king kong

The more i read this thread ,i have come to the conclusion all of britain is great ,except for dodgy areas of london ,birmingham ,manchester ,glasgow .Id go anywhere .

Sally Redux

Yeah I think you're right.

rab

I think you're all right and am now even more CONFUSED!!!!

Some good advice everyone and thanks for the links.

I am going to try to narrow it down let's see. Isle of Skye or Dorset?

I want to sail boats so both would be good. Do you reckon Skye would be less chavish than Dorset?

rab

quoll

Absolutely correct! There are so many places I would love to live in - North Yorkshire (with thermal underwear of course), Somerset or anywhere else down in the West Country, East Anglia (home is where the heart is and all that), somewhere in the Ludlow area, The Lakes, Scotland - Mull has a distinct appeal! Just keep me out of Central Bradford and I would be just fine.

king kong

most definetly less chavish in skye , but dont forget its remote and idd hate to think youd end up in the same boat as many of us do in aussie . Dorset gets my vote.

king kong

ludlow is lovely and surrounded by history because of the dastardly welsh , lovely spot though .

dollface

Is that the Skye Boat Song???????????????

Mummy in the foothills

Hey we'll 'ave a little less of that then

dunroving

My impression is that happens more in mid- and north Wales. South Wales doesn't seem quite so obsessed with the Welsh language thing and anti-Englishism. Properties can be VERY inexpensive there, however, you have to choose location carefully. Scout lives in S. Wales and can fill you in on it ... some really quite economically downtrodden areas and chavism, but also some beautiful countryside and pockets of nice housing. I spent 9 months there when I first came back and though aspects of my experience were not positive (more to do with personal issues than Wales itself), I met some very nice people in the short time I was there.

[BTW, I know you're from Wales, Mummy, so when I say "You", I mean people reading this thread as obviously you know Wales already]

Jules Europe

I`ve been reading about the Meibion Glyndwr and they are an interesting group, they are part of a greater whole and have largely been inactive since the 90`s. What makes them interesting though, is that they seemed to come about due to Brits buying second homes in Wales and pushing up local house prices there, this certainly seems a good reason to set up a nationalist movement.

Mummy in the foothills

Yes when I was growing up there, there was a lot of cottage burning going on. Retirees from the big English cities were buying up homes that normally would have been bought by young local couples, and it was pushing the prices so high that locals couldn't afford to buy, even with two incomes in the villages they were born in. You can see why they'd get so annoyed.
My cousins outside Barcelona were having a similar problem, people buying holiday homes and driving up prices, they had a hard time buying their first homes in the small town they were born and raised in. They finally did buy, one has ended up across the street from his Dad He hasn't gone too far.

hereandthere

You're right to head up north then - I'm presuming you have a regular budget - because land is still very expensive in the south even after the crash. But then it depends on how much land you want, I guess, and what kind of a house sitting on it. You'll definitely get a decent four bedroom house and a few acres for £1.5 million in a place like Dorset, but I guess it's much cheaper up north. I just looked on Rightmove and there's a six bed place in Yorkshire with 25 acres for £1,000,000 and several 4/5 bed places with real old-world charm but no land for around the £500,000 mark. Some of them are incredibly beautiful as well.... You should look round on Rightmove there are some amazing places on there. I guess if you were happy to "do up a dump" you could get something for a lot cheaper as well.

Also, if you have concerns about education in Aus they're not going to go away in the UK, btw. I read they're about to sack 3000 teachers so that's going to have an impact on quality and teacher/student ratios.

aes1

King Kong, I am going back soon and am focusing on Dorset, even though I have never lived there and really have no first hand experience of it. I am wondering why you say it gets your vote..... I would be looking at the coast. Any info much appreciated. I am not planning on buying, just renting a flat for now.

NotTooShabby

I remember the sketch (not the 9 o'clock news?). Come home to a real fire.........Buy a cottage in Wales.

king kong

I like wales and have good friends there too just up from merthyr in a place called focrw . Great people and have had it tough too but retain their sense of humour and once they get to know you they certainly arent any way insulting to outsiders as long as you show you spend a fair amount of time around the village , they arent stupid there isnt the work there these days and some people have to spend time over the bridge in england working .
The last time i was in North wales they were equally as welcoming ,obviously more militant but to be honest they seemed more cheesed off with the fact the polish have been treated better in some respects in regards to their language use .
I was talking to an old guy and he said '' we been fighting the bloody english a thousand years but its not them we fear now ,its the polish they get language rights the minute they land here ''.
Read into that what you like and im not trying to start a racial debate but after what the welsh have been thru i can understand his point .
Wales very much reminds me in many ways what the whole of britain was like 30-40 years ago , people very friendly once they get to welcome you into the community ,sure its a battle sometimes but its worth it .