Anyone live in the middle of nowhere?

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jumpingginger

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I got engaged on Sunday and at some point in the future I am going to have to move to his farm, (once we have built a house on it as there is just a derelict house and barns there at the minute!) Trouble is it is in the middle of nowhere, and is the only property on the road for several miles, except a static caravan site half a mile away and another farm about half a mile away in the other direction. Its about 11 miles from 2 big towns, and a few miles from some small shops. I currently live in a town and my house is within walking distance of a train station, hairdressers, Tesco, petrol stations, optitions, loads of pubs, and only a few miles from several tack and feed shops! My horse is 2.5 miles away.

My question is, does anyone else live in the middle of nowhere and do you enjoy it? I will have the opportunity to have my horse at home (and maybe get some more horses!) so its not all doom and gloom, and I'll have 500 acres of my own land to ride around! Its just going to be such a culture shock!
 
I do, sort of - we are on a mountain, neighbours 1/2 a mile away in both directions, 2 miles from the village, nearest small town is approx. 15 miles, 2 big towns about an hour's drive away. 30 mile round trip to get fuel.

I don't have much of a social life any more but I do have my own yard, and can see the ponies from the house. Wouldn't change it for anything :)
 
I do, I live in the middle of a Fen, actually on the fen :) have neighbours about 1/2 a mile away. It's 2 miles from nearest village, 10 miles from a town, 6 miles to the nearest petrol station. It's great, but I don't really like people that much, so very happy with my own company and the animals.
 
Yep - and I love it!
There are 3 houses in our entire valley but we're all on the same side of the hill so I can't actually see another house from my house...the nearest market town with supermarkets/country store is 9 miles. There is a very part time shop 3 miles away.
BUT I am in the middle of prime farming land not owned by me..and I still have to keep my horses just over a mile away on rented land....so, if it was me I'd be concentrating on that 500 acres and enough room to keep as many horses as you like!!!! That would be my dream come true!
On a serious note though, having also lived in cities, you do get used to it...you also come to appreciate the neccessity of getting on with whichever people do live near(ish) as you do need each other from time to time.
Also, get a massive freezer, keep it stocked up and do obvious things like buy all you need in one go so you don't have to keep trekking to the shops...
And every once in a while, I realise I haven't 'left the parish' for a few days..by which time, the market town seems like a positive metropolis!!! :D
 
Yep, on a farm in VERY rural north Wales...and it's fab. I live on a peninsula so from some hacking spots you can see the sea on both sides and Snowdon in the distance :)

I guess the downsides are there are not the people you can need on the doorstep. There is one good farrier in the area and you need to book him well in advance. The only decent saddler and back person come down from Cheshire so you end up paying more to get them out. The local vet is great for sheep and cows but I wouldn't trust them with anything other than routine for horses.

Saying that, the downs are FAR outweighed by the ups, I have my own yard and live in the most amazing place and have beaches I can ride on within 5 minutes :D
 
Firstly - congratulations! :D

I don't live in the middle of nowhere, but I'm sure I could get used to it. My ideal would be to have a house that would make a great party house, so I could have friends over for big parties and everyone could crash over. No neighbours means make a much noise as you want, and a walled garden to acheive that all over tan ;)
 
I do, and on balance I'm happy here. The thing that I do miss at times - and in fact I was only thinking this today when I was having a problem with one of my horses - is having other horsy people handy to exchange ideas or just garner some support during the low times.

That said I love having my horses at home and seeing them first thing and last thing, and it is very beautiful where I live. Everywhere has it's pros and cons, and I do feel for my friends who have to drive a few times a day to the yard and have to fit on with yard hours.
 
starbar said:
Yep, on a farm in VERY rural north Wales...and it's fab. I live on a peninsula so from some hacking spots you can see the sea on both sides and Snowdon in the distance :)

I guess the downsides are there are not the people you can need on the doorstep. There is one good farrier in the area and you need to book him well in advance. The only decent saddler and back person come down from Cheshire so you end up paying more to get them out. The local vet is great for sheep and cows but I wouldn't trust them with anything other than routine for horses.

Saying that, the downs are FAR outweighed by the ups, I have my own yard and live in the most amazing place and have beaches I can ride on within 5 minutes :D
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I think you must live not too far from me :) Nearest bigish town is Porthmadog which is 12 miles away. Our freezer is always full of bread, milk and other essentials, and we are good at getting everything we need in one go - it's a bit of a pain to have to 'nip' back to town if you forget something :) We do have a village shop in walking distance and shops in other villages, but they are a bit limited in what they stock.

I love it!
 
I grew up in the middle of nowhere, so much prefer it.

We live about a mile from the village, which has good shops, pubs and restaurants. There are several other houses in the valley, and we have two immediate neighbours. We (all the houses in the valley) tend to know each other well and help each other out a lot in snow etc - much more than I've known neighbours in more urban places that I've lived! There is a town about 5 miles away, and Manchester is about 12 miles away.

One of my friends and her husband bought a small farm with stables, but she couldn't cope with living in the dark, so to speak, and fretted if she was on her own, so I can see how some people wouldn't like it. I love all the space around us and having the horses at home. Hubby is the same. His friends call us the hillbillies on the hill as we hardly ever can be bothered to go out!! We tend to entertain a lot.

Could you persuade your OH to allot some of the land for you - ten acres or so - so that you could have a few liveries to keep you company while you settle in?
 
My nearest supermarket is 20 miles away.
If I buy fuel at the local garage(2 miles away)its £1.49.
I cannot find Illy coffee locally.:(

We live in a small hamlet in one one the wildest parts of Exmoor.
We do have neighbours......but thats not always a blessing!
The key is to be organised.Make sure you stock up on Illy and other essentials while you are in 'civilisation'.
One of the ladies in our hamlet is immaculately turned out. Great hairstyle and colour,latest fashion in clothes,up to the minute make-up,so it is possible to maintain ones standards. This woman also makes the effort to go out 'to town' to keep in touch with the normal world.
Me? Cut my own hair. Generally got mud splattered somewhere. Avoid going out in case I have to talk to people. Spend too much time on forums cos we don't even have a telly.......I regard myself as extremely lucky and VERY happy.
Life is what you decide to make it.
Make yours good.
 
I'm not quite in the middle of nowhere. A hamlet with ten house, one is the livery wher I keep the two horses. Village is a mile away and has a pub and a posh restaurant. Nearest small shop is four miles away and nearest small town is seven miles away.

I do like it here, but now the girls are teenagers I do wish we lived in a bigger village. They cannot go anywhere unless they are taken by us by car. Their schools are 15-20 miles away.

So although children are far in the future for you (if at all), it's something to think about.
They both would like to move house and so would I but OH won't.
 
I moved from London to a small hamlet a long way from anywhere. I love it.

As well as keeping a well stocked freezer you also need to remember to keep enough fuel in your car to get you to the nearest petrol station, or keep a can of it stored somewhere so you don't end up like my OH did the other day when he forgot to stop & fill up on his way home from work...luckily it is mostly downhill on the way back to town ha ha!
 
Almost!!! Live on the outside of Lincoln, nearest neighbour 1/2 mile, have no help with horses, etc

It s difficult for nights out as I panic about getting home!! Won't trouble with the details, nothing sinister :)

It is what you make of it!! The only thing I miss is wanting to have my pony clipped but have no one near by to show me how :(
 
I am going to try and persuade him to let me build extra stables so I can have a small livery yard! I like the idea of having people on hand to ask for advice and someone always around to check on them!
 
We live fairly rural in a small village with 1 pub, a livery yard (where i work ;) ) and a few houses. About 5 mile to the petrol station in a slightly bigger village with a small co-op, a few pubs, chip shops and 2 chineses. Nearest town is 7 mile but theres not alot there neither. Next bigger town is about 20 mile away with a shopping centre etc........i came from a big big town close to the city and had everything on my door-step, it took me a good year to settle where i am now. 3 years later am still in the rural villiage and loving it :)
 
Ive grown up miles from anywhere and never lived in civilisation lol! Nearest town is 20 miles away, nearest fuel station 10 miles, very small village shop 4 miles. Lucky enough to have a few acres and 2 stables at home for the 2 ponies and 200 acre farm 3 miles away where my 2 other boys are roaming at the moment. Wouldnt have it any other way! :)
 
2 miles from village in a kind of hamlet, town 8 miles away. Nearest neighbours were great fun so many nights spent going next door for "a" drink and staggering home :-) Sadly they recently had to move, so back to bargaining with OH about who has to drive home. Nice to have neighbours 1/4 miles away esp when the lorry needed a jump start recently . .

Horse is at livery 6 miles away, prefer that really as it's more sociable, would get lonely if I had horses here.

Just takes a bit of organisation. Ocado delivers, but Domino's and Indians don't. :-)

Congrats on your engagement and lucky you!
 
cuppaeggnog said:
you will discover the delights of internet shopping...



for everything!!



and then be on first name terms with your postie! :D
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The bit about the postie made me laugh... we are on the edge of a very small village but miles from the nearest town and if we get any recorded delivery parcels or letters our postman will sign for them himself and then just leave them rather than expect us to drive to the nearest town to pick them up from the post office. I also (accidentally) left my car out on the road last night , unlocked with 2 sets of stubben tack in it. This morning it was all still there untouched! We are not totally isolated but are remote enough to not have to worry about what they neighbours are thinking! :D
 
We are pretty much in the middle of nowhere, although in summer there are lots of tourists, in the winter there are about 30 people in the nearest village (1km or so from us), but no shop, bar and restaurant closed most of the time from october - easter. The riding out is fabulous though and OH is from Rome, he thought he would hate it here but now he hates going back to Rome, so you might end up loving the peace and quiet. Congratulations on your engagement!
 
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