Moving

There is indeed more to England than London Theodora but be careful what you wish for. Life in rural areas can be isolating, I would look for a market town or large village. Of course I would always want to return to Yorkshire so much to choose from there.

I once stayed in Horsham. I loved it. I actually felt at home in the short time I stayed, people were so friendly.
There must be lots of places like that surrounded by countryside.

Welsh borders - reasonable house prices and some lovely little towns.

If you're getting on a bit (you may not be!) I'd advise moving somewhere where the facilities you need are within easy reach. As you age, you may appreciate having some shops, GP surgery, groups to join, within easy access.
Small towns will have this with the countryside within easy reach.

It will all depend on your budget and your requirements.

Come up and have a look at Northumberland, people love it up here especially the beaches, wildlife and walking, parts of it are very rural.

I'm from Twickenham and after twenty years here I still find the lack of facilities frustrating, you might too. I started trying a few weeks ago to get a taxi on 16 May, not one to be had for love nor money, all booked for weddings.

When my husband died I had hoped to move home again, but realised I wanted to live on the coast still and I explored Kent and Devon. I made a huge list of must haves, nice to haves, and definitely don't wants. List was quite long but eventually my search was narrowed down to having a mainline station to London nearby. Unfortunately my budget wouldn't stretch to a property I'd want to future proof my life in, so I've stayed here. Your budget will take you a long way, enjoy analysing what you really want.

Good luck, I hope you can have lots of mini breaks in the places you choose to explore.

I agree Northumberland is absolutely beautiful we spent many holidays there. We decided it was too far away for us so we bought a house on Anglesey nearly twenty years ago. Our intention was for holidays and then retirement. It is beautiful we where in between two popular holiday spots with all the amenities.

What we didn’t think about at the time was grandchildren so retirement home it did not become. It was our little bolt hole nearly a hundred miles from home. But grandchildren come first we sold it recently the point I am making is you have to way up the pros and cons before you decide where to upsticks.

I suggest move if you can afford it to the outskirts of town or village especially for transport etc. Consider if getting where you move to is feasible for any visitors you might have.
Wherever you decide to move to I hope you settle and are happy there.

That's quite helpful I have moved out of London in the past but did come back to London

I have been told a few times that Ilkley in Yorkshire is a welcoming place to move to, do we have anyone from there

Ilkley is lovely. Quite posh. Lot of people are fairly rich. Good links to Leeds and other places.
We retired to Keswick , Cumbria and love it. Very friendly. Everything within walking distance. Easy to live here and not drive. Fantastic countryside and walking. Disadvantage- hospitals are further away but we are mid 60s and healthy so not been a problem so far.

My cousin lives just outside Ilkley and we visit every year.We love it there and if it wasn’t for distance from family we would have moved there.

We live in a market town on the Shropshire/Powys border.We are about 15 miles from the county town if we can’t get what we want in our little town it’s not far to go and the countryside is on our doorstep.

Ilkley and Harrogate are both lovely places,we lived nearby for years and have a holiday apartment in Ripon.

There are great independent shops,theatres and plenty of culture.
Both have train stations and great public transport.
Housing stock is varied in both towns, there are always new builds of course but Harrogate in particular has a lot of apartments.

If I was to buy in Harrogate it would be the “Cold Bath Rd “ area, it’s walking distance from town with its own community of shops and restaurants.
Anything overlooking The Stray ( beautiful grassed area) is always expensive.

As they were both Spa towns there is lots of stunning Victorian architecture, they both feel very genteel.

We retired back to The Wirral on Merseyside close to the beach and River front really good transport to surrounding areas,Liverpool/West Kirby/Chester/Manchester etc. close to all the amenities that you would need,Liverpool gives you some really good eateries and museums/art galleries/theatres/easy access to all Motorways and train through to London takes just a couple of hours.
We did look at Northumberland just near Hexham (Acomb) but where put off because the area is cut off sometimes when it snows and the weather is very bad

Towns on the Welsh border - Herefordshire/Shropshire are lovely. You also have other lovely places nearby that are easy to get to for a bit of culture - e.g. Cardiff or Birmingham.

In a way you don't need to go very far, lots of Londoners are moving out to Kent and Surrey all the time. We feel our Kent town is more like a London suburb now but we only have to drive a very short distance to be out in the country but with very easy access to London. Hope I don't sound too like an Estate Agent.

luluaugust if I could afford to move from NI I would definitely choose south east of England.
It has everything I would want and is close to London.

I echo the “be careful what you wish for”. I live in rural Wales and as I have got older I’m more aware of the isolation. It’s beautiful but it can be lonely.

I found that Rosalyn, my house was a mile out of the village. During 'Beast from the east' in 2018 I was alone in the house for five days. Luckily I was well stocked as we had a lot of warning, but it was a miserable five days. At the end of the five days the snow started melting and roads were flooded, luckily I got out to restock and back again before they were impassable. My most miserable March ever.

Hi there, indeed there is more than 'The Big Smoke'. I live in Yorkshire and we are a very friendly lot and the scenery is breathtaking, its truly beautiful, however I would be thinking that wherever you move to, you need to be close to life, shops, all services you may need, ok you may not need the services right now, but there maybe a time when you do, forward planning is the key.

I wish you the best, best in finding someone away from the rat race....

Thank you fir your posts really helpful

I think I will take myself off to Ilkley for a few days

It all depends where you are in the village - I am in a very out of the way village, but it has a village centre, with pub, school and common.; garage a mile away. And I am in a little new-build cul-de-sac with a set of lovely neighbours who would do anything for me.

Enjoy! I do recommend taking Madeleine Miller's book on the train, Song of Achilles, if you haven't read it already! I've also read Circe and Galatea, I love her writing style.

Do consider the facilities carefully, just in case you fall in love with a cottage at the end of a track miles from anywhere!

When you look see if the place has a local shop you could walk to, dentist/hairdresser/doctor, and have a close look at the bus service for when you decide to stop driving. We only have a bus every hour here. Can never get a taxi in the morning, they are all booked for school runs.

The other thing is the proximity to a main hospital. I assume you are in good health, as I am at the moment, but I am worried if I do need any hospital treatment. We do have a small hospital in Alnwick, but they don't offer all services, a friend is having to do the 70 mile daily round trip to the hospital for chemo,

Let us know how you get on!

Chichester is the place you will love. Beautiful town, theatre, hospital, near the coast and beautiful South Downs. I could go on! Lots of people move here from all over and all say best thing they did. Just over an hour from London by train so you can pop back for a day easily.

Like some other GNs, I'd recommend being in/near a smaller "market town". Rural living may seem idyllic, but being in the middle of nowhere isn't a good idea when you may need services (e.g. cleaning, gardening, "care") as you grow older. (I've seen this become a problem for elderly relatives living in country villages.) Where you might move to when older, needs very careful consideration.

@ TheodoraP Norwich has been consistently voted the friendliest place to live. Most of Norfolk is really lovely with the local population and ‘blow ins’ from wide and far. The beaches are spectacular and villages unsurpassed.