Where I live

This is a beautiful thread, I’ve so enjoyed reading it and trying to guess where you all live!

I live in NE Scotland, in a farming village of about 125 houses, mostly scattered over a wide area. Half of the houses are probably traditional, the rest, like mine, are newer. When we moved here, 25 years ago, we had a church, school, shop and post office, all of which I used, apart from the church (and even then I attended for school events). We now have none of those. However, people have stepped up to keep a community spirit going and the village hall has been refurbished with air source heating, double glazing etc and is now being used more often.

We loved it here from the moment we moved in, when we arrived in a snow storm in December with a family inc a small baby. Immediately, I was invited into a neighbour’s house to keep warm while the removal men did their job and that Christmas we were inundated with invitations to parties, cards, welcome to your new home gifts and so on. It’s not sustainable for us to stay here forever, though, as it’s four miles to the nearest services and there is no public transport. Also, all of our children have spread their wings and gone elsewhere, only one remains in Scotland, so one day we’ll need to confront that issue.

It’ll be a wrench, though. From the front of our house we have a glorious view of fields, woodland and mountains, while to the back, we have neighbourliness and a bit of coming and going to remind us of life. These days, we see a lot of the neighbours dogs, which is lovely!

Merlotgran it’s nice to see you, I noticed you’d not been around on the threads I visit lately. I hope you settle into your new home - I must admit, I’m a bit of an East Anglia/Essex fan myself. Not the conurbations but those wide open spaces.

Quite understandably many posters want a degree of anonymity otherwise it would good to have a go at "name my village, town area" from the information supplied. Nevertheless, it's a very nice thread reading the descriptions of where posters live and describing their individual homes and localities.

We moved this year, I loved where we lived before right next to The Thames on the edge of London close to a Royal Park complete with deer and a large town just up the road, so great shopping, but oh the traffic we do notice it when we go up there along with 20 miles per hour restrictions which inevitably causes congestion. Traffic is somewhat sparser down beyond the M25.

Having said that love it where I am now too. We'd been scouting around this town and a few others as a potential place to move for about five years or so, had one house purchase fall through a couple of years ago. I think we picked well. Bearing in mind there is a thread mooting the fact that retirees should be downsizing, that was our motivation and to release some money, but somehow or other we ended up with an extra bedroom, more square footage and a bigger garden, so I'm ashamed to say it was a bit of an upsize side size. Anyway, we need the space because now we are a bit further away from family and friends, they need to stay over, well that's my excuse.

We are just outside a lovely market town on the Surrey/Sussex borders and although further away from London out local town has a great mix of some really old buildings and the new. It has everything we need and more, John Lewis Home, big Waitrose and Sainsburys, Marks, an Everyman Cinema, a Theatre, plenty of nice clothing outlets, Crew, Sea Salt, Joules, Hobbs etc. more importantly my favourite store of all Waterstones. Lots of eating places, coffee shops galore....... high street banks! all of them still there! probably not for long at the rate they are disappearing.

Beautiful countryside around, can still see the Surrey Hills and the south downs just a few miles away and the coast beyond. We've had lovely sunny weather this week so it's been nice to get out and see the changing Autumn leaves. This morning we went to our local country park and walked round the lake appreciating the trees and water fowl.

Merlot all the best in your new home.

I live in a suburb in the east Midlands with great transport links in each direction. It's not a very pretty neighbourhood but there's a nature reserve by the river and a 'castle' in our nearest large city. It's a good shopping area with a lot of choice and there's the usual cinemas and theatres.

I think it's quite a friendly place and have great neighbours. If I became a millionaire (ha! ha!) would I move? I quite like where I am and don't think I'd want to start again somewhere else but that's just me - perhaps I've become a stick in the mud but that's my choice.

North Antrim, five minutes walk from the coast which is great for walks.. We watch the sun setting over the hills from our upstairs bedroom, and follow its progress through the year. We've seen some amazing sunsets. I think those are the pluses of where I live. I love our little semi. But there's no neighbourliness whatever.?

We live on the western edge of the West Midlands conurbation. They call it the Black Country. It is now post industrial and becoming greener by the week.

To the east, we have all the shopping anyone could want in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry. Excellent public transport to all parts of the country via several means; trains within walking distance, buses pass the end of the close every few minutes and trams also every few minutes.

To the west, we have the Shropshire hills and valleys, with the countryside of South Staffs and also North Worcestershire within easy reach.

Our GP surgery is in the next street, local shops within a few hundred yards and some very good eateries not too far away. There's a stately home (now uninhabited, I should add) where extensive parkland designed by Capability Brown is freely open to the public. As the Earl's riches were built on the backs of local labour, it seems fitting that their children's children should reap at least some benefit from our ancestors' toil.

This has always been 'home' to me.

Blinko, you know they have built a designer outlet village off the M6 toll too? also you know there is a poem about the Earl and the end of the industry? IT'S HERE

I recognise a lot of descriptions off this thread as we have moved around a lot. I live in the middle of nowhere

I live a few miles away from kitty in the small university town she mentioned.

When we came back from Holland we could choose where we wanted to live - back to London where we still had a house or where we are.

We chose this area because it is a small town surrounded by lovely countryside. The roads are still relatively quiet and the town offers all we could want.

The view from our windows is over the hills and woods.
The town market was voted the best in the country a while ago and I love the diverse characters who live here.
When I pop into town I often meet people I know and if I want countryside there are fields at the end of our road.

We have two buses into town every half hour and there are good hospitals within half an hour. There is also a fast train to London.

Pleased to hear you are settled Merlot it must have been quite an upheaval.

After reading the nice comments about lovely neighbours I think I had better pack up and move.

We live in a suburb of Birmingham. We have been here over 40 years and have no wish to move. We had the same neighbours for 40 years until the house next door was sold recently. The new neighbours seem nice and are very quiet. Our house is a small, semi in a fairly long road. We have a long garden and directly at the back of the house is a canal. There is a large willow tree on the canal bank which gives us a lovely outlook.
We are within walking distance of supermarkets, bus stops and a railway station. Birmingham city centre is a short drive away, and so are 3 small towns. We have a diverse mix of families in our road and the area is very quiet.
There is some lovely countryside and National Trust properties not too far away. It suits us (although my friend who lives in Devon says she feels sorry for us living in Birmingham ).

I live in a 1970's semi with a green opposite in a small triangle of houses in a large town in North Essex.
Our house is a stone's throw from the town park which contains a Roman Wall, a Norman Castle and has a river flowing through it. The town centre is the other side of the park.
We are within walking distance of everything we need but it is amazingly quiet most of the time.

I live in a converted Victorian stable yard which sits round a courtyard and is surrounded by gardens and paddocks. It still has a wing of stables with beautiful ironwork and some of the bedrooms have lovely round windows. We moved here for the equestrian facilities over 20 years ago but also fell in love with the gardens. We are 2 miles from the little riverside town and depending on where I am I can see the Malvern Hills, Bredon Hill or the Cotswolds in the distance. It's a very friendly area with some farms, small holdings, a few houses (mostly Victorian or older) and a couple of 70's bungalows. I know everyone and have some good friends locally. Most people have dogs and we have lots of footpaths. Despite being rural we are not isolated, although public transport is pretty non existent, we have good road and rail links and easy access to several large towns/cities. Our GP surgery is outstanding! I can't imagine living anywhere else although my husband wants to downsize as the place is bigger than we need and I keep my horse on livery now.

Good to hear you both like your new home Merlotgran and Luckygirl

We moved here about 8 years ago, for various reasons, and chose carefully. We downsized from a 5 to a 3 bedroomed house, though there is a downstairs room with loo and shower which could become a bedroom if required. Two of our bedrooms are our studies.
It is an 8 minute walk to the town centre, 10 minutes back as it is slightly uphill, so I may catch the bus if I have shopping to carry. The town has an independent Greengrocer, butcher, baker, handyman shop, small department store, two small supermarkets in the centre and two on the edges, plus a couple of convenience stores, weekly market and monthly farmers’ market, post office, library, health centre, two chemists, card shops, dry cleaners, gift shops, endless hairdressers, nail bars, coffee shops and eateries. The banks have all closed. Parking can be tricky as people drive in from housing estates and nearby villages.
Transport links are excellent. Buses every 10 or 15 minutes into the city, train to the city or to another larger town on the East Coast main line. Easy 20 minute drive to two major national routes. And only 10 minutes to my daughter. A long way from the coast, but some lovely countryside around.

In many ways it is a good community, lots of clubs and organisations, leisure centre and a new one being built. A group of helpers did a sterling job during the pandemic and one lady still carries on organising various trails for families ( scarecrow, Halloween etc) The health centre is inadequate for a growing population, as are the schools. There is a certain unruly element, young lads riding bikes through the pedestrian area or in the middle of the road, and an increasing amount of minor crime, especially as there is no police station.
Our house is on a road parallel to the main road( there is a by pass, so it is only local traffic) and 100 m from the bus stop. We only know the immediate neighbours, but it is a community of all age groups. I enjoy watching the world go by, and am glad we chose this house rather than one we looked at nearby in a dull cul-de-sac.

We lived in a nearby village for 25 or so years then upped sticks to France for three years, came back and bought this semi derelict old farmhouse four years ago, now a well insulated, warm and spacious property. Only a few miles from where we were so we know almost everybody. We are not so involved in village life now we’re out in the sticks.
Just mix with old friends in each others homes or gardens.
Have half of our family nearby and pre covid had lots of friends from far corners of the earth to stay.
We have a good sized garden with trees that grow straight up, very unusual for Anglesey, thanks to the care of previous generations.
We recently acquired a neighbour who purchased the even more derelict house next door. She’s very nice, has a huge amount of work for a single person.
We’re a mile from the beach, the terrain is slightly hummocky so nice for walks. Surrounded by sheep and cattle, a few horses here and there.
We’re now closer to another village with a pub but we haven’t tried it out yet.
We’re only about 5 miles to decent shops and 6 or 7 in either direction to a touristy beach with lots of restaurants and cafes.
We can see the sea from our windows and at night the twinkling lights of Holyhead and the ferries crossing to Ireland.
There is a bus passing twice daily but again we haven’t tried it out.
While we’re fit and healthy we may stay a while longer and enjoy ourselves here but on the other hand the idea of a lock up and leave type of flat and a bolt hole in the sun has been discussed recently.
I’ve enjoyed a little peep in to other lives. Especially city life which I haven’t experienced for many years.

I live in Greater London, it ok, I live in a long road of 1930's terraced and semi houses. It has no nice views, and is typically Suburban. We are near a Park, a School, and we have good transport links. I have local shops and towns nearby.
It's a bit soulless in my opinion but suits all my needs. I can be in Central London by train in 30 minutes, the coast in a hour. I drive and have motorways nearby.

We live in a modern house in a medium sized village.
Semi rural and on the edge of a forest, that was extremely well visited from far and wide during the lockdowns.

The village's claim to fame was that it was once for a very short time the Capital of England.
We have a Norman Church a which has arrow sharpening marks on its outer walls.
The church is what you see first from most directions as you enter the village.
It looks lovely when lit up at night.

Our road is quite long, but because of an odd layout there is only 6 houses in our little bit.
Our neighbours are lovely.

We live a hop step and a jump from a picturesque canal and not far from the river.

On the canal we have a lovely Swan family and a whole host of water birds both on the canal and the river.
We have a large Wednesday and Saturday Market and once a month farmers market.
We don't have a livestock Market now, so longer see people getting on the train at our little station clutching Carriers with live chickens.
However we do still have auctions at the market and have featured on several antique programmes.

In spring we are visited by Mr and Mrs Duck who seem to enjoy snoozing under our Cherrytree.
We also have a partridge that I think is in hiding from the local shoot.

I know that I am not alone, when I say that we are so lucky to live here (21 years),
The same is often said by others on our village facebook.
Along with beautiful photos.

What I am most proud of his how the villagers came together during the pandemic.
Our Methodist minister was truly wonderful opening up the Church Hall for sewing machines and the machinists to make PPE and masks .
Organising food and medicine deliveries.
And does countless other things to help anyone in our village and surrounding villages.
She is one inspirational lady who is still providing help where needed.

I could go on but don't want to jinx it

Terraced house small village in Scotland

We live in Yorkshire in a Victorian house that’s part of a conservation area a 15 minute walk from the City centre.

We have a beautiful walled garden that’s private, the house is full of original features and is over 3 floors.

We are in two minds wether to stay or sell and move closer to the Yorkshire Dales where we have a holiday let, the thought of another move is daunting.

What an interesting thread but I am beginning to feel like a stalker.
Am trying to work out if I live very close to one of the posters!
Well I know I do but haven’t worked out if she is east or west.

I live 15 minutes from that designer outlet janejudge,tbh,it`s not that great.imo.

Great thread, I love hearing where everyone lives.
agnurse Canada sounds fantastic, I've always wanted to go there
Luckygirl so pleased you are happy in your new home, you have been through such difficult times.

I live in a small pretty village in SW France, no other English people here permanently. We have great neighbours always ready to help. It's very quiet, no public transport and very little traffic apart from tractors. The commune keeps the area clean and tidy, everyone has animals chickens, horses, sheep, dogs etc it's a delight to be here. Just a niggling concern about what will happen if we are unable to drive.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202111/medium-250545-62da7b93-f05d-4c7a-b2bd-03b95b75290e.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202111/medium-690619-d15058df-27bf-4e5d-8b49-1a29f983b08d.jpeg

Not where I live now but only about 30 miles away. The house was a six bedroomed guesthouse in the summer and me and my brother slept in garden sheds, literally! My dad sold that house in the late 60s for £6000, the beach is where myself and my brother used to go every day in the summer, jumped over the wall from the house ran down the fields and spent glorious summer days on that beach. It’s where I’m being scattered ?

We live in a large post industrial northern city - recently named the greenest in the country. We certainly have more than our fair share of wonderful green spaces. We used to live in a suburb four miles from the city centre, but moved about eleven years ago to an estate of modern houses on the edge of the city. We belong to one county, but if we fell out of bed and rolled a few yards down the road, we would be in another!? Rather than “little boxes on a hillside” the houses here are all different in size and in design, and it’s a very pleasant place to live with a good mix of age groups. Our immediate neighbours are a lovely young couple with small children, other neighbours have school age children and there are retired couples like ourselves. Transport links into the city are very good, with both tram and bus having frequent services. It used to be a coal mining area but there is little evidence of that now apart from odd bits of preserved industrial architecture, like the old winding engine house deep in a local woods which is in the process of being restored.

Our estate was built on land that was once a farm, and many of the old fruit trees have been retained as part of the landscaping. We are, in fact, surrounded by farms and arable land so we enjoy seeing the farming year go round; wooded valleys, with miles of walks from the front door (I said I wouldn’t move to anywhere we couldn’t find a good walk without taking the car out), and a lovely country park, also built on a former mining site, with lots of wildlife, and activities available for energetic types! The next village to us has a Norman church that was dedicated in 1100 AD. It has a wonderful original Norman arched door. Perhaps I ought to stop marvelling at the outside and get to know more about what goes on in the inside!

It has been modernised somewhat since dad sold it…

Like agnurse, I am in western Canada, but on the north coast of BC. The town has a population of around 12,000, and the nearest town is 140 km away, so we are quite self sufficient. We are surrounded by the ocean and coastal rainforest, and yes, we do get a lot of rain.

My street overlooks the harbour, which is major hub for imports and exports with cargo ships. This was once known as a fishing and canning town, with many people working in the industry. Unfortunately the fishing industry is now very small, supporting only a small portion of the local population. The main industry is the container port, grain elevator and coal exporting facility. It is very much a working/transportation hub, but we do have access to pristine forest and coastal waters.

Our street is mainly 70's era housing, most quite plain, but multi-storied to take advantage of the harbour views. There is the odd craftsman-style of house built in the early 1900's, and most houses are made with wood. I believe there are only 5 houses in town made with brick.

We have a good local bus system, and it takes me only 15 minutes to walk to downtown. A lot of shops have closed over the last 20 years like so many small towns everywhere, so on-line shopping makes up for any shortfalls, but most basics can be purchased here.

We have a wonderful community, with many clubs and organizations, and live in a nice neighbourhood where we know almost everyone. Sometimes I long for a larger community and not to be so isolated, but we are able to take our vacations to get a taste of city life if needed.