Holiday etc

[Catherine]

We have just come back from a good and bad week in the Cotswolds. On Monday we had the awful news that my nephew and his wife had lost their first baby two weeks before it was due. Terrible terrible news which put a sad edge to our holiday.

Then my knee flared up and any walking was difficult. More neurofen was needed. Hot baths etc.

Then things settled down the weather was brilliant so from Wednesday we were able to cycle (26.5 mile wednesday, and 19 miles on and off road) Friday) With a walk of 8 miles on Thursday.

Each night we sat at the end of the garden and watched the sun go down and the animal wild life get up. We saw foxes, and baders every night. The stars were magnificent.

Now we are back and thinking of next year.

Our veggie plot is looking really battered as they have had torrential rain here most of the week.

We would love to move down to the Cotswolds and live there but we have children and a grand child and my OH's business so for the time being it will be a dream for now. But may be in the near future we could look into doing it.

Niether of us are big shoppers or being in an area with lots of people so may be this is something we can eventually look at.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, so sorry to read of your bad news.

But always hold on to your dreams.

[alan refail]

Hi Catherine

Sorry to hear of your bad news.

I hope your dreams of retirement come to fruition. A few words of wisdom( ) from an old retiree for you to ponder on.

It's over 30 years since we were in the Costwolds, so none of my comments refer to that part of the world. I would advise anyone thinking to retiring to a place they have loved on holidays to spend a winter there (a couple of months or more) and see what it's like when there are no visitors. Is the area still alive or has it half closed down? I also reckon it's not a good idea to retire to a place which is popular with retired people, but a place that still has a real life day to day, not like the sad villages (parts of Cornwall and the Yorkshire Dales come to mind) where many/most of the houses are second/holiday homes. We moved to Penllŷn for that very reason; although it's an area where most of the work is in agriculture, tourism and construction trades and incomes are very low, people born here want to stay here. The result is that shops and services are open all year round (unless you want to do your weekly shop at the surf shops of Aber-soch). Perversely we also moved here specifically because we had never been here before in our lives! We did spend six months visiting and researching before we moved, though. A more specific reason for our decision was that Penllŷn was the most un-English place to be within 150 miles of Yorkshire where the family are.

[glallotments]

HI Catherine,
We spent last week in the Cotswolds too but haven't managed to visit the plot yet due to poor weather - maybe today.

Very lucky with the weather the week we had away too.

[Johnboy]

Hi Alan,
You are so right. Some friends decided that the Forest of Dean was for them. They visited the house that they eventually bought at weekends only and it was at a crossroad on a hill with a stop sign just under their bedroom window. Their first night in the property at half past four in the morning they were woken by a heavily laden lorry stopping and then pulling away in first gear which literally shook their house and a succession thereafter until about mid morning. It took nearly six years to sell the property and move elsewhere and in all that time they were perpetually woken up even over the weekends every night. They became snowed in and were very happy to be so because it was so quiet.
You should always really do your homework before you even consider buying any property.
JB.

[JohnN]

Hi Catherine,
I agree with all that has been said, but it's not only the "physical" problems of where you move to.
When I retired 12 years ago we thought about moving to somewhere we'd enjoyed as visitors, but finally stayed where we had been for 38 years, and haven't regretted it.
People are more important than places and when you've lived a long time in a place you build up a network of friends and acquaintances that offer an entertaining social life. When you move you have to start all over again among people who already have their circles of friends, and it's very difficult to join, or "break into", established groups. And time is not on your side!
If you do really dislike your present home/location, consider moving to somewhere where there are plenty of incomers like yourselves, who welcome new arrivals into their social circles.
North Norfolk is very nice, the natives are very friendly and there are lots of retirees around. Parts of the south coast are good (Brighton, Seaford, Bexhiil, though a bit like Gods Waiting Room). From visits to stay with friends in the Cotswolds I've always thought it a bit too posh on the one hand, and very insular on the other.
Good luck!

[Primrose]

There's a lot to be said for staying put in retirement. I've learned that lesson from my parents who retired to a delightful village near Beachy Head on the South Coast. Whilst they had an active retirement in their earlier years, their village shop and petrol station closed, and it was a 7 mile drive to shop , get fuel, visit the doctor, chemist or library. And when my father had to stop driving -(my mother never drove), they were utterly isolated. As they'd moved 100 miles away from where I lived, I found myself commuting most week-ends to shop and cook for them. (This was before the days of internet shopping for food). They found they had grown too old to cope with moving back nearer to civilisation and it was a nightmare all round. Chocolate box villages can be hell in winter and in old age. Best to stick with a reasonable compromise nearer to where you live which offers all the convenient facilities you will need as you age.

[Catherine]

Thank you for all your comments it has been really interesting what everyone else thinks about moving away from the area you live in to start afresh.

I have always grown up with moving house as my father moved regularly with his job. My first move was when I was five years old which was really quite traumatic. After that I moved 10 more times until I am now living where we are having married for a second time in 1994. I do like the house and area but after coming back from a holiday cottage in a very quiet village with a large garden, where we could sleep with our windows open all night, we are home where the cars start passing at 5am on their way to the motor way and they are continual. Sometimes we cannot get out of our drive because people wont stop long enough for you to reverse out or even turn up our drive.

We are in a rural area with fields in front of our house and two minutes away from no houses, so I should not complain.

I would move any where any time but my OH is a star sign of Cancer which I believe is a home bird, he has only ever lived in three houses so he is quite happy to live here. He just wants a larger garden

We will just have to see what happens as we are not near retiring age yet.