Due to certain factors I may be in the position of moving back to the UK. I left London Nine years ago and lived in Costa Rica, Gibraltar(briefly) and Spain.
If I (and family) do move back it would likely be the South or Southeast ish area, preferably near lots of countryside.
So would you move to the UK and the Southeast? What would I look forward to in living back in old blighty?
For decent local biking it definitely needs to be the north.
no
The best offroad biking in the SE of England here in the Surrey Hills. Great gastro pubs & restaurants. Beautiful countryside. Cultural life of a great city on tap nearby 24/7. Rail links to anywhere else that's good to go to - Wales just a short trek away for the best offroading (arguably) in the U.K. For what more could you possibly ask?
And if summers are now going to be like this? Wow. 
So would you move to the UK and the Southeast?
I would never leave the UK permanently but to answer your question
at a minutes notice & never
don't move to Brighton, it's rubbish and there's no decent riding around here.
thanks.
My small minded view is:
The south east is clogged up, depends where you have been living as to whether you mind it.
Biking is average down there and everything is expensive.
I would never move there myself.
If you need a city and can get work there Bristol is my southern choice.
live in Blighty and the south east...well if I had to
Wales just a short trek away
Yes but not as close as France or as quick
Move back to the UK- maybe. Move to the South East- no way. Its over populated and over priced. Somewhere north of Birmingham I think.
I think we do need countryside.
At the moment a bike ride (road or mountain) or trail run can start from the doorstep.
While lots of theatres and galleries would be nice, as well as a variety of restaurants, a small town would be better for us rather than a City.
What about South rather than southeast? Is that as over populated?
TBH I'd only go back to the UK if a seriously good job offer came my way, otherwise it'd be a PITA of a move, with basically the same day-to-day problems I get here but in a different language.
And it'd have to be to London.
dont listen to the northern monkeys about the south east. Surrey hills is beautiful Anywhere on a line from reigate to guildford will get you great riding, lovely towns/villages, not urban but close to ammenities and accessible to london/ the rest of the world if needs be. one downside...house prices reflect all this and are really quite high but there are 'cheaper' places eg redhill, leatherhead, bits of dorking
I went for a ride in the Surrey Hills in the "overpopulated" SE on Sunday. Apart from the group of 6 I was riding with, I must have seen no more than a dozen other riders all day...
Expensive? Same as anywhere else, you get what you pay for.
France instead of Wales? Pfft.
I moved to Salisbury about 8 years ago from the Southeast. 1.5hrs to Waterloo if that's important. Move from Essex tho, which does fit all the stereotypes generally. It's bloody lovely down here, not especially challenging terrain but covered with rights of way and pretty underpopulated. I can commute offroad in 3 different directions to work 🙂 If biking is the highest priority then perhaps the outskirts of Taunton, easy access to Quantocks etc.
As someone who lives near Hastings, if MTBing is the big/only thing in your life I'd look up North or perhaps around Bristol. It is a trek from here to anywhere really good. We have Swinley, Surrey Hills, Bedgebury and a few other bits. What we really don't have is long climbs like Wales or the peaks, with the sustained descents that come with it.
If however you are like me and like trips to do those every now and then but don't mind a local bimble in the meantime...
Surrey is, outside of Central London the most expensive place in the country. This is because it is the absolute monkeys pyjamas.
It's near that London
It's absolutely beautiful
It's full of nice things
It's easy to get to other places from.
I'd recommend East Molesey, just urban enough but 20 mins from the country and right by the Thames. Still quite cheap too.
I do like a long winding climb, but that's mainly on the road bike. My MTB is more fun ride anywhere I can kind of thing. I do like all day ride though 🙁
RichPenny, is there MTB access to the New Forrest?
I live in Bristol. I like it, city feel with loads of countryside. I wouldn't live in the south east for the reasons above. Then again, I'd rather be in NZ or Canada.
MTB access in the New Forest isn't officially great
officially it's all gravel fire road, but there are good bits and pieces about to join up, if you know where to go (or know somebody that does)
plenty of other stuff close enough to keep you busy with the odd South/North Downs, Wales, Exmoor, Quantocks etc trips thrown in
+Salisbury area, Good chance I'll be moving that way next year myself
I must have seen no more than a dozen other riders all day.
That around 12 more than I saw on my last ride out on the North York Moors
sorry mate, we're all full over here.
I live in the Surrey Hills area - love it but worry what it will be like in a decade with all the development that's planned. Is it really better for the UK to have more people living in the SE?
The UK is extremely crowded per square mile compared to most other countries. If you are looking for miles of rolling space then you will find less and less of it here - huge numbers of green spaces/large gardens were getting in-filled in villages and small towns due to the last governments 'build build build' policy. Also its a bit like being on holiday abroad if you walk round the shops, as so many people no longer speak English as their first language even in smaller towns. The impact of such rapid immigration has put a lot of strain on some public services including education. Its nice to have a variety of people, but I dont think it has been planned very well. If you have kids, education policy here is not great either as priority is given to results for the school and its image, rather than the children themselves being put first, so a lot of pressure can be put on small children. I saw the other day that even children in infant schools are expected to do homework every night. A friend says there is more pressue on children here than he was aware of when living in Japan - and Japan used to be considered quite harsh educationally. There seems overall a lack of awareness of longer term consequences in our governments and policies - everything seems 'quick fix now' with no consideration about what the effect will be on people in 20+ years time. I don't know if I would choose to move here, which is a sad thing to be able to say.
Surrey is, outside of Central London the most expensive place in the country. This is because it is the absolute monkeys pyjamas.It's near that London
It's absolutely beautiful
It's full of nice things
It's easy to get to other places from.I'd recommend East Molesey, just urban enough but 20 mins from the country and right by the Thames. Still quite cheap too.
My grandma lives there and my dad grew up there. I lived nr Guildford until I was 14.
Yes it has some countryside but it's so damn crowded that you can't move, it has no "real" identity (it's not rural and it's not London) andm it's the worse place in the UK for "the Joneses" of this World.
Moved to Cornwall aged 14 and it was the best thing my folks ever did.
To the OP - South could be an option - Winchester is pretty nice and the outskirts of Bath and Bristol are good too.
If you don't need access to London, the SW is amazing. If you want "proper" MTBing country, look nr Dartmoor or Bristol (for access to South Wales).
Have lived in Surrey, Swansea, Bristol and Cornwall. Cornwall wins hands down BUT only if you can find decent work. Otherwise it's a PITA.
New Forest is beautiful - I love it, having visited a few times recently. However, it ain't cheap and, as posted above, most of the riding is on the gravel forest tracks. Very picturesque riding but not really much fun, singletrack technical riding. Moving back here would depend largely on what you did for work and where you wanted to live. As a country I think we lose sight of the fact that there are so many beautiful places that are inspiring and satisfying. There are lots of places to do all sorts of riding from big outdoors offroad epics to trail centre fun to cheeky trails. Lots of sporting opportunities if you want do adventure races or organised bike rides.
Being a native I suspect I will always hanker to live here if I had moved away, unless the place I went to totally surpassed my love of this country. I can imagine I would find it difficult to leave Canada if I had to move there, but that's another story... 🙂
An emphatic NO! Born and bred in the South but have reached the stage where I really want to get away.
The amount of traffic coupled with aggressive driving is just beyond a joke.
Whilst I have some terrific riding routes within an hour's drive, it no longer placates me.
Am going on holiday up North soon and have a feeling I may not want to come back. Watch this space!
Look west of London, the Chilterns - plenty of mtbing here.
+1 for Chilterns, its lovely this time of year especially. But v expensive.
How can anyone say that the south west/east has "arguably the best mtb riding"? Okay it may be nice, it may be different, but little beats the likes of northern off road biking such as the peaks. Its the only place where you can truly justify FS. Thats why I chose Sheffield, I can be in the Peaks within a 30-40min bike ride which is pretty much traffic free. I lived in London once for several years. I recall driving out to the South Downs for a ride, the journey took about one and a half hours drive, which was reasonable. The ride was good, especially meeting loads of Kiwi and Oz girls mtbing (what is it with UK girls?). But the drive back turned into an absolute nightmare, a 3 hr drive back into East London. You can keep yer South mate, if that makes me a Northern monkey. so be it, at least I'm not a "narna".
You dont have to have big mountains for good riding. surrey hills is better than the peak district IMO.
Better weather down here.
better behaved people, hardly any crime in the mole valley where i live per se.
more woodland than anywhere else.
its also not that expensive here, no more than any decent areas in the north....
i love mountains but its pretty dam good here.
PS - I lived in Vancouver and moved back to Dorking so I should know....
Surrey Hills better than the Peak District for MTBing???
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have you actually ridden here.
we have actual trails not some rocky doubletrack.
Somewhere north of Birmingham I think.
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I just wish that Southerners admitted they are poofs and its all a bit sh1t down there, especially the off-road biking.
FOr the SE, I wouldn't consider anywhere within an hour's drive of London, too close. It is very congested and desptite pockets of tranquility, there is generally too much contention for space. You'll spend huge amounts of time and lots of money not going anywhere fast too.
I'd go West or South West. Lovely!
The North would be an option if it wasn't raining the whole time and loaded with people who moan on about hard done to they are!
SW is full of inbreeds and hippys.
North is full of well northerners.
have you actually ridden here.
we have actual trails not some rocky doubletrack.
Well only for 14 years... I probably know the MTBing trails better than you in fact
SW is full of inbreeds and hippys
Well stop piling down here, trying to surf and showing us how terrible your driving is then.
Done both Surrey and Cornwall (and Bristol) - so I know better than some overweight SEerner who is always on the verge of a heart attack slaving to try and keep up with the Joneses.
LOL don't listen to the voices mate.
Move to Chichester....forget Surrey.
Im a paramedic practitioner who before cycling offroad all the way to work today...managed to sneak a quick SUP session in.
Overpriced it might be but bloody hell its got a lot.!
Ive lived all over the world and all of my family are out in NZ...I live here for a reason.
hmm, doubtful. out of interest where did you ride Mat?
Housing on the edge of the new forest, say rideable distance isn't expensive compared with somewhere like Surrey. Another option could be dorset, the purbecks have some good riding. I think it's going to depend on your work situation really. The thing I like about Salisbury is that it's a big enough town for me, but there are no major urban areas closer than Southampton.
All over the North and South downs - mostly around Leith Hill and Box Hill area but pretty much everywhere rideable.
Just move to the foot of the Quantocks and live a happy life. 8)
I had to for family reasons.
Luckily it meant the Highlands of Scotland. Mountainbike nirvana and nice people.
come to wales bach its tidy 🙂
Purbeck/Dorset. Some top riding down here.
Mind you houses aren't cheap!
Welcome to Bristol where its ace. 😛
Thanks for the suggestions and help.
It does have to be the SE, we have family in W Sussex.
If I wanted to live near loads of biking I would stay here 😆
Anything between Salisbury and Horsham seems to be the main thinking point at the moment, though we only intend to rent at first. Maybe a little biking holiday to check the area out:)
[i]I went for a ride in the Surrey Hills in the "overpopulated" SE on Sunday. Apart from the group of 6 I was riding with, I must have seen no more than a dozen other riders all day...[/i]
I was in the Yorkshire Dales on Saturday gone, up above Gouthwaite Reservoir. On my own & I never saw another person all day!
roper,
You may recall our conversation via Email regarding a career choice. Hants Constabulary are recruiting throughout 2010 as I understand.
All the best.
And bike theft rates are horrendous...Welcome to Bristol where its ace.
When are you thinking of coming? Happy to show you around Salisbury area if if you want.
Sunny East Dorset. 1 1/2 hrs hours drive or train to London if you must, enough work, Purbecks, big riding scene, seaside, new forest for family camping, cream teas etc.
There's a reason loads of people come here as soon as the sun comes out :-).
In the south I've always thought Dorking must be about right, Leith Hill about starts about 200 metres away, town is quite small, pretty and fairly safe from development (Green Belt, Surrey HIlls AONB etc), lots of decent pubs, yet close to M25, trains to London, Heathrow and Gatwick, the coast. Its just very expensive but great off road and on road rides right on your door step - no need to load the car up nonsense.
Surf-Mat - MemberWelcome to Bristol where its ace.
And bike theft rates are horrendous...
Yes they are, mainly because there is such a big riding scene here (great trails minutes from the city centre, plus great road riding), so plenty of top end bikes around to nick. It's not a reason not to move / live here.
For 'city living' + riding on your doorstep + access to lush countryside + great cultural buzz = I'd say Bristol. I miss it greatly.
(Provided you ignore the bicycle theft, mentalist traffic, ludicrous property developments and cheap heroin...).
Edit: [i]"It's not a reason not to move / live here"[/i] - absolutely.
Purbecks or Chi me thinks....
Everywhere else is way too far from the sea. And you will just get bored of the London overspill Surrey snobs anyhow...
The UK is extremely crowded per square mile compared to most other countries. If you are looking for miles of rolling space then you will find less and less of it here - huge numbers of green spaces/large gardens were getting in-filled in villages and small towns due to the last governments 'build build build' policy. Also its a bit like being on holiday abroad if you walk round the shops, as so many people no longer speak English as their first language even in smaller towns. The impact of such rapid immigration has put a lot of strain on some public services including education. Its nice to have a variety of people, but I dont think it has been planned very well. If you have kids, education policy here is not great either as priority is given to results for the school and its image, rather than the children themselves being put first, so a lot of pressure can be put on small children. I saw the other day that even children in infant schools are expected to do homework every night. A friend says there is more pressue on children here than he was aware of when living in Japan - and Japan used to be considered quite harsh educationally. There seems overall a lack of awareness of longer term consequences in our governments and policies - everything seems 'quick fix now' with no consideration about what the effect will be on people in 20+ years time. I don't know if I would choose to move here, which is a sad thing to be able to say.
wow I did not knew we had griffin on here...
New Alresford (near Winchester) is a nice area. Loads of riding from the door. The downside is the traffic due to tourists and of course it is ever so snooty. 🙄
I only spent a short time living there but do actually miss it.
Would avoid the pubs in the vicinity, they cater for a certain type and mountain bikers don't fit their criteria!
Bridgwater in Somerset. It's a dump so houses are cheap [apologies to the resident bikers]. But it's adjacent to the Quantocks, Exmoor and the M5. Perfect for dirtbag MTBers.
Is this knarly enough for you (Mendip):
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move to the uk and you'll spend the remainder of your life wondering what the hell you were thinking when you made that choice.
however difficult life gets abroad - and it can get iffy - it's still x10 better than broken britain. because it [i]really is[/i] broken, and they don't have anyone there in a position / smart enough / sufficiently motivated to fix it.
however difficult life gets abroad - and it can get iffy - it's still x10 better than broken britain. because it really is broken
Really? We still have a very decent standard of living in this country by world standards. Put down the Daily Mail.
Move to the lakes. Hope to get a job and live there in the next 10 years.
Where on earth are you negative people living?
What path have you chosen in your careers?
If your not happy please get the **** out....because I am tired of whingers like you putting this fantastic island down.
Head off to NZ where they are fed up to the back teeth of having another negative pom arrive in their work place.
Bridgwater in Somerset. It's a dump
[i]Slight[/i] understatement.
however difficult life gets abroad - and it can get iffy - it's still x10 better than broken britain. because it really is broken, and they don't have anyone there in a position / smart enough / sufficiently motivated to fix it.
Utter horsesh!t. This is a great country to live in, it's got a lot of problems for sure, but I'm in no hurry to get out.
Shut the door behind you ro, there's a good chap.
remember this comes from ro - who's stuck out in some sweaty corner of SE Asia
His opinion on anything really is close to worthless
i wouldn't go back to blighty unless it was to retire (i'm nearly there) i work in IT and in london you can get a salary (permanent) of about 65k per year. that sounds like a lot but...
-houses are expensive, but ridiculous
-london is very violent (i was mugged 3 times)
-your children will have to go to knife & glue sniffers college with at least half who either dont speak english or speak a kind of english that you cant understand
-food is crap (a whole aisle of crisps in the supermarket...)
-...and expensive, if you pay less that 25 squids per head in a restaurant it is going to be from the microwave
-the weather is... miserable
-cultural poverty, gippos, teenage pregnancies, teenagers on the street getting wasted
obviously there are really nice places in england and i really miss dorset, but the salaries are in london.
i am staying here in barcelona!
i am staying here in barcelona!
Thank f*** for that
i wouldn't go back to blighty unless it was to retire (i'm nearly there) i work in IT and in london you can get a salary (permanent) of about 65k per year. that sounds like a lot but...
-houses are expensive, but ridiculous
-london is very violent (i was mugged 3 times)
-your children will have to go to knife & glue sniffers college with at least half who either dont speak english or speak a kind of english that you cant understand
-food is crap (a whole aisle of crisps in the supermarket...)
-...and expensive, if you pay less that 25 squids per head in a restaurant it is going to be from the microwave
-the weather is... miserable
-cultural poverty, gippos, teenage pregnancies, teenagers on the street getting wasted
Yeah, London's expensive. And it rains. But the rest of what you write is utter crap.
I spent 13 years in or very near West London and loved the place. Moved to Ireland for family reasons, got home-sick, flew back and... don't want to be there anymore really. Too noisy, too violent, too overcrowded. I'm staying put in here, it's only an hour from London and planes fly every half hour or so.
SE wouldn't get my vote, Dorset would. Have a chat with Rusty, he'll surely tell you what's good about there. And you can still drive towards London in no time.
Good luck!
Yeah, London's expensive. And it rains. But the rest of what you write is utter crap.
+1
Thanks for the help and suggestions.
Everywhere is good and bad.
There are some lovely things about living in this part of Spain and we are certainly not thinking about moving because the life here is not a good one. We will miss it and will have to make regular trips back to see friends and just to be here again. It would not be an easy thing to do but moving back to the UK is quite exciting. Whenever we have had holidays in the UK we have loved it, well maybe not the cold, and it too could be a good place to live.
To those who are unhappy where they live, why not do something to help make it a nicer place?
Deluded- Thanks for the heads up. I will watch the web site for the next up date.
RichPenny- We are not sure when we will be over, we are trying to sort a few things out and waiting for a few dates to be confirmed. If it’s OK with you, I will drop you a line when we have a date and see if you are free?
Get yourself up to Ingleton, Yorkshire Dales. It's grand up ere !
Hills hills and more hills. Good off and road riding. Lakes 35mins away. Scotland 2 hrs, Wales 2 hrs. Finished work the other day and rode up the Ingleton - Hawes road, off at Ribblehead and back over the tops to Ingleton, fab. What was the question ?
Wouldn't move down south, southern softies 😯
Andy.
Whenever we have had holidays in the UK we have loved it, well maybe not the cold, and it too could be a good place to live.
Careful basing your opinions on holidays - they're not "real life": you usually have more money, friends and family are looking forward to seeing you much more, you don't have to go to work...
Andy Mac: if he wanted somewhere thirdey worldey, big hills and full of people that talk weird I guess he'd stay in Spain 🙂
+1 What midnighthour said about the move in general, although I would move back, you can always move again.
Wouldnt live up north though its grim, cold and generally bleak, south any day.
The best offroad biking in the SE of England here in the Surrey Hills. Great gastro pubs & restaurants. Beautiful countryside. Cultural life of a great city on tap nearby 24/7. Rail links to anywhere else that's good to go to - Wales just a short trek away for the best offroading (arguably) in the U.K. For what more could you possibly ask?And if summers are now going to be like this? Wow.
^^^^
THIS
EDIT: but property ain't cheap!
Defo move up north... (southern area are too flat (for mtb ) anyway...
north is best ( you've got the fantastic Yorkshire Dales- very scenic, The Lake District (abundance of hills there) and not forgetting my home town(and the home of Singletrack magazine...its tiny but its full of rolling hills (im very lucky to be surrounded by rolling hills in all directions.and nearby 'Lee Quarry'...perfect...
Wouldnt live up north though its grim, cold and generally bleak, south any day.
Yes, everyday in "The North" is like a combination of Angela's Ashes and Wuthering Heights.
...But we struggle on with our access to fine rural areas for evening rides and strolls.
As an expat Northerner now living darn sarf...
Im sorry but apart from the riding ( which lets be honest isn't our entire focus in life)....why on earth would I ever want to live back up North??
Im sorry but apart from the riding ( which lets be honest isn't our entire focus in life)....why on earth would I ever want to live back up North??
People are friendlier, less pretentious, less money-obsessed, and less Tory 😉 - it's cheaper, less crowded, more beautiful. Those will do for now.
Why live up North ehh ? Sat at home looking over the moors with the only annoying sound being that of a chain saw in the distance ( chopping wood before you ask ) Off to work this aft, steady drive, no waiting at junctions, no problem parking, no hassle.
The only time I venture anywhere further South than Preston is for the annual summer trip to the South of France. M6 nightmare, M42 nightmare, M25 nightmare, you then get charged to go over a scratty bridge with the pleasure of smog city below, run to Dover so-so.
Down through France, no problemo. Return journey ? yeap you guessed it !
Andy