Weather

MaryMary

Quite Contrary
Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
2,241
Reaction score
3,251
Location
Southwestern Ohio
Hardiness Zone
6
Country
United States
Colin, I agree with Upsy Daisy, Bootsy, and Logan. (y) I know you have said that you have spent (40 years?) a lot of time making the house what you wanted it to be, but it's just a house.

I believe that you and Bron would be content anywhere, why not move somewhere that makes you happy? :)
 

Colin

Retired.
Joined
Sep 17, 2017
Messages
1,663
Reaction score
2,541
Location
Huddersfield.
Hardiness Zone
7
Country
United Kingdom
Hi,

Thanks everyone for your kind wishes and suggesting Bron and I move to start a new life which makes a great deal of sense.

Bron was born and brought up in Huddersfield so knows the area very well indeed; I'm sorry if I'm moaning and giving nothing but doom and gloom; you are spot on Upsy in that we don't have any family ties holding us here in fact we have many times thought about moving just to be rid of my family; the bad weather really is the major problem living here plus the steepness of the valley side is now starting to become a chore as we age.

Yes Bootsy; the weather the people and the area are real problems; I'm amazed it hasn't rained today (Yet). We have a mixture of neighbours one side is terrible the other side is Carole who is lovely; directly across the street from us is a family who own the road in their opinion to the extent about a year ago they called in the police because other neighbours were parking on the pavement in front of our bungalow with our blessing; these silly neighbours though park on the pavement directly across the street from our garage being hypocrites; the police were very nice about it and said they couldn't do anything anyway because no law was being broken; the police officer did tell us that our neighbours who parked their cars thought Bron and I were wonderful in not objecting. We live in one of the most desirable areas of Huddersfield and we get neighbours like these? Good enough reason to move?

Yes Mary; in this bungalow we've spent the last 30 years making it our home and it's beautiful being a true bungalow in random stone; the view across the valley is panoramic and the view up our rear garden is also a joy.

So why don't we do the sensible thing and walk away from so many problems; well it's rather complicated; I won't discuss Bron's personal details but let's just say Bron is unwell; she cannot drive and cannot walk far enough to catch public transport; our surgery is nearby and Bron knows the hospitals; if Bron was to be on her own in a strange place us having moved and I expired then Bron would be quite lost; for my part I bounce around like a kid but I'm unwell having had major surgery for Crohn's disease in 1982 and to this day I'm still troubled now though with dermatitis and food intolerance; I ended up as an emergency admission into hospital in July 2016 spending three days with lots of tubes coming out of me; this greatly distressed Bron as you can imagine but consider the consequences for Bron had she been in unfamiliar surroundings in an unknown area?

On top of this where do we move to; as I say we live in a desirable area but we are surrounded by low life all around Huddersfield and from what we see it's not much better elsewhere in the UK because crime seems to be accepted and rewarded; locals with almost 300 court appearances but still free to do as they like; generally houses/bungalows don't become vacant because the owner/s are so happy?

I really should shut up moaning and do something about it. Only yesterday I said to Bron I need to sort out better heating for the workshop before next winter to stop me moaning about the weather allowing me to work without being wrapped up like an Eskimo; ideally a central heating radiator would be best and safest; the only place against a wall is directly behind my Graduate lathe; I though great I've cracked it until I remembered the lathe VFD and wiring which would be affected and in the way of the radiator; I've only just sorted the VFD out it powers both the Lorch and Graduate lathes; I might end up pulling the VFD out though and starting over but it's not an easy job.

Our bad neighbours have been bad all the time we've lived here and last year we finally had enough of their harassment and I called in the police; we now have an open police file against them and I've installed CCTV so now they leave us alone other than gawping at us.

Our bungalow is lovely; the rear garden is our mini park it being well established; in order to make life easier as I grow older I've been removing lots of grass and rotavating; I'm now planting lots of ground cover and shrubs etc to suppress weeds and save me cutting the grass; last year I removed two tall hedges at a total of around 140' in length so I no longer have to trim these and in their place I'm planting things like Viburnum.

I love my Bron to bits but I'm scared of moving in case something happens to me leaving Bron stranded; both Bron and I would like to move and start over but we had so many problems when we first moved here would we only be swapping one lot of problems for a new lot of problems?

Not an easy call is it? Just a bit of information really to try to explain why we endure the assorted problems living here. Finances aren't a problem in fact we could possibly convert our rear garden into a building plot as our previous neighbours did years ago; the plot would be worth a lot of money plus of course our detached bungalow and savings; Bron is my main concern and I can moan forever about the climate?

Thanks again everyone for your concern and kindness which I truly appreciate.

Kind regards, Colin.
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2015
Messages
606
Reaction score
941
Location
Close to The Garden of England
Hardiness Zone
8b
I understand what you're saying but trying to look at it objectively I still think you should move. It just means being very specific about where you move to.

The sort of priorities are:
A bungalow that you like
In an area that is nice
An easily maintained garden
In a better climate (sounds as though almost anywhere in the UK is better :D)
Close to the doctor or health clinic
Public transport close by
A local shop or easy public transport to a supermarket

As you tend to be quite happy to drive around with Bron then you will both soon learn the area.
As you seem to have mainly unpleasant neighbours you are unlikely to end up with worse and highly likely to end up with a lot better.

You shouldn't let the natural concern of what happens with Bron, if you go first, adversely affect the rest of both your lives when there's a good chance that you could both have a much better quality of life if you move.

Give it some serious thought. If nothing else, it would be quite interesting looking at what places you could go to and what bungalow you could buy.

Obviously, most of us are likely to be biased, for better or worse, towards the areas we live in.

Our area is really lovely but the property prices are ridiculous down this way compared to up your way. We live in a village of approx. 1,200 people with a very good doctor's surgery (with a dispensary), a village shop (co-op) that's open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the year, a post office inside the village tearoom, another tearoom, a couple of pubs, a couple of restaurants, a couple of takeaways, an excellent fish and chip shop, a few shops, two churches, a village hall with lots of activities, buses connect to a small town two miles away, two large towns (both with hospitals) six miles away and the county town 15 miles away - and cricket on the village green. There are no hills to make life difficult as you get older.

We average about 25" of rain per year. Whereas it sounds as though you get that in a month!

Then, of course, there are retirement villages. If you have a reasonable amount of annual income to pay the service charges then some of them are excellent places.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
3,711
Reaction score
4,613
Location
Hampshire
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United Kingdom
I can fully appreciate your apprehension @Colin ....the thought is very daunting. There are always a way round things, don't look for barriers.
If you take time to do your research I am positive that you will find a much nicer place that has all the amenities that you both require.
I also understand your concerns for Bron .. to some extent my hubs has the same for me, and we have lived here for years! We live in a very isolated area and only have one set of neighbours. I also don't drive ...have a licence but lost all confidence after passing a fatal accident many years ago. I think losing your partner will totally blow your world apart wherever you will be living and massive adjustments will always be a sad necessity.

Retirement villages are really lovely.....I have spent the last 3 months looking into all the ones in our area to see what is available for a family member. It would definitely be something that I would seriously consider should the need arise. I have several Aunts and Uncles living in them already and one Aunt is on her own and she says it's the best thing for her since my Uncle passed away.
She has made lots of friends and enjoys days out. My Uncle passed away a year after they moved away from where they had lived for years...so she was in new territory too. She is also nearly blind and 87 yrs old but has embraced the life she has left to live.

I always think that yes I regret mistakes made but I regret lost opportunities far more!

We all want to see you happy in life, and offer our advice with the hand of friendship to you and Bron , we are not here to ' nag' you we only want the best for you both.

I rest my case now as only you can make such a decision. All we want is for you to at least give it serious consideration..... and to be happy :)(y)
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
26,532
Messages
256,107
Members
13,239
Latest member
sagor20

Latest Threads

Top