A Guide For People Moving To The Cotswolds
If you are reading this then you are one of many people who would like to live in this beautiful part of England. The Cotswolds is a range of hills in west central England, an area 25 miles across and 90 miles long. It is the largest of 40 designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Cotswolds lie mainly within the counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire but extend into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
Figures from Gloucestershire County Council show that the local population has been growing since the early 1990s. The largest net inflows of people have been from South East England and London. The majority of the migrant population was of working age together with children under 15 years of age. There are 1,375 second homes in the Cotswolds. You may have spent a holiday in the area or have friends who live in the Cotswolds. Even if you have a second home in the area as I once did, the reality of full-time living is very different.
The criteria for choosing where to base one self is very different if you have to earn a living and/or educate children. There are some very good schools in the region. If you have been used to living in any sort of City, full-time life in the country can take some getting used to. For instance, unless you choose to live in a town such as Cirencester or large village such as Chipping Campden, it will not be possible to walk to many shops and leisure facilities. This is worth bearing in mind if you are single or unable to drive. It can be very isolating living in the countryside particularly in the winter when the lack of street lights in most areas can make the nights seem particularly long and depressing.
It is important to remember that the countryside is not a film set but a working environment. There is noise albeit not as much as in the City and of a different kind. Whilst it is difficult to make money in farming, agriculture dominates the landscape. So be prepared for mud on the road, animal noises and tractors driving slowly in the road.Get involved in village life. Go to the exercise class, toddler group or rural cinema in the village hall or join the Parish Council. That is the quickest way to meet people and feel a part of the community.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I moved to a village close to the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border with my family full-time, in February 2005. This followed six years as a second home owner in the central and north Cotswolds. It is worth bearing in mind during your house search that the Cotswolds covers a huge geographic area. It is a one hour car journey from where I live now to where I used to live on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border.
I moved out from Chelsea in London where I had a long career as a financial journalist. I am now based at home with my young children. I can highly recommend moving to the Cotswolds for a number of reasons. The pace of life is slower, people have been very friendly and supportive, aggressive drivers are few and far between, the children have space to run around and see the countryside in action and there is very little crime. However, it is important to choose a home base not too far away from a train route into a city such as London, Bath or Oxford for occasional cultural trips and retail therapy!
I am not professing to be an expert on the Cotswolds but I hope that this site will give you some pointers to make your move to the Cotswolds easier.