We want to move to an AONB in the U.K. help please

[guitarstringseadgbe]

Morning everyone

We are wanting to move to an AONB in the U.K. but feel really overwhelmed with the choice! We also need to be within 30 minutes of a large hospital/town because of my work in a medical field.

I love the idea of the Cotswolds as it’s totally beautiful but it’s a huge area. We are also happy to go to Yorkshire etc

We want somewhere rural, beautiful landscapes and walks and definitely not in a town but a small village ir just individual houses somewhere.

Does anyone have areas they’d recommend?

I'd suggest the Peak District, which is very accessible for Sheffield.

Norfolk Broads? Within 30 mins of Norwich.

Shropshire Hills - depending on where - easy distance of either Shrewsbury, Telford or evening Wolverhampton.

Well currently if you live in anywhere thats AONB be prepared to be swamped with visitors. Once lockdown hit we have had non stop joggers , cyclists and walkers all escaping to the countryside. We have had far more than ever. Along with this comes the litter, crap apples and crime. The joys that come with rural living.

Guildford near the downs?

We live in the Chilterns AONB. This is the view from my kitchen 😊, but we’re 28 mins on the fast train from Marylebone, also an easy drive to Oxford or Reading. We have miles of walks from the doorstep, and the village is very friendly. There’s always loads going on (in non Covid times)

Come and move near us on the South Downs. Coast and countryside.

An Outstanding trust and a Joint military/NHS large trust on doorstep plus Southampton and Guildford Hospitals easily accessible.

We’re about eleven miles from town. No facilities hamlet but in a parish of eight villages which are socially linked. Lovely place.

Gower - close to 2 major hospitals, good quality of life, lots of lovely beaches!

I'm near hayfield in the Peak District and a lot of my friends and neighbours are medics in the NW hospitals. It's beautiful but also very close to the metropolitan north so a nice combo. Traffic can be bad, though. Not such a problem if you're doing irregular shifts like them. I just get the train.

New Forest, with Southampton close by? I live in Dorset and feel really lucky to have a beautiful coast and so much rural loveliness close by.

Northumberland, County Durham, Cumbria. All within 30 minutes of large teaching hospitals in Newcastle, Durham and Teeside. Also your only a stone's throw away from Kiekder Forest, Scottish Borders, Lake District, North Yorkshire Moors, Peak District is also only a few hours away. House prices vary depending on the area but if you want remote, there are some stunning properties full of character from old farmhouses to manor houses to stone built cottages. You have everything from moorland, lakes and reservoirs, forests and hills to climb.

East Coast mainline gets you into Central London within 3 hours max.

North Yorkshire is another possibility especially near Harrogate, Leeds areas.

Peak District is beautiful but expensive as are the Cotswolds.

Cumbria bit more remote, you won’t get to Newcastle in 30 minutes from the Lakes, that’s for sure. Carlisle biggest city.

Not sure how big a hospital/town you need, but there are beautiful places to live within easy reach of Lancaster Royal Infirmary. We are 20 mins away, just over the border into Cumbria, just outside the Lake District national park and near the Arnside and Silverdale AONB.

@Sitdowncupoftea crap apples? 😂

Brecon Beacons accessible to Cardiff/Swansea
So beautiful there!

But obviously, everyone has their own individual landscape that moves them. Hills are anathema to some people

Chilterns is good if you don't want wild wild. Somewhere in the NE bit near the A41 will give you easy journeys to Stoke Mandeville and Watford General hospitals, and a bit further afield to Milton Keynes. Trains are mainline to Euston on the NE side, to Marylebone on the SW side and Met line in the middle. Wycombe and Amersham hospitals aren't A&E any more but still have a lot of services depending on your speciality, and if you are in the Amersham/Chesham area you can get Met to Northwood (Mount Vernon) or Northwick Park in Harrow within half an hour or so.

Having said that, I come from the border of the Peak District and would go back at the drop of a hat if I didn't have my dream job already! (And second the Sheffield hospitals - Hallamshire, Northern General etc. as good places to work, or Chesterfield Royal if you want it a bit quieter.)

@Tadpolesandfroglets Living rural we normally don't see crap apples but since lockdown the joys of rural living have brought upon us a huge abundance of them hanging from trees. Also the amount of rural crime has gone through the roof. Once lockdown ends so will the crime and litter.

@sitdowncupoftea wow, that sounds bad. I live rurally too NW, but no crime (that I know of), no crab apples but have to say littering was bad last time and so were the piles of human poo! Who is knicking all the apples!?!!

@tadpolesandfroglets We have had an increase on livestock crime and farm machinery stolen. Also I've gone out and had to see far more wildlife shot for fun. Nothing worse than seeing deer shot and just left there. We have always had wildlife crime but never this much. Normally we don't see many strangers but we have been decended upon. The people who come have been chased away on occasions as they think they can walk on farm fields. Its the downside of rural life.

@guitarstringseadgbe wpuld be interested to know if you come to a decision in the end?