Possibly moving back home to UK after 14 yrs in Canada. Any suggestions?

[GMum]

Hello Mamas,

Well, after 14 years in Canada, we might be moving back home to the UK!

It's a really long story which, I'm probably going to post in the Personal Growth forum but in the meantime, DH and I are trying to think about where we could happily live.

Right now, this is what we are looking for ideally:

Old-fashioned type of village in countryside with farmers markets, organic food/raw milk etc

Rural but commutable via train to a major city for  culture and to increase chances of finding jobs for DH.

Crunchy, hippy, artistic, liberal-minded community.

Small community (well, not crowded).

Low cost of housing/living

Other places are easily accessible for trips out in car ( especially Lancashire and Lincolnshire where we have family)

People who are into Waldorfy types of  living and natural family living.

Families who are into earth-based spirituality and spending time gardening/rambling/walking outside with dogs.

A place that has animals and animal lovers, lots of things to do for kids and families :)

It's been so long since I have been home ( my last visit was 7 years ago) I have no idea whether a place like this exists and if indeed we will be happy and find our tribe there. We will be visiting in June/July and are planning to narrow down a list of places to check out.

Any advice or suggestions really appreciated. Thanks so much!

[artparent]

welcome back! i'm also a canadian, i lived in london for a bit and now i'm in sussex, near forest row. this sounds like your kind of place, though the cost of living may be too high, and i admit to not knowing where lancashire is!! good luck! not so long ago we went through this, amazing what will lead you to your home. x

[MittensKittens]

Brighton!

[GMum]

Thank you so much! it might take us a year or two to get back but we are madly researching areas and it's really helpful to hear suggestions ( and fun looking them up).

artparent - Lancashire is in the north west - Blackpool was the nearest city to us growing up. Where in Canada are you from and how to like it in the UK so far? Forest Row looks just our kind of place if only it were cheaper - it probably is out of our league sadly, but you never know between now and then.

Mittenskittens - I remember loving Brighton when I visited - I'll go and do some cost of living research....

[MittensKittens]

Originally Posted by Grahnola Mum

Mittenskittens - I remember loving Brighton when I visited - I'll go and do some cost of living research....

I've never lived there, but if I could live anywhere in the UK, Brighton would be my choice. It's a haven for crunchy people, and has farmers markets too. As far as I know, the cost of housing is similar to London, though.

[artparent]

hey grahnola, i'm from vancouver, and i love england though it took me some time to stop being homesick. things are cheaper outside of forest row itself, there are many little villages, don't give up right away! we go into the village frequently for classes and such, we homeschool and there's quite a bit going on, but we live in a beautiful spot in a teeny tiny village. x

[tessie]

http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/ comes to mind. It's always popping up in my babywearer group emails as a site of meet ups. ;)

[arwenevenstar]

Oxfordshire!

Oxford is quite happening, lots of good festivals round about, lots of homebirthers and crunchy parents, lots of green outside freshness and plenty of farmer's markets etc.

We live in Banbury about 20 minutes north of oxford. It's a great place to live - you can bike loads of places, there are some boaters who live on the Isis river (think it's the Isis, maybe the Cherwell)

[rubyhatespets]

I would second Hebden Bridge.  It's very convenient for Lancashire as it's only just over the border into Yorkshire, and ticks all your boxes.  It's a semi-rural small town in the Pennines with plentiful, good-value, beautiful stone housing.  Access to amazing countryside and scenery.  Thriving arts/cultural scene, vegetarian restaurants, liberal ideals, big lesbian community, organic gardening societies.  I was brought up nearby and drank raw milk my whole life - it didn't occur to me that other people didn't as it was just what the milkman brought.  It's within easy commuting distance of Manchester & Leeds - big modern lively cities - and also not far from York which has amazing medieval, Roman and Viking ruins.  It's in the North so the cost of living is generally lower.

See here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebden_Bridge

[arwenevenstar]

Ruby!!!! What are you doing here?

[rubyhatespets]

Pure voyerism!

[GMum]

Oh thank you so much for all these wonderful suggestions! Still researching, still waiting for the economy to pick up and a job for DP, sigh - but I want to move NOW! in the meantime, it's so helpful to have some places to research.

Hebden Bridge looks ideal and one thing that really appeals to us is" Hebden Bridge has attracted artists, and has developed a small New Age community. It became attractive in the 1980s and 1990s to lesbians as a place of mutual support to bring up children.^[7] As of 2004 Hebden Bridge had the highest number of lesbians per head in the UK.^[8]"

That is quite timely info for us!

[Odd Mama]

Hi there,

I am Canadian and have been out of Canada for as long as you have been in it (not here in the UK the whole time).  I live in rural Kent and love it. I moved here from Brighton, which is exactly what someone wrote earlier.  It is a big town, though, and it felt like everyone was a massage therapist/ yoga teacher/ doula (which I am).  I found the community to be saturated with "like minded people" and felt like who ever died with the most wooden toys won.  That being said, it would have been great to live somewhere close, like Lewis, and then have Brighton there for natural product shopping, classes, art etc when you needed it. Where I am now is equal distance to the Forest Row Steiner school, and the Canterbury Steiner school.  Both are beautiful and very different and both have large Steiner communities surrounding them.  I am pretty alone in my earthy childhood upbringing but am surrounded by farmers and people who are very connected to the earth.  I can access culture when I want and I am appreciative of that.  I like the non-competitive side of having a unique parenting style in this area.  I just thought I would share :)

[calanagear]

Yeah Sussex is lovely!! I used to live in East Grinstead. It was very friendly though lol!

[GranolaMum]

I'm in Brighton (well Hove).  Let me know if I can help!  I love it here, been here 10 years.  

[kate.]

Originally Posted by GranolaMum 

I'm in Brighton (well Hove).  Let me know if I can help!  I love it here, been here 10 years.  

We are thinking of moving from London to Brighton/Hove - I'd love to pick your brain a little!!

[susis]

Im in a simular boat right now but things are a tad faster paced as I move a week Monday with no fixed area!! Not scary much lol

After months and months of searching we have found Lincolnshire the cheapest for houses looks like decent school and options for work etc.

Im moving to where ever I can get a job unless I can get away with staying at home with my boys.

I was considering going to Canada instead of going back home to England. Im sooo glad Ive chosen blighty.

Good luck with the research, take care it dosent consume you like it did me lol

Susi xx