Where I live

I live on the outskirts of a once flourishing historic market town south of London on the road to Canterbury and the coast. It’s fairly run down now but in its heyday a King of England married by proxy in our local church on the way back from France in the middle ages.
My house is also Edwardian with about 10 others of differing sizes and styles along the road leading to 30 hectares of common which has been useful during Covid to have a walk and enjoy the flora and fauna. In fact it’s surprisingly lovely and would be peaceful were it not for the sound of thundering traffic nearby. There are no houses opposite it’s open land with a golf club.

I have lived here fir many years but only know my neighbours either side. Some of the houses are empty due to people dying or moving away. Most of us are older with only one couple with a child but plenty of children pass by on their way to school. It’s a pity they leave so much litter behind them. We often go litter picking along the road and the common. It’s actually quite enjoyable. I do hate litter.

The town is about a mile away badly affected by competition from very large shopping centre nearby; I don’t go often. London about 15 miles but station a mile away with no public transport and train takes up to an hour so though on my doorstep I rarely go. My idea of a good day out is the seaside, an hour or so away. Oh yes, I really do like to be beside the seaside.

.

Same place as you Grannyactivist!

I live in a seaside town on the edge of a national park. My house is a bungalow in a street with bungalows down one side of the road only. There are no odd numbered houses in our street as the houses on the other side were never built. Our windows look out across the road and up on to the moor. We know everyone in our street and many people in local streets by name.

We live on a hill and it's a 5 minute cycle downhill to the beach for a swim. Uphill all the way back takes 20 minutes. Almost everyone has at least one dog...it's good walking country.

We are 40 miles from the nearest big town and transport links are almost non existent. Our district has the poorest social mobility of any area in Britain. There is a fantastic farmer's market in town each week and most people are in clubs, societies or volunteer in the community in some way. Community spirit is very strong. People love the cheer and bustle when the holiday makers arrive in spring and heave a sigh of relief when they leave us to it in autumn. It is not smart, posh or chichi here at all but it is a beautiful, friendly and gentle place to live. I'm older and love it here but can see why the young people leave only to return when they have little ones of their own.

I live in a Salt Town near the M6. Not smart, not anything really but growing. The canal boats and canal walks are popular. Lots of community stuff going on. A few quirky shops, good schools and good pubs...

My house is an end of a terrace of 7 houses, built in 1894. We are on a canal bank, the canal, or river, as we call it, is immediately opposite our front door, and we are about 200 yards away from the main road, 5 minutes by car to the town centre. When we moved here, in 1985, ours, and next door, were the only cars along here. Now it`s a job and a half fo folk to park, there are cars along the fronts of the houses, and on the river bank, which was once green, but now muddy.
The town, which people once used to come to on coach trips for shopping, especially on market days, is sadly depleted for shops, a bit of a ghost town now. We have a very high E. European population here, and when shops do get taken on again, they become E.European food shops, phone shops or charity shops.

I live in the Brewing Capital of the World. We have 21 brewers in the town and it is a fact that breweries around the world will ‘Burtonise’ their water before brewing.
It is a very industrial town which has a mix of cultures which is wonderful.
My house is on a new development of 130 houses and it is smack bang next door to out towns football ground. Our factory is just 1 mile from our house which is brilliant in the winter as we can always get to work!
I love my town and serve on our parish council and work hard to do the best for all of my neighbours in our parish.
What a lovely thread, I have enjoyed telling you all about my wonderful town.❤️

We live in what was a village about equidistant between Southampton and Winchester, new housing is encroaching, which is fine, unfortunately the infrastructure is not keeping pace.
We know many people and have a connected neighbourhood and a community pub. Shops, including the post office and chemist are 10 minutes walk as are bus stops, GP surgery 20 minutes walk. A large school from nursery to seniors. Plenty of green space still with woods and a river. I’ve lived here for over 35 years, my children were born here, one at home, I’m comfortable in this community and feel safe.

You say you live in a small seaside town but I'm still surprised that you know so much about who lives in what.
I live in a coastal town which I love but I don't know many people even though I've lived here many years

Lovely to read your posts.

lemsip I’ve lived in my house for 24 years and we’re really quite neighbourly. ?

Josianne….I’ve read a few of your posts and I did wonder. Aren’t we the lucky ones!

I live in a small town (just under 2000 people) in western Canada. We are about an hour's drive from the nearest large city. Our area is a transition zone between the plains and the boreal forest, and there's a lot of unspoiled wilderness around. We can drive just a few hours and find amazing scenery.

The population of Canada is much lower than that in the UK, but we have much more land. One of the provinces in the part of Canada where I live is 20% larger than France, but has a smaller population than the city of London. (I am quite serious.) My FIL came to visit us and was absolutely gobsmacked.

lemsip I ve lived in this house for nearly 40 years, apart from my immediate neighbours I have no idea who or what anyone else is I would have no idea what jobs they have or who owns, or rents their houses
You are not alone ?

I concur with grannyactivist that some towns are maybe more friendly and community minded than others. We moved just before the pandemic struck but during that time have got to know all about people in our area ...... (whose dog we look after, bake cakes for, swap plants etc.) In these two years living here I know more about people's lives than I ever did in 12 years in London. We live in a detached house and are properties are spaced out, so in terms of proximity we should know less about people, but it doesn't work that way. Maybe I just want to embrace everything about people in my retirement, or maybe I've just turned more nosy!?

Yes grannyactivist, everything one could wish for., though several on here sound lucky as well. Great thread, hope it grows.

Our large, not very pretty, village was originally a farming community but gradually became more industrialised. We are 3 miles from a small town with a very successful university and 10/15 miles from 3 cities.

There is a river/ canal in the valley and an ancient forest about 3 miles away so lots of opportunities for walks. We still have farms on the edges of the village but we also have lots of modern houses built on farm land. We could do with another doctor's surgery and are promised a new school.

We live near to the High Street in the Victorian Board School and the partners of 2 of our children were taught here. Because of our proximity to the village centre, our road is quite busy but our neighbours are all very friendly and we get together with our close neighbours quite often.

Pre covid, activities in the village were organised by 'the Old guard' but the younger people really stepped up and set up all sorts of brilliant things and have made the village a vibrant place.

We see lots of life passing our windows and love living here.

I live in a beautiful town, a well known tourist destination with much open space. Sadly many of the shops have closed down taking away the character of the town. However we are still well supplied with cafes and restaurants. There is an insane amount of house building going on and I have no idea how the towns schools, surgeries and roads are going to cope ! Personally I would love to see the town centre a private car free zone (except disabled) as we are rather overrun with enormous four wheel drive vehicles ….often parked badly !
I have excellent neighbours in my cul de sac and I live 10 minutes pleasant walk from the town centre. There are several tennis golf and bridge clubs and a good Adult Ed centre.
It is a great place to live….in god’s own county?

I moved into my new home two weeks ago and for the first time in my life I am living somewhere that could never be described as beautiful. There is so much of my old life I miss but there was no way I could continue living in an isolated location after DH died. My family was quite prepared to drag me kicking and screaming to live near them so I gave in without a struggle

But....I have quickly come to realise that being welcomed into a kind and caring community more than makes up for my lack of a wonderful view. Neighbours (a new experience for me) have called round or put cards through the door. I've had offers of help from complete strangers, workmen have gone above and beyond and I do have a lovely garden.

A part of me will always ache for East Anglian skies but right now I wouldn't change a thing.

Apart from the bl**dy traffic!

merlotgran, I hated the (lack of) view when we moved here. There's just a long garden, service road - then gardens/houses backing on to it. Since then, I've planted six trees and a row of Pampas grass - so now I look out at a woodland!

I live under those East Anglian skies merlotgran so can understand what a wrench it must have been to leave them.
We retired to this little village near the coss

Pressed too soon!
We retired to this little village near the coast five years ago. Almost everyone has retired here but there is one old lady now widowed who came here when she married over sixty years ago.
The housing is mainly red brick and flint cottages and some larger houses with pan tiled roofs, most red some black. There are half a dozen sixties bungalows and our contemporary style house was converted out of one of them before we bought it. Red brick and flint with red pantiles.
It’s a farming village and we have fields all around. It’s very quiet as there are no young children and little passing traffic apart from tractors.
Everyone relies on a car as there are no buses within walking distance, nor any shops. The nearest small market town is five miles away and the health centre there is very good. There is a cottage hospital about ten miles away. En route to the town there is a marvellous farm shop and delicatessen.
Our village is one of the designated ‘dark skies’ villages in the area, meaning there are no street lights and no development causing light pollution is permitted. This means that on a clear night the stars are wonderful.
I feed the birds every day and love watching them. We have a regular visiting gull and many more flying over. In autumn and winter we see huge skeins of Canada geese who overwinter on the salt marshes and enjoy eating the tops of the sugar beet left in the fields after harvest.
It’s beautiful walking territory, quiet lanes and very flat so you can see for miles. Most people have dogs.
People are friendly and there is a good community spirit with activities centred on the little village hall and the Church, a lovely medieval building.
We love it here as do the many holidaymakers who come to the area. We used to be amongst them and dreamed of living here one day.

After a few months of gransnet this thread and the 'what's great about Britain' thread are my favourites. I am so enjoying reading about where you all live and how you live - it satisfies the nosy parker in me perfectly.

Writing about where I live made me even more grateful for my blessings. Thank you so much grannyactivist for this clever and interesting thread idea.

I now live in a beautiful semi-detached new-build in a very small village, where we lived previously for over 30 years. We had 6 years in a bungalow in a nearby village when my OH was ill. Since he died I have moved back to the village where my heart lies and where my friends are.

The new-build is a gem - on a small semi-circle 7 of houses round an oak tree. The view from the back of the house is sublime (and the same view as we had when we lived here before) - I have my bed up on bed-raisers so that I can sit in bed in the mornings with a cup of tea and soak in the view. The house is extraordinarily well-insulated and needs little heat; and it is well sound-insulated - I cannot hear my neighbours at all.

The village has:
-a Knights Templar church - a real gem with fabulous acoustics.
- a state-of-the-art Passiv house village hall which costs zilch to run.
- a small primary school (where I am governor)
- a pub
- common piece of land and wood - a lovely place to walk
- a bus 3 times a week, which heads to town over the hill where there are fabulous 360 degree views.

I am surrounded by fields and hills - my own little piece of paradise.

All the new neighbours in the close are very friendly indeed and very helpful - I have yet to put my bin out - someone always does it for me - I don't know who! And last night we all met under the oak tree for sparklers and sausage rolls.

I have loads of friends here and village life is very active indeed - book club; a group of women who get together and do good things in the village (like pixies!); endless events like harvest supper, Christmas window decorating, summer fun day on the common; folk concerts in the church; village panto, singing group (that I run); coffee mornings; croquet on the common; lots of school events to which the community is welcomed; pub quiz; indoor swimming pool in a castle 5 minutes away. Something happening most days. And that for me is the joy - the views are wonderful and to be treasured, but it is the people and the village life that make living here so special.

I am a very Luckygirl!

We live in S W Wales just 3 minutes walk from the sea. We can’t see it but we can hear it and smell it. Just a little enclave of houses on a private road , all detached with large gardens. 10 minutes walk to the village, station, doctor and dentist etc. I can’t really describe our house as it is very distinctive and would pin point us immediately to anyone in the area. Lovely quiet place and super friendly Welsh people

Let's hear from some city dwellers - we live in lovely places too!

I'm in London next to the Thames and love it to bits - I try to walk everywhere but public transport, free from the age of 60, is excellent. In my immediate area there are all sorts of restaurants, bars, delis, and services like GP, dentist, pharmacy. Within 25 minutes walk I can be at major museums and galleries, passing wonderful modern and classical architecture. After a night out in the West End I can be home in half an hour.

I'm in a modern development, ground floor flat with a private garden - few minutes one way is a council estate, few minutes the other way are multi-million £ properties - we're talking 10s of millions in some cases. I'm on friendly terms with some of the long-term neighbours, but being London there are many transient residents who come and go, whom I'm on nodding terms with.

The noise, bustle & sirens are a price worth paying as it suits the lifestyle I love. There are lots of quiet places though, including walks along the Thames, mostly on the southside, away from the traffic.

What a fascinating thread Grannyacti -vista

I live in the centre of a small town 10 miles south of Edinburgh, surrounded by pubs, cafes, a church, sheltered housing and the town hall. Once a papermaking and mining village it expanded in the 1960s to accommodate city workers and became a dormitory town. The trains have gone (Beeching cuts) but there are buses every 10 minutes.
The old railway lines form a cycle and walking routes and I have cycled to the seaside in my time
In recent years housing estates and shopping centres have been built between here and the city so the commute takes twice as long..

The services for all these new homes have not caught up and I pity the school and doctors who have to adapt.

Where I am is a close community of many nationalities and I know most people.
My 200yr old house is too big for me now that I am alone so I know I will have to move sometime. Merlotgran

There are still retired miners and even streets named for the Irish migrants who came in the 1930s (Dublin and Glasgow!)

There are clubs and societies galore but we miss the banks (one has lately become a food bank) and there are no longer many shops though initiatives by the development trust have led to the opening of 3 community run shops, a paper museum and the restoration of remaining old buildings.

I can be in open country and farmland in 10 minutes.

The young people move away but some come back -apart from mine.

Grammaretto I like what you did there. ????

Thanks for your posts, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading about where you live. I was prompted by the thread about downsizing, that got me thinking about how much I appreciate where I live.

Now I’m thinking about neighbours - I may have to start another thread because I don’t want to hijack this one, but I’m interested in the topic.