Returning to the UK

You have just described Malvern! There is no way you would be lonely here. Come and visit us and have a look around.

Hmmmm. Given the geographical scatter of your family, I would have thought proximity to airports/rail/ferries would be important. There is a North/South divide in house prices so that may impact on any decision. Lots of lovely villages and small towns in Surrey/Kent/Sussex. What a hard decision Butty

I'm enjoying the Godalming area..easy access to London by road and rail, close to H'row and G'wick & M25.. I have made new friends, go for lovely walks to lovely pubs and not far from the South coast if you want some sea air! Come and join me!

Butty what a decision to have to make but I do not think you will fall short with The Northumbland area,the worst decision I have ever made was not moving to a litttle place called Acomb when the children where still at school but hey-ho thats life.
Here on The Wirral you will find good realistic house/apartment prices excellent train and airport facilities and more than your fare share of good Northern humour plenty of good walks by the River and easy access to the countryside/Chester and North Wales best of luck with your decision.

Cheshire, handy for Manchester, the airport and the Peak District, not to mention a plethora of National Trust properties. Nice villages and small towns. Something for everyone!

Less rain in the SE Butty - more sunshine and the clouds, if they come are somehow just...fluffier

Norfolk is wonderful Butty. Fantastic coastline, pretty villages, fabulous shopping in Norwich, the Broads, reasonably priced property and cost of living. (I'd go back if I could)

Very good road and rail links to London, plus Norwich Airport for further afield.

Norfolk is very flat though!

We have an International Airport here too Butty and all the Countryside you would want for walking. A gorgeous coastline. Large Towns Newcastle, Durham, Sunderland and smaller towns Hexham, Alnwick, Morpeth to name but a few. House prices are more realistic than in the South. Close to the Scottish Borders. The people are very friendly.

Oh I could go on and on go on have a look at Northumberland.

Oh, some lovely suggestions. What comes across is how happy you are with where you live or once lived.
Thanks for your replies - lots to think about.

Off to google Zoopla and RightMove!

Does it have to be England Butty? Because you could do a lot worse than the west coast of Scotland, particularly Kintyre, it`s beautiful there, if a bit out of the way.

I think we could get quite competetive about the best place to live but none of you have anything we don't have here in Malvern so it is quite clear to me that this is the best place to live in the UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Water level is rising so you need to live on a hill. I rest my case!

Oh Butty! Nothing like January in rural France for bringing on the moving back blues, is there...
We have this discussion all the time and one of the problems in a sense is having so much choice about where to go. OH would vote for his native Yorkshire every time and I can see the attraction of the big skies, but I love our ever so slightly longer and lighter days in France. I would vote for my native south-east, near daughter and granddaughters. Our latest plan would be to buy a a flat in the UK and have a small rented property in the south of France so we could have the best of both countries.
We aren't ready to do it yet and anyway I don't think much property is selling, but we are going to Spain for a few weeks to escape the greyness and the mud....

Movedalot, we visited Great Malvern a couple of years ago when I found out that my paternal grandmother's family originally hailed from a village, more of a hamlet called Hanley Castle. As you say it is indeed a lovely part of the world.

Yes Mamie, January in rural France is not a bundle of laughs. We always knew we wanted to return to the UK. Just a question of when! My husband turning 65 last year clarified things, and as someone wisely said, it's better to have a planned move rather than a crisis move.
We're taking a long view, as the housing market is v. flat, but thought may as well get the ball rolling........ Realistically, I can't see it happening any time soon, but from a positive perspective it gives plenty of time to choose a lovely location.

Now off to close those shutters...

Butty I'm not a native Geordie but can only echo Glass's recommendation.
We have everything within easy reach - lovely countryside, beaches, theatre, concerts, cinema, good restaurants, and very little traffic congestion.
I live 10 minutes drive from Newcastle airport, so excellent for holidays and visiting son in the States, and the train service to London is quick - less than 3 hours.
Good luck and you're welcome to come round for a cuppa if in these parts

January is not grim in the Alps! Today, I walked by a lake - bright blue skies, crisp white snow, dark green forests - lovely. (Not too good for skiers, though, too much green showing on the mountains.)

Yes Butty, we are the same as you really. I never understand the view of some ex-pats here that they will never go back, as if going back is somehow selling out. I never saw living in France as a life sentence! I think the planned move idea is right and that is what we will do too.

I have 2 suggestions, if walking and views are important to you.

One is Herefordshire - the south of the county is close to S. Wales and the Black Mountains; and the north is full of lovely black and white villages. We came here well over 30 years ago and could not tear ourselves away - we live in the friendliest of communities and life moves at a slower, kinder pace. There is a direct train route to London to visit your son. The other nice thing about the area is that it is rural and beautiful, but there are places within easy reach for the other things in life: Birmingham for the Symphony Hall, galleries etc.; Cardiff; Bristol - all easy to get to by car or train. and neaby are the Malverns and the coast of the Gower. Bit of everything really.

My other suggestion would be Cheshire (as someone else has mentioned). I have family living in a village near Macclesfield and there is so much there - lovely canal walks, Derbyshire dales on the doorstep, Manchester within easy reach. It is slightly pricey though when it comes to housing - whereas Herefordshire is still relatively cheap.

Lots of good luck with your decision-making.

Butty where used you to live before you went to France? Don't you still have friends and contacts there? How about Sussex? Countryside, coast, history aplenty and within easy reach of London. Rail service and airport close by and near to ports for return visits to France!

All your suggestions are lifting my spirits already. The kindness of strangers......thank you.

I will never go back to live in Britain - for the same reasons which made me leave it in the first place. I want to be free to travel widely without having to rely on planes, trains or boats. I have just spent three weeks in Manchester - it rained every day but one. I think those grey, leaden skies would really get me down. (And I couldn't afford to buy anything there, in spite of the downturn in property prices.)
I lived in Chelsea for five years and hated it. I can't stand being surrounded by buildings, traffic, crowds..........I can live without shopping, other than for food, cinemas, theatres, concert halls.........
There are many parts of Britain which I love - but I did spend many years exploring them. Now, there is such a lot of Europe to see before I leave it for good.
I haven't come across any other Britons in this area - I can't think why, as it is so beautiful.

Gally I've lived in the West but our working lives were mainly in the South East. We have friends in the South, but returning to the SE is not something we'd wish for, nor could afford.

It's great to get ideas from further afield.

Come to Fife then! Reasonably cheap property, lots to do, near to Edinburgh, plenty of space......................