A question for rural living OS members

lostinrates

dandy-candy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. It's really good to know there are still communities out there!
I live in the same London suburb I was born in and there has been no community here since I was about 15 and the older generation died out. It's all money men now who don't talk to there neighbours and move every 3-5 years anyway - I hate it!
I know we will always be "outsiders" in any village, but to have a village hall, W.I., gardening club, local dramatics etc sounds wonderful.
On the smallholding side of things I have kept ducks and chickens before, but the rest will ba a learning curve!

There ar still communities in some parts of London and greater London too fwiw.

What I would caution, is the exasperated attitude you express towards your new neighbours is almost exactly how many neighbours ina. Rural community will feel about you. You will be the money from a London suburb coming to push the prices up for locals, and making the community unaffordable for many people's own children.

That's ok, it's your right, and you sound like someone who will give back...but I would consider how you feel ATM and think about challenging this in your local area as it will give you ALL the same skills you need out 'here'. Fwiw, where I am we get a lot of people moving every two years...miltary posting periods.

Charliex

Don't forget the country tracks that you must drive down in order to get from one village to the next, and the horses that you must always slow down for, and the traffic dodging wildlife that like to play chicken and give you a near heart attack and the tractors that take up the whole road. I would say that I encounter at least one of on a weekly basis!
The roads are generally pretty badly maintained with potholes everywhere.

But there is no place like it and I have lived in the heart of the cotswolds for 30 years. Locals can be snooty and gossipy but they can be like that everywhere, not just in the country.

There can be a lack of facilities which is frustrating and I would say that a car is essential as you can not rely on the buses.

The pace of life is generally slower and the scenery can be breathtaking. There are always lovely walks to enjoy and children love seeing farm animals in fields. Usually always plenty of outdoor space to enjoy.

mama67

I live on a disused MOD base (houses all privately owned now) 1½ miles from the village we are part of. There are approx 150 houses on the base, but no facilities, up the narrow lane in the village is a Primary School, Church, Village Hall with playing field and a pub.

The closest shop is the PO/corner shop in the next village a further 2 miles up the road, which also has 2 pubs another Primary School , Church and a Chippy.

The closest Secondary school is 8 miles up the road, with other options being in the town, we are lucky in that we do get a bus from the base to the secondary school, and there is a bus to one of the FE colleges in town as well.

The main supermarkets are a 25 mile round trip travelling along rural roads which can be unpassable in bad weather. Our lane from the village to the base has been blocked off a couple of times during the last 2 really bad winters, as there is alot of drifting from the fields etc.

So it definitley isn't advisable to not have at least something in store.

Oh and we also get powercuts which the last major one ended up with the electricty people bring out generator lorries as they couldn't find the fault.

We have no mains gas either and heatingis usually either oil, electricity or coal.

Our local bus service runs twice from (8am & 11am) and twice to (2.30pm & 6pm) the village/base 6 days a weeks apart from bank holidays. Taxis cost a minimum of £25 to town one way, so a car is essential.

We do have a good community feel and it is very safe for the kids to play out which you wouldn't get in other villages and definitely not towns

Rainy-Days

Heres my tuppence worth for what it is worth

I love living in a village, but the down side is that you need a car. In winter it can be harsh the roads don't get gritted - at all - and if you are lucky you might get a council grit box provided someone has requested a fill up (usually us). You can have muck spreading on the fields giving on a pong for a few days.

You get more bird poo and fly deposits on your windows more than normal. Your car is usually sh£t up to the windscreen and beyond especially in winter and spring when the roads are wet and there is plenty of mud on the roads. Your heating bill will be more expensive because living in the country it is always about a couple of degrees cooler than in towns and cities.

Some people will speak some won't. There is a lot of poverty especially for older people in villages/hamlets. You can go days on end and not meet a soul. Local transport is pap. You pretty much need to drive everwhere and taxis are a no no due to the expense and distances involved. You will need to prepare well have a good food store and freezer.

Flip side. You can have the most fab life in the country. The peace and tranquility is something that cannot be measured. You can listen to the owls twit twooing at night and hear the birds at morning. You can walk the lanes in peace and maybe only meet the odd car. The peace of mind is wonderful and people do sort of welcome you after a while. They wil also help you out if you are in need.

We are moving next year from rural Nothants to rural Northumberland. I think we will be okay - I hope so - the northerners tend to be a good lot and very welcoming.

bearcub

We moved from a suburban area in Surrey 7 years ago, to a large village on the Isle of Wight. I say 'village' which it's still called, although the overall population really makes it a small town now. We've made more friends in those 7 years here than we did in 27 years in Surrey. Most of those friends have been made through local churches, but also through our horses (we've two elderly equines), the local pub, and the community generally. Our cul-de-sac is surrounded by farmland, and we're about 15-20 minutes from the sea. The major supermarkets are at least 12 miles away, but we have a baker, butcher, fishmonger and ironmonger in the village, plus other independent shops, plus a Sainsbury Local and a fairly large Co-op - soon to be larger if they get planning permission. We go into town and shop at Mr M's only when we need to visit other shops (about once a month), and make a point of supporting local businesses whenever possible. The bus routes on the island have been cut back since we moved here, but are still half-hourly here.

My advice to you would be to research your potentially chosen area thoroughly and at all times of the year before even contemplating moving. Think about how practical the area would be if you weren't able to drive. Accept that roads are narrow, and you may well have to follow a tractor for a considerable distance and, just because most of these roads are derestricted doesn't mean that it's compulsory to drive at top speed - therein lies a lot of frustration and downright danger! And, whatever you do, don't expect people to come and find you although if you're lucky, your neighbours might come and introduce themselves. Look in the local paper/magazine, find out what's happening in the area, and GET INVOLVED, whether it be a hobby group or a community project. I hope you find what you're looking for.

sonastin

I moved to a village about 18 months ago and I am not sure if there is a community here. If there is, I have no idea how to find it. Nearest church is in the next village - but we're not religious. There is a shop/PO in the village but it is only open between 9am and 1pm weekdays - when I'm at work. I've been in once on a day off. There is a pub but neither OH nor I are big drinkers. We've been in for a couple of meals since they started doing food in the evenings but they stop serving at 7.30pm - I don't usually get home from work till after 7. There is a primary school in the village but we don't have children. I'd go along to support the school fair but so far haven't seen anything advertising it. OH works from home so he has been in the shop more often and speaks to the neighbours regularly. But our immediate neighbours are all retired, mostly downright elderly, so don't participate in (or communicate about) community activities, if there are any. No village hall to speak of.

Luckily, we didn't move to the village for idyllic WI-Miss Marple-type dreams. I am a city girl at heart but OH wants truly rural. We have a motorway a mile down the road to keep me in touch with civilisation and some truly beautiful countryside walks on our doorstep to keep OH happy. I'm quite happy closing the door on the world when I get home from work and its quite refreshing to realise I no longer have to lock it behind me!

If you want to join a village community, make sure you know how to make contact with the community before you pick your village.

lostinrates

Sonastin, usually the elderly are the main stay of the village events. Two of the biggest here are run by a formidable woman in her nineties, the committee I am on, I am in my thirties, everyone else is retired, in somecases for decades and decades.

I would keep going to the pub regularly, even if it's just for a cola or a drink of water, it's your very best bet to become part of a 'community'

ash28

I live in a village and have done for the last 12 months.

There is an expensive Coop, a small corner shop and 2 pubs, both open part time.

There is no public transport at all, the nearest station is almost 10 miles away and the nearest supermarket is a similar distance.

There is a primary school and the older children get bussed to the high school - about 9 miles away.

There is a church which has a coffee morning every week and the coffee is free, an excellent medical practice that has it's own dispensary and a mobile library that visits once a week.

We live on the edge of the village in a small development - our back garden overlooks fields - as far as the eye can see. People who visit us for the first time are usually blown away.

We tried growing stuff this year - cabbages, sprouts and tomatoes (just to start us off) but we had an on going and losing battle with little critters and creepy crawlies that wanted to eat everything and on top of that our tomatoes didn't ripen - although we had absolutely loads of them. Green tomato relish anyone??

We buy our eggs from a lady on the road through the village - she writes the date they were laid on them - she puts them outside her front garden and has an honesty box. We bought the best jam I have ever tasted - again just left outside with an honesty box.

We buy our potatoes, green veg, swedes etc directly from the farm - so much cheaper than the supermarket.

Last month was harvest festival and loads of the gardens were decorated with sheaves of corn, bales of hay, scarecrows and the odd tractor. On hallow e'en most of the village takes part - often making up little bags of goodies for the kids - decorating their houses - we had carved pumpkins in our window.

There are lots of clubs and societies, walking, genealogy, darby and joan, young farmers, the village twinning, bowls, etc etc.

The upsides to living in the village far out weigh the downsides. It is what we wanted for our retirement.

The roads are in excellent condition - far better than where we left in the Thames Valley - it was one of the things that really struck us when we moved. And they get gritted - where we lived before they didn't.

The people are very friendly and our neighbours are great.

Mayflower10cat

If you 'research your village' well, you'll be fine! Our first home in Wiltshire was too isolated, yet the road we were on was busy and surprisingly noisy, considering we had 3/4 acre and the house was right in the middle. We'd assumed we could cycle or walk everywhere, but no, not with huge lorries roaring past! So you will almost certainly need two cars, definately so if one of you works from home. We got used to a solid fuel boiler and later the bliss of oil when we renovated. Four years later we moved to a 'proper village', right in the middle of it.

Mobile coverage may well be patchy and broadband speeds slow. Which is annoying when you work from home.

We used to do most of our food/booze shopping online, but now I use our little village shop/post office far more - use it or lose it will become your mantra! Same with the local bus service, if you don't use it, it will be cut. We are lucky enough to have a pub in walking distance and go regularly, again, it would be awful to lose this amenity.

There is always something going on here, plenty of clubs and activities and fundraisers. Many are centred around the church or the school and we have a marvellous village fete and an agricultural show every year. We've started our own little 'club' in a quiet sort of way, a 'curry club'. We book up a couple of 8 seater minibuses from the local taxi rank, (they offered us a good price per bus, not per head) and we try all the different curry houses within a 10 mile radius. There are more than you'd think even round here! And we sample a few renown real ale pubs en route.

For us, village life is what you make it - you have to join in and volunteer, and generally be part of your community. Use your local services and tradespeople, and don't forget to keep up with the gossip sorry, local news.....

thriftwizard

Mobile coverage may well be patchy and broadband speeds slow. Which is annoying when you work from home.

Emphasising that one... it's not too bad here, though we've been told we'll never have cable (uneconomic to run it out here) but there are quite a few rural valleys hereabouts with no signal at all; I was in one for a meeting recently & uncontactable, & am now embroiled in a dispute with a company who were trying to deliver something (a day earlier than I was expecting) and ended up charging us £84 for re-delivery, as they gave me a whole 10 minutes to answer, and not surprisingly, I didn't! Their delivery network simply does not recognise that there are places, and plenty of them, where there is no signal, and therefore the minions think I'm just trying to wriggle out of what, to them, seems an entirely-justifiable charge.

Also - getting stuff collected & delivered can be a huge problem. Apart from narrow roads not built even for cars, never mind pantechnicons, and tight corners with overhangs & steep curbs, some satnav systems "autocorrect" delivery drivers & send them to a similar address inside the conurbation boundaries about 15 miles away. I sell things online, some of them quite large & delicate, & I'm often inundated with tenders to transport stuff, then agonised squawks of, "But that's rural! We don't/can't do rural!" And I'm about 100 yards from the technical boundary of the conurbation...

That said, if the right place came up, and all things were equal in family life, I'd be off like a shot! Hi-speed broadband & buying, renovating & selling large items are all things I can do without, but living without a decent garden & a clear view of the stars is doing my head in...