Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[Jen&Rog]

Hi All

 

It's always been my dream to live in a pretty village in the country, grow more veggies, keep more hens, get away from all the noise and traffic. Has anyone made a big move from 'commuterville-near-London' to somewhere beautiful with open fields and fresh air? My biggest worry is employment (the work that me + partner do are quite London-focused... but I can't stand doing my line of work much longer anyway!!).

 

Anyone got some words of wisdom to give me a bit of confidence to make the big move?

[Guest]

Erm sort of.

 

I grew up in Hornchurch and moved out to Basildon when I bought my first home. Basildon was a step from London as I lost the Tube. Mind you I was already working in Basildon.

 

Then Mum and I sold our houses (Hornchurch & Basildon) and moved to a big house with a granny annexe in a lovely village. Now our village has no shops, a pub, hall, primary school. We now keep chickens, grow veg, make jam etc.

 

My Mum has lived in "london" (grew up in Edmonton, moved to Barnet, then Hornchurch) for her whole life.

 

WE BOTH LOVE IT HERE!

[jlo]

I am sure that Christian will be able to inspire you!

[Egluntyne]

Ask Lesley.

[Christian]

I am sure that Christian will be able to inspire you!

 

Bless you, but I feel like a fraud!

 

We did move out of the 'Town', two and a half years ago. What was a 23 mile commute to work is now 62! We are both lucky that is isn't a daily commute as we are both cabin crew.

 

We have no shops, village hall, pub (), street lights, pavements, gas, mains water (private supply), or mains sewage, but we do have a post box! And I love it here!

 

We grow veggies, have our girls and I make jams/jellies/winter brews/Christmas puddings and anything that I can think of to sell, because I enjoy it. We are far from self sufficient, but do try and grow what we can. I am fortunate to be part time (75%) where as OH is full time still.

 

You don't have to move that far out to get fields and open spaces. I only really know the M3/M4 corridor but it is beautiful around here. It is do-able. Use http://www.primelocation.com and do a search for an area within a short drive of a mainline train station. You could commute for a while? The feeling of returning home and seeing the fields makes the journey worth it for me every time!

 

I wake up to birds singing and fields with cows and horses! The Postman pops in for a cuppa and always seems to know when I have just taken some scones out of the oven

 

The local village newsletters headline was 'Bus stop receives new thatch' a while back. Big news! Maybe not exciting, but certainly doesn't make your heart sink, like most of the news in the World.

[AnnieP]

I agree with Christian about location. We moved here about 12 years ago from a very large town. We have nothing here but fields and a couple of neighbours half a mile down the road. BUT the village is only a mile away and has everything you would ever need, small shops, a couple of pubs and places to eat, plus a mainline train station to London, which is only 50 minutes away. I have an 8 mile drive to work, along beautiful country lanes and OH uses the train to get to Reading. Its perfect.

Good luck. Find the right area!

[Cate in NZ]

Good luck . I'm convinced that the move is doable if you have the right motivation. There would, of course, be a big change of focus, but so nice to have a different pace of life .....as long as that is what you want

 

I've moved from NW Kent (London commuter belt territory) to a far more rural lifestyle, and am loving it. Not yet bought a property, so the livestock and veggie pattch are on hold, but the space and the drive to work through mountains and forests is just so refreshing

[Cinnamon]

I moved from an estate in the middle of a town (Henley) to a village with just a shop, no other amenities,about 20 years ago.

 

Its a tiny & very quiet village,but only 5 miles from Henley & about 7 from Reading,so everything is easy to get to.

I love being able to sit in my garden & hear the birds singing & I love living in a peaceful place.

I am not one to get involved in the village activities - the flower show,the village fete & all that as its just not my cup of tea, & I must say that to begin with some of the older members of the village were scandalised by this

They just leave me be now,after at least 12 years of nagging to come & join in, - & a lot of them buy my eggs!

[Louise]

I moved from Oxford city to a rural town 8 years ago then 6 years ago moved to where I am now

 

Technically I am in a village but it is actually about 2 miles into the village

 

The village proper has a small shop and a pub but thats it

 

I am very rural though and I love it although I do get alot of lost people on the doorstep including a taxi driver at 5am on Saturday morning looking for would you believe David Steele the MP

[Lesley]

....and, were you hiding him?????

 

 

 

Ask Lesley.

 

No, not me.....I've always lived in a village....lots of them, all based around Stratford upon Avon, a fairly small market town

 

All we've done is move from the village to a slightly more rural bit. We have to drive to the nearest village.

 

Bear in mind that villages are losing services like bus routes and Post Offices and even schools so don't bank on the services always being in the village you may choose.

[Steph101]

It all sounds lovely. Would love to live somewhere more rural, so would my husband. Will think about it when the property market seems a bit more healthy.

[Old Speckled Hen]

I was widowed 11 years ago and put all my energies into working all hours and bringing up my then 11 year old daughter.

Three years ago, just as my daughter started University I met a lovely man and a year ago we married. One hitch ... our homes were 300 miles apart!

 

I sold up in suburban London and moved up here fully intending to work part time.

That hasn't happened yet as I am too busy with the garden, the chooks , cooking lovely preserves and this morning making blackberry wine.

 

Our hamlet has no pub!!! This is a problem ... might have a go at some beer then.

I can see Coniston from my window and we are two miles from town.

 

It's not for everybody but if you are happy with your own company and can let go of the "Instant Life" ....shop for milk and bread at 2 in the morning, choice of restaurants, going out to the theatre whenever you feel like it, that sort of thing. Then go for it. Just as said before you need to plan carefully.

 

I would never go back.

The one thing I miss is the Evening Standard

Anybody fancy sending me a copy now and then?

[Angels4]

I had always craved an "Urban City Life" living in downtown settings in Fort Lauderdale, LA, and Chicago. The hustle, the bustle, just being able to shop 24hours.

Just two years ago I moved to a more rural setting, we are surrounded by farms, and hugh open fields, our small "village" has a small grocery, a post office and one traffic light which doesn't turn red, but just rather flashes red. The peace and quite are wonderful. I can see the stars and moon at night, the smells, the sounds. I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact if we could move further away from town, I would be most happy. We are on a main through fair as our town is part of the "scenic route" to New Hampshire.

[little chickadee]

Me Me Me!

 

I grew up in a town in Suffolk but then lived in Suburban Birmingham for 10 years

 

2 years ago we moved to a village 6 miles outside the town I grew up in and adore it.

The Village is reasonably big as it has a shop, post office and Primary School. The school has been completely the right place for my children, and, unlike Cinammon, I love joining in with Village life

 

I've won both the Autumn and Summer Housecraft cups at the village show and find it all a bit of a giggle!

 

We've got chickens and a large allotment over the road and I'm never ever moving again!

 

We set up a new business just before we moved and are lucky that we can work from home.

 

Good luck if you decide it's what you want to do.

[bronze]

I started off in a comuter town in Herts, moved to Peterborough (ugh). Then we made the break and moved to a thatched cottage in Suffolk and from there to a village in North Norfolk where we have room for the veg patch and the chickens. We back on to fields and my children go to the village school that caters for the area (68 children). I love it

 

oh and the sky goes on forever....

[chickenanne]

The only thing that's not great is the commute to work, which is longer than I'd like. It sounds like your big contraint is employment: if both you and OH really need to work in/near London then how will you make it work? Perhaps you could start out by researching where you could find other employment, what you could do from home, or whatever.

I know you're not so enamoured of your career now, but both you and OH starting over in new fields could be pretty expensive. And rural properties can be fairly expensive when you compare to local salaries. How much of a drop in income can you cope with - what sacrifices can you and would you both make?

 

I think it's a great idea, and know I sound negative - apologies!

[Seagazer]

My sister and her family moved from SE London last year to the coast. She has a lovely view of fields and Lympe Castle from her garden and dining room. I know she is far happier although unfortunately poorer. She was a legal secretary in London and on a very good wage but now works locally and is paid a lot less. But you just take in the view, breathe in the sea air and feel at peace.

 

I would move there in a shot if I could. But do your homework. My husband starts a new job soon that will not be commutable by train from the coast (it would if we lived on the Essex coast ). I know that it wouldn't work for us as middle son is not financially able to move out of home and does not want to move.

[Jen&Rog]

Wow what a lot of replies - thank you everyone; I love the descriptions of where you live, very idyllic sounding. I'm more excited than ever about making the move, but I realise there are compromises in terms of commute or wages. Need to keep doing the lottery then!!

 

I'll keep you updated on progress and hopefully will be keeping bees and making jam before you know it!

[chickenanne]

That's fantastic! I think so long as you're clear about what you want from the move then there's a decent chance you'll find it.

IMO money us far from the be-all-and-end-all, but that's easy to say when you have "enough".... the car breaking down 2 days before pay day (is there any other time?) might become a financial glitch, worrying about how to pay the mortgage this month...and next...and the next... woud be horrendous.

[Ms Marple]

I don't know that we can say we've truly escaped to the country. A year ago we moved from 8 miles from the city centre to 15 miles out. We sold our Victorian semi and bought a Victorian detached on about an acre with a garden that runs down to the canal. We can see across the valley to the hills on the other side on a clear day( remember them?) Marple is a small town/ large village I think . We live on the edge. there are lots of pubs. I do miss the city bistro/bar culture at times. Everyone who comes to visit comments upon how quiet it is. We love it. There is a badger trail across our lower garden. I haven't seen them yet but they visit regularly and dig in their part of the garden!

I love it. My eldest has taken more time to adapt but my YS loves it too as does OH. The only down really is the commute - it has more than doubled. But I love the view as I get close to home= hills, sheep ,fields..... Walking the dogs is brilliant = so many paths and woods.

Chickens is all I can manage for now along with a bit of soft fruit and rhubarb. Who knows in the future.....

[Richard T]

We moved to the country from London nearly two years ago and would thoroughly recommend it. Our plan always was to move while we still worked in London and then find jobs locally.

 

I still work in London but my wife got a local job (she's a teacher) last September - start of the school year.

 

Luckily, my job's not too stressful or hectic and I work flexi-time. So I try to have an extra day off every other week or so, but the commuting (two hours each way) does mean that I miss out on a lot of "country time". So I will probably be looking for a local job next year. (i.e. after that thing beginning with "C" that happens near the end of December which it's too early to mention )

[Clur]

I live not far from London and when I worked for a company in Milton Keynes, a lot of my colleagues lived in the small villages/hamlets around there and it seemed beautiful. If we ever had meetings in London, they were able to get there in less time than it look me as they took a direct train (London Link?), and I had a train ride then a couple of tubes to take.

 

Something like that may be worth considering? London wages, country living? (I know this is sometimes controversial for those who can't afford to buy in their villages as commuters push up the prices...)

[Redwing]

I am about to move from my inner city house in Bristol to a lovely house in a tiny village in Northamptonshire. Our new village has no shops and I believe the only pub is run from a shed!

 

However...... I could never afford to move to the country without keeping my job in Luton so unfortunately I am adding to the problem of commuters buying in the country (sorry)

 

On the plus side my carbon footprint will decrease!