jenn32

I left the UK with my family when I was 5 years old and have lived in Canada and the US since that time. Now that I am retired, I am thinking of returning to the UK within the next year or two and live out the rest of my days there as I feel uncomfortable with the way things are developing here. We had lived in Bramhall, Stockport, which may be a good area to return to, but I would also consider the Norwich area or Devon. Any suggestions?

SanDiegogirl

Norwich, Devon before Stockport area; also Guildford Surrey area

Jerseygirl

I used to live in Bramhall many moons ago. Prestbury, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Knutsford, Tarporley, to name a few places in Cheshire.

This thread may be best in the UK forum. Please let me know if you want it moving.

jenn32

Yes, please move it to the UK forum, as you suggested. Thanks
The last time I stopped in Bramhall, years ago, it seemed as though half the homes in the area I used to live were up for sale. I'm hoping conditions have improved since.

SanDiegogirl

Best way to get an idea of how the housing market is in an area and/or what the housing stock is like is to look at rightmove.co.uk and do some research.
Also do some Google map searches, including street views.

robin1234

Bramhall looks like a nice area. Property was much higher than I expected - fairly ordinary semi-detached for £400,000, two bedroom flats, £250,000, that sort of price.

Jerseygirl

It was and still is an expensive area. To say Bramhall, Stockport gives the wrong impression...more Bramhall, Cheshire.

SanDiegogirl

Knutsford and Hale look very attractive - well the 5 million GBP and 6 million GBP houses i've just pulled up......

scilly

Bramhall, Knutsford, Hale etc used to be known as the "gin and telly" belt ........... I taught in a town close to there back in the mid-60s.

It sometimes seemed as if the phrase we used to use for an area in West Vancouver back in the 60s and 70s wasn't also applicable to those Cheshire towns ...............

"wears a fur coat and has a VW in the garage that they can't afford to run"

Winston_the_Great_Dane

We left Norfolk in late 2018 to come to the US for family reasons, otherwise we were very happy there. Wymondham in particular is very pleasant.

good luck

brits1

If you want to return to the North West but a different area then Lytham is very nice, West Kirby, Caldy and Heswall are all nice areas with great views over to north Wales. Devon, Dorset and Norfolk are some of my other fav counties as is Northumberland. I know Bramhall/Woodford and surrounding areas very well and they are good areas but for me they are now quite built up and although knutsford is still fairly green for me your still too near the M6 M56 traffic

philat98

Manchester has 133 rainy days and another 133 that are not much better. Throw in a Covid lockdown and you have an uninviting prospect.

Lion in Winter

I would be interested in any more Norfolk impressions. We are looking at the area ourselves. What is Kings Lynn like, for example? Or Norwich itself, come to that. I would like to find somewhere that isn't exclusively a place for retired people, but is a little more diverse than that.

Helen1964

Hopefully Robin will be along soon to answer your question about Norfolk. I think he has a place out near the coast and is a mine of useful information.
The Norfolk tourist board should be paying him a commission - if Northern Ireland doesn’t work out I’m seriously thinking of giving Norfolk a go on the strength of his recommendation.
If you find somewhere nice let us know!

robin1234

I have only been to Lynn once. I took the bus there, and stayed overnight at a lovely b&b. So, two intensive days of sightseeing. I was absolutely blown away by the town, it is amazing and beautiful.. even after the powers-that-be demolished a lot of the ancient centre and replaced it with boring post-war “shopping precinct.” Two of the most gorgeous and unique churches in Norfolk (and Norfolk has more medieval churches per square mile than anywhere else in the world.) There’s a very fine museum, it’s one of those museums that you spend two or three hours in, leave because you can’t take any more, determined to revisit another day - because you saw only a fraction of what’s in there. The customs house is lovely (seventeenth century I think?) I found one of those really good east European restaurants where I got a massive plate of ham, egg & chips and an excellent mug of strong tea, all for very little money. The town has lovely parks, medieval ruins, lots more. Very good train service. Property at all price levels. Economy a bit sluggish, the usual problems associated with that.

As always, Norwich is a great place to live.