I’m lucky because

[Londonscottish]

I'm lucky because, although I live in London Zone 2, Gladstone Park is just a few hundred yards away. It's 86 acres of well-looked-after land. One side is flat and laid out for sports, the other part rises up a steep hillside with some great views from the top. There are some beautiful old trees up there but also a lot of younger ones that have been planted over the last 5-10 years. More recently they've started re-wilding some large sections which is great to see.

My son learnt to play rugby there, my family have all done the Parkrun 5k in it - well all expect me. I'm in it running or walking most days of the week, though and often bump into people I know.

I know it can't compete with some of the amazing places on this thread, but it's still great to have a big chunk of tranquility on the doorstep.

 

[Darrell]

I'm lucky because, although I live in London Zone 2, Gladstone Park is just a few hundred yards away. It's 86 acres of well-looked-after land. One side is flat and laid out for sports, the other part rises up a steep hillside with some great views from the top. There are some beautiful old trees up there but also a lot of younger ones that have been planted over the last 5-10 years. More recently they've started re-wilding some large sections which is great to see.

My son learnt to play rugby there, my family have all done the Parkrun 5k in it - well all expect me. I'm in it running or walking most days of the week, though and often bump into people I know.

I know it can't compete with some of the amazing places on this thread, but it's still great to have a big chunk of tranquility on the doorstep.

View attachment 122429

I went to Willesden College when they were in Brook Road. I think it’s close to there.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I know it can't compete with some of the amazing places on this thread, but it's still great to have a big chunk of tranquility on the doorstep.

"Love the one you're with." We waste so much time going from A to visit B, while someone else is going from B to visit A....

London's full of amazing places which people never visit. I last went to Kingsbury and Brondesbury a couple of decades ago - great places which people never notice as they bomb up and down the Finchley Road, or think they know London because they know the city from their tube map, or worse, their favourite tube line.

Amazing parks and canal / riverside paths: lots of tranquility right on our doorstep.

This deserted path cuts its way through Wandsworth, alongside the River Wandle

 

[Chugg]

Thanks Chugg - yes, that's where we went on the census trips - lovely experience. Stopped off at one farm (sorry, can't remember which) and a call from within from the farmer's wife to enter. went into the kitchen and she was bottle feeding a new born lamb. The kids were awestruck and didn't want to leave.

Never went to the butchers in Brompton, I'm afraid. We lived in Staxton, on the new estate built there in 1979.

Where are you on the South Cliff ... Filey Road?

Awesome pics by the way! I still look at places for sale in Scarbados ... Mrs Swotty isn't happy out here and wants to move back to Blighty before we pop our clogs. She loves Yorkshire ..... as only an East Ender can!

I hope the farmers wife didn’t let the kids see the large jar of mint sauce on the shelf!

Was that the Ings Close part of Staxton? I was only 2 years old in 1979 so don’t remember them being built! Actually my family didn’t move to the metropolis that is Scarborough until I was about 6 years old, although always had a holiday flat here since before I was born. There more new builds popped up in Staxton now, a friend of ours lives in one.

Yes we’re just off Filey Road, seaward side.

You should have no trouble finding property in/around Scarborough, there’s new developments popping up all over.

Could I ask what it is you’re wife isn’t happy about in France if it’s not too cheeky to ask please? My wife and myself often talk about getting a place there when we hit retirement years. Although I think we’d always like to keep a place in Scarborough.

 

[Swotty]

I hope the farmers wife didn’t let the kids see the large jar of mint sauce on the shelf!

Was that the Ings Close part of Staxton? I was only 2 years old in 1979 so don’t remember them being built! Actually my family didn’t move to the metropolis that is Scarborough until I was about 6 years old, although always had a holiday flat here since before I was born. There more new builds popped up in Staxton now, a friend of ours lives in one.

Yes we’re just off Filey Road, seaward side.

You should have no trouble finding property in/around Scarborough, there’s new developments popping up all over.

Could I ask what it is you’re wife isn’t happy about in France if it’s not too cheeky to ask please? My wife and myself often talk about getting a place there when we hit retirement years. Although I think we’d always like to keep a place in Scarborough.

Hi Chugg,

Yes, we lived at 2 Ings Close! The school was planned but not built, so we had the large field opposite to enjoy, plus the walks around.

Living abroad ..... we sold up and moved here permanently. If we had had a bolt hole in the UK, Mrs Swotty would have moved back pretty sharpish.

She's an East End girl and it's the "you can't take the city out of the girl" thing. We are in a rural part of France and no bus services nor rail until you get to the larger towns. Taxis are regulated by law, so there is a 2-man cartel locally and it's extortionately expensive. She doesn't drive and we had identified this as a problem ahead of deciding to move over. I should say "I" rather than "we" as she now admits she had no intention of learning to drive. She doesn't swim, so never uses the pool and would prefer to fill it in.

She's big on family and existing friends and doesn't make new ones easily. She can get by in French but finds it a bit daunting and shopping is more limited than the UK.

We also bought a large barn-with-house twice the size of our house in Canterbury. It's stone, beams, draughts and ... dust and insects. Heating is expensive and we have wood burning stoves and a fire, but that creates part of the dust.

Having 2 homes is a completely different kettle of fish and is probably much easier and perhaps a more rewarding living experience for most people. For one thing, the language isn't such a big issue and, if you arrange it, there are no French tax (earnings) complications ... French bureaucracy is well-known! For another thing, if you have a modern property in the UK, stone and beams out here are a lovely contrast.

I love it here. The environment, pace of life and friendliness of the locals ... there is even a new (English) Brewery in Monpazier (15 mins) set up by friends which has transformed the social life there and in the adjoining villages such as ours. However, the drink-driving limit here is only half of that of the UK.

So, my advice would be, unless both of you are committed to the move, keep a bolt hole in the UK.

Hope that helps!

 

[Londonscottish]

I went to Willesden College when they were in Brook Road. I think it’s close to there.

Yes, I had a look and it is. You were due north of the park, I'm due east.

 

[Londonscottish]

"Love the one you're with." We waste so much time going from A to visit B, while someone else is going from B to visit A....

London's full of amazing places which people never visit. I last went to Kingsbury and Brondesbury a couple of decades ago - great places which people never notice as they bomb up and down the Finchley Road, or think they know London because they know the city from their tube map, or worse, their favourite tube line.

Amazing parks and canal / riverside paths: lots of tranquility right on our doorstep.

This deserted path cuts its way through Wandsworth, alongside the River Wandle


View attachment 122433

That looks brilliant.

You mention Brondesbury; I'm not far from there now and, in the past, have lived in the area. It was full of beautiful half-forgotten Victorian and Edwardian houses when I stumbled across it. My first major renovation was an Edwardian one, the second was Victorian.

Lots of wide, quiet tree-lined streets tucked away from the main thoroughfares. It's funny; I sometimes have family visiting from the countryside who are genuinely surprised at how quiet parts of London can be.

People have cottoned on; many of the houses have now been restored to their former glory over the last decade. It's great to seem them back to how they would have been back when they were built.

 

[merc estate]

I am lucky to wake up, a Heart attack, a triple bypass, 2 stents, and a new heart valve, thank god for the NHS and the great surgeon"s, i owe my life to them

 

[Chugg]

Hi Chugg,

Yes, we lived at 2 Ings Close! The school was planned but not built, so we had the large field opposite to enjoy, plus the walks around.

Living abroad ..... we sold up and moved here permanently. If we had had a bolt hole in the UK, Mrs Swotty would have moved back pretty sharpish.

She's an East End girl and it's the "you can't take the city out of the girl" thing. We are in a rural part of France and no bus services nor rail until you get to the larger towns. Taxis are regulated by law, so there is a 2-man cartel locally and it's extortionately expensive. She doesn't drive and we had identified this as a problem ahead of deciding to move over. I should say "I" rather than "we" as she now admits she had no intention of learning to drive. She doesn't swim, so never uses the pool and would prefer to fill it in.

She's big on family and existing friends and doesn't make new ones easily. She can get by in French but finds it a bit daunting and shopping is more limited than the UK.

We also bought a large barn-with-house twice the size of our house in Canterbury. It's stone, beams, draughts and ... dust and insects. Heating is expensive and we have wood burning stoves and a fire, but that creates part of the dust.

Having 2 homes is a completely different kettle of fish and is probably much easier and perhaps a more rewarding living experience for most people. For one thing, the language isn't such a big issue and, if you arrange it, there are no French tax (earnings) complications ... French bureaucracy is well-known! For another thing, if you have a modern property in the UK, stone and beams out here are a lovely contrast.

I love it here. The environment, pace of life and friendliness of the locals ... there is even a new (English) Brewery in Monpazier (15 mins) set up by friends which has transformed the social life there and in the adjoining villages such as ours. However, the drink-driving limit here is only half of that of the UK.

So, my advice would be, unless both of you are committed to the move, keep a bolt hole in the UK.

Hope that helps!

Small world!

Yes that really does help, thank you for taking the time for the helpful reply, good to hear a real life take on things.
My wife has some of the same traits as yours by the sound of it, doesn’t drive with no desire to learn, not a fan of dust, draughts or creepy crawlies, has a soft spot for family (we both do really). She isn’t a city girl though, quite the opposite (from Bridlington!) and grew up with her fisherman dad from generations of fishing, and her mum and step dad had a small holding in Kirkburn and we are both attached to the coast and countryside of this area and we really love our house and would be very sad to leave, we’d doubtful be able to get another property of the same size and location again if we wanted to move back (very rarely come on the market and are quite expensive nowadays). We’d both love a pool though, and some nice weather to go with it! Also the characterful homes with barns (and the brewery!) you describe do sound fantastic.
It’s a tough one.
I think we’d most likely test the water with a smaller place in France if anything (sooner rather than later if we could manage it financially) and enjoy some lovely holidays and see how we go. Not keen on the costs of two places though!
Thanks again

 

[Phil1968]

Rochester, Kent.

 

[Darrell]

Yes, I had a look and it is. You were due north of the park, I'm due east.

I think there are flats there now.

 

[Swotty]

Rochester, Kent.

View attachment 122446

Lovely .... had a girlfriend in Wouldham and lived in Maidstone for several years.

Rochester at Christmas was almost magical.