WHERE TO LIVE NEXT ?

what I REALLY wanted was a retirement village with a community ....i.e. a restaurant, cafe, activities, even a swimming pool ....

There are developments like this, but they are the expensive ones. There is a retirement village near me that meets all those requirements, but the flats start at around £300,000 and go up quite a long way from there.

monica. Isn’t parachuting a tad adventurous for someone of 73?,

I was just going to suggest the very same thing MOnica.

Also, depending what your interests are, check out options to volunteer in areas you might like. For instance, my OH would volunteer at a steam train enthusiasts group if we had one near enough.

Or help out at a beautiful stately home, NT or English Heritage etc. Or help with physical work for a wildlife trust.

I too like Hollysteer and MellowYellow's suggestion of a flat in the town centre of a seaside town. So sad that you and your daughter are on non speaking terms. Have you got a dog? That would make a wonderful companion at home and when you are out and about.

I am not quite clear what you are looking for activity wise. Are you just expecting to parachute into a community and have all the activity come to you or do you have interests and hobbies where you can go out into the community and meet other people that share them.

When my parents were planning their retirement they went into the Library (before the internet) in every town they were thinking of moving to and checked out what societies and groups there were. Quite a number of towns got crossed off the list at that stage. Once they found the town with the right activities, they bought the house, joined the groups and had a very busy and social retirement. But you do need to do the leg work, metaphorically speaking, and at least now you can do all your research online.

The other group you might like to check off are Men's Shed's. Here is the link: menssheds.org.uk/ There may be one local to where you currently live.

Interesting suggestion from hollysteers because it's what I did after living in a retirement place (too sheltered) and a caravan (fun but not for ever) as the OP did. I don't have a car, so I chose a town centre flat in a coastal town. Lovely for shopping, buses and cafes. It's keeping me young!

I moved to the Midlands last year. Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, you can't beat them.

You can join the 50+Adventure club. Look it up. Or one of the thriving U3As.

I wish I'd made my way to Leicestershire years ago ?

What about a flat near the high street of a sizeable seaside town? You could walk to the high street for the cafes etc.
It is the wrong time due to Covid, to find out what is going on, but most towns have limitless opportunities. Usually so much you could do a different activity every day and night.