This Anglophile would love to read about your bit of the UK

[majors]

Hi I live in Cornwall (the very south west tip) Great place to live, gets crowed in the summer as people come here on holiday. We have some good hacking but do lack a choice of big competion venues, But I am born and bred here and wouldn't move. We have green fields. woods and of course beaches we can ride on.

 

[duckling]

I live in Cardiff, South Wales. Moved here from London nearly 3 years ago and although currently horse-less I love it

I think the hacking is great, obviously there's the beach but also plenty of common land and the mountains to ride over. It was a shock moving here from a small yard in South London where our hacking was limited to a small piece of Forestry Commission land as the roads were too busy to ride out on, felt nice to feel free!

Photos from up on the mountains:

Competition wise it's not so well catered for - there's David Broomes and a few equestrian centres for dressage/sj but we're close enough to the Severn bridge to get back into England if necessary!

 

[HashRouge]

I live on the edge of the Peak District: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=th...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CD4Q_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=643.
It's beautiful here, though a bit wet and wild! I had a very outdoorsy, horsey childhood thanks to my best friend living on a farm and we used to read hoards of pony books and have a whale of a time at pony club

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I'm in Powys, Wales. Everything here is either a hill or a valley, so if you aren't going uphill - you are going down!

Please ignore the naughty animals blocking the view.

 

[MagicMelon]

I'm not sure if OP means the whole of the UK or just England... but what about NE Scotland. Far less traffic and people than down south which is lovely! Land prices are generally cheaper too so easier to keep horses Lots of competitions to go to (NE Scotland has the 2nd highest equestrian population, second only to Newmarket I believe). Heaps of hacking. Love it up here!

 

[Enfys]

This is just SO English!

I left the UK sometime ago now. I have no inclination to return, not because I don't like the place, and there are many things I miss, but because I find I like living in Canada more.

I don't know about you but I spend a lot of time being nosey and everytime someone mentions a place name off I go to Google Earth for a virtual tour. I was looking at the village I grew up in (Farway, East Devon) and it all seemed so tiny and quaint, the ancient oak trees that I stood under on the village green waiting for my school bus 35 years ago are sheltering another generation of village children now.

Narrow lanes with high hedges and rolling hills (I live in tobacco and corn country now, all we have is hundreds upon hundreds of acres of flat, unfenced farmland) and the houses! I love the architecture and sheer oldness of Britain, all those little stone cottages and tiny fields. I grew up in a 500+ year old Devon Longhouse with scavenged parts of the Armada wreckage holding it up and bottle glass windows with dates etched in them. Here 150 years old is ancient - I laugh.

We had good riding country, several adjacent Hunts and some excellent Pony Clubs. I've also lived on Dartmoor, in a Welsh valley with mountains around us near Swansea, Northamptonshire near Towcester (hunted with the Grafton, The Pytchley and the Woody P when I was there ) Hampshire in a tiny place called Rake where we backed on to military ranges, Worthing on the coast and a bunch of other places in the UK.

When I try to describe Britain to North Americans I say, very small, very green and very old (as in full of 'living' history)
Canada and the US, and Australia too I guess, are newborns in historical terms.

 

[nixxyz]

im from the scottish borders, its rural and has brilliant hacking all year round, with being only 15 miles from the coast and 5 miles from bowmont forest theres always something different to do.
hacking in the snow

[/IMG]

hacking up by hume castle

and the best is the summer here with all the local festivals and common ridings!!!
http://youtu.be/admn8cs_VBk
just about every border town has one and the atmosphere is fantastic
its definatly something to come and see or try

 

[Brightbay]

I'm not sure if you're a Scotophile as well as an Anglophile (or indeed, a Hibernophile, as I live in Scotland but am Irish ), but just in case, here is a bit about where I live. It is the West of Scotland, and is officially the wettest part of the UK. This means that it is very green but that the riding, for much of the year, is on roads, as tracks and fields are very boggy.

My horse will demonstrate the lush greenness by posing in a variety of locations
The west of Scotland has very nice hills...

We also get a lot of this kind of weather:

But have access to this:

A lot of the riding looks like this:

If you travel a bit further North from us, you find it can look like this:

. I'd like to live there, but because of needing to hold down a job to pay for my horse! I have to be near somewhere with universities (it is 20 minutes drive into Glasgow, population around 600,000 people, from where my horse and I live - in Scotland, you can often get from city to countryside very quickly.

 

[Taffyhorse]

I am also in the South-East on the Surrey/West Sussex border. We are pretty rural for the area - our nearest village is about 3 miles away. About ten mile to the nearest town and supermarket but its lovely countryside.

Hacking is variable depending on where you are - there is a lot of forestry commision land near me which is ok but we also have a lot of clay so can be v muddy in the winter!! Lots of commons riding a trailer ride away (Hankley, Frensham etc) and lots of comp venues within easy travelling distance. There are a few hunts around - Surrey Union/Chid and Lec etc. Its a big polo area too so you're quite likely to encounter strings of ponies or giant lorries transporting them in the summer!

Cost of living and property is horribly expensive though and we are looking to move out of the area in a year or so as we would like to buy and have no chance of what we want here. Shame cos I really like the area but I've been down here for 13 yrs now (hail from Northants) so maybe its time for a change

 

[rhino]

I'm a Scottish Borderer, and there are few places as steeped in horsey culture and tradition.

I keep my horse at DIY on a yard on a private 46,000 acre forestry and moorland estate, so you can hack all day and never see a road

Each summer there is a Festival of the Horse which takes place in the Borders and has a huge range of demonstrations etc. for all types of rider and non rider..

Most of the Border towns has their own 'Common Ride' each summer which is like a parish boundary ride - these have been happening for 700+ years plus in many towns and are a key 'date' - the local children are more excited about Common Riding - with it's week long build up and parties - than they are about Christmas! It's all tied in with historical events - the flag carried around by our principle was stolen from an English soldier at the Battle of Flodden for instance.

[YOUTUBE]UJTAZJkaLfk[/YOUTUBE]

Despite having to travel to competitions, there are a number of 'pro' riders who live locally - Sylvia Loch, Ian Stark, Caroline Powell...

 

[Honey08]

Wow Rhino that ride looked great! And all the horses so well behaved - with the cheering etc! My mare would have jumped off that hill rather than queued up to get to the canter path!

 

[HashRouge]

I'm a Scottish Borderer, and there are few places as steeped in horsey culture and tradition.

I keep my horse at DIY on a yard on a private 46,000 acre forestry and moorland estate, so you can hack all day and never see a road

Each summer there is a Festival of the Horse which takes place in the Borders and has a huge range of demonstrations etc. for all types of rider and non rider..

Most of the Border towns has their own 'Common Ride' each summer which is like a parish boundary ride - these have been happening for 700+ years plus in many towns and are a key 'date' - the local children are more excited about Common Riding - with it's week long build up and parties - than they are about Christmas! It's all tied in with historical events - the flag carried around by our principle was stolen from an English soldier at the Battle of Flodden for instance.

[YOUTUBE]UJTAZJkaLfk[/YOUTUBE]

Despite having to travel to competitions, there are a number of 'pro' riders who live locally - Sylvia Loch, Ian Stark, Caroline Powell...

WOW, I want to live where you live!!! The best we can manage is a horsey carol service at Christmas

 

[LaurenBay]

I'm from Essex. It's nice where I live. But Essex girls/boys have a big reputation, for being over friendly and stupid. There is actually a TV show about it, please note, even though I live quite close to these people. I do NOT speak like this!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLW3_Ieckm4

I met a bunch of guys from Aus last year on holiday in Mexico. They straight away started with the jokes! haha.

 

[rhino]

Wow Rhino that ride looked great! And all the horses so well behaved - with the cheering etc! My mare would have jumped off that hill rather than queued up to get to the canter path!

Thanks. I used a hireling for that very reason, would have blown ginger boy's brains There were over 350 horses on that ride!

 

[SaffronWelshDragon]

Isn't it lovely that so many of us love good ol' Blighty and want to talk about it! I'll chip in a little about Essex, which, bless it get a lot of bad press (no thanks to certain TV programmes).

Originally from north west Kent, I moved up to Braintree, north Essex a year and a half ago.

Not a bad old place, I rather like it, though there are good bits and bad bits, thankfully I'm in one of the good bits Essex has a bit of a reputation which you've probably already heard about, but once you get north of Chelmsford it's nothing but beautiful countryside with a few towns, and lots of chocolate box villages dotted around the place. 70% of Essex is countryside

I take absolutely no credit for any of the photos, shamelessly nicked off Google.

I've only recently moved my two horses up here (a New Forest Pony and a Welsh Cob, pretty standard native breeds here). But there seems to be an abundance of bridleways and byways, plus local venues for shows, some within hacking distance. We also have a local bridleways association who run pleasure rides of 8 - 12 miles throughout the year, my sister and I hope to do a few of these. We also have a riding club who run lots of clinics and other fun stuff which we hope to get involved in.

 

[siennamum]

I live in Bristol, which is quite a small city, dominated by it's harbour and maritime history. Travel a bit South and you get to the beautiful country we hack in, old Bath stone villages, roman history, bluebell woods and steep valleys:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/video/video.php?v=10150457941646199
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/video/video.php?v=10150457973076199
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/video/video.php?v=10150457937426199
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/video/video.php?v=10150457872191199

 

[sakura]

I absolutely love our countryside!

I come from the south east but currently live in Cornwall (far south west). It's extremely horsey, miles and miles of unbroken countryside and you're never far from a sea view.

Down side is it's so far away from the main competition venues but really there's a good enough incounty show system to keep most leisure riders happy. The weathers generally milder than most of the country but highly unpredictable due to it's position and little land mass compared to the coast that batters it from all angles. A cornish storm blowing in off the atlantic is really quite something and not uncommon!

It's truly beautiful but very quiet, one day I want to move to Yorkshire - I love the british countryside, there's enough variety for me to never get bored!

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

Hi Kippen. I live in Somerset, in Bath. It's an expensive city to live in and full of tourists most of the time but the countryside around it is beautiful. I rent a little private yard for my 4 horses on the outskirts of the city. Also...Glastonbury....I work at the festival and have done for the last 25 years. My job there for the past few years is picking up the bands from their tour coaches and driving them around the site to whichever stage they are playing on. Glasto will change your life!! not on this year but next year..save up..come over...you'll love it!

 

[Aperchristmas]

The history, the tradition, the horses. I have steeped myself in all of this since childhood. Then there is the music too. So want to go to the Glastonbury Music Festival. So much to see and do. Have worked out that I could spend a solid two years checking out the sights of England and still not do it full justice. Just writing this fills my heart with a strong yearning.

Another from Somerset! I live very close to Glastonbury and still go every year (although it's not on this year to give the ground a rest, I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself). Hacking isn't great as there just simply aren't enough bridleways in most villages. The village over from me has quite a few but they are only passable in summer, truly lethal at other times even in spring. I am so jealous of those of you who live near Forestry Commission land, it's one of my dreams to have that kind of off road hacking. We have some of the best pubs in the country (god help you if you ask for a lager mind!) and obviously a fantastic cider tradition. The Irish like to pretend they can make cider but they honestly have no clue (obviously joking!......kind of) Fantastic hunting as others have said but not for the faint hearted. About half an hour from me (where you can find Cadbury Hill, the place they currently think Camelot was) has the most fabulous hunting but due to steep hills and large fences it can be quite tricky.

However there are lots of horses in the area so its easy to find hacking buddies. We're reasonably close to two very large and fairly prestigious xc courses in Pontispool and Stockton Lovell and there are some sj centres within a 40min drive.

Honestly, I love the area, even if it is a bit sleepy and nothing really happens apart from the festival. It is so beautiful, I love walking in the woods above my house and tramping through fields. I'm also an hour from the cities of Bristol, Bath and Exeter. Bristol is great fun and a really interesting place. Bath is very beautiful but expensive. Tbh Exeter is a bit dull but the shopping's good and it has lots of nice countryside around it. I'm also about 2 and a half hours from london which isn't too bad.

 

[dollymix]

as promised in my earlier post...some pics of beautiful Lancashire!

these are hacking from my yard...

these two are ashort trailer ride away...

and these are of the hill in one of the previous pics...It is called Pendle Hill and I like to think of it as Lancashire's Ayers Rock! lol

 

[kippen64]

Does Scotland interest you at all? I live in Central Scotland, near Kippen in fact, and it's nice and rural but close to plenty of shops and whatnot. It doesn't rain every day, just most days today we have horizontal rain and quite a high wind but that didn't stop the ponies going out. It's very horsey around here, there are numerous livery yards, studs, riding schools and plenty riding club/pony club branches. We have excellent off-road hacking and are within driving distance to the beach. Unfortunately we also have midges

Thank you for the great word picture. I can see it all in my mind's eye. I picked the name Kippen because it's the name of my Highland Pony. He came from a stud where they would name all their ponies after Scottish towns. His dam is Haven Bonny. There is a web site for the town of Kippen, but have had less success finding information on Haven Bonny.

 

[hcm88]

I'm from the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire. I do absolutely love it here, although quite frankly I think I'd prefer Aus! We've got a great horse community and facilities and beautiful countryside, I'm close to cities such as Bath, Bristol and even London is easy to reach. I'm pretty central for loads of events too so it makes competing easy. Close to Badminton also which is v nice!

I don't have many complaints about it really I do love it here, but sunny Aus would be even better I bet!

I would post some pics but no idea how!

 

[kippen64]

Hi Kippen. I live in Somerset, in Bath. It's an expensive city to live in and full of tourists most of the time but the countryside around it is beautiful. I rent a little private yard for my 4 horses on the outskirts of the city. Also...Glastonbury....I work at the festival and have done for the last 25 years. My job there for the past few years is picking up the bands from their tour coaches and driving them around the site to whichever stage they are playing on. Glasto will change your life!! not on this year but next year..save up..come over...you'll love it!

Your job sounds fab. Am so hoping to get there for 2014. It will be my 50th birthday present to myself. My daughter has offered to come with me but refuses to hang out with me at the festival. It seems that I dance too much like Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) and therefore am too much of an embarrassment to be near.

 

[MrsElle]

I am originally from South Yorkshire, have lived for several years in Suffolk and moved to North Wales last year. We live in Snowdonia National Park, home of the largest mountain in England and Wales. The scenery is stunning, the riding round here is great with access to the drovers paths up into the mountains and just a few minutes hack to the beach.

However, I would swap it all in a heartbeat to move to Oz. We go over as often as possible (usually every other year) and I get very 'homesick' for the place. As I have none of the skills in demand to emmigrate, I have to either put up with the fact it will just be holidays over there, or I need to find myself a nice Aussie farmer

 

[happilee]

The history, the tradition, the horses. I have steeped myself in all of this since childhood. Then there is the music too. So want to go to the Glastonbury Music Festival. So much to see and do. Have worked out that I could spend a solid two years checking out the sights of England and still not do it full justice. Just writing this fills my heart with a strong yearning.

Seeing as though i am planning to move to your country anyway why don't we just swap lives!

 

[RutlandH2O]

Hi Kippen, I have been so enjoying this thread. I am an ex-pat Yank living in Rutland for over 17 years. I, too, was a passionate Anglophile, for more years than I care to admit. I visited England, from our home in Hawaii, for the first time in 1987 (Windsor dog show was high on the agenda), and my fate, and the fate of my OH, was sealed. We came back to the UK every summer after that initial visit, and in 1994 found our "home." We bought a derelict Elizabethan farm house with out-buildings and land, and spent almost 5 years doing it up. We had never done anything remotely similar in all our lives. We did have a strong support system in the form of good friends who had experience in restoration/renovation here in England. The farmer from whom we purchased the property, lives 3 houses away, and is a conduit for so much history. There are only 12 houses in our village, no post office or shop, just a small 13th century church. About a mile away, as the crow flies, is Rutland Water, the largest man-made lake in Europe. Our position within England is considered the East Midlands. It is very central to so many places of interest: Belvoir & Rockingham Castles, Burghley House, Peterborough Cathedral, Clipsham Topiary Avenue, Burrough Hill, to name a few. We are under 20 minutes from Burghley Horse Trials (we always have a houseful of guests in early September!) and the East of England Showground, home of the Shire Horse Society, of which I am a member. There are lovely country roads and lanes in every direction near our home. I don't ride, but that doesn't preclude our enjoyment of our environment. We live on the side of a valley that is rural and wild enough for us to enjoy the natural world at our doorstep: red kites, a pair of Egyptian geese that have adopted one of our paddocks and ponds as their own, hares, barn and little owls, plenty of rabbits, voles, the occasional fox, badgers, and, I am told, otters down by the river. The vernacular architecture of the UK is one of my enduring passions. Just driving to the supermarket is such a visual delight in this country. Summer in the UK is a treat without comparison: the agricultural shows with their extraordinary livestock and crafts; the village feats every weekend; the gardens, whether at shows or just out and about; and the horses. There are so many different breeds and societies on this little island. When I moved here, I came with 6 Golden Retrievers and 9 Norwich Terriers...quarantine was the worst thing about the move. Even that can be avoided at this point in time. I had been the typical horse-loving little girl in my youth. However, I never owned one until I moved to Rutland. I now have 5 pure Shires, 2 donkeys, 8 pet sheep, some hens, a cat, a Jack Russell and a Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen.

If you ever decide you want to visit these fair isles, PM me. You are more than welcome to taste a bit of England at our place.

 

[blackcob]

Nobody's done Shropshire yet so here's a few pics - excuse the fact that most of them contain dogs.

I spend a lot of time in them thar hills and count myself very fortunate.

 

[gillianclaude]

I'm not sure if OP means the whole of the UK or just England... but what about NE Scotland. Far less traffic and people than down south which is lovely! Land prices are generally cheaper too so easier to keep horses Lots of competitions to go to (NE Scotland has the 2nd highest equestrian population, second only to Newmarket I believe). Heaps of hacking. Love it up here!

This! Live in NE Scotland too, but mum's partner lives up on the West coast near the very top and it's absolutely stunning up there.

Can post pictures if you would like

 

[Meowy Catkin]

One of the lovely things about the Welsh/English borders is all the Castles and Offa's Dyke.

I visited Montgomery Castle recently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Castle

Offa's Dyke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa's_Dyke

 

[Spanish Eyes]

Hiya,

I used to live in Oxfordshire, where the property was very expensive, and looked like this........

Then we moved to Cornwall, so that we could afford to buy a house with some land, and keep our horses at home. The hacking locally is pretty poor, with only single-tracked roads (often with grass growing in the middle), high hedges, and virtually no bridleways. The roads look pretty though..........

We bought two Dartmoor ponies that were born and bred on Dartmoor, just a few miles away. Here they are with their herd, before they came to live with us

But of course, you can always ride in places like this (something I couldn't have done in the land-locked Midlands)

Oh, and BTW I've always wanted to visit Australia, because I was brought up on the fabulous Silver Brumby books by Elynne Mitchell.

Hope you make it to the UK someday!