Do you live really rurally?

[linentowel]

I live in a village we have a shop for absolute basics. Nearest supermarket is 9 miles away. Not too bad.

We went to Skye, Plockton and Kyle of Lochalash last week. Absolutely stunning but no supermarkets or clothes shops nearby. Ok, most places have a small co-op but it got us thinking, where do you get your food shopping from? We assumed clothes are online or a day trip to Inverness or a fort William.

One of the places we went to in Skye was really remote and 40 minutes from a main road let alone the bigger co-op. You can’t really forget a pint of milk.

I’m on a Scottish island. Small shop 8 miles away and 18 miles to the Coop. Clothes shopping online or occasional trips away. Quite often I can’t get what I want in the coop so always changing menus/cooking odd things 😀

So you mind me asking if online shopping is good where you are?

I would not say I live really rurally but often feel I do!
We live on a smallholding only 7miles from a city and 3 miles to nearest shop, but not on a bus route and it’s not safe to walk on the roads (think 60mph and lots of blind corners). DD is an hour on the bus (crazy catchment boundaries round here!). Our neighbours are 2 fields away all around us.
We do have WiFi but regularly get bumped off it and then get 3G at best. At the moment we can only get a tv signal for bbc2. Deliveries are hit and miss depending on company and delivery driver so I tend to get deliveries to the nearest Amazon locker. We tend to stock up on cans and flour etc for winter months and have a big chest freezer, grow lots of our own fruit and veg., have hens for eggs, bees for candles and honey and pigs and lambs. We get about 2/3 power cuts a year for 4 hours plus so we have a wood fired cooker and stove. Worst winter was when we had no water and no electricity (so no heating) for 2 days.
Wouldn’t live any other way and we rely on our car. I do feel part of a rural community but often an ignored part of Scotland.

Not any more as I moved to a city but I grew up extremely rurally. We had a small Spar shop but the nearest supermarket was 80 miles away. Nearest cinema, hospital, proper shopping centre was 100 miles. It was beautiful but I don’t miss it.

We live on a smallholding only 7miles from a city and 3 miles to nearest shop, but not on a bus route and it’s not safe to walk on the roads (think 60mph and lots of blind corners). DD is an hour on the bus (crazy catchment boundaries round here!). Our neighbours are 2 fields away

@Jodri I think you might be our next door neighbours!

We are 12 miles from a city and 2 miles to a shop but no buses and no safe walking route to the bus stop more than a mile away.

It’s 45 mins walk to primary and high schools but no school bus as we chose to send our children to the nearest schools and not the catchment ones which are much further away (we live about 50m from the boundary ). Nearest neighbours are two fields away.

I LOVE where I live - it feels like the best parts of the country and the town. When my kids leave home and I get rid of my Dh I’d like to move somewhere more rural.

@0lga yes we probably are! I think there are more folk who live geographically like us than we realise. Both my parents, brother and one sister also live similarly.
Oh gosh I do see the attraction of living more rurally and when my husband retires I used to think we would...but, I love going to gym which I took up last year to help catch my sheep and helps me scythe the weeds in our fields that little bit longer. I try to coordinate everything like gym visits and shopping with other commitments that take me away from our little house.

Not now but in past.

Had chest freezer in garage as well as big fridge freezer. Froze everything- bread, milk, cheese, all meat.

Food all cooked from scratch.

We kept hens so had a supply of eggs. Also grew own fruit and veg.

Kept very well stocked up with tins.

As for clothes- no one bothers with fashion in the sticks so went to the city every 6 months.

No online shopping or deliveries.

I live in a very small village, nearest shop is 12 miles, nearest proper supermarket is 30 miles, but that's an hours drive on the twisty country roads.

I am very organised and have a very full freezer and utility room! If you run out, you do without or substitute. Thankfully the supermarket does delivery, which amazes me as it would cost me more in fuel to get there than it does to pay for delivery!

Clothes wise, I tend to only buy what I need, or go clothes shopping on a day trip to the big city (2.5 hours away) if I've got a hospital appt there (hospitals! That's a while other story living where I am. Having a baby? Get ready for a couple of hours to your nearest proper hospital!)