TaraC

I have the opportunity to do my dissertation project in Burton on Trent. The project and company are great, but I'm very nervous about the town given my first impressions (which could just have been because I was at the station and the hospital). Does anyone know anything about the area? Is it pretty safe for me to live in by myself, are there areas that aren't quite as depressing as the ones I saw today, etc? I would probably have to be there for a minimum of three months, with the potential for another six to nine months after that, so I would like to be able to live somewhere relatively nice and safe while I'm there.

If I didn't live in Burton, does anyone know of a place nearby that would be nice and safe for a single person to live in and travel home to? I wouldn't have a car, so I need somewhere on a decent bus/train line.

Any observations would be great. I got a real sick feeling in my stomach on the way back home tonight. I'm also nervous that if I have to live somewhere I'm not happy with for four or five months I'm going to end up giving up my dream of coming home just because where I'm at will depress me too much, if you know what I mean.

Thanks for your help.

Tara

TruBrit

i don't know it i'm afraid tara but even if you have to live there for a few mths, it wont be forever

dunroving

Sorry, I don't know it either, but it seems like a good opportunity to sound out how you feel about being home. It's understandable that if you have a bad experience it might turn you off coming home, but to play Devil's advocate a little, if you end up enjoying it regardless (of your bad feeling about the place), then that will reinforce your decision to come home.

I believe things happen for a reason. If you take this opportunity and it does turn you off returning, maybe that's what it is supposed to do.

Scary times. Good luck with your decision.

TaraC

I'd just hate it to turn me off. I've really been enjoying it so far, but I live in a wonderful place, safe, clean, pretty. The thing that worried me was the crime figures, etc. I'd be coming home late at night using public transport. Whereas that's happening now, the town where I live is incredibly safe - not sure the same could be said for there.

Oh well, I'll wait and see what happens.

TaraC

I know you're right - being a bit of a wuss.

johnh009

Any town with that amount of breweries can't be that bad!

TaraC

That's my problem - I don't drink beer!!!!!!

TruBrit

yep....it'll all pan out if it's meant to be

come on, no time to be in the doldrums, you're off to see your man soon

TaraC

Tuesday; can't wait. Course, I'm home for two days and then he goes off for four days working! Still, at least we'll be on the same continent for a while.

Re BoT, I had a PM from someone who lived there for a long time, which made me feel a lot better.

Sorry about the doldrums. A combination of feeling knackered with exams and final papers due, missing my OH, and feeling the weight of being the instigator of the big move with all that that entails!

TruBrit

i know, i guessed, it's ok

also you'll have time to give your pooch some special tlc when your man is away for four days ...enjoy tara, have fun

Grayling

I know Burton pretty well....I live fairly close by.

You need to remember that, until fairly recently, the city centre was dominated by the breweries. These have now either downsized or closed and left a bit of a vacuum.....hence the strange layout of the town centre.

there are some really nice places very near by (a shortish walk in some cases).

Some of the villages in Staffordshire and Derbyshire (within a 10 mile radius) are some of the nicest in the whole of the UK.....and have house prices to prove it!!!!

The countryside around Burton is beautiful and easily accessible.

Don't be put off by first impressions.

G

johnh009

Well now is a good time to start!

TaraC

Thanks so much for this. I really hope I didn't offend anyone who lived or lives in the area. Like most places, the areas around the station and hospitals are usually never that great and of course that was the only stuff I saw.

BBC had a show on tonight about moving to the country (yes, another moving-house show). I don't normally watch, but in a weird coincidence it was a couple moving from Birmingham to the country around Tamworth, etc. The countryside looks absolutely lovely, so I am feeling better. I'm not an industrial girl and love the countryside, so I think I was feeling a bit hemmed in by what I saw today. I did do a bit of searching of areas around about, and it looks as though there are some pretty nice rentals just a little bit outside of town, and I can get to the country pretty quick - so panic over!!!

TaraC

She's going to hate me being home. I've already made an appointment for her to go to the groomers (OH never remembers), then to the vet for her rabies titre test, and she's going on a diet!!!! I've seen pictures, and they're not pretty. She's been spoiled rotten. Speaking of which, I'm going to have to retrain her not to sleep on the bed. Grrrr. What was OH thinking??? So, I think she'll be glad to see the back of me. I, on the other hand, can't wait to see the big goofball.

TaraC

You could be right!