Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 81 total)
  • Emigrating to the UK. Would you?
  • roper
    Free Member

    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?

    wl
    Free Member

    For decent local biking it definitely needs to be the north.

    alex222
    Free Member

    no

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    MrWoppit
    Free Member

    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. :mrgreen:

    uplink
    Free Member

    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

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    don't move to Brighton, it's rubbish and there's no decent riding around here.

    thanks.

    ivantate
    Free Member

    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.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    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

    uponthedowns
    Free Member

    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.

    roper
    Free Member

    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?

    mogrim
    Full Member

    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.

    titusrider
    Free Member

    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

    MrWoppit
    Free Member

    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.

    RichPenny
    Free Member

    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.

    Stoatsbrother
    Free Member

    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…

    joolsburger
    Free Member

    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.

    roper
    Free Member

    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?

    backhander
    Free Member

    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.

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    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

    uplink
    Free Member

    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

    allthepies
    Free Member

    sorry mate, we're all full over here.

    tiger_roach
    Free Member

    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?

    Midnighthour
    Free Member

    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.

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    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.

    Bikingcatastrophe
    Free Member

    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… 🙂

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    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!

    br
    Free Member

    Look west of London, the Chilterns – plenty of mtbing here.

    ddmonkey
    Full Member

    +1 for Chilterns, its lovely this time of year especially. But v expensive.

    soulwood
    Free Member

    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".

    freeridenick
    Free Member

    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….

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    Surrey Hills better than the Peak District for MTBing???

    freeridenick
    Free Member

    have you actually ridden here.
    we have actual trails not some rocky doubletrack.

    scruff
    Free Member

    Somewhere north of Birmingham I think.

    I just wish that Southerners admitted they are poofs and its all a bit sh1t down there, especially the off-road biking.

    Spongebob
    Free Member

    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!

    freeridenick
    Free Member

    SW is full of inbreeds and hippys.
    North is full of well northerners.

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    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.

    brack
    Free Member

    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.

    freeridenick
    Free Member

    hmm, doubtful. out of interest where did you ride Mat?

    RichPenny
    Free Member

    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.

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    All over the North and South downs – mostly around Leith Hill and Box Hill area but pretty much everywhere rideable.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 81 total)

The topic ‘Emigrating to the UK. Would you?’ is closed to new replies.