[Closed] 'Move to the Country' - why does this annoy me!

just think what it would be like if all the young people kept leaving and no one came to live in the village.

I live in Ludlow,

You anywhere near me?

Isn't this what bombers are for?

I feel your pain, I grew up in a coutry town in West Dorset, Bridport, for the 1st 14 years of my life, then moved to East Dorset because of parents jobs, I have always felt like I belonged back there, I recently got back in touch with my old school friends.

Those who I considered at the more intelligent end of the spectrum have left, those who were a bit daft / crazy have all but left for the big cties and clubbing. The only ones who are left are struggling on low paid jobs in non skilled industries having taken whatever job they could get when they first started looking.

Non of them are exactly dying of hunger, but they also don't have the same opportunities and they are getting priced out of the housing market.

Having said that Bridport isn't really a commutable distance to any big centres so they only get the retiring guys and no the commuters, the pubs are open late in the town centre so there is a pretty decent pub based nightlife from what I can gather, plus they are surrounded by some amazing countryside.

That said those that left said they found it quite suffocating growing up there.

One of the great things about living in a free country is that people can choose to live wherever the please.

If you have never lived in a small country town it is really difficult to explain what is happening without coming over as a right old grouch, but its so sad to see the old ways going and being replaced with an almost 'theme park' version of a country town!

loddrik - interesting point, and one I completely agree with.

Unfortunately one of the downsides of this freedom is that sometimes what is best for the long term future is over shaddowed by the short term wants of those with the loudest voices.

Bit of a catch 22 really.

Sadly, I think it's the same in a lot of rural areas. In Wales, we have the additional factor in that most won't learn our language, which makes it difficult for them to integrate into the community. Those that make the effort to learn Welsh tend to be warmly welcomed.

Don't get me wrong we have some great new folks moving to the town who are far more active than the 'locals' in preserving and increasing local facilities. But sadly they just do not understand the dynamics of the community and see it all through rose tinted glasses.

Incomers here are often appalled by the accent, the mud and farmyard filth, animal smells, nighttime silence, darkness, cider, lack of facilities, the beards and the inbreeding. Those who accept it are welcomed (including us).

Maybe not the inbreeding. 😉

I know what the op means. I grew up in Rural Oxfordshire and even in my life I found the local towns and villages altered from having a mixure of people to becoming primarily posh suburbs for Oxford Swindon , Reading , London. Some of whom then complain about someone trying to get planning permission for a business or that the Farmers are on too late working and making a noise e.t.c.

It two factors.
1. Less local jobs and what one there exist are very low paid.

2. The rise of the motor car and cheap fuel meaning everyone want to live one place and work somewhere completely different.

Areas need a change of blood but it's sad when most either commute away all the time.

It is a free countryish and you can live whereever you like so long as you can afford it, which is as it should be. The same as you can move anywhere in the UK for work ,if you are offered enough cash most people whould move almost anywhere. For how long is another matter.

The movement of people from the rural to the city is a two way street but seems tends to affect the rural areas more.

In the rural areas most young people move away for education/work/life opportunities or to escape the everybody knowing all about you syndrome and tend to end up in urban areas. Those who stay and parents tend to moan about house prices and lack of well payed jobs. Also you tend to hear the suggestion that cheap housing should be available for people born localy.

People who who get fedup of urban living and have earnt enough cash move to the rural areas and bring up their children which closes the loop.

The increasing cost of motoring will reduce the amount of people who can afford to commute and possibly reduce the price of housing.

The real pain is holiday homes which are empty for most of the year as it destroys comunities

Having recently moved back to herefordshire where my wife and I grew up after about 8 years away in cities I can sympathise with your points jj55. Especially when you say the 'incomers' are trying to preserve a 'way of life' that they dont understand or actually have any experience of, there seems to be a very quaint image portrayed of country life, missing entirely the fact that it's generally damned hard to find work and make ends meet.

However on the flip side, we do need people to move to the country bringing with them entrepreneurial spirit and new business. biggest issue for us with this is the price of houses are higher than cities which makes it harder for young people to stay or return to the country.

We are trying to live in the same area that we work, and really be part of the community, and yes, this means buying local produce and paying a bit more, but in return we get to support local people and be able to say good morning to nearly everyone we see when we walk through the village.

Of course it's a free country, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But I just wonder if those who are 'moving to the country' really understand where they are moving to, and why they are doing it. A beautiful country lane in May looks a lot different on a wet February afternoon when it's covered in cow sh+t. So many farms in Herefordshire have now been converted into mini country housing estates for those who feel they are now part of the country, but the whole community that relied on that farm for employment has gone and with them the real rural community.

I agree that we need the new entrepreneurial skills, and have seen this in action in my home town. They are very welcome.

Don't start me on the poly tunnel debate!! Farmers making good money, which is finding it's way back into the local economy being (yes the migrant workers do spend the money they earn locally). But its all being severely hampered by those who have moved to the country objecting to the loss of their expensive views.

I suppose i'm just an old fart reminiscing about how great things used to be..... but they were!

Has it not been this way since the industrial revolution? Advancing technology focused jobs in the large towns and cities and as agriculture required less and less skilled man-power so people were driven to move to the cities. As the cities got larger, noisier and smellier those who could afford to moved out to the newly created suburbs in what was then the country. Modern transport has simply made what is commutable that much wider spread.

The Northumberland village my folks moved to after retirement suffers exactly what you describe. Farming the valley is becoming sustainable for fewer folk and as the kids grow up they move to Newcastle. Once the couple running the pub retire I wonder what will become of the community.

similar things in villages all over the country - next they will be complaining about the noise of the chickens, objecting to any planning applications for affordable housing for the "locals", and complaining about the kids hanging round as they have nowhere to go as the proposals for a skate park were rejected......

Still, beats living in the city!

I grew up on a farm in northumberland would love to bring my kids up in the same place as my family has lived in the same valley for 500 plus years. No jobs though a don't want to commute that much. Always thought that they should have planning rules that mean all new housing should have provision for places for people to work in the same area. Big new housing estate in rothbury, thanks duke, but where are all these people going to work? Interesting to see what happens with travel costs and home working. Living in Sweden now and most people want to live in the city but most have a little house/shack/cottage in the country. Same in most other European countries isn't it?

In Wales, we have the additional factor in that most won't learn our language, which makes it difficult for them to integrate into the community.

hmmmmmm have the thought police seen this?

which immigrant groups won't learn the language then?

I was born in, and continue to live in a small Herefordshire country market town, and all our young people are leaving

Thing is they are probably leaving because they are bored sh1tless with the place and even a pub that caters for younger people doesnt compete with clubs, pubs, bars, jobs and fast moving lifestyle they see on TV. The thing is I wonder if all the people that were born and bred in the large towns & cities are moaning about incomers coming in from outside the area and the villages?

The thing is I wonder if all the people that were born and bred in the large towns & cities are moaning about incomers coming in from outside the area and the villages?

Yes they do. I know several Londoners that do just this.

GEDA - Member
Living in Sweden now and most people want to live in the city but most have a little house/shack/cottage in the country. Same in most other European countries isn't it?

England has a very high population density and the effect of the UK being an Island means that the rest of it also has high property values.

i do wonder what will happen over the next few years, a 50 mile commute is only possible if there are decent roads and cheap fuel. With fuel getting ever more expensive will there be a point when the movement to the countryside reverses? And to be brutal for all the talk of home working, it is not going to happen, most jobs need you to be in the same place as your office/factory/hospital/etc

As for retiring to the countryside, where do the nurses, carers, home helps etc live?

Something will give usually does.

England has a very high population density and the effect of the UK being an Island means that the rest of it also has high property values.

England doesn't have that high a population density, the South east has a high population density. as for scotland and wales...

In Wales, we have the additional factor in that most won't learn our language, which makes it difficult for them to integrate into the community.

hmmmmmm have the thought police seen this?

which immigrant groups won't learn the language then?

Quite. England has similar problems but risk being termed racist if pointing it out or failing to embrace the non-english speakers.

 

I guess all places will evolve over time, and the things ain't what they used to be brigade will always cherry pick the memories of what things were like.

Progress innit.

that said, if you end up with a ageing population, why would the young uns want to stay there if they a) can't buy a house/afford t live there and b)have fun int eh town where they live.

The thing with ageing populations is that they don't tend to be around for too long, so maybe this type of things turns into a cycle.

I politely disagree with the OP. I live in suburbia and have my annual holiday in a cottage in Devon with my kids and missus. I've rented it for last 7 years.

I work (reluctantly) in chemical manufacturing.

My wife and kids like the 'gift shoppe', 'tea shoppe' and 'Antique shoppe' experience. They also like the beaches, countryside and also maybe the idea (real or otherwise) that there are some nice places in this country.

Replace gift shoppe with off licence, tea shoppe with kebab house and antique shoppe with tatto parlour and we won't go on holiday there again.

If the local pub applied to have extended hours so that the local kids had somewhere to go then we won't go on holiday there again.

I'm surprised to hear this especially on this forum. I bet there are many here who've just spent their hard earned money in such tea shoppes on their weekend ride.

couldgetacarforthat - I think the OP is maybe a bit frustrated that his home town isn't seen as a 'real' place anymore, existing on it's own merit, and has turned into some sort disneyland experience for retirees.

I can see his point too, that if you live somewhere, antique shopping probably isn't quite as high on your list of priorities as, say, getting a bottle of wine on a friday night.

shops and attractions in rural towns can't just be about satisfying the people who spend one or two weeks a year there - they need to serve the community.

hmmm. interesting thread this.

England doesn't have that high a population density, the South east has a high population density. as for scotland and wales...

I think you will find it does.

383 people per sq km (2003). http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/population.html

Which puts us just behind the NL in Europe (403) for population density. The only places with a higher population desity in Europe are little city sate and principality. Looking on a global scale countries with higher populations than us tend to be gain small city or near city "state" such as HK or small ish islands like in the Caribbean. The others if not very small Island states are some other small countires like Lebanon.

Bangladesh, Taiwan, South Korea and the NL are the other bigger countries with higher populations densities. Infact we rate a higher population density than India. So I would say yes even on a global scale we do have a high population density.

In addition to this the context of what I wrote was impornat. I said the rest of the UK being on the same island experiences a ripple effect resulting in high house prices.

England has a very high population density and the effect of the UK being an Island means that the rest of it also has high property values.

The comparison regarding a shack in the woods was relevant to this point. Also because unlike other high population density parts of Europe like the NL we don't have the massive areas next door to spread out into like they do. More specifly though the person I was quoting was on about Sweeden. By comparison Wales and Scotland do not average out the population density to be that low when you compare to Northern Europe say grouping together the high density areas, NL, German, Denmark and the low population areas of Noway and Sweeden.

Total UK population density. 255 people per km^2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_density

Our comparison of N.Europe. Total population. 1 276 761
Total area 118 218 473
giving a population density of 92.5924844 people per km^2.

Considering the comparison was infact made with Sweeden (pop density 21 per km^2) rather than my constructed area of northern Europe what has a significantly higher population density than Europe adds further strength to my point and the comparison which was being made.

I used to live in Portsmouth. Very dense there.

Jimbobrighton - the only reason I posted tonight was I was in my local off licence getting a bottle of wine (actually thats a lie it was 4 tins). Anyway few lads came in buying chocolate probably about 16 years old and gave the guy behind the counter loads of abuse. Very uncomfortable situation and I feel bad that I didn't deal with it (especially after a good day on the bike). No reason for it just idiocy.

Like many people I don't know what real places or community are anymore. This isn't just a rural problem

Certainly my grandparents wouldn't recognise where I live.

I was brought up in Manchester but lived in Herefordshire for 10 years at a time when the local councilors decided on who would get what grant (Damp) and was based on wherever you were local or not and definitely not on need. She the bitch said I couldn't have the grant despite the wife living there all her life and having 3 kids. Of course this doesn't happen now. When I got divorced I had to move back to Manchester and hated it. No chance of staying in Herefordshire because of house price. I now live in Lincolnshire.

Now I expect jj55 that the little 'gift Shoppe', 'tea Shoppe', 'Antique Shoppe' is more a product of tourism.
But outsider do not as some idiots on this site suggest, help the local communities.
Firstly they do not move to the countryside with there children they moved there when they retire........result there goes the local infant school and children end up having to get the bus or even a council paid taxi to school.
Next goes the village pub outsiders are many time less likely to use the pub despite all there money, they prefer to drink at home.
And then the local shop they always go to town or to a city to get there shopping partly because they have the time and because they think that the local shops are ripping them off. Quick example: - that garage is charging extornate prices for petrol they are robbing you/us. The fact that they are closing down at a rapid rate which clearly means that they can not making a profit, this completely escapes outsiders as they expect supermarket prices for everything.
Next go the buses how are the old people (retired farm labors for instance) going to get to town to the shop after all the incomers have moved in and NEVER USE THE BUS? To be fair that is only while they can drive once they can't they start campaigning for a new bus service.
Now a huge proportion of these incomers will have little to do with the local community as stated earlier “everybody once to know your business.” I recently spent 2 days unconscious in an epileptic stupor. Pretty useful a neighbor noticing my curtains had been closed for a while.
The worse thing of all is the belief that the utilities should be as good as the cities. Unbelievable! Why move to the countryside if you want internet speeds the same as the city. OR uninterrupted electricity supplies. One nob head was trying to get petition up because the electrify went of occasionally for 20 minutes or so.......worse he said it happened at night as well, he could tell this as his clocks were wrong. IE when he was asleep? Towns and cities subsidize nearly all rural utilities so you have no right to expect the same quality and locals realize this.
Now this really winds me up how incomers look down at people who hunt or put another way telling people that they are cruel. Which is the crueler buying meat that is kept indoors all the time or at best kept enclosed in a field? No hunting rabbits is cruel, shooting pheasants is cruel. HOW MUCH MORE FREE RANGE CAN YOU GET. I actual heard one person say you should not kill rats unless you really have to. One neighbor lost 14 chicks to rats in one day. The rats ripped out there throats (sorry cannot think of the proper name) and eat the corn in the throat despite the floor of the pen being covered in corn. ONLY MAN KILLS FOR PLEASURE………BOLLOCKS.
Now of course I am talking about the majority not all. I for instance keep as many pubs open as possible (hard on a bicycle but I keep at it) and the other people “who try to fit in” soon become part of the community and of course you soon get to know them. Well you would do, they are part of the community. In some ways I find it an advantage that they don’t want anything to do with the rural community. For instance a local farmer takes me up to his field leaves me to strip a tree of apples while he plows which adds another 5 gallons of cider (to the 28 other gallons I have) and then takes me home. All my cider is made with apples I got for free by being part of the community. Beating gets me £25 and more pheasants than I can eat and new friends who can help out. A chat with a bloke in a pick up who stopped just because I waved as he drove passed (I was out walking) gets me a couple of rabbits when he sees me (Freezer getting a bit full have to hide from him as I don’t want to hurt his feelings). Regularly when on the beer someone insists on putting my bike in the back of there car and dropping me home especially if I keep falling of in the pub car park. I am ok I say I will be sober by the time I get home its only 12 miles (or 40 if I am really drunk). Two weeks in hospital meant someone came to my house to take me to the pub at least twice a week (note I am not necessarily talking about next door but people living up to 12 miles away). All in all jj55 you are 100% right about most of the people who move rural BUT THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE SECOND HOME OWNERS THEY UTTERLY DESTROY CUMMUNITIES COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DESTROY THEM. There are villages with one or two people who live there the rest are second home owners. The house prices are three or four times higher than they should be. They could just rent a cottage for the amount of time they spend there but no they prefer to steal someone else’s home. Someone said the Welsh had the right idea…….fire bombing second homes rubbish they burned about ten down max. Lazy bastards. PS I am about to do some serious terracing to my garden, farmer gave me 65 concrete posts. Of course I gave him some cider well 4 bottles and a half a liter of Sloe Gin. Well must go I have a years worth of wood to saw up ohh you get that by being part of the community. The latter is an exaggeration I have already cut up half a years.

I also grew up in a little 'village' outside Leominster, in Herefordshire. I say 'village' because it wasn't much of a village by the time I was born. It had a primary school, which I went to, and a parish church. It had a few houses and farms. But it had no shops, post office or bus service. It had a pub though.

I'm not sure exactly which town you're talking about OP, but I just wanted to chip in and say that I understand where you're coming from, and also to recommend a book to you. It's called Changing Lifestyles, by John Seymour. The main thrust of the book is about the disconnection between the urban and the rural, and how we have developed such an unsustainable, in every sense of the word, countryside.

I also recommend [url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/mar/21/5 ]this[/url] little article.

loddrik - Member
One of the great things about living in a free country is that people can choose to live wherever the please.

mrmo - Member
i do wonder what will happen over the next few years, a 50 mile commute is only possible if there are decent roads and cheap fuel. With fuel getting ever more expensive will there be a point when the movement to the countryside reverses? And to be brutal for all the talk of home working, it is not going to happen, most jobs need you to be in the same place as your office/factory/hospital/etc

As for retiring to the countryside, where do the nurses, carers, home helps etc live?

Something will give usually does.

mansonsoul - Member
It's called Changing Lifestyles, by John Seymour. The main thrust of the book is about the disconnection between the urban and the rural,
I also recommend this little article.

I lived in a small village in Hampshire from age 4 through to 21, then I went to Uni and after that moved to London.

My hometown is completely different now...it's almost doubled in size, and the fields me and my childhood friends used to play in have been replaced by sprawling, off the shelf housing estates.

Although kids don't need to play in fields anymore, they've got 'Wii Camping', and 'Wii Going Outside' to keep them busy.

McHamish - Member
Although kids don't need to play in fields anymore, they've got 'Wii Camping', and 'Wii Going Outside' to keep them busy.

But outsider do not as some idiots on this site suggest, help the local communities.

I believe 'outsiders' can and for the most part do help the communities they move into. They also change - or are seen as representing change - to these communities, which original locals may or may not like.

Firstly they do not move to the countryside with there children they moved there when they retire........result there goes the local infant school and children end up having to get the bus or even a council paid taxi to school.

Actually, some do. Our village's schools provide a further reason to move here for those with or considering children. About 2 in 3 kids go to the village state nursery and primary school. About the same proportion then go to private school instead of the state secondaries in the nearby towns.

Next goes the village pub outsiders are many time less likely to use the pub despite all there money, they prefer to drink at home.

Maybe the pub needs to change to meet the needs of the newcomers as well as its existing customers? In the village we moved to three years ago, the pub had almost shut down the year before - the publican catered to a dwindling crowd. He moved on and with a new landlady it is now busy most every night - and was camra's regional pub of the year in 2009, so by no means a pub turned winebar.

And then the local shop they always go to town or to a city to get there shopping partly because they have the time and because they think that the local shops are ripping them off.

Our village shop reopened last year after being gone for 6. It is now a community owned venture, staffed by volunteers and managed by two paid full-time staff. It is well run and meets the needs of the current local community, something the old shop failed to do.

One nob head was trying to get petition up because the electrify went of occasionally for 20 minutes or so.......worse he said it happened at night as well, he could tell this as his clocks were wrong. IE when he was asleep? Towns and cities subsidize nearly all rural utilities so you have no right to expect the same quality and locals realize this.

And why shouldn't utilities be improved? In fact, some (most) are glad village life has moved on from the middle ages. It may be impossible to bring these services up to city standards for technical reasons, but there's surely no harm in campaigning for them to be made better than they are. As for the subsidies argument, what nonsense! Taxes taken in the south will probably subsidize NHS services in the rest of the country but that in no way means the level of care provided should be allowed to fall when north of the watford gap.

Markie - Member

But outsider do not as some idiots on this site suggest, help the local communities.

I believe 'outsiders' can and for the most part do help the communities they move into. They also change - or are seen as representing change - to these communities, which original locals may or may not like.

Firstly they do not move to the countryside with there children they moved there when they retire........result there goes the local infant school and children end up having to get the bus or even a council paid taxi to school.

Actually, some do. Our village's schools provide a further reason to move here for those with or considering children. About 2 in 3 kids go to the village state nursery and primary school. About the same proportion then go to private school instead of the state secondaries in the nearby towns.

The fact that you have moved with your children is a moronic statement you are fully aware that majority are retired and therefore have not moved with there kid. One is not a statistic you are as you are well aware of not the majority. Unbelievably you are actually suggesting that sending kids to a private schools helps the local schools!! Are you real?

Next goes the village pub outsiders are many time less likely to use the pub despite all there money, they prefer to drink at home.

Maybe the pub needs to change to meet the needs of the newcomers as well as its existing customers? In the village we moved to three years ago, the pub had almost shut down the year before - the publican catered to a dwindling crowd. He moved on and with a new landlady it is now busy most every night - and was camra's regional pub of the year in 2009, so by no means a pub turned winebar.

And then the local shop they always go to town or to a city to get there shopping partly because they have the time and because they think that the local shops are ripping them off.

Our village shop reopened last year after being gone for 6. It is now a community owned venture, staffed by volunteers and managed by two paid full-time staff. It is well run and meets the needs of the current local community, something the old shop failed to do.

One nob head was trying to get petition up because the electrify went of occasionally for 20 minutes or so.......worse he said it happened at night as well, he could tell this as his clocks were wrong. IE when he was asleep? Towns and cities subsidize nearly all rural utilities so you have no right to expect the same quality and locals realize this.

And why shouldn't utilities be improved? In fact, some (most) are glad village life has moved on from the middle ages. It may be impossible to bring these services up to city standards for technical reasons, but there's surely no harm in campaigning for them to be made better than they are. As for the subsidies argument, what nonsense! Taxes taken in the south will probably subsidize NHS services in the rest of the country but that in no way means the level of care provided should be allowed to fall when north of the watford gap.

kettle on ,biscuits opened.

Markie - Member

completely escapes outsiders as they expect supermarket prices for everything.

About 2 in 3 kids go to the village state nursery

About the same proportion then go to private school instead of the state secondaries in the nearby towns.

Maybe the pub needs to change to meet the needs of the newcomers

Of course and as noted above a number of times, you can always move back to a town, or to a different part of the country. I sometimes wonder why anyone would want to move to 'the country' if it's populated by such odd folk.

Oooh Arr...

brandiberryj - I really enjoyed reading all of that, it totally makes sense.

I have friends who are complete townies, when they moved into their converted barn/stableblock they complained about the noisy sheep, the dawn chorus, the farmer making farming smells etc. they now spend half the year in Spain because its too cold in Britain during the winter and have made no effort to understand country ways.

I am also a semi townie who hopes to one day live in the countryside, but will really treasure it and hopefully fit in with the real locals.

senor j - Member
kettle on ,biscuits opened.

Am beginning to think you are touch sarcastic? Amusingly so I might add.

I'm from a village in Yorkshire
I now live in London
Not sure the people here like the fact people keep moving in and pushing the house prices up so their kids can't afford to live here.

Works both ways I 'spose

My grandad lives in a Cumbrian village.
He was a farmworker then a steelworker.
He's lived in that particular village for over 50 years and some of the folks still laugh and call him an incomer!
A complaint went in last year from recent "incomers" that the cocks were making too much noise in the morning.WTF!

I hear what the op says.
But you need a blend of old and new.

brandeberryj - yes - sarcasm , i apologise. 🙂

brandeberryj - Member

As I said the majority have little if anything to do with the local community NOT ALL

And I'm saying I'll bet the majority of people who move from cities to villages do involve themselves in and support their new local communities. Of course, sometimes this may involve changing or trying to change those communities in ways some other residents do not like.

The fact that you have moved with your children is a moronic statement you are fully aware that majority are retired and therefore have not moved with there kid. One is not a statistic you are as you are well aware of not the majority. Unbelievably you are actually suggesting that sending kids to a private schools helps the local schools!! Are you real?

FWIW, the majority around here are not retired. Perhaps this is a regional thing? Retired folk head to small villages further away from regional centers and working folk choose villages within commutable distance (say an hour thirty) of the bigger towns or cities? And yeah, I should have said [i][b]although[/b] the same ratio then go private for secondary[/i] although it makes no difference to my point. The village schools are supported by incomers and their children just as much as by 'locals' and theirs. The nearest secondary schools are in our nearest towns anyway, and so are unaffected.

I said the majority drink at home remind me where I mentioned the wine bar? And yet again I hear that they have to change to suit you. Can you tell me if the pub stayed open just because of outsiders? You are clearly implying it. I would suggest that is crap. You simply had a bad landlady replaced by good one. And this "camra's regional pub of the year in 2009" proves it

😀 You never mentioned a wine bar, obvs. I put it in to say that that accusation could not be levelled at it. Also, I do reckon that the pub here stayed open because of outsiders. This was a farming village and farming jobs are now few and far between. Who would still be here and could they sustain a pub? The old publican ran the bar as suited him but not the village. The new publican changed that. And yeah, she's ace!

And that was all because of outsiders yeah right

Not at all. But it shows that a shop that serves the needs of those around it can survive, even if those around it now include 'outsiders'.

What the hell is the middle ages got to do with? you are top man for twisting words no maybe lieing would be a better way of putting it. Again you have no right to expect internet speed to be the same as in a city nor can you expect electricity not to be disrupted more than in a city. Now this is a sickening lie SINCE WHEN IS THE NHS A UTILITY? And where did I say utilities shouldn’t be improved I said you shouldn't expect them to be equal. Wow you do like to change everything a person says. Work for the press do you or are you a politician. Fox news could do with someone like you.
Anyway why are you worried about the NHS if you send your children to private school you no doubt have private health care so it has nothing to do with you. PS I will say this again you may have missed it I am an outsider and yet again as you appear to be a bit slow I was talking about most not all.

Neither did I say one should expect utilities to be able to provide equal service in the countryside - but what's wrong with trying to improve them? Surely everyone in the community benefits if things such as the village's electricity supply are improved? You may not have a 'right' to equal service, but you can certainly campaign for it. Also, no the NHS isn't a utility but that doesn't matter. I was using that as an example of why your subsidies argument was mistaken. Just for the record, my child is too young for school (private schools are being considered, as are the village ones) and IMO the NHS rocks!

You're an outsider and you're talking about most not all? Hey, me too!

Bunnyhop - Member
brandiberryj - I really enjoyed reading all of that, it totally makes sense.

I have friends who are complete townies, when they moved into their converted barn/stableblock they complained about the noisy sheep, the dawn chorus, the farmer making farming smells etc. they now spend half the year in Spain because its too cold in Britain during the winter and have made no effort to understand country ways.

I am also a semi townie who hopes to one day live in the countryside, but will really treasure it and hopefully fit in with the real locals.

complained about the noisy sheep

the dawn chorus,

the farmer making farming smells etc.

they now spend half the year in Spain

because its too cold in Britain during the winter

and have made no effort to understand country ways.

I am also a semi townie who hopes to one day live in the countryside, but will really treasure it and hopefully fit in with the real locals.

Double post? If so it's because I missed this...

brandeberryj - Member

Use the bus often?

Used it twice every working weekday for the first two years we were here. Then got a scooter. Now use it about half the times I head into town. Do you use your local buses?

completely escapes outsiders as they expect supermarket prices for everything.

Pay the odd token visit to the village shop do you ?

I use the village shop and the supermarket. Understand the village shop has higher prices, but also am grateful for the convenience and sociability it provides.

And where do the rest go don't they like there kids going near the locals the plague is over is gone.

Ketchup with those chips? I doubt anyone here chooses not to send their child to the village schools in an attempt to avoid locals!

[i]About the same proportion then go to private school instead of the state secondaries in the nearby towns.[/i]

Now we are getting there doing them a favour are you?

How did I imply that? Just noting that whatever secondary schools parents here choose, it makes no difference to the village primary school.

[i]Maybe the pub needs to change to meet the needs of the newcomers[/i]

That says it all!

Is that so unreasonable? The business only has to change if it wants to win new business [i]and[/i] that change is necessary to win this new business. Generational change will have the same effect, albeit more slowly, at a guess.

I can't imagine anyone here having any truck with someone complaining about the dawn chorus, or the smell of muck spreading, or the sound of shotguns or sheep. Same goes for tractors on the road and mud on the footpaths - we know we're in the countryside and we're glad of it. In my experience this is true for most of those who move to the countryside.

Our local village has a shopping scheme, whereby a cash prize is on offer every month for people who use the local facilities.
Each shop or business has a stamp, once your card is full then its placed into the draw.
These are the sort of things that make sense to me.

It's just the way of the modern world. Small shops and businesses struggle to survive in rural communities as everything is cheaper from the supermarket, big chains and online shopping. In turn there's no jobs for youngsters and young people are increasingly attracted by the city lifestyle.

I was recently chatting to an old friend on facebook. He was from a sleepy East Yorkshire coastal town and moved to increasingly bigger towns until he ended up living in Hull which he loved. He was a passionate northerner. Now he stays in London where he say's he's 'living the dream' and now say's he hates Hull. People have different aspirations in the modern world and older people have the money to 'live the dream' in the countryside.

I would nt be supervised if most of these "Townies" actually grew up in a rural area/small town, moved to the city and have now moved back to a rural area (abit a different rural area).

Personally I dont think many people who really grow up in a properly busy city want to move to the country side.

Also its quite easy to grow up in a small almost rural town and actually have very little to do with rural life.

I mean when I was a kid there was a farm 30 seconds down the road and miles of countryside but my links were to the town cant say I knew any farmers or anything about farming.

I loved the countryside around for cycling through but I was never really part of it in the way your describing.

Actually when I think of the average UK person this is kinda what I think of someone who lives in Suburbia near the countryside but whose links are too the town.

Markie - Member

I can't imagine anyone here having any truck with someone complaining about the dawn chorus, or the smell of muck spreading, or the sound of shotguns or sheep. Same goes for tractors on the road and mud on the footpaths - we know we're in the countryside and we're glad of it. In my experience this is true for most of those who move to the countryside.

Erhh remind me was that anything to do with you?

Ketchup with those chips?

scu98rkr - Member
scu98rkr - Member
I would nt be supervised if most of these "Townies" actually grew up in a rural area/small town, moved to the city and have now moved back to a rural area (abit a different rural area).

Personally I dont think many people who really grow up in a properly busy city want to move to the country side.

Now come on scu98rkr this whole blog is saying the exact opposite. I was brought up in a busy city and they are shit holes....at least that what I feel. I would rather have cancer than move back.......not terminal cancer or testicular cancer terminal or otherwise.

ok probably over exaggerating to a large extent. Maybe what I meant is the majority of city dwellers either CANT or DONT want to move out of the city. I mean if every person who grow up in a city in this country suddenly managed to move out that would be 20 million or more people wanting to move to the countryside.

My point is the people the OP is complaining about are probably semi rural all ready.

PS Im not disagreeing with your assessment of city life

Erhh remind me was that anything to do with you?

😀 Well, yes - at least just as much as most everything else posted on this open thread.

Unless you are say all those working class only eat chips and ketchup. A bit snobby??

Woosh.

Markie - Member

Erhh remind me was that anything to do with you?

Well, yes - at least just as much as most everything else posted on this open thread

Woosh.

I'll go with brandeberryj on this one.

If I was working in the rural sector in West Cornwall where I grew up I'd be struggling to rent, let alone buy. Incomers bringing their city house prices to one of the lowest paying areas. Know a guy back home that is a fisherman, but can't afford to live in the village his boat is moored so is 10 miles INLAND. Great for those 2am starts. Note to in-movers, there wouldn't be a rattly truck charging through the village streets at 2am if he could walk to his boat.

Going off on one now.
Anyway, currently quite settled in mid Wales and will inevitably end up in another rural area (no forests in the city centres) as I know I am incompatible with urban living so shan't inflict myself on the townies again.

Too easy a subject to rant on and everyone is a different case.

double woosh...

[i] Note to in-movers, there wouldn't be a rattly truck charging through the village streets at 2am if he could walk to his boat.[/i]

Note to locals. If you didn't sell your houses at over-inflated prices to in-movers for filthy lucre, then the fisherman would still be able to walk to his boat 🙂

Just out of interest, are there actually enough jobs in the rural economy to support all the villages/small towns without having any 'incomers'?

The problem of people wanting to live in Rural areas but not being able to find work there will all sort itself out in a few years. When half the working population will be forced to work remotely because the company you work for wont want to pay for an office building anymore when people can just log into the system from home.

This will probably lead to a fall in prices houses near business centres and transport links. As everyone will need an office in their house now they'll be even more people wanting to move to larger properties in the countryside. Which will increase prices there.

Obviously this still wont help you if your a fisherman. But you wont be complaining about people living in the countryside and commuting to the city anymore.

funkynick - Member
Just out of interest, are there actually enough jobs in the rural economy to support all the villages/small towns without having any 'incomers'?

timber - Member
I'll go with brandeberryj on this one.

If I was working in the rural sector in West Cornwall where I grew up I'd be struggling to rent, let alone buy. Incomers bringing their city house prices to one of the lowest paying areas.

I think you are right that area is the lowest paying rural area in Britain AND one with one of the highest house price. Furthermore a huge amount are people with second homes. Am I right on the latter?

wot no Starbucks 😯

scu98rkr - Member
The problem of people wanting to live in Rural areas but not being able to find work there will all sort itself out in a few years. When half the working population will be forced to work remotely because the company you work for wont want to pay for an office building anymore when people can just log into the system from home.

This will probably lead to a fall in prices houses near business centres and transport links. As everyone will need an office in their house now they'll be even more people wanting to move to larger properties in the countryside. Which will increase prices there.

Obviously this still wont help you if your a fisherman. But you wont be complaining about people living in the countryside and commuting to the city anymore.

senor j - Member
A complaint went in last year from recent "incomers" that the cocks were making too much noise in the morning.WTF!

Not sure that you are right there what can you make remotely. Now people who sit in an office all day maybe can work from home but I don't believe we are looking at 50%?

I'd be interested to know what percentage of the working population basically work in an office.

I'd include job there that are mainly based in an office environment but also have occasional site visits.

"I'd be interested to know what percentage of the working population basically work in an office.

I'd include job there that are mainly based in an office environment but also have occasional site visits."

I have always wonder if it was possible to work in a call centre from home? Or should I say work as call centre staff from home?

I'm with the OP but in a rather less generous way> I hate the "improvements". Barns should have sheep in them not people. better they collapse than that.
What I don't like as well are those who come to the country, either to live or for the day and then want all the trappings of civilisation. carparks, visitor centres to tell them to look after the countryside (stay at home) and gravelled cycle tracks where mud does the job perfectly.
Where do I live? The FoD.

I always assumed 'the country' was a nice quiet place, but it appears to full of people whinging and whining....

[i]running these shops as a hobby[/i]

Better than the shops lying empty though, surely?

crikey - often its the people who have moved in who moan though. They are quite surprised that the countryside has things like cockrels, farmers driving tractors at the crack of dawn, horseshit, cowshit, bored yobboes greenlaning defender v8s, people shooting guns all weekend, a primary school, kids playing football on the rec, owls hooting and other rural annoyances.

They seem to think it's going to be like Barnes, but quieter. Fail.

OP is being far to friendly to the emits.

People have different aspirations in the modern world and older people have the money to 'live the dream' in the countryside.

And that's the biggest rub. Those with the money have the choice. If you are from rural working class your choice is low aspiration, low pay & crappy rented accommodation - or move out.

Rural "ethnic" cleansing by rich urban tossers.

So many people just don't "get" the implications of their free market choices.

Note to locals. If you didn't sell your houses at over-inflated prices to in-movers for filthy lucre, then the fisherman would still be able to walk to his boat

Sorry, but this is utter shite.

Absolutely contemptuous, or just plain naive.

Who owned the frigging house to start with?
Sure as he'll wasn't the "fisherman" to keep with the same metaphor.

The properties were owned by the big landowners, and were sold off piecemeal for readies during the last century. In the main, they weren't sold to the local families - they didn't have the flipping money (because they worked for the skint landowner... And wouldn't even have gotten to meet the bank manager)

Not sure of the % working in offices, but something picked up at work suggested only 2% of the population work the land.

The fisherman isn't in the village, because when faced with selling your house at market price or double, which do you choose? Would you honestly take the lesser offer? Very few are that unmaterialistic or active community supporters.
Or another take, if there is more than one son/daughter, the house can't be split unless sold and the share gets smaller.

rkk01 - Member

Note to locals. If you didn't sell your houses at over-inflated prices to in-movers for filthy lucre, then the fisherman would still be able to walk to his boat

Sorry, but this is utter shite.

Absolutely contemptuous, or just plain naive.

Who owned the frigging house to start with?
Sure as he'll wasn't the "fisherman" to keep with the same metaphor.

The properties were owned by the big landowners, and were sold off piecemeal for readies during the last century. In the main, they weren't sold to the local families - they didn't have the flipping money (because they worked for the skint landowner... And wouldn't even have gotten to meet the bank manager)

brandeberryj That's right anyone who lived in rural areas never owned there own property. Furthemore they ate shite for breakfast everyday while you just talk it. Nothing like a bit of left wing generalistion. By the way the last century was 1900 - 2000?

Who owned the frigging house to start with?
Sure as he'll wasn't the "fisherman" to keep with the same metaphor.

The properties were owned by the big landowners

In the main, they weren't sold to the local families

rkk01 - Member
OP is being far to friendly to the emits.

People have different aspirations in the modern world and older people have the money to 'live the dream' in the countryside.

And that's the biggest rub. Those with the money have the choice. If you are from rural working class your choice is low aspiration, low pay & crappy rented accommodation - or move out.

Rural "ethnic" cleansing by rich urban tossers.

So many people just don't "get" the implications of their free market choices.

which immigrant groups won't learn the language then?

Quite. England has similar problems

Does it hell. The status of English in England is completely different to the status of Welsh in Wales innit?

Anyway. All this talk of Herefordshire has got me curious.. I gew up in Leominster.

But this story of incomers causing social problems is a long and sad one that's for sure. HOWEVER, I would like to point out that the changing global economy and market forces has meant that many small village businesses can't compete. However it has also meant that we can buy cars, TVs and food isn't expensive any more.

Might I politely suggest that unless you actually live in the sort of rural place that has these issues, you are most likely arguing from theory or prejudice rather than any practical experience.
This makes your views less valid.
Non polite way. BS