Having travelled a lot obviously seeing many picturesque places it did make me realise the place I grew up in, a village at the time called Norton on Tees which to me was a normal place was actually an idyllic place with its village green for cricket and games and later some gentle courting. It had a pond to play in during summer and skate on in winter. Surrounded by farms and market gardens with fields and woods to roam in, it is now noted a s beauty spot. Dad was a keen gardener feeding the family from the walled garden and looking after the smallholding, he was also a Haulage Contractor with his own trucks plus a car, not many of those about at the time. In the rush to build Airfields and military camps in South Durham and North Yorkshire he delivered material so school holidays I got to see a lot of the area and we would go out in the car Sunday afternoons to the moors Goathland or Redcar and Saltburn the beach. My late wife in the wheelers club cycled those roads thinking nothing of cycling to Barnard Castle from Stockton, she had the bike for it a top of the line Dawes, we took our own family on those same runs. Coming home on leave when I reached Thirsk I settled, I was home, well thirty minutes from home but in familiar territory. As to culture you will get all the culture you can handle up the North east from York to Berwick it all happens.
Nothing happens here! No neighbours for miles, the only slight regret is it's about 45 minutes drive to a beach, not that I like beaches much but it's nice to sit on the cliffs and look at the sea. Tintagel is the usual place we go for a sea view, not that far really, but a car journey! We park in the free church car park on the cliffs and walk along the coastal path to the castle and beach, such as it is, play in Merlins cave,watch the seals if we're lucky, have fish and chips in the little cafe then walk back. Nice afternoon out.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Here in east Northamptonshire we are about 80 miles from the nearest sea. To the west we have rolling Northamptonshire stretching to Warwickshire and south Leicestershire. To the east are the fens, Cambridgeshire and ultimately the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk. I think this part of the country was traditionally a crossroads, Caxton gibbet is a stone's throw away. I would say I'm happy living here, if I ignore all the gigantic steel warehouses being thrown up all over the place.
Where I live most of the time is really beautiful, Dordogne in France. But where I would prefer to live is in my home country of England. England has beautiful countryside too but what makes it special are the people. I have always found the English to be friendly. I am really lucky as we also have a cottage in Norfolk as OH sold his French house. We were both widowed and met in France, both of us love England but my children are all in France. I am very lucky to have always lived in places I love, with good neighbours. The only exception was when I did my nurse training in London in the 70s. The people were lovely, but I'm a country bumpkin, spent time off in the Parks. I feel at home in Norfolk, my mother's family are from East Anglia, some of my father's too.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I can't imagine living anywhere else but Scotland - I have no desire to live anywhere else.
Once I retire - I'm going further north and west and I'll be spoiled for choice for views. I know how lucky I am to have the best scenery on the planet within easy reach of where I live just now.
I might be slightly biased.....
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've lived in various countries and travelled quite a bit, but, I never felt HOME until I moved to a small village in the SE a few years ago. I keep pinching myself and thinking "I live here!". I know I'm not the only one, because a neighbour recently said the same to me. Even the builder who did my new kitchen, who I imagine had seen lots of nice places, would stand in front of my front door and keep saying "It's so beautiful here, so peaceful."
I was born and grew up in a wee town called Thurso. It's on the far north coast of Scotland. I didn't like it when I was a youngster but now when I go back home with my partner , the rugged beauty never stops amazing me. I love the quiet and the light and the ever changing sky.
My mum had a wonderful garden up there but god knows how she managed as the garden was facing direct north - the sea was at the bottom, its very wind swept, although the gulf steam flows right past so I suppose it keeps it milder than some spots.
We now live in Pudsey in Yorkshire which is nice as we can just jump in the car and the Dales are on our doorstep. The Yorkshire Dales are stunning but the Highlands of Scotland and especially, for me Caithness and Sutherland, are the most beautiful area of the UK But I am biawe'd.
I want to move to France , have done since I first went to Ales when I was 12 and now the warmer weather would be good as I have a disability that the cold weather makes a bit nasty, but my partner wants to stay here.
When we have been on holiday to Greece, Turkey etc I always look at the gardens and in some ways am jealous - the massive Bougainvilles etc but then you look at other plants and they are not a lush and green as we can grow here. But I still hanker for warmer climes...maybe it's spending so many years having to put Vaseline on the backs of my legs to prevent wind burn up in Thurso ?
So wonderful to read all your stories, thoroughly enjoyed them with my coffee this morning! I feel compelled to join in! We spent five years living at the foothills of Simonsberg Mountian in Stellenbosch (40 mins outside of Cape Town) I thought I was the luckiest girl when we were there but there truly is nothing like the English countryside! We now live in East Sussex and over look the Weald - it's a view I'll never get sick of and 10mins down the road have the South Downs. I'm in love with this place, completely! Thankfully my partner and daughter feel just the same, we've moved about a lot so to feel rooted feels like such a blessing!
Barefoot gardener, in southern France you would be putting suntan cream on the back of your legs instead of Vaseline! In Dordogne in the summer it's often in the 30s, I don't find it comfortable at all and the winters can be cold, but maybe not in Alés. Down to -12° last winter. Beautiful scenery though, but growing flowers is easier in the UK.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Posts
Having travelled a lot obviously seeing many picturesque places it did make me realise the place I grew up in, a village at the time called Norton on Tees which to me was a normal place was actually an idyllic place with its village green for cricket and games and later some gentle courting. It had a pond to play in during summer and skate on in winter. Surrounded by farms and market gardens with fields and woods to roam in, it is now noted a s beauty spot. Dad was a keen gardener feeding the family from the walled garden and looking after the smallholding, he was also a Haulage Contractor with his own trucks plus a car, not many of those about at the time. In the rush to build Airfields and military camps in South Durham and North Yorkshire he delivered material so school holidays I got to see a lot of the area and we would go out in the car Sunday afternoons to the moors Goathland or Redcar and Saltburn the beach. My late wife in the wheelers club cycled those roads thinking nothing of cycling to Barnard Castle from Stockton, she had the bike for it a top of the line Dawes, we took our own family on those same runs. Coming home on leave when I reached Thirsk I settled, I was home, well thirty minutes from home but in familiar territory. As to culture you will get all the culture you can handle up the North east from York to Berwick it all happens.
Frank.
Nothing happens here! No neighbours for miles, the only slight regret is it's about 45 minutes drive to a beach, not that I like beaches much but it's nice to sit on the cliffs and look at the sea. Tintagel is the usual place we go for a sea view, not that far really, but a car journey! We park in the free church car park on the cliffs and walk along the coastal path to the castle and beach, such as it is, play in Merlins cave,watch the seals if we're lucky, have fish and chips in the little cafe then walk back. Nice afternoon out.
Here in east Northamptonshire we are about 80 miles from the nearest sea. To the west we have rolling Northamptonshire stretching to Warwickshire and south Leicestershire. To the east are the fens, Cambridgeshire and ultimately the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk. I think this part of the country was traditionally a crossroads, Caxton gibbet is a stone's throw away. I would say I'm happy living here, if I ignore all the gigantic steel warehouses being thrown up all over the place.
Where I live most of the time is really beautiful, Dordogne in France. But where I would prefer to live is in my home country of England. England has beautiful countryside too but what makes it special are the people. I have always found the English to be friendly. I am really lucky as we also have a cottage in Norfolk as OH sold his French house. We were both widowed and met in France, both of us love England but my children are all in France. I am very lucky to have always lived in places I love, with good neighbours. The only exception was when I did my nurse training in London in the 70s. The people were lovely, but I'm a country bumpkin, spent time off in the Parks. I feel at home in Norfolk, my mother's family are from East Anglia, some of my father's too.
I can't imagine living anywhere else but Scotland - I have no desire to live anywhere else.
Once I retire - I'm going further north and west and I'll be spoiled for choice for views. I know how lucky I am to have the best scenery on the planet within easy reach of where I live just now.
I might be slightly biased.....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've lived in various countries and travelled quite a bit, but, I never felt HOME until I moved to a small village in the SE a few years ago. I keep pinching myself and thinking "I live here!". I know I'm not the only one, because a neighbour recently said the same to me. Even the builder who did my new kitchen, who I imagine had seen lots of nice places, would stand in front of my front door and keep saying "It's so beautiful here, so peaceful."
I was born and grew up in a wee town called Thurso. It's on the far north coast of Scotland. I didn't like it when I was a youngster but now when I go back home with my partner , the rugged beauty never stops amazing me. I love the quiet and the light and the ever changing sky.
My mum had a wonderful garden up there but god knows how she managed as the garden was facing direct north - the sea was at the bottom, its very wind swept, although the gulf steam flows right past so I suppose it keeps it milder than some spots.
We now live in Pudsey in Yorkshire which is nice as we can just jump in the car and the Dales are on our doorstep. The Yorkshire Dales are stunning but the Highlands of Scotland and especially, for me Caithness and Sutherland, are the most beautiful area of the UK But I am biawe'd.
I want to move to France , have done since I first went to Ales when I was 12 and now the warmer weather would be good as I have a disability that the cold weather makes a bit nasty, but my partner wants to stay here.
When we have been on holiday to Greece, Turkey etc I always look at the gardens and in some ways am jealous - the massive Bougainvilles etc but then you look at other plants and they are not a lush and green as we can grow here. But I still hanker for warmer climes...maybe it's spending so many years having to put Vaseline on the backs of my legs to prevent wind burn up in Thurso ?
Last edited: 09 May 2017 01:21:23
So wonderful to read all your stories, thoroughly enjoyed them with my coffee this morning! I feel compelled to join in! We spent five years living at the foothills of Simonsberg Mountian in Stellenbosch (40 mins outside of Cape Town) I thought I was the luckiest girl when we were there but there truly is nothing like the English countryside! We now live in East Sussex and over look the Weald - it's a view I'll never get sick of and 10mins down the road have the South Downs. I'm in love with this place, completely! Thankfully my partner and daughter feel just the same, we've moved about a lot so to feel rooted feels like such a blessing!
Barefoot gardener, in southern France you would be putting suntan cream on the back of your legs instead of Vaseline! In Dordogne in the summer it's often in the 30s, I don't find it comfortable at all and the winters can be cold, but maybe not in Alés. Down to -12° last winter. Beautiful scenery though, but growing flowers is easier in the UK.