Moving to town

blackcob

blackcob

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We have been house hunting for years. The rural house we are looking for, in a relatively small triangle for various reasons, just doesn't appear to exist within our budget. Things have all come to a bit of a head recently in our current rented property and I've had enough of waiting for the hen's teeth forever home to come up, we need out.

The compromise is to look at the tip of the triangle which takes us into a large town. From a budget and amenities point of view it's absolutely a no brainer decision and I can spend the difference on a really fancy dog van.

From the dog point of view - the streets are wide and well lit, you could safely do good distance on night time lead walks or runs, compared to where we are currently which means repeating 300m laps or being ankle deep in mud in the dark. The one we went to see at the weekend had a community green space close by, protected from development, forming about a 45 minute circular walk.

However, that would be about it - excepting a couple of playing fields, which were heaving with off lead dogs, there's not the multitude of varied, long and isolated country walks that we have available now. I've come over all town mouse and country mouse and can't decide if it's a sensible compromise, or if I will regret for years losing the rural walks?
 
I live in town (just off a main street) but a five or ten minute drive from some secluded walks and our training field (I deliberately wanted to be closer to it) and do a lot of walking at night. There is a public footpath right outside, which leads onto a nice walk for non-reactive dogs.
 
We'd be exactly 30 minutes away from training venue #1, training venue #2, mum's place with free use of outdoor manège and whatever fields the horses aren't in, and OH's work. Same distance as present to all competition venues as quicker motorway access. A friend from club lives on the other side of this town and has to drive somewhere for all 'big' walks which I had always declared would drive me mad (not least because we only have one car at present). I do a lot of night walking in any case, pavements and street lights would be nice. I'm just thinking of the few times a week we head out and go for hours, and they can be safely off lead/longlined a lot here.
 
I lived in town. Dogs loved in town walks, so much peemail. With my hours I never met anyone and if I had time I drove to a nicer place for exercise.
But unless you are 85 you needn’t look at it as your final move, it suits you now, it’s a no brainer.
You’ll be able to get take away delivered! The excitement!
 
I'm rural about half a mile out a very pretty village. When I walk the dogs we go out in the car 99% of the time. The other option is dicing with death on a country road that gets ridiculous amounts of traffic, or squeezing onto a tiny footpath over a bridge, but that leads to a river that's inaccessible for 5 months of the year due to flooding.

I never really thought about it, as I much prefer to walk in different places. I try not to do the same walk more than twice a month, and try to do totally unique walks more than half of the time. Whats the traffic like to get out and about? If your going to be sitting in queues it might be a no go but otherwise you will get used to it.
 
No-one delivers here and when the single Chinese closed down I learnt how to make a decent beef chow mein (thanks Chin and Choo). I can't recreate the deep fried stuff at home though and I need it. Yes I've already checked the Deliveroo listings. 😂 Joking aside, not having to drive 30 minutes to a supermarket would be nice.

I had been hoping for Forever Home as I have a few ishoos with moving (army brat, I've done enough for a lifetime) and as we have no kids we'll never need to upsize, so it seemed a reasonable goal, but that's my problem to get over. And on that note, bless the owner showing us round for gushing about the local schools for whole minutes without me being able to politely stop her. "You do have children?" "No. Where can I walk my dog?"
 
You know where I live , pretty rural , but I drive if I want a decent walk . Lanes are all fairly busy , and of course no pavements so if I walk from home I have to scramble onto grass verge frequently.
 
I love living where I do, it's the absolute pits of a place in a town but I can do a decent walk easily from my doorstep, not meeting anyone or very few people.

I can get in the car and go to rural locations and encounter more people than if I had walked from home.

Most people don't seem to venture very far. You may be surprised 😊.
 
Smitty said:
I love living where I do, it's the absolute pits of a place in a town but I can do a decent walk easily from my doorstep, not meeting anyone or very few people.

I can get in the car and go to rural locations and encounter more people than if I had walked from home.

Most people don't seem to venture very far. You may be surprised 😊.
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I say it a lot, but I rarely see anyone, and if I ever see someone once I'm a mile or so out I'm very surprised. Most people do the same, short walk on repeat. I cant get my head round it, but it clearly works for them
 
I'm Dun said:
I say it a lot, but I rarely see anyone, and if I ever see someone once I'm a mile or so out I'm very surprised. Most people do the same, short walk on repeat. I cant get my head round it, but it clearly works for them
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This😂. I go on walks from where I live and could go for absolutely miles but generally just hour and half. All 5 dog owners in my street stick to a circumference of about quarter mile.

One asked me one day if I had got lost as I was out for roughly 2 hours... He was joking 😁
 
We live in a very urban area. Within walking distance are 4 parks. We find as long as we’re back by 11, we don’t usually encounter ‘problem’ dogs. I generally shove Goose in the car and go to the woods or the river if it’s decent, however. Are you within a decent run to a country walk? Or is walking going to be restricted to after work? We’re lucky with my OH’s shifts. Does it have to be long term?
 
Smitty said:
I love living where I do, it's the absolute pits of a place in a town but I can do a decent walk easily from my doorstep, not meeting anyone or very few people.

I can get in the car and go to rural locations and encounter more people than if I had walked from home.

Most people don't seem to venture very far. You may be surprised 😊.
Click to expand...
This is basically me too, not the best area but some nice walks from home after walking for 5 mins or so
 
We live in the sticks now (as in on a small holding, 10 acres), dogs get walked on our land or they go somewhere by car. No joy to be had in walking along our narrow, high hedged country lanes.

When we lived in a small village we also never walked them from home - they went in the car, either for a walk or to our field a mile away.

Quit the renting and spend the difference on more diesel to get out and about!
 
I think I've been very lucky where we are now - multiple footpaths available within minutes of home, we are sandwiched between National Trust locations and some long distance trails. And yes, once you're 5-10 minutes out you tend not to see another soul. It's small and with footpaths branching out from all sides, whereas the location we're looking at is bordered by the busy town centre, a river and a dual carriageway, leaving fewer directions to strike out to, if that makes sense.

I do need to sit down with the map, and also do a peak times traffic recce.

Summer isn't an issue, 30 minutes in the car after work and I can chuck them out at mum's place or have the entirety of the Shropshire hills to tramp about on, it's just this time of year when I need to get a decent walk in during the day (WFH). The same 45 minute loop of the meadow would drive me insane and if it's heaving even during the day it's a no-go for the young dog.
 
blackcob said:
We have been house hunting for years. The rural house we are looking for, in a relatively small triangle for various reasons, just doesn't appear to exist within our budget. Things have all come to a bit of a head recently in our current rented property and I've had enough of waiting for the hen's teeth forever home to come up, we need out.

The compromise is to look at the tip of the triangle which takes us into a large town. From a budget and amenities point of view it's absolutely a no brainer decision and I can spend the difference on a really fancy dog van.

From the dog point of view - the streets are wide and well lit, you could safely do good distance on night time lead walks or runs, compared to where we are currently which means repeating 300m laps or being ankle deep in mud in the dark. The one we went to see at the weekend had a community green space close by, protected from development, forming about a 45 minute circular walk.

However, that would be about it - excepting a couple of playing fields, which were heaving with off lead dogs, there's not the multitude of varied, long and isolated country walks that we have available now. I've come over all town mouse and country mouse and can't decide if it's a sensible compromise, or if I will regret for years losing the rural walks?
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This is exactly what happened with us.
The dogs really don’t care as long as at the weekends we head somewhere exciting. It’s me that’s miserable and feels trapped in!

The only thing they took a bit of getting used to was being on lead more and the sound of rush hour traffic.

We added the spitz pup since moving, and weirdly he is much less bombproof than the others who spent most of their time this far walking footpaths and in the case of one - avoiding death by pheasant every day. This is inspite of being much more urban dwelling, park walking, coffee stop type dog! It all contributed to him being quite ‘over socialised’.
 
blackcob said:
We have been house hunting for years. The rural house we are looking for, in a relatively small triangle for various reasons, just doesn't appear to exist within our budget. Things have all come to a bit of a head recently in our current rented property and I've had enough of waiting for the hen's teeth forever home to come up, we need out.

The compromise is to look at the tip of the triangle which takes us into a large town. From a budget and amenities point of view it's absolutely a no brainer decision and I can spend the difference on a really fancy dog van.

From the dog point of view - the streets are wide and well lit, you could safely do good distance on night time lead walks or runs, compared to where we are currently which means repeating 300m laps or being ankle deep in mud in the dark. The one we went to see at the weekend had a community green space close by, protected from development, forming about a 45 minute circular walk.

However, that would be about it - excepting a couple of playing fields, which were heaving with off lead dogs, there's not the multitude of varied, long and isolated country walks that we have available now. I've come over all town mouse and country mouse and can't decide if it's a sensible compromise, or if I will regret for years losing the rural walks?
Click to expand...
If you have transport it's really not a problem! I live in a dump of a seaside town but it does have some advantages. The beach is great in the winter it's deserted and there's a couple of nice green spaces and as I walk pre 7am I'm not likely to meet an XL Bully which is a concern in urban areas... I normally walk mine on private farmland but in the winter it can flood and become really muddy so then I'll do some street walking which is good for fitness and heel work. I have takn to doing a beach walk in the morning as the drive to the farm has become a nightmare with road works everywhere and 10mins have become 30mins of stress....and evening we go to the farm as only 10 mins that time of the day!

I would have a drive around the area and check it out at various times of the day - there is a lovely area I wont go near after 9am because it backs onto a sink estate and is frequented by off lead un muzzled bullies during the day for instance...join a local faceache page might give an insight into any potential problem areas too.

but all in all I would go for it and spend the change on a spangly new van!!
 
blackcob said:
They accepted an offer from a cash buyer over ours. :(
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It wasn't meant to be but you will find somewhere better. Trust me 😉. I am looking to move from my 15th Century dream home with stables 7 areas of rented grazing and loads of walks for my girls to the nearby village a couple of miles down the road. I have concerns too, but as I work full time in the winter the girls hardly get walked mid week. Also now I'm on my own it is too big and extremely lonely. I will be trading open fields, for being able to walk them anytime as there will be lights and footpaths, plus shops and pubs all within walking distance. However I am concerned about having neighbours 😂 I also hope to have leftover money to buy a van for agility😛 However so far not one offer 😢
 
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