Is a village the utopia I imagine?

[BRAV0Juliet]

I'm 50, married, & live in a city but dream of life in a village and am now seriously considering selling up & moving next year despite my husband working here and therefore living apart a few days a week

Although cities have a lot going on I think they are lonely transient places and I don't hit the shops or bars so wonder what the point is.

My view is that in a village (hopefully The Cotswolds) I will have more friends, there will be stuff going on, there'll be a pub, shop, book club? gardening club? WI? Hellos as I walk the dogs, neighbours there for me, popping in for coffee. Am I deluding myself?

Please tell me your experiences of village life Mumsnetters!

Chipping Campden is lovely, or Moreton in the Marsh - as others have said, it sounds like you want a very small town rather than a village, and you will get a lot more for your money and more community once you get past the commutable point on the Cotswolds line.

There are places like you want (and as I said earlier in your thread, I live in one), but its a matter of visiting the area and popping to different places to see what feeling you get, and then checking out the local facebook groups to see what they are like

I lived in a village all my life until I moved to a large town 4 years ago.
I’d do anything to go back to village life.

I lived in 3 villages growing up and they were all wonderful experiences that I think back to often

We live in a lovely village in the Peak District, it has a fantastic hair dressers, 3 brilliant pubs, a lovely Italian restaurant and a great Indian. There is a green grocers who deliver, the post office keep parcels for 4 weeks and it's right in the centre of the village. The post man knows who lives at what house so post redirect isn't needed. There are lots of clubs and things to do.

I love it here, however the one downside is everyone knows each other

I've always had a dread of living in a village. Midwich cuckoo's, village of the damned, the wickerman

Well if it's anything like the one I live in then good luck. No public transport, no Post office, dodgy internet/phone signal, 1 village shop that you have to sell a kidney to afford a pint of milk and a loaf of bread, 1 pub that is also a restaurant so, again, not cheap. No gritters in the winter so the roads are treacherous, in the summer it's the 4.30 am dawn chorus or the tractors going past at 10.30pm. I can't wait to move now I no longer have any ties to the place.

I think you might need one of the larger villages near Stroud. Good communities, amazing views and an incredible amount of things going on in Stroud to suit all tastes. Try Randwick, Slad, Nailsworth ( more of a town than village) Minchinhampton or Chalford.

@BRAV0Juliet did you ever make the move to the Cotswolds? I'm 51 & live in Cambridge too - perhaps it's a pipe dream but I'd love to live somewhere more friendly, get a dog, join in with local things and make some new like-minded friends. Always a bit too scared to take the plunge but always looking on Rightmove! Would love to hear how you are getting on with your moving plans.