THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

maryb

I am very lucky in that we live in one of London's "villages" with a village green and duckponds, a common and acres of National Trust countryside within 10 minutes walk. Once you turn off the main road and walk for five minutes you can only see green fields for miles. Decent sized town just a few miles away which I can walk to in 35 minutes. Once they open the new Lidl I shall aim to walk in two to three times a week with my Rolser rather than driving to a supermarket once a week.

The girls' school was 25 minutes walk away. I was a cruel mum - they walked! From primary age! When I was working I used to walk there with them and then walk to the station which was another 10 minutes walk. I never needed to spend money on gym fees and I saved on car parking at the station. I only drove if it was really chucking it down. And even then, they had to walk home because I didn't get home in time to pick them up. Those were the au pair years when they were too young to walk alone and/or be left alone after school

GreyQueen

Sound perfect!


My Dad was rather surprised to hear that one of his cousins had, immediately after retirement, sold his village house and moved about 20 miles to the market town where his wife originally came from.


There ent nothin' there, was Cousin's succinct explanation as to why they'd ditched the village. When working (HGV driver) he could be anywhere in the country. Once he was home, he was content to rest, watch a bit of telly, potter about the garden. With retirement, these modest distractions became boring very quickly and himself and her indoors were desperate to get somewhere with a bit more going on.


He's the last of Dad's clan to leave that particular village, we've only been there about 400 years as a matter of record (and gawd knows how long before that).:rotfl:

maryb

When we first bought our house, transport wasn't that brilliant which is why it was a bit more affordable in this neck of the woods compared with better known 'pretty' bits of London. We're still dependent on rail but the tram and DLR can now be connected to after a short train journey so that has improved things a lot. There's a lot to be said for being able to access places by public transport. I probably could just about manage without the car but there are times it would be difficult. As it is, I try to use it as little as possible

thriftwizard

I could manage without a car here - and have, for many years when the kids were small - but it's getting harder, as we lose more & more genuinely useful shops & have them replaced by upmarket clothes shops, gin palaces & patisseries. Not that I'm against gin or pastries! But I do sometimes need to buy thread, or a screwdriver, and we've just heard that we're to lose the one little shop that still did things like that (albeit not very well, bless them!) just as the town's doubling in size with the new estates going up. Their rent's doubled too... the market seems to be on its last legs; fewer & fewer of the old stallholders are hanging on, and the new faces never seem to last now. We do still have our own doctors and dentists (even one who still accepts NHS patients) but we're losing the nearest A&E, on the grounds that it should only take half an hour to get to the further one, as opposed to ten minutes. (Maybe in the middle of the night? Not once there's traffic on the roads; it's more like an hour, even with sirens. On a good day, with no roadworks...)

There are "out of town" DIY places within 5 miles. But the few bus services we have left don't go there, they just go into the city centre via all the suburbs. It would take me about an hour and a half to get back out there by public transport, the same again to get home, and I'm far from convinced that their screwdrivers would be any good anyway!

The thing is, decent public transport could fairly easily be restored to communities like ours. And independent local shops could be encouraged back. But it would take political will, and a total change of heart on the part of the old boys' network who basically run the place, own the properties & set the rents. They're making hay whilst the sun shines, regardless of the effects on the people who actually live here, as opposed to visiting for the day to buy posh jackets, eat pastries and drink 87 varieties of gin. Sorry, Fuddle! I know it's lovely really. Just less practical a place to live in than it used to be. Ah well!

GreyQueen

Sounds about right, thrifty!

My city used to actually make things which people would use every day. The main employers now are financial services companies and they're busy offshoring as fast as they can.

Oh, and mixed retail has degenrated into a bizarre culture where 90% of new businesses are in the following categories:

1. Vanity; hairdressers, barbers, beauty shops, tattooists.
2. Catering, chiefly coffee shops. And some gin palaces.
3. Gifte shoppes.

Overhead a colleague last week saying that his barber was desperate for the students to start coming in for their haircuts because business was so bad. So many new barbers have opened up in the last year that they're all struggling to survive.

Coffee shops, cafes and restaurants are very useful to the millions of tourists we get every year but, if I eat out 5 mins from home, chances are its going to be a portion of chips.

Gift shops - words fail me........... , but I do know where to drop my hands on a decent screwdriver somewhere central.:rotfl:

tori.k

I think North/Mid Cornwall is probably the only place that the villages are becoming so interconnected due to the high level of housing being built it's basically becoming a rural cityscape, problem is like everywhere the infrastructure hasn't happened alongside the housing.
By the time we left our last house they had shut the village post office that I could walk to but between the off road clay trails and the housing developments could now safely walk the 10miles into the big town, very few have the time or inclination to do that regularly.

jk0

Screwdrivers? As Angie says, they are all rubbish nowadays.


I try to buy second hand ones when I see any, as modern ones seem to be made of softer metal than screws! What on earth is the good of that?


I'm truly shocked how badly everything is made now. I recently had to replace an 18 month old hob. It has been replaced with one over ten years old that another tenant wanted rid of. No complaints about that one so far, thank goodness.

[Deleted User]

Hampshire, at least the bit we lived in is being totally joined up, from the east side of Portsmouth to the Edges of the New Forest on the west side of Southampton. Every possible bit of green is attracting developers and because of the government push to have housing built the local councils are obliged to allow developments. Sadly none of what is proposed in the village we lived in will benefit the people living there in any way and there is no intention to increase infrastructure or facilities which are already very much overstretched so no new school, no increase in medical facilities, no new shops no new anything except houses which will nearly always be 4, 5, 6 bedroom 'executive homes' to attract people from big city conurbations to buy into what they're sold as a country idyll life. The problem with that is when they actually arrive and find the 'real' somewhat restricted life that is nowhere near the dream they all try to change local things be what they see as their right to have. It's disastrous!


Here we're into a very different way of life, small market town, 3 small supermarket style shops, independent butcher, baker, greengrocer, doctors surgery, 2 dentists, sweetie shop, 3 hairdressers, 2 clothing shops, hardware shop, fish and chips, 2 Chinese, 2 Indian, 1 Italian, couple of tea rooms, 2 pubs,3 charity shops, a decent wholefood shop, produce market every Friday in the hall and many others in various village halls close by, good library and reasonable bus service in all directions all walkable in 5 minutes from the house. Much better for the uncertain future we face.

DigForVictory

I gave my lot a Nasty Shock this weekend when I declined to drive. (Borrowed car, mine being at garage for some, ulp costly, repairs. Yes my insurance gives me third party on almost every vehicle but I thought a day off would be interesting.)

We got much done, but it was all much slower & dependent on other factors. Son 3 found it all harder, as he just hadn't allowed for nearly an hour sat in a draught waitig for the bus that didn't show up before the one that did. Me, I foresaw it all taking A Lot Longer than it did & so was both better bundled & had had a sandwich before I left.
Son 1 had to get taxis to & from, work as buses do not get you anywhere in our valley to start work at 8 am. (The presumption is care occurs in the home &/or can drive.) That cost him nearly £20 & he was less than happy with me. At some stage I'll tot up how much taxi fare I've saved him, which may trigger a few thoughts, but his new flat is much closer to the bus station. (A notion triggering thoughts for me, once driving is not recommended/possible. Ever seen an old folks terrace with stabling?)

GreyQueen

DforV, your hypothetical old folks could have a share of a donkey cart. Or there will be a revival of mobile shops/ barrow boys, door-to-door selling.


I spent most of my formative years without access to a family car, and have lived without one for 21 years now. I still find it hard to understand the mindset which makes a 50 mile round trip by car to take their dog walkies, or who goes clean across the region to buy something/ do something, they could have easily done on their own doorstep. I guess that is your journey really necessary line is tattooed on some brain cells.


jk0, gawd yes, the carp modern tools. You're wise to look out for the old stuff. You prolly know this already, but ex army tools and equipment are good quality and worth having. If memory serves, tools are marked with a little arrow to indicate they were military.


Righty, off to the allotmentino to throw some more soil around, winter is coming and preparations for spring 2019 hurtle on apace.