I’m eyeing up a potential move to Prestwick. Moving out of Glasgow city centre, fancy a quieter pace, closer to the beach, etc. and, I’ll be able to get a dog!
Any views on Prestwick?
Do you like where you live?
- Thread starter [FnG]magnolia
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Any views on Prestwick?
Yes, that was me lol.
I know Pt Chev. I'm currently in Hobsonville which we really like but it's just too small, plus i'm in a position now where I can finally buy, so good excuse to upsize!
Soldato
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Yes, Lancaster is a great place to live. Surrounded by countryside, twenty minutes from the Lake District, we have a river, a canal, and coastline. The city is small but has plenty of work (two Unis, hospital, etc) and is inexpensive. You can be in Manchester inside an hour. I live just far enough out to be in the countryside but can walk to work in 30 mins down the canal. Neighbours are mostly old and no problem, apart from having the same conversations over and over.
Not so much atm. There's a cyclone about to hit.
www.abc.net.au
When will Cyclone Alfred hit New South Wales and Queensland?
Tropical Cyclone Alfred will continue its approach towards the south-east Queensland coast today, with the far western edge already impacting the coast from about Coolangatta to Ballina.
www.abc.net.au
Surrey.
Pros
* Well connected transport - A3, M3, M4, London, multiple train routes into London, airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton)
* Forest, Surrey hills, South Downs, wider area open and beautiful
* Schools are decent (and we bought planning for kids, although it turns out we didn't need them in the end
)
* Relatively low crime (I grew up near Liverpool and uni in Middlesbrough)
* Decent selection of shops, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, pubs and events.
Cons
* Not the most friendly place
* High house and council tax prices. Schools are heavily driven by catchment areas which drives the cost of house prices up.
* Volume of traffic has risen over the last 10 years. All the school parents drive Chelsea tractors which makes school runs particularly fun on the roads.
* Pot holes are a problem - a car with a decent suspension and grippy tires is useful.
* A3 M25 Junction modifications are horrific you can add an hour to your 20 minute journey. Thankfully that is meant to complete this summer.
* Train commute into London ~£4700/year (5400 of you pay monthly) and 6300/year if you have a zone 1+4 on that. So between £5-7K of your salary gone on sardine commute. Although using a the local station guarantees a seat (mainlines are standing room only) but working in London means 0730 train in and stepping off the 1930 train each day (not including any delays or events).
* Highstreets have seen a depression of high end and unique shops so there's a large number of commodity stores.
Pros
* Well connected transport - A3, M3, M4, London, multiple train routes into London, airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton)
* Forest, Surrey hills, South Downs, wider area open and beautiful
* Schools are decent (and we bought planning for kids, although it turns out we didn't need them in the end
)* Relatively low crime (I grew up near Liverpool and uni in Middlesbrough)
* Decent selection of shops, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, pubs and events.
Cons
* Not the most friendly place
* High house and council tax prices. Schools are heavily driven by catchment areas which drives the cost of house prices up.
* Volume of traffic has risen over the last 10 years. All the school parents drive Chelsea tractors which makes school runs particularly fun on the roads.
* Pot holes are a problem - a car with a decent suspension and grippy tires is useful.
* A3 M25 Junction modifications are horrific you can add an hour to your 20 minute journey. Thankfully that is meant to complete this summer.
* Train commute into London ~£4700/year (5400 of you pay monthly) and 6300/year if you have a zone 1+4 on that. So between £5-7K of your salary gone on sardine commute. Although using a the local station guarantees a seat (mainlines are standing room only) but working in London means 0730 train in and stepping off the 1930 train each day (not including any delays or events).
* Highstreets have seen a depression of high end and unique shops so there's a large number of commodity stores.
In a nice picturesque village (conservation area) in the Midlands. It's nice.
But I can't stand the people. Just legions of overweight conservative Barbour-wearing alcoholics (actually our village has a bit of a reputation for all these posh old **** being ravenous cokeheads, which I agree with, loads of marching powder rabbles out in the local pubs). Reminds me far too much of the crushingly boring posh village I grew up in.
Can't wait to either move somewhere away from all the motorways and smog, or back to a city abroad somewhere. Middle England is grim.
But I can't stand the people. Just legions of overweight conservative Barbour-wearing alcoholics (actually our village has a bit of a reputation for all these posh old **** being ravenous cokeheads, which I agree with, loads of marching powder rabbles out in the local pubs). Reminds me far too much of the crushingly boring posh village I grew up in.
Can't wait to either move somewhere away from all the motorways and smog, or back to a city abroad somewhere. Middle England is grim.
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Locally yeah not bad. Got an end of cul-de-sac place, so relatively quiet, although I wish there was some nicer pubs/restaurants close by.
Live on outskirts of Portsmouth in Hampshire. Lots of good places to eat if you drive out, plenty beaches around. Nice countryside. Not too far from London if I want a trip up there. Quite happy. Originally from the North East, but I've never had any desire to go back north.
Live on outskirts of Portsmouth in Hampshire. Lots of good places to eat if you drive out, plenty beaches around. Nice countryside. Not too far from London if I want a trip up there. Quite happy. Originally from the North East, but I've never had any desire to go back north.
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In general yes, 20 minutes down the road from Glasgow. I can jump on the motorway and be in Edinburgh in 40 minutes, Loch Lomond in about 45. Although I live in a large town, there’s greenery and country parks all around so it doesn’t feel like you’re in some concrete jungle.
Feel central in the sense that I can be in the highlands in a couple of hours or Manchester in 3.
It’s no Australia but we’ve got all of Europes beauty a short flight away so that’s something.
Feel central in the sense that I can be in the highlands in a couple of hours or Manchester in 3.
It’s no Australia but we’ve got all of Europes beauty a short flight away so that’s something.
Nantwich is a picturesque little market town 6 miles from Crewe and 20 from Chester. Has most facilities pleasant walks and easy cycle route into town. Yes, I like it very much. It was a 20 mile commute by car when I was working, took me about half an hour.
I live in quite an affluent part of North West London,and it is great, and my family has all of its memories here. However - we did visit my wife's parents in Christchurch NZ over Christmas and I can certainly say I will be much happier there.
I'll likely earn less money, but the whole family's quality of life will be drastically improved.
I'll likely earn less money, but the whole family's quality of life will be drastically improved.
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Jan 2004
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- 12,772
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- Leicestershire
Mid Wales.
Been here a year.
Pro's:
House was 1780 but rebuilt in 1970s and has huge 1780 barn, chicken shed, garage.
Land is more than my previous close where I lived.
Peaceful, beautiful countryside.
Very remote.
No traffic, no people.
Nearest neighbour is about 1/4 mile away.
Wildlife - sheep, buzzard's, red kites, robins, foxes, owls, other animals.
River flowing literally 100m away down the hill.
Working from home mostly.
The freshest veg you'll ever know. Buying from local farmers simply by going to the farm and buying stuff picked that day.
Minimally packaged/recycled goods. Common sense stuff - wrap it in paper generally.
Lots of trees.
Very serene.
We've got mouse traps dotted around the house. Hate killing things but can't have them inside the house. Blocked up loads of holes and not seen a mouse for months.
Birds nesting in roof, bats live near so very careful to not disturb.
We are moving in and adapting, we're not expecting things to change for us so we're being considerate.
Cons:
House was doer upper which we knew and accepted the challenge. A few more issues cropped up we didn't know about but hey ho.
Septic tank
Borehole - free water but pricey to get serviced and because previous owners had died, no paperwork could be found anywhere.
Well - does work and is linked in to borehole water. After a year we're still working out the plumbing because no one seems to know how it works lol.
Mice/voles/grey squirrels.
100mile commute to work.
No people lol.
Lot of issues with flooding due to being on side of hill.
Lots of trees had to be pollarded/chopped down.
Nearest shop is 7 miles away.... Lol.
Needs a lot of money spending on it. All new windows for a start - £40k quoted.
Never realised composting was a thing and all the compostable stuff we used to take the tip, we now but it into a compost bin I made out of 4 pallets in a box shape x 2.
Probably few other things but ultimately we want to live off grid so looking into solar, we've got a borehole/well, oil heating.
Ps did you know if you catch a live grey squirrel, you have to kill it? It's illegal to release it.
Been here a year.
Pro's:
House was 1780 but rebuilt in 1970s and has huge 1780 barn, chicken shed, garage.
Land is more than my previous close where I lived.
Peaceful, beautiful countryside.
Very remote.
No traffic, no people.
Nearest neighbour is about 1/4 mile away.
Wildlife - sheep, buzzard's, red kites, robins, foxes, owls, other animals.
River flowing literally 100m away down the hill.
Working from home mostly.
The freshest veg you'll ever know. Buying from local farmers simply by going to the farm and buying stuff picked that day.
Minimally packaged/recycled goods. Common sense stuff - wrap it in paper generally.
Lots of trees.
Very serene.
We've got mouse traps dotted around the house. Hate killing things but can't have them inside the house. Blocked up loads of holes and not seen a mouse for months.
Birds nesting in roof, bats live near so very careful to not disturb.
We are moving in and adapting, we're not expecting things to change for us so we're being considerate.
Cons:
House was doer upper which we knew and accepted the challenge. A few more issues cropped up we didn't know about but hey ho.
Septic tank
Borehole - free water but pricey to get serviced and because previous owners had died, no paperwork could be found anywhere.
Well - does work and is linked in to borehole water. After a year we're still working out the plumbing because no one seems to know how it works lol.
Mice/voles/grey squirrels.
100mile commute to work.
No people lol.
Lot of issues with flooding due to being on side of hill.
Lots of trees had to be pollarded/chopped down.
Nearest shop is 7 miles away.... Lol.
Needs a lot of money spending on it. All new windows for a start - £40k quoted.
Never realised composting was a thing and all the compostable stuff we used to take the tip, we now but it into a compost bin I made out of 4 pallets in a box shape x 2.
Probably few other things but ultimately we want to live off grid so looking into solar, we've got a borehole/well, oil heating.
Ps did you know if you catch a live grey squirrel, you have to kill it? It's illegal to release it.
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Yes
Pro's
- friendly professional people.
- good access to city but not being right in
- property does well
- good road links when it's not clogged up to get to Bristol as a second city if I needed to has good links to Bristol, reading and london
Pro's
- friendly professional people.
- good access to city but not being right in
- property does well
- good road links when it's not clogged up to get to Bristol as a second city if I needed to has good links to Bristol, reading and london
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Ps did you know if you catch a live grey squirrel, you have to kill it? It's illegal to release it.
They're invasive and basically wiped out our native species. I don't think I have ever seen a red squirrel with my own eyes.
Think the only place they have as a safe haven, for now, is Anglesey and that's only because you have to cross a bridge to get there.
So yeah, it sucks but the grey ones are up to no good.
Soldato
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- La France
There were red squirrels at the Elveden Centre Parks 7-8 years ago.
In my little bit of SW France, there are only red squirrels.
In my little bit of SW France, there are only red squirrels.
Associate
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- 26 Jan 2018
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On the whole yeah. I live in Netley, sort of village life but on the outskirts of Southampton (though far enough away to say I'm not from Southampton).
Pros:
- 20 minute drive over the river and there's west quay shopping, showcase cinema etc
- New forest isn't too far away
- London is an hour on the train for weekend trips
- Access to the south downs for walking
Cons:
- Traffic around Southampton is bad enough but there's only really one way into Netley/Hamble from the M27 and there's one junction that causes chaos. It often takes over half an hour to do the last 2 miles of my commute home. It angers me so much we've considered moving.
- I live right by the sea, so depending on who/what you believe I'll be one of the first under water in the next 10 years
Pros:
- 20 minute drive over the river and there's west quay shopping, showcase cinema etc
- New forest isn't too far away
- London is an hour on the train for weekend trips
- Access to the south downs for walking
Cons:
- Traffic around Southampton is bad enough but there's only really one way into Netley/Hamble from the M27 and there's one junction that causes chaos. It often takes over half an hour to do the last 2 miles of my commute home. It angers me so much we've considered moving.
- I live right by the sea, so depending on who/what you believe I'll be one of the first under water in the next 10 years
Soldato
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- 13 Jan 2004
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- Location
- Leicestershire
I never knew it was an actual law until I was told. It's a shame to kill something because of a problem caused by humans. Seems unjust.
It's like that with any invasive species be it Signal Crayfish wiping out the native white-claw or even plants like Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and Rhododendron.
As you say, it's a problem we created as humans but if we don't act and remove invasive species then our native species suffer even further due to our inaction of a problem we created.
Unjust would be wiping our hands of the situation and allowing native species to go extinct.
Edit: Lol, can you tell I'm in a relationship with an ecologist. She's battered all of this into me over the years.
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Apparently they can be quite tasty. A restauranteur in the lake district put grey squirrel on the menu.
Live off grid eat squirrel.
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Soldato
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You can also fish for American Crayfish but you need a license from the Environment Agency. Good eating, though