What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Jun 15th 2013, 3:28 am
#31
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 64
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Tourists. Other than that the countryside in the UK cannot, imo, be bettered anywhere in NZ or Oz. OK, the weather's crap but the countryside is wonderful- little lanes dripping with wildflowers, historic footpaths, ancient hills, beech woods, market towns, and all the lovely countryside smells (not the farming smells- yuck) like the gorse, the wild garlic, the cut grass- it's bloody marvelous.
Totally agree!
Jun 21st 2013, 2:54 pm
#32
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 315
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Jun 21st 2013, 11:14 pm
#33
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 64
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
VERY good to hear for me too - I have to walk all the way to the post office in the dead of winter (here in Canada - sometimes risking frostbite - and they won't even bring my packages to the house, which means I carry heavy things home!) Can't wait for mail delivery... how luxurious!!
Jun 22nd 2013, 12:46 am
#34
Not actually a squirrel
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: England
Posts: 3,446
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Does anyone know?
And is it still in glass bottles?
I wish I could buy milk in glass bottles somewhere. Plastic and cardboard just doesn't seem right - for a range of reasons.
Jun 22nd 2013, 2:46 pm
#36
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Formally Scotland. Now Bay of Quinte...Ontario
Posts: 2,466
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Litter!
Jun 25th 2013, 1:40 am
#37
Was in Canada, now home.
Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Devon
Posts: 3,388
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Fog isn't really a problem.
Internet -- depends where you live. There are web-sites that will give you the speed for the address you are planning to move to.
Jun 25th 2013, 2:35 am
#38
Not actually a squirrel
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: England
Posts: 3,446
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Wind turbines are a big issue for some people, but it depends on your point of view. Personally I don't mind them.
Fog isn't really a problem.
Internet -- depends where you live. There are web-sites that will give you the speed for the address you are planning to move to.
Fog isn't really a problem.
Internet -- depends where you live. There are web-sites that will give you the speed for the address you are planning to move to.
Jun 25th 2013, 2:47 am
#39
Was in Canada, now home.
Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Devon
Posts: 3,388
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Jun 25th 2013, 3:05 am
#40
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 64
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
My parents still get theirs in glass bottles!
but they do have a new 'peck-resistant' plastic cap on now. 
Sep 12th 2013, 9:11 am
#41
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2013
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 215
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Thanks for all the above posts... I remain undeterred! (Just got to convince husband and offspring now.)
Concern 1: Fertiliser smell. We get this in suburbia now from our neighbours who are organic vegetarians. The fertiliser smell is interchangeable for the smell of curry. The curry does smell delicious... but it does smell.
Concern 2: The sound of church bells and chickens. We currently live near 3 major highways and are on a flight path in a street where hoons have a Thursday night special. Church bells and chickens sound good.
Concern 3: Creatures eating the garden. We had to remove a mango tree a while back as bats were spitting and shi**ing all over the garden. Will assume UK deer, rabbits, moles and wild pigs don't carry rabies like viruses. (Note to self: Wild pigs ARE a potential downside to UK country living.)
Concern 4: Noise from mowers, harvesters and bird scare guns. Currently live next to council park, frequently mowed by slasher at 7am. Last time I heard a gun a man had been shot dead a few kilometres away.
Concern 5: Ticks and mosquitoes. Our garden is already full of these. Also spiders, snakes and stupid giant chasing lizards.
Concern 6: Isolation. Does this mean I won't have to listen to a neighbour woman who laughs like Homer Simpson?
Concern 7: Distance from big shops. Current local shops are a Westfield where parking is a nightmare and I only want to buy groceries.
Concern 8: Isolated from medical help. That is a worry. Helicopters are expensive to run (so those paying might be reluctant to use them). And they still take a while.
Concern 9: Gypsies. Concerning. My mother said that I never should play with the gypsies in the wood...
Overall, I am now mostly concerned by the possibility of being ill and isolated or being bailed up by a pig wielding gypsy.
One of these is an irrational fear. I hope.
(Just got to convince husband and offspring now.)Concern 1: Fertiliser smell. We get this in suburbia now from our neighbours who are organic vegetarians. The fertiliser smell is interchangeable for the smell of curry. The curry does smell delicious... but it does smell.
Concern 2: The sound of church bells and chickens. We currently live near 3 major highways and are on a flight path in a street where hoons have a Thursday night special. Church bells and chickens sound good.
Concern 3: Creatures eating the garden. We had to remove a mango tree a while back as bats were spitting and shi**ing all over the garden. Will assume UK deer, rabbits, moles and wild pigs don't carry rabies like viruses. (Note to self: Wild pigs ARE a potential downside to UK country living.)
Concern 4: Noise from mowers, harvesters and bird scare guns. Currently live next to council park, frequently mowed by slasher at 7am. Last time I heard a gun a man had been shot dead a few kilometres away.
Concern 5: Ticks and mosquitoes. Our garden is already full of these. Also spiders, snakes and stupid giant chasing lizards.
Concern 6: Isolation. Does this mean I won't have to listen to a neighbour woman who laughs like Homer Simpson?
Concern 7: Distance from big shops. Current local shops are a Westfield where parking is a nightmare and I only want to buy groceries.
Concern 8: Isolated from medical help. That is a worry. Helicopters are expensive to run (so those paying might be reluctant to use them). And they still take a while.
Concern 9: Gypsies. Concerning. My mother said that I never should play with the gypsies in the wood...
Overall, I am now mostly concerned by the possibility of being ill and isolated or being bailed up by a pig wielding gypsy.
One of these is an irrational fear. I hope.
Sep 12th 2013, 1:51 pm
#42
Finally Home!
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Used to be New York, now North Yorkshire
Posts: 3,610
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Nothing horrible but a few minor inconveniences as follows:
- lots of roadkill on the little lanes around our house in the summer and the constant fear that I'm going to hit a rabbit or a pheasant (damn those are some stupid birds!)
- slurry/manure spreading although this doesn't bother me at all.
- late night harvesting as someone else said, although round here they tend to stop by 11 at the latest and it's only a few nights a year.
- getting cut off occasionally in winter (although that's why God made freezers and wine).
- 8 minutes drive to the nearest little shop and 10 minutes to the supermarket and town.
- our local pub isn't up to much, so any time we want to go out somewhere nice it involves driving.
- being woken up by noisy sheep during the summer (one just started moaning every morning at 5am for months).
- Seeing dead lambs on my walks during lambing season.
- wind turbines - I like them (find them quite graceful) but some of my neighbours hate them and quite a few of the locals have their own so they're dotted around the hills. Not only do those neighbours not pay for power, but they actually make quite a bit each year by selling the excess power back.
- Internet speeds can be awful although we are lucky to live in a village with high-speed service. Don't just take the big websites' word for it regarding speeds as they don't track smaller providers like ours (a local firm called LN Communications). Instead, google 'high speed internet' + the name of the village to see if there is a local initiative.
But those are all silly little things (except the dead lambs and the Internet) and really nothing to complain about in my book. Set them against the beautiful views all around me, the silence when I go outside, the night sky with all those beautiful stars, the lovely long walks, the sound of the stream next to our garden, the wind in the trees and the joy of knowing all your neighbours, most of whom are lovely people, and there's no reason to complain at all. I was just telling one of my neighbours today that I think this is the best place I've ever lived.
I do think some people would hate it though. It's all about what matters to you.
PS: We have a milkman - he delivers milk from the local farms.
- lots of roadkill on the little lanes around our house in the summer and the constant fear that I'm going to hit a rabbit or a pheasant (damn those are some stupid birds!)
- slurry/manure spreading although this doesn't bother me at all.
- late night harvesting as someone else said, although round here they tend to stop by 11 at the latest and it's only a few nights a year.
- getting cut off occasionally in winter (although that's why God made freezers and wine).
- 8 minutes drive to the nearest little shop and 10 minutes to the supermarket and town.
- our local pub isn't up to much, so any time we want to go out somewhere nice it involves driving.
- being woken up by noisy sheep during the summer (one just started moaning every morning at 5am for months).
- Seeing dead lambs on my walks during lambing season.
- wind turbines - I like them (find them quite graceful) but some of my neighbours hate them and quite a few of the locals have their own so they're dotted around the hills. Not only do those neighbours not pay for power, but they actually make quite a bit each year by selling the excess power back.
- Internet speeds can be awful although we are lucky to live in a village with high-speed service. Don't just take the big websites' word for it regarding speeds as they don't track smaller providers like ours (a local firm called LN Communications). Instead, google 'high speed internet' + the name of the village to see if there is a local initiative.
But those are all silly little things (except the dead lambs and the Internet) and really nothing to complain about in my book. Set them against the beautiful views all around me, the silence when I go outside, the night sky with all those beautiful stars, the lovely long walks, the sound of the stream next to our garden, the wind in the trees and the joy of knowing all your neighbours, most of whom are lovely people, and there's no reason to complain at all. I was just telling one of my neighbours today that I think this is the best place I've ever lived.
I do think some people would hate it though. It's all about what matters to you.
PS: We have a milkman - he delivers milk from the local farms.
Last edited by sallysimmons; Sep 12th 2013 at 1:57 pm.
Sep 12th 2013, 2:08 pm
#43
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Litter. Other drivers.
Sep 12th 2013, 5:10 pm
#44
Was in Canada, now home.
Joined: Aug 2011
Location: Devon
Posts: 3,388
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Nothing horrible but a few minor inconveniences as follows:
- lots of roadkill on the little lanes around our house in the summer and the constant fear that I'm going to hit a rabbit or a pheasant (damn those are some stupid birds!)
- slurry/manure spreading although this doesn't bother me at all.
- late night harvesting as someone else said, although round here they tend to stop by 11 at the latest and it's only a few nights a year.
- getting cut off occasionally in winter (although that's why God made freezers and wine).
- 8 minutes drive to the nearest little shop and 10 minutes to the supermarket and town.
- our local pub isn't up to much, so any time we want to go out somewhere nice it involves driving.
- being woken up by noisy sheep during the summer (one just started moaning every morning at 5am for months).
- Seeing dead lambs on my walks during lambing season.
- wind turbines - I like them (find them quite graceful) but some of my neighbours hate them and quite a few of the locals have their own so they're dotted around the hills. Not only do those neighbours not pay for power, but they actually make quite a bit each year by selling the excess power back.
- Internet speeds can be awful although we are lucky to live in a village with high-speed service. Don't just take the big websites' word for it regarding speeds as they don't track smaller providers like ours (a local firm called LN Communications). Instead, google 'high speed internet' + the name of the village to see if there is a local initiative.
But those are all silly little things (except the dead lambs and the Internet) and really nothing to complain about in my book. Set them against the beautiful views all around me, the silence when I go outside, the night sky with all those beautiful stars, the lovely long walks, the sound of the stream next to our garden, the wind in the trees and the joy of knowing all your neighbours, most of whom are lovely people, and there's no reason to complain at all. I was just telling one of my neighbours today that I think this is the best place I've ever lived.
I do think some people would hate it though. It's all about what matters to you.
PS: We have a milkman - he delivers milk from the local farms.
- lots of roadkill on the little lanes around our house in the summer and the constant fear that I'm going to hit a rabbit or a pheasant (damn those are some stupid birds!)
- slurry/manure spreading although this doesn't bother me at all.
- late night harvesting as someone else said, although round here they tend to stop by 11 at the latest and it's only a few nights a year.
- getting cut off occasionally in winter (although that's why God made freezers and wine).
- 8 minutes drive to the nearest little shop and 10 minutes to the supermarket and town.
- our local pub isn't up to much, so any time we want to go out somewhere nice it involves driving.
- being woken up by noisy sheep during the summer (one just started moaning every morning at 5am for months).
- Seeing dead lambs on my walks during lambing season.
- wind turbines - I like them (find them quite graceful) but some of my neighbours hate them and quite a few of the locals have their own so they're dotted around the hills. Not only do those neighbours not pay for power, but they actually make quite a bit each year by selling the excess power back.
- Internet speeds can be awful although we are lucky to live in a village with high-speed service. Don't just take the big websites' word for it regarding speeds as they don't track smaller providers like ours (a local firm called LN Communications). Instead, google 'high speed internet' + the name of the village to see if there is a local initiative.
But those are all silly little things (except the dead lambs and the Internet) and really nothing to complain about in my book. Set them against the beautiful views all around me, the silence when I go outside, the night sky with all those beautiful stars, the lovely long walks, the sound of the stream next to our garden, the wind in the trees and the joy of knowing all your neighbours, most of whom are lovely people, and there's no reason to complain at all. I was just telling one of my neighbours today that I think this is the best place I've ever lived.
I do think some people would hate it though. It's all about what matters to you.
PS: We have a milkman - he delivers milk from the local farms.
Sep 12th 2013, 5:54 pm
#45
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Canberra
Posts: 8,378
Re: What's horrible in the UK countryside?
Bramble thorns!!!!
I'm loving this amazing blackberry season but sometimes the brambles bite me damn them!
I'm loving this amazing blackberry season but sometimes the brambles bite me damn them!