will return in a few years but wondering where to live……….
have a base in NE Scotland but may sell up shop and retire in the Lakes / Peak , etc.
given what you know, where would you choose to live and why.

TIA

Where are you coming from?

Scotland if they get independence.

Swindon. I hear the trails are gnarly.

Scottish Borders?

Under the promote where you live theory 😉

Depends what you are interested in – Lakes or Peak are lovely.

I love the coast so Hampshire or Devon for me. I do miss living in Surrey Hills for the riding and walking

Huddersfield!!!
Easy access to Peak District. Motorways E/W and N/S, on the train line to Manchester and Leeds. Great real ale pubs.

Take the BBC test, it’ll tell you where you’ll be happiest living: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3g487h

Mine came out as Stratford upon Avon weirdly

I just did that test, it reckons I should live in Ryedale (64% match). Currently live in Hackney, London (58%). Not sure what to make of that really! 🙂

I’m happy on the Manchester edge of the Peak District. Good riding, walking, climbing, running etc from the door. Friendly people. Decent local community and facilities on one side. And a 30-minute train ride into Manchester on the other if you want culture, shops, good restaurants etc.

On the downside, it rains a bit. And I spend most of my disposable income on brake pads over winter. But it works for me most of the time. Isn’t ruinously expensive. Seems like a good balance all round and feels ‘right’ for me, but pretty obviously it all comes down to individual preferences.

I quite fancied N.Yorkshire but when Brexit makes the while U.K. go tits up I don’t really know :(. Not sure I trust the SNP to make a good job of Scotland but that would be my preferred location

Well that BBC test got it right in that London would be hell for me but its suggestion of Hampshire as best was pretty crap. I hate the place.

Having had a similar choice a few years ago, we chose the Dales. Honestly, though they are beautiful and great for a big day out the lakes would be a struggle for me for everyday cycling/running/living, many parts v crowded in holiday season (or indeed any good weather). Here, I can go for a ride out the door in several different directions, easy or tough, including as hard as you like off-road expeditions, without having to carry up (and down!) the hills. And the roads are mostly empty.

.K. go tits up I don’t really know :(. Not sure I trust the SNP to make a good job of Scotland but that would be my preferred location

Likewise and I’m only 30mls from the Border. Retirement in a couple of years has MrsT thinking about moving to the Carlisle area to be nearer son, daughter and grandkids. Downside being I’d unlikely be able to afford to mtb as much as I do atm, probably become a roadie/tourer 😐

Bradford on Avon has a couple of good tracks and trails around…

I’ve never left Sheffield (yet),so keep that in mind, but anybody I meet who comes to Sheffield seems to question why I might want to leave, it’s among the top few friendliest cities in the UK (apparently), and it’s pretty good for mtbing and general outdoors stuff.

Post Brexit, with my Scottish grandmother, I’m crossing my fingers Scotland vote in favour of independent and follow Ireland’s lead re citizenship, so I can hang onto my EU passport, though. If Scotland becomes the socially aware and compassionate utopia which some Sottish people make noises about it becoming compared to England, that could be the better bet to live in. 🙂

Bath – if i had a fair bit of money.

Swindon. I hear the trails are gnarly.

Lol, totes need elbow pads and 140mm just to stay alive.

…

I live in Devon 30 mins from the moors and 45 mins from the nearest surfing beach….it’s **** shit, nobody else move here.

Liverpool from experience is actually quite good, it’s a hellhole to live in and the people are detestable but you are always approx 2hrs drive from The Peaks, The Lakes and North Wales. Which if you’re a climber/rider has got to be about the best spot in the country!

With internet shopping, i increasingly love the idea of finding somewhere quite rural, that does not usually get chilly in winter and in summer the temps stay reasonably sane. Less motor traffic on the roads would be lovely.

Somewhere off the beaten track towards Cornwall?

North yorkshire is tough to beat, East coast mainline, Moors and dales, Dalby, Sutton bank, Hamsterley and Northumberland, York, Beaches, easy to get to lots of airports, sensible house prices, beer, civilisation really.

Thirsk/Coxwold area is very affordable. Outside of York it ain’t busy.

Or Alnwick in Northumberland..

Took that BBC test

Suggests craven nr Skipton as my ideal spot… Seems quite accurate really

If you don’t need to work, or you have a trade, Shropshire.

It’s beautiful, it’s quiet, but not too quiet, and as this thread demonstrates, no-one really knows about it.

How about down the west coast of Scotland?

Asking myself a similar question and thinking about Edinburgh as a mix of nature and culture.

Surely for most people it depends on occupation/commuting/etc? Unless of course you’re retired/work-from-home/…

Italian Alps in winter Portuguese coast in summer – simples!

Herefordshire could be worth a ponder, it’s similar to Shropshire in it’s ‘below the radar’ status.

Took that BBC test

Suggests craven nr Skipton as my ideal spot… Seems quite accurate really

Same here. And I live here already. Happy days!

I live in North lakes, nowhere I’d rather be. However, if you like cities it’s a long way to any of them. I don’t like cities 🙂

Edinburgh!

I did actually have a fairly free choice when I ended up in Edinburgh. My criteria was north of Chesterfield ( everything south of there is too crowded and no hills) south of Perth ( north of there is too far away from family and friends) and preferably on the coast. Edinburgh fitted the bill well

for me I need to live in a city or decent sized town, living on a trainline is important being able to cycle into the countryside is important

North or west lakes, though really depends on what you do and how much cash you have to move.

I took the BBC test and got Market Rasen – whatever that is.

As far from London as possible.

And I did the BBC test. WTF is West Lindsey? Surely I’d get speared by the natives?

Fortunately where I am is also a close match. 🙂

I’m sure there are loads of decent places…. but many of the ‘ideal’ places tend to be perhaps more extreme in some ways that might be hard to quantify especially as you get older.

Given you’re returning to the UK you might also be less up to date on mundane stuff like doctors waiting lists etc. (I returned nearly a decade ago)

I know I don’t want to be in a big city… but equally retired Mum lives in a beautiful village and it’s starting to get hard for her… driving at night or in snow etc. and she’s starting to question having an upstairs even though she presently walks miles every day… (She’s quite often at Guisburn Forest)

I ended up in a small town … nothing spectacular or unspectacular…
I’ve got decent riding 30 mins in either direction etc. but its got doctors and services etc.

So rather than a specific ideal I’d say perhaps define the type of place and
work from there… the deeper into the Lakes you go the more isolated you are..and once you are “in” then you can spend as long just going from one place to the next

There are lots and lots of smaller towns with services within 30 minutes of great countryside…

As an Englishman who lived in Scotland and then moved back south you’d be a fool to not go back to NE Scotland. While there are some cracking bits of England, like the Lakes and the Peak (where I live now), it’s just not as good as Scotland.

The riding isn’t as good. Good, but not as good. I really struggled with my mojo when we moved down here because I just didn’t want to ride trails that weren’t as exciting as I could find in the Highlands.

The Lakes have almost twice as much rainfall as much of NE Scotland.

And, well, people aren’t as nice. The generosity, kindness and friendliness of the majority of Scottish people takes some beating.

And if you’re lucky you won’t have to leave the EU, and you’ll have a more forward thinking and compassionate government.

KELD

The test reckons I should live in the City of London.

I use to live in Buckinghamshire and commuted for years in/around London, I now live in the (very) rural Scottish Borders.

The test’s flawed IMO 🙂

stevextc makes good if depressing points. My parents seemed to have it sussed, living in a nice place with decent facilities. Then my father got ill and can’t drive, and it’s a long way for us to travel to give my mum the help she needs. Realistically it’s too late for them to move, so we’re all stuck 🙁

Moved to Perth and Kinross a few years ago. It’s great as you get the benefits of living in a rural location but not that far away from stuff. I’m 30-45 mins drive from Edinburgh and Glasgow. 10 minutes (8 miles) from a supermarket. Ochils are easy to access and trails from my doorstep. Nice drive though Glendevon and jump onto the A9 and head north.

Downside there are no train stations immediately nearby

Yep, sorry it’s depressing but less so if you can mitigate it before hand.

I’d take a glass half-full approach though and put my bets on somewhere that provides services you might really need but within easy drive/public transport of the stuff you really want.

A 20 minute drive is not much for pleasure but in the dark and potentially inclement weather to get a prescription when you’re ill is a different matter.

I guess it’s also about finding the balance of stuff you actually DO vs stuff you like to “reserve the right” to do but then rarely (and sometimes never) get round to it and how that changes as we get older.

I know places I definitely don’t want to live (mainly big cities) and places I think would be ideal but would turn out less so if I actually lived there and there are IMHO literally hundreds of places that are a good compromise but that compromise will probably be more important the further into retirement I manage.