in Shropshire and the surrounding environs.

Keep us updated and best of luck with your adventure - it sounds very exciting!

Thanks so much to all of you, gave us lots of food for thought! So far based on our affordability, we're off to Herefordshire on Saturday to check out the area which is very exciting but still keeping our options open with Wales as we have a holiday booked there in October. Watch this space!

Hi OP, how did the trip to Herefordshire go?

Dancingtothemusicoftime the trip was great, thank you for asking! We weren't that keen on Ludlow and Leominster (town wise) but Hereford itself was great. Then we got to ross on wye and fell in love!! We unfortunately haven't found anything property wise there or the surrounding area that is the right fit, but hopeful something will come up. We are still going to check out a couple of areas in wales but ross on wye is going to take some beating!

Oh yes, Ross-on-Wye is indeed wonderful. I was there last week with my DB who lives nearby - I got on a coach in frenetic London and alighted to a stunning summer solstice evening in Ross. I love London but Ross was very heaven.

It is the perfect market town and the setting is so beautiful. Such friendly people too. Let us know what happens, OP and best of luck!

A close relative lives in Harewood End, a village half way between Hereford and Ross. Could
Be good for you? Her children are at a tiny primary school which she raves over, less than 15
In a class.

I live in a lovely village on the border of Co. Durham and N. Yorkshire. We are 15 or so miles away from town/supermarket etc. There is a school and little shop in our village, but that's about it. Lovely place

Suffolk?