Town or country for retirement?

We moved from south Greater London to being a mile away from two small coast towns in the SE. We were in the middle near a park and 1/2 mile from the cliff top. Well situated in a cul de sac, with handy bus stop when I can no longer drive. The last few years my husband enjoyed exploring on his mobility scooter, often saying, what a lovely place to live. Sadly he has recently passed away but I am staying put. Such a friendly area, a small shopping centre easily accessible by car or bus ( for retail therapy) I’ve got room for the grandchildren to stay and the family are happy to travel. We had often visited the area so I think that was why we were confident to make the move.

I know what you mean, moleswife. For us, it was returning to our roots and wider family. the place that suited our work was not where I ever felt I belonged!

Moving doesn't necessarily mean moving away from the area you live in. It may mean moving from one part of an area to another. As I posted above I currently live in a reasonably well serviced village, but we may move within the village to a house with a smaller garden, or, if we want to be closer to all amenities, we may move into one of the three local small towns, all within 4 miles of the village and where, we already have friends and use regularly for a variety of reasons.

In fact making the choice between country to town. We retired to the country over 20 years ago and still live there quite happily, but may move to town if we become disabled or infirm.

I'm trying to downsize at the moment but village life has never appealed to me, though I do like the seaside. I plan to move from an inner London suburb to an outer London one. I don't drive and am on my own so my key criteria is being near shops and transport. Moving further out will ensure the area is more leafy. The only issue with my favoured area is that the hospital is a long way by public transport.

My parents moved in their mid-fifties from the outskirts of Derby to the idyllic middle of nowhere. They had few neighbours and had to drive five miles to a village shop, eight miles for a doctor or dentist or a supermarket. This was fine when they were fit and well but, as time went by, they began to need those everyday facilities nearer at hand but the idea of moving house also became more and more stressful.

So OP, a compromise would perhaps be a large village with a doctor and dentist, pharmacy, hairdressers, pub, cafe and a row of shops, with a town nearby. Sorted!

Just trying to decide the same thing ! Currently living in rural France ..............no transport, doctor over subscribed, hospitals nearest 15km, larger one 36km, University specialist hospitals, 110km Very very good health service for all our (unfortunately !) ailments .....but just this morning had to take OH (no longer allowed to drive) over 70km round trip ....and a ten minute appointment ! Plus more than 15 minutes trying to park ! Been looking at retirement flats in the UK (Newcastle Upon Tyne, or Whitley Bay) (just spent time there .....was wonderf ul ! transport on the doorstep, two large hospitals, the coast, shopping ....and the flats I looked at were marvellous, quite quiet set back from the roads...busses and cheap taxis everywhere ....called in at a local doctor (not decided where to live exactly, yet, so could not register) who said no problem, even with all our ailments, to register with the practice (the health care is a very large part of our concern). Would NOT live in a rural area again ....have to drive everywhere, where we live there is no transport system, taxis are quite expensive (220 Euros to the airport) there is no one to do odd jobs whatever, and husband can no longer speak French (or much English) due to his Parkinson's .....problem is, there are very few retirement flats that can take him owing to the illness ..............problem !! Could buy a little bungalow, but would prefer to live in some kind of 'community' with services, etc (and of course enormous charges if we could afford it ...........one retirement block, with services, a cleaner etc cost, in charges £6,888 per year (plus council tax, bill,s insurance, etc etc) and any care needed was extra ...........plus of course they are all leasehold and reduce in value very quickly (not that we have anyone but the cat s home to benefit when we are both gone !!) So think long and hard .....we , neither of us (he was a widower of 68 i was divorcee aged 54 when we married) had NEVER had one day off either school or work with any illness whatever .................and thought that would always be the case ! sadly not ...OH is now 85 and I am 71 this year .....................

I'm nearly 60 and DH just 66. We live on a farm in the heart of the countryside, about 3 miles from an A road down 3 narrow lanes, each one getting progressively smaller. It's then quarter of a mile down an unmade drive. It's idyllic and I love it....whilst we can still drive and shift snow when it's necessary. We can have things delivered but it would be very isolating in a bad winter if we couldn't get out under our own steam as we are well away from a bus route. Sadly, we are considering a move in the not too distant future but before it becomes a necessity and we will be looking at a house with a garden within walking distance of a town centre with all the amenities necessary as we get older. DH has lived here 60 years and I've spent my entire married life here - 37 years- so it'll be a huge wrench but you have to be sensible & plan ahead.

We chose to live where we love to be - in the countryside, in a village, clean air, lovely walks, friendly community. We have been here for 20 years and have no regrets, though we do need a car for shops, theatre, concerts, doctor and other things. Every choice has pros and cons - and every person has their own likes and dislikes, so no one else can really say what will work for you. We knew the time might come when we needed to be nearer doctor and shops, but decided to live the way we wanted till then. Its impossible to say others should do what we did! You know what matters to you most.
I agree with Maddyone that it might not work to move somewhere where you know no one and have to start absolutely from scratch.Good luck anyway!

So many different thoughts thank you all

We have decided to move to Devon next year when OH retires. We chose the area in or near Dawlish and Teignmouth for the surrounding countryside and facilities in Exeter which isn't too far away

Panache you’re right about rural living, it’s noisy with chickens, tractors & smells. No rural buses anymore ( so what happens when you can’t drive). No local shops (wow if you forget an ingredient & have to trail miles back to the town). I’ve just moved to Edinburgh for my retirement and loving every minute of it, free buses, loads of concessions, even the hairdressers. I’m 20 minutes walk from the nearest beach. I could go on o & on. I think the country is a foolish move for anyone about to retire.

I live in a fairly large village close to two large towns - good bus service, pubs, local shops and supermarkets, close to family and friends and a busy local community. We are very happy!!! We are very close to the country and some pretty villages but you need to get your car out to go to the doctors or supermarket. Don't rush into a decision - try staying in one of the pubs or locally to get an idea of what it would be like and what you want.

My late uncle married for the first time when he retired. He had always had his heart set on a small market town and he and his wife (a childless widow) moved there. It was fine at first when they could get out and about but eventually the garden was too big, wife didn't drive, there was a local surgery but the clinic for treatments was several miles away and the two nearest hospitals were each about 20 miles away, a problem when uncle was in hospital twice as aunt didn't drive and buses not convenient. Latterly, especially when uncle died, there was isolation.

Move to a town where there's a good hospital. Make sure you are walking distance from shops, Post Office, pharmacy, GPs, bus stop to get you to said hospital. We were in the middle of rural Northumberland when OH developed dementia, and then bowel cancer. He recovered from cancer, but ultimately died of his dementia. I insisted we move to the city as soon as his chemo was done. We moved to a smaller house, but in a leafy inner suburb with all the above facilities. It made life instantly easier. I was brought up in a small village, and I love them, but the rural idyll wears thin when you are faced with frailty. It can creep up on you with dementia/Parkinson's etc, or it can happen suddenly with a stroke or diagnosis of cancer.

Milkshake asked when to make the move.
IMO before it’s too late! Go whilst you maybe think you don’t need to. Then you will be able to cope with the move, settle in your new home and make a new life.
So many of my clients have left it too late and are stuck in a house that’s too big and too much bother and worry. Too expensive to maintain. They worry about losing the car, they worry about buying and driving a new car that they aren’t used to, in fact they worry about everything.
Go whilst you can.

Take into consideration how you will manage when you can no longer drive.

I live on the outskirts of a large, noisy city. Brought up in the country and for many years hated it. However, as a lot of posters have mentioned, there are some essentials there. Transport links are great, hospitals and facilities a free bus ride away, parks walking distance for the dogs, neighbours pleasant (hope they don't all move!), theatres, pubs, supermarkets, etc etc. Only downsides are crime (which you can get anywhere I suppose) and traffic noise. And family are far away. At least nobody can build by us because it's all built on already.... I know people whose idyllic country living has been spoilt by fields being turned over to housing.

As a lot of posts have already said, you need to try and future-proof your returement. We live in a small village with no public transport, and which has now seen its pub, post office and primary school close. We have lived here for about 20 years quite happily. Then, we had an unfortunate series of events, and for about 3 months neither of us was able to drive. We are now in the process of moving house, to the outskirts of a smallish town with hopper buses, dr’s, chemist, shops etc. It had not occurred to either of us quite how “stuck” we could be if unable to drive, as we had to get in the car for absolutely everything.

DH’s job took us from a village into London nearly 20 years ago. We still have friends there and visit once or twice a year, but it’s worrying too see them all beginning to struggle with the lack of facilities and transport, and their large gardens. One couple in particular, now aged 79 and 81, have both suddenly succumbed to serious health issues and I don’t know how they are going to manage. We want to downsize soon, but we’re not leaving London!

We spent 20 years living in one of the most switched on places in the world (Hong Kong, the city that never sleeps) and moved to our house in England 17 years ago. We look out onto fields and meadows, have to drive to the shops but we love it!

Think carefully before you move to your rural idyll! So many people who have lived in towns all their working lives move to their ideal setting and then can't cope with the different pace of life, the different noises (bells in the church clock, cocks crowing as soon as it's light - and sometimes before! - and so on!), the smells - yes, muck spreading is smelly! - perceived lack of amenities (we have one bus an hour!, some even less), distance to shops, hospital etc. and complain bitterly. This doesn't endear them to their new, longer established, neighbours.

As for 'clannish' communities, mentioned by an earlier poster, get involved! Join the WI, volunteer in a local venture (I volunteered for Riding for the Disabled, and our community shop), but don't knock it till you've tried to give it a chance!!

We always said when we bought a place together that it would be a country cottage surrounded by garden, roses around the door etc...shop, pub, church. Ideal we thought.

But as other have said, head ruled the heart when we chose our 'forever home' together. We needed facilities, theatres, parks, a choice of shops, bus stops nearby, a station in the town, restaurants, cafes, cinema, doctors, hospitals, sports facilities. We know from experience that having to drive to get a newspaper or a bottle of milk becomes a real bind after a while. The quiet and seclusion is lovely, but only in short doses. We both want to be in the thick of it all until we pop our clogs, or become immobile and needing care.

We found a lovely house in a busy market town, surrounded by open countryside and lots of pretty villages so we think we have the best of both worlds. The pretty cottage was a dream we happily waved goodbye to.

Humptydumpty. It's really a small town not a village. Rickmansworth Hertfordshire. Been here a year and absolutely love it. Today I did a 5 km walk around the lakes, popped into M and S for some food, had lunch in the pub and walked home. Hardly ever use my car since we moved.

It is a conundrum. Do we at some point when we get older relocate so we get easier access to facilities, be closer to family, have a better environment, or stay put in familiar surroundings amongst old friends and good neighbours??

I'm slightly baffled by the question. Obviously some people have specific reasons to move, to be near children etc, but it seems strange to me to contemplate moving just because one has retired.

Maybe we are lucky to live in the middle of a largish, busy, friendly village, with a small town 3 miles away, 3 cities within 15 miles and most of our children within striking distance.

Having lived here or hereabouts for most of our married life, it would seem a strange idea to leave it all behind just because we no longer work.

We've been wrestling with this dilemma for a few years. We currently live in a small market town within easy walking distance of shops, doctors, dentists etc and the nearest hospitals are either 9 or 14 miles in opposite directions. The motorway network is literally 5 minutes from our house and as my husband works an hours drive away we still need this until he retires. We both grew up in a seaside town on the east coast and his idyll would be to go back there. Although we both love the idea of a quaint village setting in the middle of the the countryside and did contemplate buying a new build in Lincolnshire a couple of years ago we quickly realised how impractical it would be as there were no amenities to walk to and we would have to drive to get anywhere. Having seen my parents go from sprightly 65 year olds who thought nothing of getting in the car and driving either up north to visit relatives or to the seaside we moved from to play golf to the infirm couple who could no longer even walk into town here and relied on us to do everything we realise we have to be practical and think of the future. We are contemplating buying a holiday home back by the sea to find out if it is where we want to be in years to come but he is already thinking about what would we do if one of us is ill - the hospital they fought for years to build back in the 60's is in crisis and most patients have to travel either 30 miles in one direction or 15 the other way, the town centre is not in walking distance although there are buses running regularly and the sea is actually nowhere to be seen unless you drive to it. For me I'm sure we'll end up staying here and downsizing to something more manageable in years to come but for now I'm going along with his dream