Which COUNTY/region would you live in, if not your own

I m lucky enough to live in North Yorkshire and I love it but would happily move to the Northumberland coast which is beautiful or further south Dorset perhaps

I love North Norfolk, the sea, countryside and the people but I think my heart is still in the East End in London!

merlotgran

Thank you, TerriBull. I’m off to iPlayer. 😂

I’m surprised they don’t have a small wind turbine or at least more efficient solar panels. I’m not surprised Nikki Chapman said she’d miss her hair straighteners! 😂

Lovely location but I’d miss Netflix! 😂

Yes I was carried away by the position and outlook, without factoring in every day practicalities, but that's Escape for you, it often sends me off into the realms of fantasy

We moved from wonderful Hexham in Northumberland to the Peak District to be nearer family. We’re both northerners so this is the furthest South we’ve ever lived ! The walking (which is my passion) is lovely and being near family is perfect. But we are a long way from the sea - our other passion being sailing - so have a boat on the west coast of Scotland which would have been our preferred place to live some years ago but not now we’re in our late 60’s ! We miss Hexham very much as it had everything you could possibly need and Northumberland is a beautiful and quiet county with excellent health care .However we have been warmly welcomed by our new community and made a lot of new friends . It is so much busier though !

Somewhere "towards" the west coast.
Almost certainly Wales.
I'd be fairly happy just a bit further west than I am though I think.

If I'm with my husband I could probably settle fairly easily. It would be different if I was alone.

Just realised you said a county...
Gwynedd maybe then...

Not surprised that my county crops up again and again. Norfolk has everything ….. fabulous deserted beaches, marshland, heathland, forests, ancient woodlands, The Broads.

We are famed for our “big skies” (especially in North Norfolk), we have no horrible motorways, our villages and market towns are beautiful and we are not densely populated.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be born and bred here.

Devon. I'm not that far from the Lake District so that would come a close second as I love it. But Devon for the climate, sea and way of life. It just seems different.

I would not enjoy the scenery living in the south east of the UK, as I find the landscape dull. I like mountains, or if not, big hills. If I had to leave Wales, I’d choose the Lake District, North Yorkshire, or Derbyshire. I like Scotland too, but further north the weather is even wetter and colder than it is in Wales.

Trouble with Norfolk is you have to travel a long way before you get out of it and on your way, to wherever. At least that’s what my friend who moved to N.orth Norfolk 30 years ago, says, but she woukdnt come back to our ridiculously busy, crowded, expensive part of the country, and is very happy there.
I would love to move away from the south east, somewhere quieter and beautiful, be a furriner in perhaps , but probably too late now, couldn’t face the stress of it all,

I missed out I woukd choose to be in Devon

be a furriner in perhaps 🙂

The Cotswolds.

Absolutely lovely and the people are so friendly.

silverlining48 - we would not go back to Norfolk either.
Have lived in lots of places both here and overseas. Norfolk was not for us, unfortunately.

We moved from Oxford to Stroud in the Cotswolds, biggest mistake ever! I had no idea just what a cultural resource Oxford was.
Despite its 'quirky' (groan) image, Stroud is a boring little town which people who grew up in it agree is now filled with second homers and ex-Londoners who have extended small cottages into gross, glass-filled monstrosities, filled the streets with Range Rovers and ensured locals can't afford decent houses!

I would love to live in Devon and Cornwall but they are no longer the joyful places I visited as a young person. Now, I'd go away from the south to somewhere north or east perhaps as far as Scotland though I would hate the weather up there.
Sadly, the UK is now very crowded and pretty villages often require a car to get to amenities including shops and medical facilities.

Irismarle

I live in Edinburgh which is a lovely city in lots of ways albeit usually chilly.
However, I’ve always fancied Somerset, Devon or Cornwall, but sadly I hear they hate incomers!

This isn't the case. There are large towns and cities in the south west where incomers are commonplace and welcomed with open arms. Exeter is a university city.

In more rural areas I think it depends on the incomer's approach. My friend moved to north Devon several years ago and has been welcomed into the community with open arms and we have found the same in Somerset.

If you go with the intention of joining in and of contributing to day to day life then you are very welcome. If you live part time, don't join in - well then you can understand how things might be more frosty.

Notagranyet24

We moved from Oxford to Stroud in the Cotswolds, biggest mistake ever! I had no idea just what a cultural resource Oxford was.
Despite its 'quirky' (groan) image, Stroud is a boring little town which people who grew up in it agree is now filled with second homers and ex-Londoners who have extended small cottages into gross, glass-filled monstrosities, filled the streets with Range Rovers and ensured locals can't afford decent houses!

I would love to live in Devon and Cornwall but they are no longer the joyful places I visited as a young person. Now, I'd go away from the south to somewhere north or east perhaps as far as Scotland though I would hate the weather up there.
Sadly, the UK is now very crowded and pretty villages often require a car to get to amenities including shops and medical facilities.

I've never understood why older people want to Escape to the Country where there's a bus service once a week, the village shop has closed and the nearest surgery is in a town miles away. What happens if/when you can't drive, I ask!

However, I’ve always fancied Somerset, Devon or Cornwall, but sadly I hear they hate incomers!
It's nearly 60 years ago that I was called a furriner and that was just one rude person, Irismarle, when I was applying for jobs. Unfortunately, he was in charge of recruitment for the large Council! People were welcoming and there has been an influx of furriners from many places since those days.

@Allira, l couldn't agree more with you. As we get older, it is more important for us to live somewhere that we can get to shops, doctors, church and other facilities easily. There may well be a time when we are no longer able to drive, and if we live in the middle of nowhere without a bus route, we would be stuck. I live in a smallish town (around 20,000 residents) and it is the ideal size for me. We have everything we need and there is a regular, hourly bus service, which I use quite often as it can be more convenient than driving. We also have some lovely countryside nearby.

Musicgirl
I live in a smallish town but there is no hospital within miles!

Musicgirl

@Allira, l couldn't agree more with you. As we get older, it is more important for us to live somewhere that we can get to shops, doctors, church and other facilities easily. There may well be a time when we are no longer able to drive, and if we live in the middle of nowhere without a bus route, we would be stuck. I live in a smallish town (around 20,000 residents) and it is the ideal size for me. We have everything we need and there is a regular, hourly bus service, which I use quite often as it can be more convenient than driving. We also have some lovely countryside nearby.

Agree with this Musicgirl. We moved from a small village (and a large house and garden) to a nearby town (smaller house and garden!) and have everything we need including all our old friends. If I had to choose another county it would be Northumberland.

Oxfordshire, where I spent so many long holidays with my godmother and Aunt. It’s changed since then though…
Also London.

I live in South Wales, always holidayed in Ceredigion so my second choice

Maybe Herefordshire for me?

A small city not too far from Wales, but in England. So I'd have the English NHS and not the Welsh one and reasonable access to the rest of the country.

During Lockdown - with the wierd way things were different in Wales to England (ie harsher here) = I never understood why that was the case for the life of me and the ideal position to be in would be a short walk one side of the border and then go out for things whichever side was easier to be in (was SO envious of people in a town that was divided between both areas and all the people had to do to be in England was literally cross the street). Mind you - it was a time when I was glad of the remoteness here - as that made life easier too (best party ever - with about 200 people at it - was when the Welsh restriction was 30 people).

So my ideal size place would probably be about 15,000-20,000 people with good public transport, ready access to countryside and seaside and good restaurants/shops.

Re earlier mention of Exeter - yep that is my city - where I have lived for most of my life - and I've never ever encountered any of us being discriminatory in any way against anyone (though there's lots of people that visit/study from other countries there) and others have commented to me how it's welcoming. Out in the countryside around and I'm more inclined to let it be known that I am a Devonian (though no-one has ever doubted it for a second despite me not having an accent)...but it's not the thing in Exeter to pay any heed whatsoever to that.