moving out of london (but commuting back into it)

[artparent]

hi mamas. i'm wondering if you have suggestions for me. we've been living in north london for a couple of years (!) now and we've loved it. my partner continues to work in central london most weeks, though he sometimes travels outside of london enough that we wonder why we're paying to live there! i have a beautiful little garden, we've made great friends, we're enjoying homeschooling there.

but. the cost of living is steep, and we often dream of living somewhere beautiful and peaceful, where we could have more space inside and a lot more space out, to grow some more food and let the children roam a bit further. i am an artist, and even in london many folks think all the things i make myself is crazy. it would be nice to be with folks that live more traditionally in terms of being close to their food...maybe! i'd like to have access to local, bountiful food, i'd like to be somewhere near *some* kind of water, and i'd like to be close to other home educators and open, friendly people. you know, i want the idyllic english village that everyone else wants. at the moment we don't have a car, but we could consider remedying that.

the trick is that my partner will need to commute into central london most weeks, and have access to trains across england and to an airport otherwise.

i haven't a clue how to even begin! we chose the place we lived based on lots of coincidences, hearing the name of the area repeatedly, and finally finding a place (the first place we looked at!!) and falling in love. i'm not sure how to go about finding the next place! i keep hearing about devon, but my understanding is that it is too far - unless he really starts having more work outside of london than in it.

i'd love to hear what you think!

*

[Plaid Leopard]

What about Cambridgeshire?
There are a lot of small villages and towns plonked down in the middle of countryside, many on or near the train line into London. There are Stansted and Cambridge airports nearby as well.


Take a look at rightmove.co.uk to get an idea of rents and different areas. When you click on a property you can usually see a street view, as well as a road and satellite map of the area.

[knittinanny]

Every time I think about moving out of London (which is becoming less and less frequent as I get to know more of the hippie/crunchy/sustainable living people in Brixton with me), I think about moving to East Sussex, in one of the towns near Ashdown Forest. I really love Forest Row and East Grinstead. Lots of green space, some biodynamic farms, stuff like that. There's a lot of Steiner activity (Michael Hall and the teacher training college are there) I'm not sure about the home ed communities but I get the feeling that it's the sort of place where there are probably a lot of home ed folks.

[artparent]

knittinanny, you wouldn't believe this, i never saw this thread, i must have gotten overwhelmed with things and haven't checked in for months. i'm living near forest row now!! amazing that you suggested it here - a friend in vancouver knew a friend in oxford knew a friend here, and it all fell together beautiful. you're right, it's great, and totally worth it, i love it. x!!