Where I am now. Because I chose to live here nine years ago and nothing has happened to change my mind
Yep, same for me although I chose it 23 years ago.
I live in the Eden valley south of Penrith and it suits me down to the ground but I like it quiet and friendly. The roads are good quality with hardly any cars and there is plenty of off road riding. If you want a takeaway it is a ten minute drive and you need a car to live life.
I lived in Keswick until I was 27 and I would not swap back again especially in the last few years, I find it hard work now when I visit parents who live there.
I would consider a move to the Tweed Valley or Inverness way in the future
Yeah, maybe there's another thread; who moved to their dream location and regretted it? My regret is that we didn't do it earlier but that delay was due to family commitments (elderly parents). A couple of folk on this thread have also regretted not moving sooner, but then we know it doesn't work out great for everyone. I do recall one guy on here moving to the Trossachs and it was obvious from his posts that it was a mistake from day 1.
We seem to do this thread regularly. The only problem with Settle is the weather. Of course most of the NW is much the same in that regard. At least we seem to be getting some decent summer weather these days. Roll on global warming.
I would consider a move to the Tweed Valley or Inverness way in the future
We looked at Inverness. Amazing access to the mountains and to the Moray Coast, but not very much riding from the door (though it's all relative to wherever you are now).
who moved to their dream location and regretted it?
Ours was not such a dream location, such as a work decision took us there. Killin was amazing for wildlife, empty hills, quiet roads, fabulous community and care. Also hugely remote feeling on a wet Wednesday in November, expensive in fuels and food, and the wonderful community still had individuals who were the worst in society. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
However.
Dunblane, with a few more resources and the ability for the lads to walk to school and meet friends after school, to have broader community, to not be as wet, yet still near amazing green spaces, mountains although not quite out the door they are local, has been a significant improvement. We're very settled.
We would move for an even richer natural environment and recreational opportunities - but would want to keep some of the opportunities that we have here. Hence why Aviemore area appeals...maybe somewhere Speyside if the housebuild plot is a good one...
Having lived in a Torytown (6000 pop) for a decade (quite enough), we got persuaded (partly on here) to move to S Sheffield. Fantastic mix of the best of urban and the Peaks on the doorstep, superb ale and friendly crowd at the end of the road and an easy drive to the cities we need occasional access to (Manchester, Newcastle).
The West Country is a difficult place to be at times, I’ve never really adapted to the culture( I use that word advisedly), casual racism is still an everyday thing here. It’s also pretty much out of the way and forgotten, meaning opportunities are scarcer than elsewhere and wages are generally poor.
That could be just about anywhere, and Devon isn’t that ‘out of the way’, although it’s a big county, unique in that it has two separate coastlines, and of course, some parts are fairly remote, especially on Exmoor and Dartmoor. Big difference between somewhere like Brum and any of the cities in the southwest, except possibly Bristol, but even then it has a smaller industrial past. Casual racism is everywhere, but more rural counties tend to have much smaller ethnic communities, which means there’s less diversity and less opportunity for people to have regular contact with those communities. It does mean, though, that different ethnic groups tend to be spread throughout the whole community, so there is a blending in happening.
Whereabouts in Devon are you? I know South Hams reasonably well, and that part is pretty spread out, with lots of narrow lanes and tiny groups of houses. Wiltshire is like that in places, as is Somerset and Dorset. As for Cornwall, it’s a bit of a drive…
Where I am now, south Shropshire. I was born and grew up in Cheshire, but have since lived in Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, Northern Ireland, Edinburgh, London, and Gloucestershire. As well as a few places overseas. So I feel reasonably qualified to make a judgement call on this (from a very personal POV, obviously).
We moved here from Minchinhampton near Stroud 7 years ago. That was a great place, but expensive. We were able to get a lot more for our money here.
I live on a bridleway, 900ft up in the Shropshire hills. I can't see my nearest neighbours from the house. We keep bees and chickens and grow a lot of our own fruit and veg. We are surrounded by stunning views in every direction and red kites and curlews regularly fly over us.
For MTB, the following are all a short ride or drive away. Mortimer forest, Bringewood, Hopton Woods, Bucknell, Eastridge, the Long Mynd. Being about half way along the border, all the Welsh trail centres and natural rides, plus FoD, Cannock chase etc. are within an hour to an hour and a half away.
Our nearest town is Ludlow which is ace.
On the downside, rail and road connections aren't brilliant if you need to get to (for example) that London. But I'm retired so I don't GAS about that! It suits me perfectly 🙂
South West London, everything I need in walking distance, plenty of riding; Surrey hills and a good network of cx friendly bridle ways. Handy for transport links and international travel.
Mother in law lives in a village in Somerset, everything is a drive, not even a shop, riding is crap, sister in law is in a small Devon village but it’s just a village again car dependent and the whole area is rammed in summer.
If it’s outside of UK I’m with Caher - Kerry all the way.
I’m pretty content in Melrose in the Scottish Borders. Riding from the door. Inners just 25 mins away. 60 min train to Edinburgh for a bit of culture and nights out. Nice area to bring up kids.
I like Dunblane area for ease of access to everywhere.
Scottish Outdoor Access Code is hard to beat and therefore my shortlist would always need to be this side of the border.
scotroutes
Full MemberI would consider a move to the Tweed Valley or Inverness way in the future
We looked at Inverness. Amazing access to the mountains and to the Moray Coast, but not very much riding from the door
To be fair I am casting a pretty wide net in that statement. I like Grantown and Golspie areas my wife fancies Nairn. Bikes for me strolls and ice cream for her
Somewhere in Scotland most definitely, I like Wester Ross, missus likes the Cairngorms. We'd probably compromise and move to the Cairngorms.
Probably 15miles up the road to around Selkirk even think I know the house, but there's a choice of two not sure the duke would sell the cottage I really would like.
Probably the Black Isle have family that live there. For being that far north climate is pretty good.
Cairngorms and West Coast pretty handy.
Always had a soft spot for Speyside in particular Boat of Garten.
Native of Northumberland and agree with other posts its 'shit' and to be avoided at all costs.
I think possibly Scotland somewhere would be my answer but I feel like I’m doing pretty dam well living in Shropshire on the Welsh boarder.
Shropshire is shit though incase anyone is wondering. Went for a walk up a hill this morning. My house is in this pic
@FukyDunc, we might be neighbours -ish...
A Shropshire sunset outside my back door 5 minutes ago.
Somewhere down in Dumfries and Galloway.
After having lived up here in Scotland for the last 20 years I now consider the country to be home.
However, I would like to move away from West Lothian to somewhere milder.
For some reason the mild/warm weather seems to struggle to make its way past the Southern Uplands.
I like the idea of Scotland, love Edinburgh as a city.
Northumberland is a good call, somewhere inland of Alnwick, probably.
But I really like Shropshire. Stayed at Bishop's Castle a couple of times and it's lovely. Could quite happily retire there when the time comes.
Currently live about 15 minutes drive from the Peak District. Would like to live closer, but prices for places like Hathersage are beyond me.
Speyside , Tenby or Peebles would be good choices for me . I also lived in Ludlow for 18 months and would happily live there again . However my family moved to the Isle of Man 25 years ago and have no desire to live anywhere else .We originally moved because it was a safer place to bring up children than Northampton . The fact that it's great for road cycling or MTB right out of the door and various other outdoor activities is certainly a bonus , as is the lack of crime compared to elswhere .
Tweed Valley for me. Not very original I know but it’s popular for good reason
Seems to be a swing towards living in Scotland.
Says it all really.
Seems to be a swing towards living in Scotland.
Says it all really.
I get the impression that a lot (a majority even) of the most prolific posters on STW are Scottish, which might have something to do with it. Just an impression, I may be wrong. Not a majority of members, but of the twenty or so most prominent posters on chat?
The difference in access legislation no doubt plays a part. It would certainly stop me moving elsewhere in the UK.
I'd always thought it would be the Lakes, but I'm not sure I could stand the touristy traffic, the lack of infrastructure/services when needed, and the weather. I love the Lakes
All the mountainous places that are fantastic are also generally wet. I wonder if that would get me down over time...
Think I need a Euro-millions win...
Place in Carrbridge/Aviemore/Speyside, place in the Lakes, place in the Yorkshire Dales, place in Worcester (its my true home sort of), apparently Shropshire is quite good so another place there, and I best have somewhere in the Alps and the Pyrenees too I guess 🤣 I best get myself a hovel in Northumberland too just to keep myself grounded
Im Lucky where I live at the momment. But if all was fair Id be up in Keswick or there abouts tomorrow. I have looked and will more than likey end up there in the near future.
The youngest is at Exeter Uni, it looks a nice enough area. I don't think I could bring myself to move to an area predominantly run by the Tories.
Snowdonia. All the riding and hiking and swimming in lakes that you like and there's really good beaches really close too. Lakes has hills and lakes, but no beaches, cornwall has beaches, no hills and a lot of private land. Snowdonia has it all.
I'd say west coast scotland but it's very remote and you've got to have somewhere to go on holiday.
So we moved to Snowdonia. Only regret not doing it sooner. Not been on a foreign holiday (other than to the Mega) in three years now. Still not feeling the itch.
We moved from Leicestershire to just south of Sheffield in June. It's not the Peak District cottage we'd love due to actually finding somewhere and cost but it's pretty bloody good in comparison.
If I could pick anywhere, money no object I think it'd be North Lakes or the Tweed Valley. Family and friends would probably stop us though.
Spain, it’s basically still the UK with all the expat boomers innit…
TBH I'd contemplate living in Benidorm, its a totally different place out of season and oddly if you get 5 miles away from the beach its very much Spanish.
But in GB Land Dunno, I do like the Breacons but TBH they don't have the beach and weather I've got used to.
I chose to live in leith 35 years ago. I still live in the same flat. Location location location. I'm right on the river, have 360 degree views of the horizon, can ride anywhere in the city in 30 odd minutes, can ride out to the pentlands easily enough, no need for a car at all. 25 restaurants and pubs within 400m of my flat. I can be in countryside in 30 mins on my bike or less.
I'm getting sick of the stairs now tho and thinking of maybe moving.
When I moved to Leith my criteria was " north of chesterfield ( 'cos south of it is shit 🙂 ) and south of Perth ( I'm not a teuchter)" and must be withing cycling distance of where I ended up getting a job
Like some others I think we're already where we want to live but we live here by pure chance, in fact it was STW's fault for people replying to my thread suggesting the area. We did contemplate the tweed valley but decided the cold weather would kill me off! We wanted the lake district but the budget wouldn't stretch, well it would but it would have meant paying bills and nothing else, something which neither of us wanted. We're in Carnforth so in less than 30 minutes can be in Staveley and all fast easy roads to get there, lovely quiet M6 where you get on in either the evening or morning and dont even realise it's traffic time. Far enough away from the LD to not be bothered by the tourists, can get into the Yorkshire Dales on our motorbikes easily, Bowland etc. Road riding out the door around Arnside etc. is cracking, I get to see the sea everyday! Back to civilisation pretty quickly and easy access to hospitals for my treatment.
That is a tough call.
I would want somewhere with surf, but all the coastal towns are deserted in winter and mobbed in summer... and you need £300k+ to start house shopping. Plus the Tories have allowed something like 1 million sewage incidents last year alone. Last surf in Devon had me shooting water out of my arse for a week. So, the £ to joy ratio is turbo b0ll0cks.
I am going to stay put in Hebden Bridge, and have a cunning overseas, warm water, sunshine and dusty trails plan for when I hit 55, and can cash in some pension. Hebden Bridge has lots going for it, but the weather aint one of them.
£85,000 gbp gets you this in the french hills near Chipps. For sale - House, 4 rooms located in Sahorre (66360) (bleudusud.fr)
£135,000 gbp gets you this in Costa Rica. Casa 2 Plantas (tropisphere.com)
If I could pick anywhere, money no object I think it’d be North Lakes or the Tweed Valley. Family and friends would probably stop us though.
No we wouldn't as long as your garden was big enough to pitch a tent for the week 🙂
Probably not far from where I am (Derbyshire Dales/edge of Peak) as most of my friends are here. Definitely nicer places than Darley Dale where I currently am though, so money no object, probably somewhere like Baslow/Calver/Froggat or Hathersage direction
It's tricky for us, Mrs asbrooks wants a large metropolitan city. But not Manchester or Sheffield both of which I'd accept. She want's something London or Edinburgh, if we are just talking the UK. Both of which we have no chance in affording near what we have in Leicester in those places. And she knows it.
However, she is French and it was always the intention to go to France after the kids had flown the nest. We have two years to decide I guess.
She grew up in rural France with nothing to do as teenager and the thought of going to a small provincial town breaks her out into cold sweats.
The answer is where I am living already: Marple.
Plenty of 'from the door step' mtbiking and walking trails, road cycling is great too. Lovely and quiet yet within walking distance of many independent shops, facilities such as dentist and doctors surgeries, as is a cute cinema, theatre, many, great foodie type cafes, restaurants and take a ways. Great community spirit and neighbours tend to look out for each other.
Semi rural yet near enough to the City of Manchester with 2 train stations.
The down side is a busy road in and out of our small town.
For the time being I'm very happy in Midlothian. 30min to the Valley, less than 90min to Dunkeld but also some nice riding on my doorstep. Train or bus into Edinburgh for gigs, cinema, shopping etc. Close enough to the sea to keep my other half happy. Loads of things for the kids to do. I grew up in the Borders and wouldn't want to ever live there again.
I would want somewhere with surf, but all the coastal towns are deserted in winter and mobbed in summer… and you need £300k+ to start house shopping. Plus the Tories have allowed something like 1 million sewage incidents last year alone. Last surf in Devon had me shooting water out of my arse for a week. So, the £ to joy ratio is turbo b0ll0cks.
I keep toying with moving closer to the coast but unless you want to live in a static caravan or bugle then anything within sniffing distance of the sea in cornwall is just mental these days.
I'm sticking with just this side of the border, decent moors riding and only 45 mins to the coast. although I don't surf now if its been recent heavy rain.
I would want somewhere with surf, but all the coastal towns are deserted in winter and mobbed in summer… and you need £300k+ to start house shopping. Plus the Tories have allowed something like 1 million sewage incidents last year alone.
Wick or Thurso...
Realistically and could happen in the future Bo’ness. If we had more money Peebles.
And if money was good I’d have a house on Rhodes Greece.
But being brutally honest I can’t really fault La Costa Del Rishton which is home. You get the odd bell end, but the only really crime is Dog shite on the pavement.
