A piece of heaven

[Christianne]

We have decided to downsize but we would appreciate some suggestions where to look. At present, we live in a village with no shops, a very limited bus route, the road has become a rat run for heavy lorries, the property next door has been sold to a company which has moved in young men with severe behaviour problems and autism, and the noise is most unpleasant at times. We are now wanting move somewhere where there are amenities, where it's peaceful, preferably somewhere with a lovely village atmosphere and friendly people, a welcoming church, all in all, a piece of heaven! But where to start looking? This weekend, friends suggested the one place which meets all those criteria is Ludlow, which we shall visit. I know this is a big ask, but can anyone suggest where else we might look which could fulfill our dream list. Many thanks.

[milly143]

Where? England, Ireland, Scotland Wales, somewhere else? You might want to narrow it down a bit.

[marval]

Do you have any family or friends? you might want to be near them

[gingejbee]

...and with that description of your present abode, I don't think you'll have people queuing up to buy it! Having said that, there are some nice villages (not too dear) in rural Lancashire - if you don't mind Northerners (joke).

[Christianne]

A bit more detail would have been good, sorry about that! England would be preferable, we have a daughter working in Zambia and a son in Canada, so won't be moving close to them. I can appreciate the problem we might have in selling now, the financial climate doesn't help either unfortunately, but at at the moment, I'm only putting feelers out as to areas, where we could consider looking. On reflection, this probably wasn't one of my more sensible ideas this morning!

[abstibus]

Christianne
I know this doesn't help with your query about where to move to.
Do you mean that next door is now a business? Has the new owner a licence for this/planning permission? Is it a House of Multiple Occupancy or a hostel?
Have you told the Council Environmental Department about the noise and distress? Just curious - I know how how much stress noise polution can cause (been there), and Environmental Health take this very seriously.
If you contact them, it might just give you some peace of mind while you decide at leisure where to move to.

[Christianne]

We went down that road and the Environmental officer was excellent. The source of the noise was removed and we had a peaceful year. Now two more individuals have been placed there. Just to add to the situation we now learn that three huge wind turbines could be erected half a mile away if the Planning Department pass the application. The chances of finding heaven are fast disappearing.

[muchlovex]

hi Christianne,
Do you know where abouts in the UK..North, South, West?

Also, what would be your budget roughly?

[hc4361]

I love Ludlow, but it does have its share of drug problems. You need to be careful where you buy.

[ChuckFickens]

I could name you loads of villages in the north Essex south Suffolk area that match your criteria so far.

As indicated above, can you narrow it down, what would you expect as local amenities and what would you be prepared to drive a little way for?

For example, Stisted is a lovely quiet little village with a nice church, hardly any traffic and it's all very pretty, but you'd have to drive 3 miles to get a pint of milk!

[Christianne]

Sorry. For the delay muchlovex, the amount could be between £350k and £425k which would discount places like Surrey. Other than that, anywhere. That's an interesting comment regarding Ludlow hc 4361. Thank you.

[NOX]

We lived near Ledbury for a few years, that's a nice area and close enough to Worcester, Hereford, Bristol and Birmingham for big shopping trips. Now live in a village near to Bromsgrove, again pretty and would suit your needs, but more or less any vilage in Herefordshire, Worcestershire or Warwickshire would suit you, all nice quiet areas if you stick to the villages.

[atalanta]

Some friends of mine were in almost exactly your position. They did a great deal of homework and ended up in Oswestry.

[boxtops]

Kent's lovely, and still relatively cheap if you move towards the coasts rather than the parts nearer London.

[muchlovex]

Hi Christianne. You could move to the New Forest in Hampshire. It's beautiful. Lynemouth, Romsey are really good areas. I could show you around