I've moved around a bit between city, country, suburbs and village. When we lived in a small village, the people there were a wide mix of locals born and raised and newcomers. The only people who were seen as 'outsiders' were the weekenders who worked in the city and visited once a month for a few days.
Here in the countryside 'proper' we are 'blow-ins' (you have to have 3 generations buried in the churchyard before you are local, apparently) but everyone has been very friendly and helpful. Watching what has happened with other new arrivals since we came, there's a sort of grace period where the locals suss you out. Those determined to make trouble or just making a quick buck on the housing market are kept strictly at arms length, but people genuinely trying to be part of the community are welcomed.
It's not easy, living in The Sticks. You need a bit of help and you need to give some help. If you're willing to work, be reasonably self sufficient but to muck in when the weather turns or someone is in trouble, to try to follow the rules that are never written, you'll be alright anywhere you want to be. So as Nut said, they key is to find a place you really want to be first - actually, not just on paper - and if you really love it and live it, the locals will come round to you, even if it takes a little while. Travel around, look around, be open minded. The place for you may not be where you expect it to be.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Good luck buying in Wales. I've tried to buy a few small holdings, first to view and offered the asking price only to be told they only take cash offers and all of them have gone as second homes to London buyers. Now the Severn bridge toll is planned to be scrapped the situation has only got worse. I wouldn't worry about the locals though as none of them are local anymore.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
This is what I am worried about I am a cash buyer who just wants a permenant home and to make a living From That home yes i am going to be a cash buyer but that does not make me a bad person I do not want to be thought of as I know many weekenders are as pricing the locals out as I have been pushed out of my home myself and i know how it feels.
Good luck buying in Wales. I've tried to buy a few small holdings, first to view and offered the asking price only to be told they only take cash offers and all of them have gone as second homes to London buyers. Now the Severn bridge toll is planned to be scrapped the situation has only got worse. I wouldn't worry about the locals though as none of them are local anymore.
pansy face i grew up here except its a different place now and my home has been eaten by London and its turned into not very good poo even roses wont grow in it
Pansyface not live off the land not practical. But barns into holiday cottages maybe 3 or 4 is the optimum number and should give us what we need on top of our other income we will be ok ish off . I am a keen preserver and freezer so we want to be self sufficient with veg at least , which is doable as I am almost there on a tiny patch of land with no greenhouse or poly tunnel just 3small cloches . So give me space and a poly tunnel and a cool heated greenhouse and its a piece of cake and clean windowsills.
We have done a lot of research with regards holiday lets and income they produce and costs .
I appreciate your wanting to leave an area where you are unhappy @nin , and l take it from your selection of Wales and Norfolk, that you have no close family to take into consideration. l am fairly sure that Dovefromabove lives in Norfolk so could maybe give you some advice about that area. I just get the feeling that you are so focused on those 2 areas that you are maybe discounting others that may be more suitable, hence the suggestion of taking a UK road trip from other forum members. I admire your desire to do something about your situation.
You'll be a long way from your old friends and family. You also need to look at ease of access for you to shopping, facilities, and essential services. In Wales you'll also have to cope with their running of the NHS which is less than glorious by all accounts but an important consideration as you age.
In 1991 we moved from Harrow to Belgium for OH's work. We avoided the ex-pat ghettos in Brussels and its environs and bought a place with some land out in the country. We settled into local life, in French, and got involved in local activities and were very happy.
When OH retired we realised our house was too big, our garden too complicated and the weather just a tad cold and wet most of the year so we moved here. We'd spent many hols in the Charente and felt comfy but needed good golf for OH and good dance classes for us both. Spent a week sussing out the Vendée and fell in love with this place. Bought it two years ago and moved 21 months ago.
You'll need to be outgoing but a bit reserved to start with so you make friends and not mistakes. You'll have to be prepared to muck in and give and take. Find a house and situation that feel right and research the area well and you'll be fine. Have a look also at Herefordshire, parts of Shropshire too and do check local weather and soil to make sure they're OK for your crop growing plans.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
Here in the countryside 'proper' we are 'blow-ins' (you have to have 3 generations buried in the churchyard before you are local, apparently) but everyone has been very friendly and helpful. Watching what has happened with other new arrivals since we came, there's a sort of grace period where the locals suss you out. Those determined to make trouble or just making a quick buck on the housing market are kept strictly at arms length, but people genuinely trying to be part of the community are welcomed.
It's not easy, living in The Sticks. You need a bit of help and you need to give some help. If you're willing to work, be reasonably self sufficient but to muck in when the weather turns or someone is in trouble, to try to follow the rules that are never written, you'll be alright anywhere you want to be.
So as Nut said, they key is to find a place you really want to be first - actually, not just on paper - and if you really love it and live it, the locals will come round to you, even if it takes a little while. Travel around, look around, be open minded. The place for you may not be where you expect it to be.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
In 1991 we moved from Harrow to Belgium for OH's work. We avoided the ex-pat ghettos in Brussels and its environs and bought a place with some land out in the country. We settled into local life, in French, and got involved in local activities and were very happy.
When OH retired we realised our house was too big, our garden too complicated and the weather just a tad cold and wet most of the year so we moved here. We'd spent many hols in the Charente and felt comfy but needed good golf for OH and good dance classes for us both. Spent a week sussing out the Vendée and fell in love with this place. Bought it two years ago and moved 21 months ago.
You'll need to be outgoing but a bit reserved to start with so you make friends and not mistakes. You'll have to be prepared to muck in and give and take. Find a house and situation that feel right and research the area well and you'll be fine. Have a look also at Herefordshire, parts of Shropshire too and do check local weather and soil to make sure they're OK for your crop growing plans.