Moving out of town! Have you?

Mayflower10cat

We relocated from a busy commuter town in the S.East with plenty of facilities. To a very rural bit of Wiltshire. I was working from home and husband was commuting to London by train. First thing we realised was, we really needed two cars. One to take husband to the station 10 miles away (he'd honestly thought he could push-bike it on a bust A road) and one for me for everyday use, seeing clients & stocking up. The road we lived on turned out to be very busy and we couldn't walk to the nearest village only a mile away as there was no pavement and the lorries would whizz past at 60 miles an hour....... We did move after only four years! My advice to anyone relocating is; always rent for a year or so as you vet the local area thoroughly. Really thoroughly!

[Deleted User]

We have just moved to a small rural village with no shop from a small market town. We lived close to the market town for over 30 years and it just wasn`t long enough to become a `local`. Yes of course we had friends but you still felt a bit `on the edge` as you hadn`t been to the same school as the born and bred locals. You could go to yoga week upon week and end up by yourself and the same with night classes and by the way I am a friendly warm person so it wasn`t me. My friend from `up north` had the same problem

We have been 2 weeks in this tiny village and it is SO friendly. We have already been invited to a hog roast and a bring and buy coffee morning. No-one seems pushy but they seem to make a special effort to counteract the potential isolation. It is isolated and there are no pylons to be seen and we only hear swallows and some sheep but I know I will meet more people at the allotments. Yes there are disadvantages and there is a potential to see too much of some people but that is up to me to manage. Re stores, well I was always good at stockpiling and the internet will bring me my papers. I cannot see this village being my ideal way of life in 20 years but for now, well it is idyllic

azureblue_2

oooh such an interesting thread. We just came back from a few days in Weymouth, having visited it before, and OH really wants to sell up and move there. We are the same as Tanith with kids and grandkids here and we do love them to bits ... would they visit? Weymouth is big enough to cope with us as we become decrepid, and the sea air and light did seem to help OH, he felt fine there but instantly down when we returned.
What to do? How easy/hard would it be to rent out our house here and rent a place there to get the feel of it? We have 2 cats to consider too.
Oh Tanith what to do to keep our men happy?

Errata

Perhaps an important consideration is how a place is now is not necessarily how it will be in 20 or 30 years time. It can improve, but it can also go downhill.
For instance: a friend of mine bought a new build 15 years ago, very nice area. Now quite a few properties on the estate are owned by landlords and the atmosphere has changed quite a bit and the area has gone downhill; tenants come and go, gardens neglected, parking problems, noisy parties until the small hours etc etc.

Savvy_Sue

Thing is, you can never entirely predict what's going to happen in a given area, but you can definitely guarantee one thing, and that's that you're not going to get any younger! And with that come a few other things ...

• As you get older, your health / mobility / independence is more likely to be worse rather than better - my dad "never thought we'd be ill" after they moved, despite the fact that he had already been diagnosed with prostate cancer!
• As you get older, you may have to give up driving - if you are a driver - or less able to use public transport
• As you get older, you might want to make different choices to the ones you made in your youth, but your basic character doesn't change - if you crave city lights, art galleries and museums, then the depths of the country may not be for you!

So at least future proof your move a little bit ... for example, if you're already thinking you don't like driving in winter, don't move to the middle of nowhere with no bus service!

tanith

One of my worries is either of us being left alone (morbid or what!!) miles away from family. I can imagine my family having the burden of one of us being stuck , unable to drive anymore, miles away from them and them having to keep coming up and down to shop etc... I know people this is happening to.. parents who move the countryside and then become ill and it becomes a nightmare for the whole family . That scenario just seems so much more manageble living where I live now... its all food for thought..

Errata

Tanith - that is a consideration. If family support is needed, like a weekly visit to make sure everything is ok ,it's quite a burden if the adult children themselves are getting on a bit and the distance of a round trip is considerable.

Could you release some of the equity in your house and buy a mobile home or a chalet ?

moneypenny2k

I came to this thread today simply because I'm, at the ripe old age of 51, considering upping sticks from London and moving to a job in Guernsey. So apologies for hijacking it slightly but it may be an aspect that you may want to consider.

I'm able to rent out my flat and rent on Guernsey but as I'm single I'm seriously worried about making friends on an island. I've lived out of London for a few years, once in a market town and once in a commuter belt 'village' in Essex but other than that have lived in east London all my life. My children and grandchildren are all nearby.

I'm a teacher and fed up with the reality of teaching in London and would like to be able to feel less stressed. My question is, has anyone ever lived in Guernsey, or somewhere similar as an incomer - were you made to feel welcome?

Sue_S

I've lived in a beautiful Wiltshire village for the past 30 years but have every intention of moving within the next 5-10 years. We can walk to the local garage which has a shop, takes about 25 minutes each way. Other than that there's a church, a hotel, a school and nothing else. There's a bus every hour during the day but not early or late enough to be used for commuting to work.

I want to be able to walk to the library, pubs, restaurants, shops, etc... I want to join clubs/debating societies to keep my brain alive when I retire. I never understand people wanting to retire to the country, I want to retire to the town. Isn't it wonderful how people are so different! Vive la difference!

The renting idea sounds excellent, I'll bear that in mind.

datostar

moneypenny2k wrote: »

I came to this thread today simply because I'm, at the ripe old age of 51, considering upping sticks from London and moving to a job in Guernsey. So apologies for hijacking it slightly but it may be an aspect that you may want to consider.

I'm able to rent out my flat and rent on Guernsey but as I'm single I'm seriously worried about making friends on an island. I've lived out of London for a few years, once in a market town and once in a commuter belt 'village' in Essex but other than that have lived in east London all my life. My children and grandchildren are all nearby.

I'm a teacher and fed up with the reality of teaching in London and would like to be able to feel less stressed. My question is, has anyone ever lived in Guernsey, or somewhere similar as an incomer - were you made to feel welcome?

Would you be able to stay on Guernsey in retirement if you did go there and liked it? I know that Jersey has some pretty strict rules about people no longer working who don't have very substantial finances. A former colleague of mine ended up as Chief of the States of Jersey Police but had to leave the island on retirement even though he tried his level best to be allowed to stay. He didn't have the necessary millions!