[Closed] Advice re: where to move

The area just north of London (within your 2hr requirement) outdoorswise is one of the dullest in the UK imo. Head west or further north for outdoors stuff I'm afraid.

I'm also moving back to the UK, although trying to move back to the north.

Do you want to be 2hrs away by car, plane or train? If by train, then look at Manchester, Leeds or Sheffield. The Peaks and/or Dales are close by. Brizzle (and surrounding area) is also worth considering.

So much depends on how much money you have spend on a house, if you are buying. South of the capital is Surrey which is lovely but expensive. Further south into West Sussex is quieter but cheaper with good connections to N London.

Central Manchester mght be 2hr to central London by train but add on travel times either end and it well easily be 3 or more door to door if you are lucky.

The trains to that London from Manchester run through Stockport too, much easier access to the peak

Sod any of that - why the hell would you move back here from Banff!!

Oxford perhaps? Lots of healthcare jobs (big field I know) and good access to the chilterns for riding. The Welsh centres aren't 'that far' away, nor is Shropshire.

Sod any of that - why the hell would you move back here from Banff!!

I would also point out that my sister in law and little lad are visiting here this weekend. They live in flat, flat, flat Suffolk. 3hours door to door on a flight and they are at the start of the Highlands in Dunblane with us. Do you have to be within 2hours drive or would flight do?

Also, check out house prices as within 2 hours of London = HOW MUCH?!

Within 2 hrs of London, for any half decent outdoor places you are looking at Peak (IMO) - so Sheffield. Even that is more than 2hours most days.

Bristol is worth looking at.

2hrs to London + access to lots of outdoorsy stuff as well

Hants is under 2hrs by train and 2'ish in the car - still wouldn't mere here from Banff...... and I live right on the coast in Hants!

Bristol - no contest

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. We are moving back to be closer to my quite frail parents and would need to be able to get to/from N London fairly quickly (and not too expensively) on a regular basis for visits and also for any emergencies. We would be renting, at least at first. I am a physio. and my husband is a mechanic so we are most definitely not rich!

Move your parents would be cheaper

Sheffield. National park within 20 minute cycle of town and two big hospitals.

Also lots of good climbing, walking etc.

And a lot cheaper to live than Bristol!

Note 2 hours (no traffic) from Bristol to London or Hampshire to London is not 2 hr to north London. London is a big place. People seem to be giving you train time journey times and low traffic journey times to London in general rather than north London as asked for. To be honest even getting across n. London can be 30 min plus in low traffic / good public transport times.

P.s. Hampshire is not very exciting outdoors wise, but has some odd small bits of fun.

Brighton?

Surrey - it's nice, some nice riding, it's expensive.

That advice on moving your parents? +1

Kent?

Decent woodland XC and good road riding. Water on three sides so good for beach / watersports. Lots of nice countryside. Much cheaper than Surrey, especially places like Ashford. Good motorway links towards London (M2 and M20) and links to the continent.

Also a reasonably high concentration of hospitals: East Kent, Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells, Medway, Darrent Valley Hospitals.

Don't ever trust trains. Trains are like men, they offer you a pleasurable experience but either
don't turn up, stop mid way and never live up to all the advertising.

(and usually leave you wading through a puddle when you go to the loo)

Trains lie

PS
IMHO

Cardiff is also worth a look too (train link to west London).

I would look at old town Stevenage. You are near the Lister hospital for work. The old town is quite pleasant. And it's only 20 mins on a fast train to Finsbury park (North London).

Move your parents would be cheaper

For the price of a small terrace in an iffy area of Home Counties or southern city, you could have large house with granny annexe and better older care North of the border, with usually better schools and acces to proper hills and outdoor sports....

Whereabouts in North London?
As already said, a 2 hour train journey from London can get you to some very nice places, but it could take half that time again to get out to the suburbs. Some areas are well served by transport links but some aren't.

Brick - I quoted the actual time (bar delays) from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo with no changes.
Did it loads during a project at St Pancras - took nearly as long to get from Waterloo to St P!

I seriously wouldn't look to work in London - yes the rates might be slightly better BUT you will lose any benefits of that in travel costs, times, fuel, etc.

TBH - you are not going to find what you are asking for here. Not IMHO, especially after being spoilt by where you are now.
IF it was me I'd move the parents to Banff - I really would. Far less upheaval for all concerned.
Parents get to live in somewhere lovely with you guys.
OR you, husband and kids are living somewhere you don't know.
Making new friends.
Finding new work, new colleagues, etc.
Renting new property.
Etc
Etc
Etc.

Although I do know of a nice house to rent in Huddersfield for a ridiculously reasonable price.

Another Bristol vote. Plenty of healthcare work. Good access to the wild west and south Wales. On a good day you can be in north west London in 2 hours by car or train.

If you want direct to North London, your best bet is to find a place that comes in to either Kings Cross or Euston. MK ticks that box and so does Cambridge.

Mind you, Cambridge is flatter than a flat thing, so may not tick your boxes. it's also pretty expensive to buy here. MK is cheaper and has Woburn and Chicksands nearby and is also on the M1 for easy access north.

Banff you say? Well be there in about a month. You wouldn't happen to know if there are any IT Security jobs going there would you?

The Chilterns - easy 1 hr or less by train or car to north london plenty of work but expensive housing, trouble with moving parents to some where they don't know anyone is that they would straight away be 100% reliant on you

Brick - I quoted the actual time (bar delays) from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo with no changes.

That's my point. Waterloo != north London. Defiantly not n London housing area.

+1 for Chilterns & Bucks.

Bristol is one of the fasted rising housing markets and getting a lot of job investment with firms moving out of london.

But the traffic and useless mayor who makes it worse are 2 very good reasons to stay away.

Plenty of out doors stuff around and not the grim north though.

I think cardiff could be a good shout, not sure how long the train takes to London but decent health care potential there due to the Welsh Assembly and you have some of the best countryside in the country on your doorstep.

Berkshire

i live in North London .For regular visits,I would look at Hertfordshire . Maybe as far north as Hitchin ..won't compare to Banf though . 🙂 IMO Herts is a lovely county,loads of green space. The train line to kings x is quick and the A1 isn't a bad way into town as most folk are stuck on the M1 ,M25 and M11 .
I work in Stevenage and wouldn't live there. 😉

I left Enfield, North London for Stroud, Gloucestershire and whilst its not perfect, it is lovely, and a fantastic place to raise children, i'd never wish to move back. Google maps has it as a 2hr 10min drive via M4 from Stroud to Enfield, Bristol is 40 mins away, Cheltenham & Gloucester on the doorstep. Move here.

I would suggest look closer at what sort of outdoors lifestyle you want and choose from that as nowhere I can think of (or others have suggested) has it all. Bristol is a great place with lots on your doorstep and even more not too far away.

If you are looking to live/work in same place and then travel to N London occassionally Bristol is doable but I wouldnt recomend it if you need to travel a few times a week. Really depends on where in N London you need to get to and how well connected it is. Not sure how long you been away but driving this or most other 2 hour journeys in the uk is a lot more stressful and unpredictable than 2 hours on an highway in Canada and whilst trains are generally more reliable can be expensive (and ridiculously so at peak travel times).

Best of luck with wherever you choose but probably best to accept that staying within 2 hours of North London is always gonna feel at least 7000km away from Banf.

For what it's worth my sister did the same thing and was back in Albeta within a year....

Bristol is definitely more than two hours by car; I live in Chippenham, the M4 is three miles North, and the very best I've done, under good conditions, is exactly one hour thirty minutes from the filling station just along the road to King's Mall in Hammersmith.
I'm pretty sure it would require more than another thirty minutes to get up to north London, and from Bristol, unless you're right on the M32/M4, I'd reckon on about forty-five minutes at least as well, so a good three hours.
I'd possibly look around Cambridgeshire, or the edge of Wiltshire, somewhere around Marlborough or Hungerford, or maybe between Swindon and Oxford, which would allow access to plenty of hospitals, etc.

Thanks again everyone for your ideas. It is a tricky one for sure! Sadly, my parents would never move here. It is far too cold for them and my Dad loves to garden (only a possibility for a few months of the year). They live in Muswell Hill (between Finsbury Park and Highgate). Willard, I don't know of any IT jobs but I am sure you can find something. Alberta has been hit fairly hard by the drop in oil prices. Lots of people laid off at the moment. If you do move here, there might be a nice three bedroom townhouse with great views for rent .....

I'm very close to muswell hill , you should move in with them !!!!

Would your parents consider relocating to somewhere else within the UK? It'd get them out of London in their old age & give you more scope to find somewhere that meets your needs.

+3 for moving your parents. I'd aim for Aberdeenshire, but there's a whole big country up there...

i wouldnt aim for aberdeenshire - at least the east of it .....- and i live there..... the west and north west are awesome though.

id aim for inverness or the black isle - and fly to london from the airport....

Derbyshire. 2hrs drive, 1hr 20 on the direct midland mainline. Thriving new hospital in derby. I live here and can vouch for the riding and the quality of the hospital...

I would look at old town Stevenage. You are near the Lister hospital for work. The old town is quite pleasant. And it's only 20 mins on a fast train to Finsbury park (North London).

Really? What about the 'outdoor' requirements?

A house in Muswell Hill (much like anywhere in NW London ending in "Hill") will be worth well over CAD $1m. But I agree with the four months/year gardening thing.

Sell the London place and buy a 6-bed with annex etc. somewhere like Pandy in Wales, I would, and live there as a group. Selfishly, this will also ease your move back to the UK which is ridiculously expensive.

Alberta has been hit fairly hard by the drop in oil prices. Lots of people laid off at the moment.

I (luckily still) work for a Canadian oil company and I can confirm that!

Was going to say Derbyshire too. Easy access to Peak District, quick and easy drive down the M1 then A1 into North London as long as you're not doing it at peak morning time. Central so <3hrs to Lakes, most of Wales, etc.

It's a compromise but the combination needed requires one.

[i]+3 for moving your parents. I'd aim for Aberdeenshire, but there's a whole big country up there..[/i]

I'm just imagining the conversation. Hi Mum & Dad, we've decided you're moving to.........Scotland! 😯

Norfolk? Easily doable to London in 2 hours, house prices aren't extortionate, a good hospital (my wife works in radiology). Great schools for the kids. The coastline is beautiful.

But if you want places to ride a mountain bike you're out of luck - it's a drive to get anywhere with a gradient! Still, lots of alternative activities to get involved in.

+1 all move

We sold up and moved north a few years ago, currently building a granny annex for my folks.

If you're in healthcare then you can pretty much work anywhere in the UK and the earnings don't vary (once outside London), and good Mechanics can always get work.

[i]+1 all move[/i]

It sounds very simplistic, but old people don't want to move away from what they know so well, with friends, clubs etc all around them. I think if you're going to move it has to be at retirement age when you still have enough energy to make a new life for yourself. Once they get past mid 70's, forget it.

Another vote for Derbyshire, plenty in terms of outdoors to go at with local trails and easy peak access, as well as within 2 hours of the smoke, depending on what time of day you travel of course!

To those that have suggested moving them, if theyre frail I can imagine uprooting them may not be the best option, unless they really want to go and have expressed this. My not so frail parents in their 70's moved earlier in the year, and they struggled to recover physically & mentally for months. You dont expect it, but is does have a considerable effect at that time of life.

When I look up various towns on the internet this forum comes up so I thought I would post a question here.

You don't make it clear whether you have any interest in Mountain Biking, but if not then you can ignore all the advice about Chicksands etc.

Basically I think you are looking at the Midlands. Most places within 2 hours of Muswell Hill are too expensive. Somewhere like Warwick might be about right.

I'll admit that Chicksands and Woburn hardly set the world alight for excitement, but MK as a town is not a bad bet for Joanna in this regard. It is very close to London on the train and gets in to the right part of the city. It's also relatively cheap (compared to London) to buy in (or around). It's also relatively easy to get from MK to places that are exciting to go biking, climbing or hiking in.

Ok, it is not going to be as cheap as Derby, Hull or another place further north, but it's an acceptable solution given the requirements.

Note: I am _not_ sponsored by the Milton Keynes tourist board. I do know people that live there and they chose it for pretty much those ^^^ reasons.

What Rockape63 said about not moving parents. They've got their friends, know the area etc. I've had this discussion with mine. They don't want to move from the place they like living in to a totally new place where they'd lose all of their independence, have no friends. Quality of life will descend rapidly despite best interests to move across the globe to be near them.

We lived in Tring for a while. Have you looked there? They have a nice little train station on the main line direct to Watford and Euston. I commuted to central London on the overland train in 45 minutes to Euston and northwards to MK etc. Reasonably priced to live in the town, a few big towns in the area with various health 'care' establishments (Aylesbury, Luton). Mtbing up in the Chilterns (Ashridge, Aston Hill, Wendover etc). As others have said, Milton Keynes or nearby which is also on the main overland link to London (I don't know how to get to Muswell Hill, but maybe there are links from Watford).

Now live in Stroud, Gloucestershire as well, and whilst there's a direct train link to Paddington (can be pricey - £80 pp), driving takes 2.5 hours to Richmond so I should think a bit longer to north London in low traffic (and when was the last time the traffic was low when needing to get somewhere fast ...).

You've got to be able to 'pop' over to your parents if they need help and I wouldn't want to face a 2+ hour drive knowing that I'd have to wait till 10pm for the roads to quieten down.

Sorry, but if parents insist on living in an inaccessible and/or unaffordable area, they can't expect visits at the drop of a hat. IMO of course.

Nico - Member
Basically I think you are looking at the Midlands. Most places within 2 hours of Muswell Hill are too expensive. Somewhere like Warwick might be about right.

Warwick? Are you insane Nico?
Have you looked at housing prices there? 😯
M40 5 mins away, A45/46, etc.
Lovely, lovely place.
BUT because of all that its right up there cost wise to live.
Oh - and forget the 2hrs to north london unless you want to do the M40 late at night.

We have family in Islington. Milton Keynes to there is 1 hour drive at quiet times. Train / tube about an hour too, door to door from us (5 mins from station). Muswell Hill harder by public transport as I expect you know but 10 mins quicker by road.

Fun place to live, excellent for families / running / cycling, big hospital, lots of jobs. You have to like modern architecture though...

Thanks everyone for your continued input and suggestions. Yes, sadly I don't think moving my parents is feasible. My Mum who has early Alzheimer's is only coping because she is in familiar surroundings. I don't think my Dad would cope either (and he's a stubborn old bugger!). Great suggestions everyone. I love Derbyshire and it's definitely on the list. Hadn't thought of MK but will definitely look into it. Also looking at Stroud, Gloucestershire and many of the other great suggestions. I used to live in Inverness and loved it (and the hospital is great)but I think it's a bit too tricky (and expensive) to get to London. My husband is a mountainbiker, I am more of a hiker and runner. My hubby also climbs but doesn't like the sound of trad climbing (which, to be honest, I used to love). Does anyone know if sport climbing is becoming more common in the UK? I think as long as we have decent access to the outdoors we can make it work.

doesn't like the sound of trad climbing

Plenty of bolts to clip in the Peak, Yorkshire, North Wales, Dorset (Portland/Swanage), Devon, and probably numerous dank quarries all over the place.

Realistically it's Peak or somewhere with access to Dorset to get within range for you. So Surrey Hills or South Downs then day-trip to Dorset. Or live in the Peak and have it on your doorstep.

I'd suggest Dorking. Train into Waterloo and then Northern line to your parents takes around an hour. Very good riding, lovely countryside, 40 minutes to the coast by car etc etc. Not cheap but a nice place to live. The drive will be a pain in the arse but you could do it in around 1.30 if the traffic was kind.

Warwick? Are you insane Nico?
Have you looked at housing prices there?
M40 5 mins away, A45/46, etc.
Lovely, lovely place.
BUT because of all that its right up there cost wise to live.
Oh - and forget the 2hrs to north london unless you want to do the M40 late at night.

Not as far as I know, but I might be, as I live in Surrey. I drove up there the other day in under 2 hours. And Leamington which I consider to be "in that area". Both seem to have houses for 250K which has to be cheaper than anywhere nearer, and it's nearer than anywhere cheaper (such as Sheffield or Scotland which have also been suggested!!!!).

Edit: And somebody's suggested Dorking which definitely doesn't have houses for £250K and is the wrong side of London (though you'd get there in 2 hours).

It would seem (from a brief bit o' searching admittedly) that Wales and the South West are your places to go for sport climbing, which would give a bit more weight to the suggestion of Stroud.

I have to admit that I like that part of the country and the #Jennride that Tang organised showed me that it's a great place for both running and mountain biking. I'm just wondering how far away from London Banbury is by train. It's not too far from the Cotswolds and is on the right side of town to go both North and West/South West. From memory, it's also cheaper than Oxford, but I think that's changing.

By the way, please do let me know if you need anything bringing over before Christmas. I can always drop it off in town for you when my wife and I get to Banff.

A physio and mechanic with young kids cannot afford to move to Brighton (unless independently wealthy) FFS 😕

Getting to N London from anywhere South in 2 hours will be challenging on most days.
To the West (for the outdoor life) you have to look at the Cotswolds, the Gloucestershire part will be cheaper.
What about the Midlands - somewhere near Cannock chase?
Maybe Lichfield - so near to the Birmingham hospitals, plenty of mechanics work and plenty for kids to do.

sadly I don't think moving my parents is feasible. My Mum who has early Alzheimer's is only coping because she is in familiar surroundings

Research this this someone who knows their subject. Whilst change will cause some confusion initially, you might be how surprised they'll adapt and quickly become oblivious to the change of environment and may settle in quicker than you expect.

Hi Willard, if you can fit in a couple (or several!)large jars of marmite I would be forever in your debt! I completely underestimated our consumption of the stuff when I was there in October and there's no way we will have enough to get us through to our next visit.
Gwerty, you're probably right, but while both my parents are fairly compus mentis and physically able to navigate their house and the surrounding area they will not move. To be honest, I don't blame them. It's a lovely area and they have friends (the ones that are still alive!) nearby. They've been in that house since 1977!!

Willard, where in Banff are you staying? I'm assuming you're coming to ski? It's been a great early season so far, although it's around -20 today!!

Sorry, but if parents insist on living in an inaccessible and/or unaffordable area, they can't expect visits at the drop of a hat. IMO of course.

To be honest, I don't blame them. It's a lovely area and they have friends (the ones that are still alive!) nearby. [b]They've been in that house since 1977!![/b]

You aren't going to find somewhere with great outdoor sports on your door step and within 2hrs of North London. I'd have said if you want to be within 2hrs, at any time of London, you need to be within 50 miles. In your situation I'd rather be nearer parents taking into account traffic, rather than on the door step of outdoor activites. With the 2hr travel time, is a pipedream anyway.

I'm biased as I had a similar descision for when I bought my house, I chose a satellite town near to London which is close to motorways for easy weekend outdoor activity access and there is some local tame mountainbiking for midweek. Places like Hemel Hempstead and Hatfield are cheap and great access to London and South Wales is only a couple hours away.

There is alot of good quality mountain biking in the south that is within 1-2hrs drive of North London.