South to north move - aka escape to the country

powerspowers

I think you need to spend some time in the area you are thinking of to get a feel for it. I live in Derbyshire about 25 miles from the Peak District and there’s areas I wouldn’t choose to live- no easy access to a supermarket, needing a car to get out of a village, not being able to get out in the winter, no mains gas. Some areas are heaving with tourists eg bakewell, beeley. We have family in a chocolate box cottage and tourists park all over their verge and take pictures of them in the garden. 

Also think about village life and if it’s for you. Are you going to get stuck in go to church, volunteer, join WI etc. it makes a huge difference to overcome some of the reservations people have about out of towners moving in. My husband grew up in a Peak District village- we can’t afford to stay in the b&b his modest childhood home turned into, yet alone buy there so there is understandably some consternation about house prices being pushed up by Londoners selling up and escaping to the country. His cousin managed to buy in the peaks but their house had a covenant saying the buyer had to work in Derbyshire. 

Towns south of the Peak District that might be worth looking at are belper and Ashbourne and surrounding areas. You don’t get the same village life but they are a bit busier and have a nice feel- and not too far to enjoy the wider area. 

powerspowers

Check the internet speeds as well - there are areas still waiting to be upgraded to fibre broadband. https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/business/community-broadband/digital-derbyshire.aspx

Spreadsheetman

powerspowers said:

Check the internet speeds as well - there are areas still waiting to be upgraded to fibre broadband. https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/business/community-broadband/digital-derbyshire.aspx

Good call. Also check there is mobile phone coverage in the area, I'm in rural Norfolk and there are lots of places with no/minimal coverage.

Grumpelstiltskin

As well as the risk of being cut off in the winter check the flood risk, some areas do flood regularly.
Also visit the Peak District on a Bank Holiday to see what driving and parking is like, horrendous in some places.

zagubov

Don't bother moving to a rural area where you don't already know people.

Many posters have noted that when they moved somewhere more rural they always had to travel to meet their old friends.

Your friends will say they'll visit you but in practise, they won't.

TBagpuss

I agree that spending some time there , perhaps by renting a place, is a sensible idea.

Also, think about what specifcally youwant, and make a list.

It was a slightly different situation but when by parents retired and moved , they made lists 

In their case, it included what amenities there were in the villages they looked at, such as bus services, a shop/ post office / pub etc, distance to nearest towns and hospitals, etc.  Because they were moving to an area that has quite a lot of holiday properties they also specifcally looked for villages which had schools, as a way of trying to gague how much it was still an actual community where people live.

They were already familiar with the general area (they moved back to the area my dad was originally from) , but when they narrowed it down they did go down for long weekends before finally buying.

In your case, I imagine that prximity to trnasport links may be a factor that is importnat to you, and if you work from hme then presumaly fast and reliable broadband is also a consideration. I'm sure you can think of others, If you would be making a move from urban to rural as well as from South to North then i would see a trial run as beingeven more important, and think seriously about what yu will be comfortable with - e.g. small village, or larger town with access to the countryside.

Then on top of that of course you want to think about the specifcs you want in a haouse - size, old or new, amount of outside space etc. 

Vegastare

One thing I would also look at his location to main hospital, I have always dreamed  of living in Northumberland and when I had a fall while up there it was 20 mins to nearest minor injury unit which closed at 6pm, they gave me details of the main hospital should I need further treatment and it was a further 30mins drive....so 50 mins to an A&E.
Worth a thought.

thegreenone

You have the one-up on most people considering your move as you can work from home. 

Perhaps an AirBNB for a month, if affordable, to check out an area.  You can continue to work and then explore on evenings and weekends. As you will be self-catering and doing similar to home it means you will have to check out nearest supermarkets and other amenities (as above).

Do a town one and then a rural one to see which suits you best firstly, then work out the practicalities of each, followed by area.

Ruru10

Thank you so much everyone for your fantastic advice!  I think the sensible thing would be to rent first, but that feels like adding another step to it when we're fairly desperate to relocate.  But maybe some holiday let for a month or something like that would work.  It is a big risk, but we feel ready for it.
Sounds like the larger villages/towns would be a better option.  We visited Ashbourne and Tideswell recently and they were lovely.
We're in Surrey at the moment, so not right in the big smoke - but in easy reach.  

Ruru10

powerspowers said:

I think you need to spend some time in the area you are thinking of to get a feel for it. I live in Derbyshire about 25 miles from the Peak District and there’s areas I wouldn’t choose to live- no easy access to a supermarket, needing a car to get out of a village, not being able to get out in the winter, no mains gas. Some areas are heaving with tourists eg bakewell, beeley. We have family in a chocolate box cottage and tourists park all over their verge and take pictures of them in the garden. 

Also think about village life and if it’s for you. Are you going to get stuck in go to church, volunteer, join WI etc. it makes a huge difference to overcome some of the reservations people have about out of towners moving in. My husband grew up in a Peak District village- we can’t afford to stay in the b&b his modest childhood home turned into, yet alone buy there so there is understandably some consternation about house prices being pushed up by Londoners selling up and escaping to the country. His cousin managed to buy in the peaks but their house had a covenant saying the buyer had to work in Derbyshire. 

Towns south of the Peak District that might be worth looking at are belper and Ashbourne and surrounding areas. You don’t get the same village life but they are a bit busier and have a nice feel- and not too far to enjoy the wider area. 

Will check out Belper - went to Ashbourne recently and liked that.  So many lovely places to invesitgate.  Supermarket is important!