Help! Cumbria, Derbyshire or the South West??

[Notamule]

Folks, I'm hoping you can help my OH and I decide on a major house move! We currently live in East Anglia:- nice dry weather, expensive property prices and a tad dull geographically but loads of competition venues and good trainers within reach. We have an opportunity to move further from London to an area we can afford to buy a house with land for our horses and we're looking at Cumbria, Derbyshire or Devon / Somerset.

I'd love to hear your views on any of the above areas especially with respect to:

• Rain fall - how wet is too wet for field management?!
• Competition venues & trainers (esp dressage)
• Good off road hacking
• Any other horsey considerations, such as availability of good referral vets, farriers, saddlers, tack shops etc

We love the Lake district, but the rain fall (esp compared to parched Cambs!) is a concern, I've read that hacking availability in Derbyshire is mixed and dressage competition venues are quite thin on the ground in Devon.....but please put me right on any misconceptions!
Thanks in advance.

 

[Holly Hocks]

Well I don't know which area of Cumbria you've looked at, but I'm in South Cumbria and there is nowhere with land that I could afford, yet we've looked at East Anglia and found it significantly cheaper than anywhere in Cumbria.

If I had a choice I would not live in Cumbria - especially not with horses. It rains almost constantly, where I am the fields are hock deep in mud - they only dry up in the middle of summer and our hacking is nearly all on roads. If you look further north, on the outskirts of Carlisle then you might be lucky to find somewhere (but if you find the farmhouse with 6 acres for £194k, we've already had a look......the house needs about £100k spending on it!

We're looking to move to the outskirts of Carlisle either later this year or next year, but if I had a choice of where to go, I'd be looking at the area you're wanting to move from!

 

[Wishful]

From a West Devon perspective, hacking is a little limited unless you can get straight onto one of the moors, which adds massively to property prices. Competition opportunities at The Grange, Bicton, Tall Trees and within striking distance of Pontispool and Stockland Lovell (and probably others I've not come across. Property prices substantially nicer near Plymouth (Tavistock/Callington/Bodmin/Launceston regions) than around Okehampton (other than Oke itself which is cheap).

It does get wet, but can also be lovely. Decent waterproofs are a must - breathable waterproofs tend to give up after a while. Field management depends on the soil type and drainage - the black clay around Hatherleigh is boggy as anything, the redder clay is somewhat less boggy but still clay. Moorland ground (unless it's actually a bog!) generally drains pretty well.

 

[Ibblebibble]

there's a saying that goes as follows 'welcome to sunny devon where it rains 6 days out of 7!!' lovely county but don't think i've ever had good weather when visiting! Somerset i love, varied scenery, the somerset levels being the low lying wet areas which are great for dairy cows but crap for horses. you have langford vet hospital within easy reach and the beautiful Quantock hills for fantastic hacking. Venues i'm not sure on as thats never been my thing.
What about wiltshire? like somerset has the m4 running through it so good access to the rest of the country. we have fantastic scenery here too and plenty of hacking. if you look on the wiltshire horse riders group on FB theres plenty of info about trainers and venues

 

[Holly Hocks]

Oh and I forgot to add that if it's competition venues you're after, Cumbria isn't exactly littered with them - nothing in the south of the county apart from the riding club so you have to go into Lancs to Myerscough but further north, near Carlisle there's Black Dyke and Greenlands.

 

[Brownmare]

Well I used to live in Derbyshire near Bakewell and had fab hacking. Ground is mainly limestone so free draining but you will find it near impossible to get planning for anything horsey within the national park so btw something with a manege already built lol! Some good trainers round there too

 

[spottyfilly]

I second what holly hocks says, im also from south cumbria and the weather is crap, we had a months solid rain in dec, now ice.not much riding done lately! Property prices are incredibly high up here also

 

[dominobrown]

I am from the North of Cumbria. Yes it isn't exactly the Sahara, but I am 20 mins from Keswick out of the Lake District, and out of the hills it is a bit drier. Also land prices are cheap. The roads are quiter, the beaches are great and hacking in the lakes is good too.
There is not a lot of competition venues, but there is quite a bit of unaffilated stuff. Dearham, Threapland, Greenlands, Blackdyke, Newton Rigg all hold unaffilated dressage, and the latter two do affilated as well. I think Greenlands may have affilated stuff in the future.

 

[Jay89]

I am from Wiltshire, so south west. The rain I don't think is any different to anywhere else in the country, when its wet its wet, when its dry its dry! We do benefit from its not as cold as further up north though and we dont get much snow!

The hacking round by me is lovely, I happen to think there are loads of bridleways and off road hacking. Not that far to box to places like salsibury plain.

Quite a few competition venues. West Wilts EC, Abbotswood, Rabson Manor.

Good luck with your house search.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

there's a saying that goes as follows 'welcome to sunny devon where it rains 6 days out of 7!!' lovely county but don't think i've ever had good weather when visiting!

How true!!

I'm in East Devon, which is lovely..... but house prices are ridiculous here; and if you want anything with land attached you need serious mega-dosh or inherit or win a fortune. However, places like old farms DO come up occasionally if you know where to look and if you don't mind doing the place up a bit.

Hacking is very different in different parts of this particular area: if you're lucky enough to live near to say Woodbury Common, hacking is absolutely fantastic - but in some places, especially where the land is given over to agriculture, the hacking can be fairly grim TBH and tends to be 99% roadwork (unless you have a box and can box up and ride out wherever you like). Mid Devon, as far as I'm aware, is a bit like this? But anyone from that area feel free to correct me.

Sorry don't know much about competing venues, coz just don't do it!! BUT Bicton Arena is here and they've got loads of stuff going on all the time; plus Bicton College (Equestrian Unit) also is a good venue with regular things happening.

 

[Kat]

Can only comment on derbyshire, but there is some incredible hacking. Stunning. Where I am we hardly have any bridlepaths but the views from the lanes are amazing. And the hills are great for fittening!

Some good dressage trainers in the area, Steph Croxford and Sue Carson are in Matlock, and Richard Davidson in Notts

 

[be positive]

Somerset, can be low lying and wet but also plenty of higher ground the grass grows very well and can recover well from the winter use, property prices are generally high as people are moving out from the more expensive home counties.

Hacking, there are some very good places for off road riding, property with land in those areas will be at a premium.

Competition venues, there are plenty of BD/BE accessible within the county and surrounding counties unless you venture into Exmoor which is a bit further out.
A303 takes you towards London, M5 north/south

Very active RC/PCs .Plenty of unaffiliated comps all year round. Some good trainers in the area .

 

[Kat]

Sorry phone posted too soon.

Lots of good less well known names too.

There aren't many competition venues in the peak but plenty in south derbyshire, and over the border in Notts or staffs.

Weather, depends where you are really, the peak can be bleak!

 

[Notamule]

Thanks for all your helpful tips and suggestions! Based on feedback from this and the BD forum I suspect we'll strike Cumbria from the list on weather grounds (we'll keep going for hill walking mind!) and think about Derbys, Devon & Somerset. We're also thinking about N. Yorks, in case anyone has any experience they'd like to pass on?!

 

[Javabb94]

I am from North Cumbria and I love it!

Despite the weather my field is always suitable to ride in.
The comp venues where my new livery yard is are quite good there is Blackdyke, Greenlands, Murray House, Nord Vue, Inglewood for comps with Blackdyke and Nord Vue holding lots of dressage with blackdyke I think doing affiliated dressage.

The off road hacking is fantastic IMO and tbh I love it!

It's a lot 'quieter' than other places which I love!

 

[irishdraught]

I can only comment on Cumbria and as already stated, we get our fair share of rain. That's the problem with living near fells (both Lake District or the Pennines).

The soil varies from sandy where I am to quite boggy further north.

We have a decent selection of riding centres in Cumbria and are within easy reach of Lancs, over the border into Scotland, N Yorks etc.

We also have some beautiful hacking on the beach, within forestry, fells trails etc.

I love it here but anything with land comes at a price, the closer you are to the Lake District, the more £££££s

 

[Orchardbeck]

I can also only comment on Cumbria, but the variation of terrain is incredible, fells, lanes, beaches etc. As long as your land has good drainage it is ok. Property prices aren't too bad either - we're just outside of carlisle and there are a good few riding clubs, indoor arenas for comps and cross country courses. We just built our own house and putting up stables next!

 

[NeilM]

Take a look at West Somerset, in the areas around Wiveliscombe, Witton, Minehead. We take our horses there on holiday about four or five times a year, and there is a massive variety of hacking, both on and off road, with the Quantocks right on the doorstep. Pontispool and Stockland Lovell are very local, for comps and schooling.

Weather wise, it is pretty much like the rest of the South West, presently it's pretty wet, and we get some decent gales in autumn / winter, but summer has it's fair share of sunshine, otherwise nobody would get any hay made!

Property prices are not bad, if you are not too close to Taunton, look up some of the estate agents in Wivvy, and you'll get a fair impression.

West Somerset is very horsey, so I'm sure there are plenty of vets, and we know from experience that there are a good number of farriers in the area too.

 

[Calvo]

I live Carlisle and as long you have decent drainage you will be fine. Hacking is usually fab and dressage venues are Nord Vue (fab up and coming venue), Blackdyke (affiliated dressage too about 5 miles from carlisle), Newton Rigg (affiliated dressage too about 15miles from carlisle), Greenlands does the odd dressage (about 5miles from carlisle). The riding club I am with is John Peel Riding Club which also hosts dressage alot usually at blackdyke so there is always something dressagey on too. Omar (Cobs Can book) does lessons around carlisle and Jo Graham does lessons at Newton Rigg. Denise richardson does lessons at nord vue. There is alot going on if you know where to look

 

[Quantock-cob]

I moved to Somerset from Scotland 20 years ago and love it down here. Cider, The Wurzels, great friendly people!!
We live in the middle of the Quantock Hills...fab hacking...not too far to go to competition venues (Stockland Lovell, Pontispool, Badgeworth)...good riding clubs.. hunting (if that is your thing, but def not mine!).
But house prices here are terrible. We would love to buy something with 4/5 acres but would need at least £500,000 so way out of our league. We're lucky to have great livery right behind our house so will stick with that until we win the lottery.
As for land/ weather - the levels in Somerset get very wet - check any potential purchases on the Environment Agency website. I found one recently that seemed very good value, until I found out that it was on a flood plain! The hills in the Quantocks are more free draining. Also watch for the deer up here..they will invade your land and strip it bare!
I always watch property programmes on the TV and think if only we lived in the Wales/ Scotland, etc, we could buy what we really want, but we will never leave this area as we love it too much.
Good luck with your search..very exciting to be able to pick where you want to live. I suggest a few weekend trips away to do some research

 

[FanyDuChamp]

I live in Cumbria, 1.5miles from the National Park boundary. It is truly beautiful, hacking is excellent from our yard. 10 mins to the beach, and we are already in the country.
Rain fall - how wet is too wet for field management?! -Cumbria has the highest rainfall in England, that is how it gets so beatiful
Competition venues & trainers (esp dressage)-there are several in the county and depending where you are in the county will depend on who you use, Cumbria is a huge county!
Good off road hacking-excellent.
Any other horsey considerations, such as availability of good referral vets, farriers, saddlers, tack shops etc -Good vets, farriers, EDT etc. Shops you have to be prepared to travel but there are very good ones. Again it is a huge county so will depend where you want to move to.

Property prices are funny up here, with in the national park boundaries the properties have a premium for the kudos of living within the NP but go over the border, which is just a line on a map, and the prices drop. Where I live is below national average and just 1.5 miles outside the NP. The only thing you may struggle with is finding a livery yard if you are not going to keep the neds at home. Also if you are going to keep the at home and do opt for inside the NP then make sre whatever you want building is already built or already has planning permission, because getting planning permission is very hard in the NP. Finally be aware when looking that some houses have a residential tie of some type, you may have to work in NP to buy it or you may have to live and work in NP.

Come to Cumbria it is beautiful, safe, and good value for money!
FDC