Moving around

[pelmetman]

A lot of folks on this site seemed to have moved lock, stock and barrel to different parts of the country/world and wondered why you chose to live where you do? We have done our fair share of moving over the years and are currently living in Lincolnshire. I can honestly say that I have always enjoyed (well apart from when we were in Naval married quarters, which was in a high rise without even a balcony) where we have been.

When house hunting this last time we considered Suffolk and Norfolk but in the end chose Lincs because it is so rural, quiet and old fashioned in a quaint sort of way. We still have market towns where there are independent shops without the need for large supermarkets which certainly makes shopping less of a chore. Traffic jams are virtually unheard of here. Wildlife is in abundance, I particularly love the Barn Owls which seem to be everywhere, they seem almost magical to me.

We are close to the coast and have some wonderful, wild beaches where mainly only locals know about. Before now we have walked along the beach on a Bank Holiday, the sun shining yet hardly a soul around.

We both know we will move again but for now Lincolnshire is our home and we are happy.

Sue

[eco-mick]

Pends where you are to be happy... I am also in Lincolnshire and don't know if I love or hate this town (Gainsborough) - it has no charm at all, there are no small decent shops and it feel so sterile and local chavs roam free.

I would really love to consider moving east to Louth or Further down the road to Retford as these little towns are lovely.

[Green Aura]

We started coming up here about 15 years ago (+/- ) after someone told me about this weird craft village in an old RAF base (it wasn't RAF btw). It was a long way and we deliberated long and hard - 10 hour drive for a holiday? Anyway, having been once we were hooked, tried to go on holidays further south but always seemed to end up somewhere on the north coast within a couple of hours from here. And we found ourselves coming back more and more often

When we got the opportunity to buy, we grabbed it, moved in within 2 months. We've still got the option of moving back to Manchester as our house hasn't sold yet but that's not going to happen - even our daughter who we thought was a real townie has moved up and settled in really quickly.

Pretty much everything about the place and people suits us (one or two teeny niggles notwithstanding ). I get the jitters going to Inverness to do my shopping - once a month!

[pelmetman]

We are very rural where we are, so are not too bothered by chavs
Have to agree about Louth, a delight to visit, we tend to do most of our shopping there, had to spend all day there last week as the works van was in having some new signs done, and it was a pleasure to wander round for the day although I would not admit that to Sue

We have not been to Retford, must have a look some time, only driven through Gainsborough a couple of times, they seemed to be knocking it down when we went through

Our only problem is they are looking to build a 40 acre (possibly 120 acre) sub station somewhere, either here or 3 other possible sites, I have no beef against windfarms but there are several industrial sites such as Easington or on the Humber that are already industrial.
In the blurb the developers have sent, they say they will try to minimise the impact on the enviroment, quite how you disguise a 40 acre substation in an area of outstanding natural beauty at the foot of the Wolds beggers belief

Dave

[Stonehead]

A lot of folks on this site seemed to have moved lock, stock and barrel to different parts of the country/world and wondered why you chose to live where you do?

I've managed 40 addresses thus far, with our stay on the croft being the longest I've lived anywhere. I don't like big cities, I can just about tolerate towns and villages. But I love living deep in the middle of nowhere—almost as much as wandering.

So why here? Mainly circumstances.

The OH and I wanted a small farm, smallholding or croft. The cost of house and land pushed as further and further north in the UK. The OH's parents were getting older and live outside Dundee. The OH, an English teacher, needed to be somewhere where she had a few career opportunities. I wanted somewhere well away from a city, but in a village with decent facilities: shop, butcher, chemist, bakery, garage, mechanic, blacksmith agricultural merchant, primary school and railway station.

Then we saw the ad for the croft. We could afford it. It was only a couple of hours from Dundee, There were half a dozen secondary schools within commuting distance. It's an hour from Aberdeen. It had all those facilties—although it has lost a few over the past six years.

And the croft had the right name. I used to climb and loose rock would always fall on my head, hence Stonehead. I've always found the stone heads on Easter Island intriguing. The OH's parents gave her a stone head for the garden. I used to play the old RPGs, usually dwarves with names that varied on Stonehead. And then we found a croft called Stonehead, opposite the Stonehead Circle. Call it a sign!

The only problem was that the croft was under offer when we saw it.

Still, we sent an email to the solicitor acting for the sellers and said if it fell through, we'd be interested and we had money ready to go. It did fell through, we put in an offer that was £500 more than the sellers' needed for their new property, and we ended up here.

Would we move elsewhere? Yes, but it would have to be to move to a larger farm or croft. It would have to be close to the sea or actually running down to the shore, as I'd like to sail again, do a bit of fishing and go crabbing. It would have to have running water, it would have to be in a windy spot and it would be nice to have proper mountains on the horizon. Oh, and it would have to cost as much as we could get from selling this place. So I think we'll be staying put.

For now.

[pelmetman]

40 addresses!.....................................your not on the run are you

Dave

[Stonehead]

40 addresses!.....................................your not on the run are you

Dave

Army brat to start. Then a constant yearning to see what's over the horizon.

[Thomzo]

I ended up in Swindon by mistake. I was living in Bristol and was looking for a new job there (I'd been commuting for years and hated it). I went for an interview at a company called Farepak (now infamous for collapsing just before Christmas). They were based in Swindon but told me my job would be in their Bristol subsidiary called Kleeneze (yes the catalogue company).

When I started I was told to report to the Swindon headquarters and shown my desk. Being too stupid to complain I eventually decided to move to Swindon, I'd split up with my ex and agreed to move out so it made sense to be near the office even though I loved Bristol and didn't really like Swindon. Problem was, as soon as I moved to Swindon they sent me on a six month secondment to, yes you guessed it, Bristol. Now, of course, I realise that it was a deliberate move and part of the way they bullied their staff but at the time I just though it was sods law.

So, fortunately, after 5 years I was made redundant (fortunate as this was before they collapsed). But by that time I'd met another guy and we'd moved to a lovely house with a lovely big garden.

I still missed Bristol though, and when we split up I vowed to move back. But house prices had moved against me so I decided to upgrade the house to maximise the money I'd get: new kitchen, bathroom, replastered and decorated all through. By this time I had another job and, yes, another guy.

Although I still find no attraction in Swindon, it's a really convenient location. There's a lot of contract work in Swindon and, if I can't get what I want here, I can commute to a lot of financial centres from here. We are on the doorstep of the Cotswolds, easy distance of loads of good shopping centres and less than an hour from Heathrow by coach, which only costs £18 return.

Also, most of my friends live here and I get on really well with all my neighbours. I certainly couldn't find a house with quarter of an acre garden within walking distance of the centre of Bristol. So here I stay.

Zoe

[eco-mick]

We are very rural where we are, so are not too bothered by chavs
Have to agree about Louth, a delight to visit, we tend to do most of our shopping there, had to spend all day there last week as the works van was in having some new signs done, and it was a pleasure to wander round for the day although I would not admit that to Sue

We have not been to Retford, must have a look some time, only driven through Gainsborough a couple of times, they seemed to be knocking it down when we went through

Dave,

Last time I visited louth was due to my grandfather was on death bed in the hospital but we all went into town to the local pub for a bite to eat. I just love small market towns with the little streets :D But I do want to get out there one day in the coming months (will have to tie it in with a farmers market or eco event If I can. No tell a lie, last time I was in Louth was to pick up some 13 chicks back in may (forgot that one )

Retford is a nice town, not as historic as Louth but it has its charms and small shops which is not over-runned by the big boys on the standard shopping street plan.

With the town I am in, depends when the last time you was out here last. Marshall Yard (that huge building next to the supermarket in the centre of town) went through a lot of work with buildings redone is now a "another" shopping complex. Yes its needed.. but its the only decent thing in the town tbh. Chavs roam free in this town as there is nothing for them, I loth the housing estates as G'borough has a knack where there is any trouble from other Lincolnshire housing estates they get sent to G'borough . I on the other hand go out to Worksop to work for my trade as its safer .

One day I will make it out into the countryside... as least I am in a village just outside of this town, so it will do for now lol - also a Army Brat...but have no passion in moving everywhere. Want some land to do the ish life properly.

[oldjerry]

I was brought up on a smallholding,but most of the work was in spring,bedding,veg plants etc.The choice in summer was haymaking (small bales) for local farmers,or going to Europe picking grapes,pollinating sweetcorn etc etc. So I spent every summer for 10 years or so working in France and Italy.Years later,working as a despatch rider in central London (Dad passed on by now and holding sold)met her indoors,Italian,but born in UK,working in her folks Italian restaurant.We did move to Italy 10 years ago but returned to UK as my late Mum was ill.Now we are returning,this time for good.It's just a calmer place for kids to grow up (most don't leave home 'till they're 30!) And to be honest,I like to produce as much as poss of what we eat myself,and Lucia being Italian,olives, lemons ,capers etc are quite a challenge 900 ft. up in the Shropshire hills! Still, where ever you go you always wake up with yourself.

[Millymollymandy]

I've moved house many times (but Stoney has done more than me ). We're in Brittany more due to circumstance than choice but to cut along story short it started with a choice. We were living in London and my OH was offered a job in Hilversum at a different division of the same company. We were ready to move out of London and didn't even know where Hilversum was - knew it as a place on the old radio dial and thought it was in Belgium. But we went there because we wanted adventure/change of scene/do and experience something different. It was short lived (20 months instead of the 3 years it was supposed to be) and then found ourselves in France on the Geneva border when OH found work in Geneva after the Dutch contract went t*ts up. And now we're here.

I don't know how long for but in one month it will be the 2nd longest I've ever lived in one place in my life. Another year or so and it will be the longest!

[pelmetman]

Hi Eco-Mick

Yes it has been quite a while since we visited, by the way Marshall Yard - is that the usual type shopping centre? Just wondered whether it is worth a trip out?

Sue

[spider8]

We spent most of our married life -22 years - with Dave being in the RAF and when he/we escaped, got a house and a job in a Lancashire village. We both knew this house wasn't our 'forever' home but it would do us for a while.
Then we went on holiday to Orkney..........oh boy, we were smitten even before we got off the ferry. Seven years later and many holidays there, all months, all seasons, we decided to move up so put our house on the market in October 2006 and waited.........nothing! In 2008 we were offered a cottage to rent in Orkney and so we moved all our stuff up and have only just sold our house in Lancashire.
The reasons we love Orkney.........no traffic jams, peace and quiet out in the countryside, nice polite people, old fashioned shops, old fashioned values, good health care, beautiful scenery, wonderful archaeology but there are some idiots up here too. Mainly in the towns there are the usual problems with drunkeness and the crimes associated with that but it's no way near what you get further south in the bigger cities.
Do we want to move back? No way! We hope our next house here will be the one we stay put in, that's the intention .

[oldjerry]

Do we want to move back? No way! We hope our next house here will be the one we stay put in, that's the intention .[/quote]
I'll drink to that,moving is just incredibly stressful,I've done it loads of times,and every time is worse than the last.We've still got stuff in boxes from when we got here 6 years ago(actually I'm now finishing the bathroom tiling I started 5 years and 11 months ago). All that packing,and cleaning and packing and cleaning and............oh God!

[Millymollymandy]

And every time we have more and more crap to move with us! We've spent a fortune moving since our last Corporate move (i.e. paid for!); 4 moves in total and about €15,000 down the drain. So we're staying put for now and have no plans to move until we gt too old and it all becomes too much for us - we have a lot of land to look after and a 3 storey house.