In the 70s/80s I lived on the Isle of Wight. For some a trip to the other side of the island (max 25 miles) was a big trip. My husband's dad used to service the car before attempting such a feat!
In the mid 80s my husband had a holiday job on a farm in a small village in West Sussex. One of the older farmworkers told him he had never been further than the two nearest towns, roughly 5 miles each in opposite directions.
Loved living in York, tourists and all! Miss it now and wish I could afford to move back. I share your experience of the city giving you energy! I love to visit York and other places ( recently Edinburgh) to revitalise my perspective on life. Lovely read - thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I have always yearned to live in a village and now I do. I love it. I think the trick is to work out what works for you and then to embrace it wholeheartedly. PS. A 40 minute journey in Suffolk is often quite local too! A petrol purchase has to be planned carefully to co-incide with enough errands to justify an 18 mile round trip
Yes other East Anglia based friends have said the same. I've just got very lazy about having main roads and motorways in easy reach - very different from when we lived in Sussex. At the weekend we realised that we are just not used to having to drive for an hour on B roads - it's only ever the last ten minutes at the end of a journey round here! We have things very easy really.
I always thought that I'd love to retreat to the middle of nowhere over the winter, re-emerging in spring bursting with all my reflections from a reflective hibernation. Then the pandemic started and I had to go into shielding, and I realised how much I needed to be around people and the things they do. I never want to feel that cut off again.
Yes I think lockdown made us all rethink what was important and many of us got a few surprises. Like you I have abandoned all passing fancies of moving to somewhere remote, and now when I see articles about tiny Scottish islands being up for sale I just scroll past!
Such a fascinating article, thank you. I loved the idea that in some cultures being quiet is seen as something being inferior or less popular, whilst in others it's the opposite
I'm a countryside creature these days. It's lovely to read about a city life in a positive way, though. It seems to be that you see opinions "oh, the country's dead boring" or "the city's soulless and greedy" when of course, it's far more complicated than that.
Having lived in suburbs and worked in cities most of my life, I moved to semirural Suffolk about 15 years ago.
There's definitely things I miss about a more urban life - a diversity of people, big galleries & museums - but we have lots of small arts places, and the sea, and wonderful landscape. I find the buzz of bigger towns and cities overwhelming and exhausting in anything bigger than tiny nibbles. But tiny nibbles are good.
To be sure we are all different - but I think there is a sort of 'country-core' (is that a thing??) tendency on social media to assume no-one likes urban living. To be fair York is unusual in that it is ridiculously small and yet still has all the facilities of a city, so we get the best of both worlds. I do find some cities actively depressing (no names, no pack drill) and while I enjoy London, one day at a time there is quite enough.
Living in the Regency tourist town of Leamington Spa I am torn between wanting to live somewhere with no neighbours and the town amenities I enjoy. I can walk into the town centre in 15 minutes and if I wanted to to neighbouring Warwick in about 45 minutes. I can wander the streets looking at the interesting houses pondering their history or along the river or the canal. Yes we get coachloads of tourists - usually Weds - but it is manageable and not as many as nearby Stratford gets. Best of all I can get a taxi to the hospital in an emergency for about £8 and London is only an hour and a half away by train.
Yes Leamington is lovely (I went to Warwick Uni and lots of my friends lived in digs there). I know what you mean, it is reassuring to have amenities nearby and know you are not isolated miles from anywhere.
This is me too ! Am such a townie. Buildings of all kinds fascinate me. I love the opportunities for culture and yes retail …. I love the buzz and variety of people. Better transport ! I adore York too. Lucky you ! 🥰
In the 70s/80s I lived on the Isle of Wight. For some a trip to the other side of the island (max 25 miles) was a big trip. My husband's dad used to service the car before attempting such a feat!
In the mid 80s my husband had a holiday job on a farm in a small village in West Sussex. One of the older farmworkers told him he had never been further than the two nearest towns, roughly 5 miles each in opposite directions.
Loved living in York, tourists and all! Miss it now and wish I could afford to move back. I share your experience of the city giving you energy! I love to visit York and other places ( recently Edinburgh) to revitalise my perspective on life. Lovely read - thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Yes Edinburgh is another place with a buzz. From the comments here it definitely sounds like we are not alone.
I have always yearned to live in a village and now I do. I love it. I think the trick is to work out what works for you and then to embrace it wholeheartedly. PS. A 40 minute journey in Suffolk is often quite local too! A petrol purchase has to be planned carefully to co-incide with enough errands to justify an 18 mile round trip
Yes other East Anglia based friends have said the same. I've just got very lazy about having main roads and motorways in easy reach - very different from when we lived in Sussex. At the weekend we realised that we are just not used to having to drive for an hour on B roads - it's only ever the last ten minutes at the end of a journey round here! We have things very easy really.
I always thought that I'd love to retreat to the middle of nowhere over the winter, re-emerging in spring bursting with all my reflections from a reflective hibernation. Then the pandemic started and I had to go into shielding, and I realised how much I needed to be around people and the things they do. I never want to feel that cut off again.
Yes I think lockdown made us all rethink what was important and many of us got a few surprises. Like you I have abandoned all passing fancies of moving to somewhere remote, and now when I see articles about tiny Scottish islands being up for sale I just scroll past!
Such a fascinating article, thank you. I loved the idea that in some cultures being quiet is seen as something being inferior or less popular, whilst in others it's the opposite
I know, it really made me stop and consider how much our likes and dislikes are influenced by culture.
York is fabulous! If you have to urban, urban in York.
Ha ha, yes it is the best urbanning.
I'm a countryside creature these days. It's lovely to read about a city life in a positive way, though. It seems to be that you see opinions "oh, the country's dead boring" or "the city's soulless and greedy" when of course, it's far more complicated than that.
Having lived in suburbs and worked in cities most of my life, I moved to semirural Suffolk about 15 years ago.
There's definitely things I miss about a more urban life - a diversity of people, big galleries & museums - but we have lots of small arts places, and the sea, and wonderful landscape. I find the buzz of bigger towns and cities overwhelming and exhausting in anything bigger than tiny nibbles. But tiny nibbles are good.
To be sure we are all different - but I think there is a sort of 'country-core' (is that a thing??) tendency on social media to assume no-one likes urban living. To be fair York is unusual in that it is ridiculously small and yet still has all the facilities of a city, so we get the best of both worlds. I do find some cities actively depressing (no names, no pack drill) and while I enjoy London, one day at a time there is quite enough.
Living in the Regency tourist town of Leamington Spa I am torn between wanting to live somewhere with no neighbours and the town amenities I enjoy. I can walk into the town centre in 15 minutes and if I wanted to to neighbouring Warwick in about 45 minutes. I can wander the streets looking at the interesting houses pondering their history or along the river or the canal. Yes we get coachloads of tourists - usually Weds - but it is manageable and not as many as nearby Stratford gets. Best of all I can get a taxi to the hospital in an emergency for about £8 and London is only an hour and a half away by train.
Yes Leamington is lovely (I went to Warwick Uni and lots of my friends lived in digs there). I know what you mean, it is reassuring to have amenities nearby and know you are not isolated miles from anywhere.
This is me too ! Am such a townie. Buildings of all kinds fascinate me. I love the opportunities for culture and yes retail …. I love the buzz and variety of people. Better transport ! I adore York too. Lucky you ! 🥰
Yes I honestly can't imagine moving away.