Did you move to the Coast/countryside?

tanith

Hi I was going to post this in the Silver Surfers board but then decided that in fact the opinions and comments of anyone thats done this would be invaluable...

The story goes that my OH has this idea that when he retires we will move to the Coast/Countryside and we will have a wonderful fulfilled retirement in a quiet village/town... but I have serious reservations about this as I don't think it will be all its 'cracked up' to be... although I love the idea of living by the coast .

We currently live in walking distance of my children (OH treats my kids and grandchildren as his own and has done for 15yrs) in West London , own our house with a small mortgage , I am already retired at 59 but looking for part-time work and OH has a job he loves and will retire from that in 8yrs... We have both lived and worked in London all our lives and are used to having everything at our fingertips as it were...

What I want is people who have done this and any pros and cons they have found...

My fear is that either we won't like the peace and quiet, will miss family although they will visit often I am sure , will miss having so many choice of shops/entertainments , one of us will be left alone at some point in the future and will be unable to afford to rehome near our family...

I will be interested in peoples experiences of this....

thanks

budget_counsellor_shaz

I used to live in Broadstairs in Kent and its a lovely place to live, I've also lived in a village in Somerset, I found it difficult being so far away from the town, but the countyside was stunning.

But why would you want to move away from your family?

You sound as though you are happy where you are..........

Shaz

Pobby

Well my experience of this happened when we moved from a south east town to a cornish villiage on the coast.Upside,great air quality,loverly views and all the things you might expect.

Downside.Well for us it was people trying to know your business.If they couldn`t get anything``on you`` they would make it up.Violence,yes violence mostly drink orientated.Loads of drug abuse among the youngsters.

Did 9 and a half years and moved back to the city.

Cactusgirl

Hi Tanith

A couple of friends of mine moved from Manchester to a much quieter town in Scotland about 18months ago wanting the tranquil life and somewhere nicer for their 10 year old son.

They have announced this week they are moving back! They have said that it is far too quiet and it is driving the wife (in particular) mad. They have left all their family and friends in Manchester and had no support network around them.

Having said that they are in their mid 30's and we (their friends) still have very active social lives back in Manchester which I don't think is helping them! They have said they feel that if they had done it 10 years later it might not have seemed so bad.

I suppose if you lived on the East or South of London it would be easier to find a coastal town which your family could reach relatively easily. But you say you live in West London which would make it a bit more difficult.
I think you would find it a big difference from having your family so close ie walking distance to being 90mins away.

Mrs_Pepperpot_2

I moved to Devon to be nearer DH family.

Moved from Midlands. Interestingly DS who was hospitalised for asthma on and off for the 9 months of his life that we lived in the city has had no further trips to hospital.

No regrets although the people in the midlands are unbeatable for friendliness and it takes a while for people here to accept you.

My family live in Norfolk so 5-8 hour trip but we still manage it at least once a month!

Agree with Shaz though - if you're happy where you are why move??

tr3mor

If I were you I wouldn't move somewhere completely tranquil and quiet. Find a small town or village which has some good restaurants and pubs. Make sure there's a train line to get you quickly into a City. Enjoy the best of both worlds.

I've moved from Manchester to a village called Lymm in Cheshire. It's brilliant. I'm only 23!

Jonbvn

IMHO, I think you moving away from your family and friends would be a serious mistake.

It may be good for a year or two, but in the long run it would be a problem. What happens when you are older and one of you dies? (sorry this does sound terribly brutal but it will happen). The one left will be completely on their own.

My parents are both in their late 70's. As you can imagine many of their friends have died (mostly men). However, it is interesting to see how their elderly group of friends actively support each other. If my parents moved away, they would lose this.

Doozergirl

I'm from London and moved to the countryside just over 4 years ago.

I went over the top and decided that if I was going to do it, I wasn't going to move to another city so I moved to a village in the middle of nowhere. When we moved out there the silence was killing me and I couldn't stand the fact that everyone had to know your business! We now live in a nearby town of 20,000 people but still surrounded by green and I can walk across fields out into the countryside and along the canals from the end of the street! I am much happier being able to pop out for milk or stagger back from a night out (in reality I still get a taxi!). I'm also nearer to the city in Birmingham and it's feasible to cab back from there on a night out. It's pricey but it's actually no more than a black cab back from town when I lived in London!

It is a massive culture shock moving from London, without a doubt. I've had to get used to not having an endless choice of restaurants on my doorstep. I instantly knew it was better here though. The pace of life a bit slower, people more friendly, traffic a real non-issue! I barely meet a set of traffic lights on my daily travels. I can also travel anywhere immediately whereas London meant struggling for an hour and a half sometimes just to hit the M25!

Family is an issue for you though. It depends on how close you are. If you are always popping in for tea, then you will find it really difficult to be away from that! If you see each other at weekends then perhaps it's not such an issue. I don't mind motorway driving at all and we worked out the best times to travel in and out of London to avoid the traffic. The M40 is a fabulous motorway too, it's not that busy really.

Debt_Free_Chick

I moved to the High Weald in East Sussex 5 years ago having worked in London and grew up in Birmingham all my life.

There is no way I'm going anywhere

The problem with these questions is that different things suit different people. Just because it's right for me (or someone else) doesn't mean it's right for you.

I live in a village with just a Church and a Pub - no shop of any description. The nearest shop is a Londis/Post Office about 2 miles away. OK for emergency supplies and, surprisingly, not as expensive as you might think. Lavazza espresso coffee, for example, is only £2.19 there and I think it's £2.39 in Sainsbury etc. The nearest supermarket is 10 miles away. As is the nearest A&E! Public transport is non-existent.

However, these are all reasons why I love living where I do - I don't want or need to be near "facilities". I want the peace & quiet and there's a real sense of community here without any invasion of privacy. Although it's true, that nothing happens that everyone doesn't get to know about

I have to be more organised & disciplined about shopping, but the great thing is I only go to a supermarket every three months or so to stock up on tinned/dry goods & cleaning stuff. We have three excellent butchers and four or five farm shops within 5 miles, so I do my "weekly" shop for fruit & veg locally. I have to drive there, but then spend 20/30 minutes "on foot" and know those I buy from.

Pros & cons - but you have to weigh up what's important for you.

loga

We moved from london to Herne bay in kent and really love to be by the sea. We were in busy london (fulham) with 3 small children and even if i knew noone at the beginning, people here are very friendly and i meet a lot of nice people via school and parish. But there wer no familly issue for us as they are far away anyway (they are in France).

good luck with your choice.

tanith

Thanks for all the info and suggestions , it seems its as I thought in reality there will be problems. The main reasons we are thinking about such a move is that although we live right on the edge of green fields on the outskirts of London the traffic problems are horrendous as we live a couple of mins from the A40 which is great for escaping but in reality can be a living nightmare if things go wrong and they do often sometimes we have an all day rush hour and it takes ages to do a 10 min journey..... I would be happy to stay put but OH dreams of the countryside and I am trying to get a picture of the pros and cons

Its nice to get lots of other perspectives ....