That 2 bedroom lodge sounds rather like a mobile home, which, although very nice, would not hold its retail value and has an end life. Always a bit suspicious when the photos don't show much of the exterior! It may also not have planning permission to be lived in all year round so I'd be a little bit cautious. Lots of tourists in that area. Good luck with your search - how about Shropshire or Norfolk, both sparsely populated I believe but you would need access to medical help if your OH is not very well.
It did spot that, the lodge certainly looks a little temporary.
Norfolk was high on the list, but it has been a bit of a struggle when pinning down a small house/bungalow and more land. I'm not sure I can do 'flat' landscapes much more, having spent a good proportion of my life in East Anglia. Shropshire I do not know well, other than passing through on trips to Wrexham, it did seem very pretty and pleasant.
A friend has moved numerous times in the past 25 years. She has lived in London, Cookham in Berkshire, a tiny village near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, a rural spot 6 miles from Tunbridge Wells and finally, Ludlow in Shropshire. Ludlow is very friendly and the surrounding area picturesque with property quite a bit below the national average. I would imagine a 2 bed house with land would be found quite easily.
@GemmaJF The madness of the last 12 months may have had an impact on your ability to make any progress on your move, and I sincerely hope it hasn't directly touched you in any other way.
If you're still looking, I notice no one has mentioned Lincolnshire. I grew up in Louth, a really nice little market town on the edge of the Wolds, so definitely not flat, and not far from Cadwell Park. Also not at all far from one of the acknowledged best biking roads in the country, the A158 between Wragby and Lincoln. It's still a very rural county and there's plenty of it that isn't at all flat, and prices are pretty mid-range on the whole. It does lack some decent proper main road connections, but generally services are good enough, and it all depends on what you're used to.
We will be moving next year - currently in Aberdeenshire where it's too cold for too long and the days are too short for too long each year. Plus, to be sadly honest, there are too many died in the wool English-hating Scots, which can make life unpleasant. Thankfully it's not normally on an individual basis, but it can be quit insidious at times. Oh, and whilst Independence lingers, that's possibly not a good time to consider moving this way until you know the implications and effect on property in terms of price and ownership issues.
We are likely to go to the North East, County Durham area, but will find that we need about £100k more to buy a similar house to what we have, because house prices up here are so low. At least moving from the London area, you should generally get more for your money.
My top tip for when you think you know where you want to live - Google the direct question 'what's it like to live in .....?' There are sites about how rubbish it is to live in most places, but ignore them and go to any hits from the Mumsnet website. In fact, join Mumsnet and ask the question on there. I Googled that question in relation to a couple of places in Co Durham and found a few threads on Mumsnet with decent honest answers from people who live there - much like you've had on here. It's not just a site for young mums either, one woman in her late 50s posed the question and got loads of helpful responses. I'd say that's got to be a good way of finding out about a place, especially at the moment when you can't freely travel to look.
As others have said, you need to consider the future, but also consider how some places are likely to either die or grow post-Covid. A nice village with a thriving pub, hairdressers and café pre-Covid, might now just be a nice village with three collapsed businesses up for sale. Conversely a nice previously quiet area might now be about to be overwhelmed with people fleeing cities to live a rural life anywhere there's a decent internet connection. It may be a while before these things are fully felt, but possibly worth considering.
Good luck, and do let us know how you get on!
No longer newish but can't think of a new name so will remain forever newish.
Thanks for the thoughts Stephanie. As you guessed we are still very much stuck in Essex! Mainly because covid has put my son's career plans on hold and he is still living at home.
More than ever I just feel like a change of scenery. I love being at home and in the garden, but it has been very different with a vulnerable partner for the last 12 months being practically forced to be at home constantly. The flat agricultural land locally is not all that inspiring on daily walks in the winter and just adds to my itch to move.
I'll give your insights careful consideration. I was pretty much decided on Wales, but picked up a similar anti-English vibe you describe in Scotland from social media sites, which has put me off to a degree. It's a bit silly really because I have plenty of Scots blood in me from my Father, but it will be my English accent that people will judge.
We pretty much already live in a village where all the businesses shut down a long time ago. I think that is part of the problem as when I grew up in Suffolk villages still had a vibrant life. These days many of the villages in East Anglia feel more like dormitory villages, with very little going on locally. So the effects of covid on any planned destination is something to give serious consideration to.
Brother in law moved to a house with a large garden (he was surprised to find the field at the bottom of his average size garden was also his), in a village North of St Andrews in Scotland. He needs a 4wd car in winter. Sister in law moved to a house with steep sloping garden and a small wood in North Wales. Needs a 4WD in winter. Both are over 60 and over an hour by car from an emergency hospital. We are 8 minutes from an ED at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. I know because it took 8 minutes in an ambulance with blue lights and horns, through all the red lights. That factor probably saved his life when my fit husband had a heart attack at the age of 40 one Easter Saturday. 3 minutes for a paramedic on a motorbike, 5 minutes for the ambulance, 8 minutes to hospital, straight to cardiac ICU, clot buster in less than an hour from first symptoms.
I was pretty much decided on Wales, but picked up a similar anti-English vibe you describe in Scotland from social media sites, which has put me off to a degree. It's a bit silly really because I have plenty of Scots blood in me from my Father, but it will be my English accent that people will judge.
Welsh people are the friendliest I've met. I can't deny the anti-English vibe but if you respect the culture and respect the people, it will be fine.
I was pretty much decided on Wales, but picked up a similar anti-English vibe you describe in Scotland from social media sites, which has put me off to a degree. It's a bit silly really because I have plenty of Scots blood in me from my Father, but it will be my English accent that people will judge.
Welsh people are the friendliest I've met. I can't deny the anti-English vibe but if you respect the culture and respect the people, it will be fine.
It seems to depend a lot on the area. I was even prepared to start learning Welsh and did make a serious attempt at beginning to, but it was more than just Anti-English. I picked up a lot of what I could only describe as backward attitudes on social media that did not sit well with someone who is pretty open minded and has enjoyed living in multi-cultural cities in the past as well as rural areas. Not sure I could put up with living around people with prejudices I thought died out a couple of generations ago!
Posts
Norfolk was high on the list, but it has been a bit of a struggle when pinning down a small house/bungalow and more land. I'm not sure I can do 'flat' landscapes much more, having spent a good proportion of my life in East Anglia. Shropshire I do not know well, other than passing through on trips to Wrexham, it did seem very pretty and pleasant.
The madness of the last 12 months may have had an impact on your ability to make any progress on your move, and I sincerely hope it hasn't directly touched you in any other way.
If you're still looking, I notice no one has mentioned Lincolnshire. I grew up in Louth, a really nice little market town on the edge of the Wolds, so definitely not flat, and not far from Cadwell Park. Also not at all far from one of the acknowledged best biking roads in the country, the A158 between Wragby and Lincoln.
It's still a very rural county and there's plenty of it that isn't at all flat, and prices are pretty mid-range on the whole. It does lack some decent proper main road connections, but generally services are good enough, and it all depends on what you're used to.
We will be moving next year - currently in Aberdeenshire where it's too cold for too long and the days are too short for too long each year. Plus, to be sadly honest, there are too many died in the wool English-hating Scots, which can make life unpleasant. Thankfully it's not normally on an individual basis, but it can be quit insidious at times. Oh, and whilst Independence lingers, that's possibly not a good time to consider moving this way until you know the implications and effect on property in terms of price and ownership issues.
We are likely to go to the North East, County Durham area, but will find that we need about £100k more to buy a similar house to what we have, because house prices up here are so low. At least moving from the London area, you should generally get more for your money.
My top tip for when you think you know where you want to live - Google the direct question 'what's it like to live in .....?' There are sites about how rubbish it is to live in most places, but ignore them and go to any hits from the Mumsnet website. In fact, join Mumsnet and ask the question on there. I Googled that question in relation to a couple of places in Co Durham and found a few threads on Mumsnet with decent honest answers from people who live there - much like you've had on here. It's not just a site for young mums either, one woman in her late 50s posed the question and got loads of helpful responses. I'd say that's got to be a good way of finding out about a place, especially at the moment when you can't freely travel to look.
As others have said, you need to consider the future, but also consider how some places are likely to either die or grow post-Covid. A nice village with a thriving pub, hairdressers and café pre-Covid, might now just be a nice village with three collapsed businesses up for sale. Conversely a nice previously quiet area might now be about to be overwhelmed with people fleeing cities to live a rural life anywhere there's a decent internet connection. It may be a while before these things are fully felt, but possibly worth considering.
Good luck, and do let us know how you get on!
Thanks for the thoughts Stephanie. As you guessed we are still very much stuck in Essex! Mainly because covid has put my son's career plans on hold and he is still living at home.
More than ever I just feel like a change of scenery. I love being at home and in the garden, but it has been very different with a vulnerable partner for the last 12 months being practically forced to be at home constantly. The flat agricultural land locally is not all that inspiring on daily walks in the winter and just adds to my itch to move.
I'll give your insights careful consideration. I was pretty much decided on Wales, but picked up a similar anti-English vibe you describe in Scotland from social media sites, which has put me off to a degree. It's a bit silly really because I have plenty of Scots blood in me from my Father, but it will be my English accent that people will judge.
We pretty much already live in a village where all the businesses shut down a long time ago. I think that is part of the problem as when I grew up in Suffolk villages still had a vibrant life. These days many of the villages in East Anglia feel more like dormitory villages, with very little going on locally. So the effects of covid on any planned destination is something to give serious consideration to.