DDL

Wish the choice of where to live when we return were that easy! But then I suppose we are fortunate in that we do (to a certain degree) have a choice as to where we want to live.

Thought I'd invite y'all in on the discussion. (Pull up a chair and I'll put the kettle on.)

I am USC; hubby is UKC (awaiting receipt of permanent residency card; can apply for US citizenship end Jul 07).

We are late 40s/early 50s. No children (been there, done that). I am 20+ year legal secretary, hubby works in IT (webmaster, search engine optimization, blahblahblah) and has worked for the council before.

We previously lived in Hounslow :scared: (not my favorite place) - crap place to live, but affordable and 30 min. drive into central London. (And we took full advantage - saw and did sooooooo much). Plus, his folks and other family about 15 min. away. However, we DON'T want to return to that area.

Here is our list of ideal requisites. Of course, we realize that compromise is probably going to be a necessity on any one (or more):

1. Rental accomodation (no $ to buy yet) in trad village: pub, tearoom ; church; village hall; etc.

2. Near a major/big city/town for employment (preferably without a murderous drive in to work)

3. Convenient access to international airport (for European travel and travel to US)

4. Convenient access to motorway for regular trips to Plymouth (where his kids/grandkids are) preferably 4 hrs or less to Plymouth

5. Convenient access to motorway for regular trips to London (where his parents/family are)


Suggestions anyone?

Father-in-love has suggested Reading (for work) - he says there are some nice villages surrounding. We wouldn't know.

He also mentioned Guildford (for work) - just looking at map, it doesn't appear any villages surrounding Guildford?

And also Salisbury .... or even Chard.

Floor's open, and thanks in advance.



Denise

Hutch

Reckon my old home town fulfils your criteria. Nailsworth is in the Cotswolds and close to Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham and Gloucester, short drive from Birmingham, 90 minutes from London, close to both M4 and M5 motorways, mainline rail access in Stroud direct to London and about 50 mins from Bristol airport. The town itself is a great little place with all the amenities you mention, plenty of rental propeties in the area (it being a popular investment location), beautiful countryside, plenty to see and do locally including Westonbirt Arboretum, Cotswold Waterpark and more national trust land than private. Worth a look I reckon. Good luck back in the UK.

HiddenPaw

Reading sounds the right part of the country to meet all those criteria. 30mins on the train to Paddington, so London is accessible, plus Reading/M4 corridor itself being home to a pretty big IT sector.

My husband works in Reading (well, his company HQ are in Thames Valley Park so he goes most weeks for a day or two, altho he's home-based here in Cheshire). One thing that really troubles him is the congestion, and he find the peak-time journeys to and from Reading pretty arduous (when I say 'peak', some days this seems to be from 5am onwards!) This is as much a problem up here in the NW as it is down in Berks, however. My only piece of advice would be to thoroughly research the journey to work, from where you will be living.

sassenach

sunninghill,ascot ,windsor for me but most probably be poole or bournemouth

nethead

I would go with Hutch's idea, there are a lot of nice places in the west country within commute distance of Bristol/Bath.

Flutterby

Have you thought of Oxford/shire? Close to M4/M40. Lots of small villages surrounding it for rentals. Bus link which takes about 1hr30 mins to get to Heathrow from central Oxford. Easy train link to London/Reading.
Obviously depends on what field you are in for employment opportunities.

I live in Oxfordshire and it is about a 3 hr journey to where my parents live in Devon. Probably about another 45 mins to Plymouth.

rugbymatt

Reading is quite violent to be honest!


There are some amazing villages near Guildford, some with gorgeous pubs etc, Cranleigh, Shere, Compton, Gomshall, just to name but a few.
You could look at somewhere like Petersfield, on the A3, so direct route into London, easy access to Southampton and the M4 corridor or A303 for Plymouth.

TruBrit

excellent locations and not fogetting the Abingers

rugbymatt

What? Ab(r)inger Hammer!?

TruBrit

abinger sutton springs to mind with the lovely volunteer pub

rugbymatt

I worked in Cranleigh for a year, there are some nice pubs there, and to be honest Haslemere is not that far away, 45 mins on the train to london and a really lovely town.

TruBrit

yep however i prefer Guildford

britvic

Yes it's very nice dead posh

britvic

Pain while shopping though all them hill's, but very nice just the same

TruBrit

i just call it exercise vic.... it's all part of retail therapy