What's new
By:
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Retiring/ Holiday Home in Europe

During the election period a number of people would come here as it was an "escape from the endless politics". Mixing politics and a discussion forum never ends well, and most of the time ends in arguements since people have different views and opinions.

This topic could equally have been approached by wording as follows :

I am weighing up going very rural in the UK like Northumberland versus the European equivalent.

Has anyone found a nice spot in Europe that seems a long term bet ??
  • Not mega money, not a fashionable spot. So not Switzerland (where I would go if I had the dough), not Paris, Milan, Nice, Barcelona type place
  • But sleepy/ bit below the radar/ decent value for money/ not tourist/ no need to find employment or schools
  • Not chav fest, union jack shorts, Full English Breakfast type of place
Click to expand...

It certainly didnt need the rest - your reasons are your reasons.

We all know that times are hard, and parties/politicians arent most peoples cup of tea at the best of times, however i would respectfully request that we keep politics out of discussions on this forum.
I understand that some people are caught up with these things day to day, however there are no conspiracy theories on here (well, not that i know of!), and this isnt the place to vent.
I have always found Twitter/X a good place to vent your frustrations, and then find that a hundred other people tell you that you are wrong and put you in your place - which is why i dont partake there!

I encourage discussions wholehearedly, but sometimes things will be as things will be, and we just have to accept that.

TLDR; Please stop with the politics :)
 
DRD said:
@Asiapinball

That's very kind, thank you. My Dad's lot came from up there - he grew up in this remote hamlet called Ingoe which is about 14 miles NE of Hexham. Northumberland reminds me of how this country was [40] years ago, and I like that.
Click to expand...
Northumberland is probably the closest you will get to England 40 years ago. I grew up on the outskirts of Leicester where it was pretty much open fields from where I lived all the way up to Loughborough 8 miles North. I spent my late teens and 20s in London, my thirties in Asia (Singapore Hong Kong and Penang Malaysia all 3 big bustling cities with loads of overseas business trips across Asia) and then 17 years in Northumberland but with twice monthly overnight business trips down.to London and the South until very recently. Northumberland is just a place where you can easily unwind and not have to be concerned with modern life and overpopulation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DRD
A point if I may..

With the exception of the NHS, all of your other concerns could be alleviated by just not reading the news. Yes very "fingers in ears", but actually achieves precisely the same as moving away (ie nothing) without having to give up your home, community, settled status etc, and starting again.

Your village, house, garden, pinshack, pin collection is amazing. Maybe you don't see what you have already.

Offload your biggest stresses first? Holiday more. Hold more pin meets .. : ) Being a landlord sounds exhausting
 
Guessing a move to London isn’t really on the cards for you then? 😉

Actually ignoring the news isn’t bad advice. If you believe certain media outlets then everything is dreadful and the end of the world is rapidly approaching. Reality is often quite different.
 
@strobey ... you are very perceptive and those are great suggestions. I'm on with simplifying, downsizing getting rid of headaches etc.

There is an additional factor though wanderlust wife......
 
Having lived in Asia for 10 years living overseas isn't all its cracked up to be. There is a lot to miss about the UK and you just swap the problems you see here with a possibly different set of problems overseas that you have less control over.
Better to just simplify your life, take more holidays overseas to fulfil your wife's wandrlust and as @strobey says stop taking notice of the news as they just sensationalise it with the extremes in whatever is reported.
 
Northumberland’s not a bad shout. I’ve a pal, I got a HUO Black Rose, the result of some gangster reparations, from him.
He’s recently moved into a bungalow built from scratch that has every green innovation known to man. Even the solar panels fit directly onto the roof so crap and birds can’t get underneath.
Ground source heat pumps and insulated to the max. Only thing he’s missing is a windmill, he’d have got the highest rating available with one.
Cost him £250k BUT he owned the land.
The views are to die for.
Tried to upload a video of it but it’s too large and I don’t have the necessary skills to shrink it IMG_1490.webpIMG_1489.webpIMG_1488.webpIMG_1487.webp
 
We have an annual event in Alnwick, so we are familiar with Northumberland. It's a beautiful part of England with very friendly people, and our annual visit is always a highlight of the year.
 
Alan Syson said:
Northumberland’s not a bad shout. I’ve a pal, I got a HUO Black Rose, the result of some gangster reparations, from him.
He’s recently moved into a bungalow built from scratch that has every green innovation known to man. Even the solar panels fit directly onto the roof so crap and birds can’t get underneath.
Ground source heat pumps and insulated to the max. Only thing he’s missing is a windmill, he’d have got the highest rating available with one.
Cost him £250k BUT he owned the land.
The views are to die for.
Tried to upload a video of it but it’s too large and I don’t have the necessary skills to shrink it View attachment 261209View attachment 261210View attachment 261211View attachment 261212
Click to expand...
post some photos Alan if you have some?
i spent a lovely holiday in Northumberland a couple of years ago - loads of beaches, castles, puffins, friendly people and decent prices. if it wasn't for the weather i'd be looking to move there myself
 
cooldan said:
post some photos Alan if you have some?
i spent a lovely holiday in Northumberland a couple of years ago - loads of beaches, castles, puffins, friendly people and decent prices. if it wasn't for the weather i'd be looking to move there myself
Click to expand...
 
cooldan said:
Try again.
cooldan said:
post some photos Alan if you have some?
i spent a lovely holiday in Northumberland a couple of years ago - loads of beaches, castles, puffins, friendly people and decent prices. if it wasn't for the weather i'd be looking to move there myself
Click to expand...

Photos of what Dan? The Black Rose? Sold it to Squires, he got a bargain. Northumberland? Druridge Bay, loads of castles the jewel being Bamburgh. Cragside, first house with electricity. Staithes, Whitby down the coast. Beamish Museum worth a few trips.
Talking of trips the missus was taking bedding downstairs to wash, got tangled up and fell down the last few steps. Drove her to A&E, drove back, half an hour later she rings to be picked up. Been x-rayed and assessed, don’t think that’d happen down south.
Weather wise OK it’s not as warm but being easterly not too much rain.
Think I’m bigging the place up too much, smacks of all the libs fleeing California for Texas and still voting Democrat when they get there. Stay where you are, I prefer it sparsely populated.
Click to expand...
 
kev a said:
Isle of Man?

Seems like a nice mix of island/rural living, not so much nanny state nonsense. Outside the UK for tax, but in the middle of NI, England and Scotland and Wales for travel.
Click to expand...
Can I just say thank you for this brilliant suggestion.

I am on the ferry home after a week here with my wife and dog. We want to move here and are planning to return for 2 months in 2025. Then we plan to join societies/ meet more folk/ social clubs/ swimming baths/ theatre/ gym/ cinema etc etc to really get a feel for community/ social/ leisure side.

Lowest crime in the British Isles. The IoM government has no debt at all. Everything works. No beggars/ street druggies/ speed cameras/ bus lanes/ cycle lanes/ grafitti. Virtually zero pot holes. Beautiful harbours, phenomenal scenery. Drive as fast as you like outside of towns.

The people are incredibly welcoming, helpful and friendly. Don't lock their doors.

We could very well be moving here in a year or so If it all checks out.

D
 
DRD said:
Can I just say thank you for this brilliant suggestion.

I am on the ferry home after a week here with my wife and dog. We want to move here and are planning to return for 2 months in 2025. Then we plan to join societies/ meet more folk/ social clubs/ swimming baths/ theatre/ gym/ cinema etc etc to really get a feel for community/ social/ leisure side.

Lowest crime in the British Isles. The IoM government has no debt at all. Everything works. No beggars/ street druggies/ speed cameras/ bus lanes/ cycle lanes/ grafitti. Virtually zero pot holes. Beautiful harbours, phenomenal scenery. Drive as fast as you like outside of towns.

The people are incredibly welcoming, helpful and friendly. Don't lock their doors.

We could very well be moving here in a year or so If it all checks out.
Click to expand...
As long as you can still get the Daily Mail there eh
 
All papers here baby.

Today I had a one hour one-on-one tour of the parliament which is the longest continually running parliament in the world. They do 2x free tours per week. Three separate debating chambers in a former bank.

When you hear folk say "wouldn't it be nice if you could take party politics out of x,y,z issue ...." Well in the IoM they have full tax and revenue responsibility and only four members of the 24 person lower chamber have any party affiliations.
 
DRD said:
Can I just say thank you for this brilliant suggestion.

I am on the ferry home after a week here with my wife and dog. We want to move here and are planning to return for 2 months in 2025. Then we plan to join societies/ meet more folk/ social clubs/ swimming baths/ theatre/ gym/ cinema etc etc to really get a feel for community/ social/ leisure side.

Lowest crime in the British Isles. The IoM government has no debt at all. Everything works. No beggars/ street druggies/ speed cameras/ bus lanes/ cycle lanes/ grafitti. Virtually zero pot holes. Beautiful harbours, phenomenal scenery. Drive as fast as you like outside of towns.

The people are incredibly welcoming, helpful and friendly. Don't lock their doors.

We could very well be moving here in a year or so If it all checks out.

D
Click to expand...
Brilliant, really glad you liked it.

I must visit one day, everyone I know who's been liked the place.

Not locking doors sounds familiar. How else will the postie deliver parcels :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: DRD
Two guys I did some business with about 20 years ago, both moved to IOM for tax reasons. They were limited on how many days they could be in England each year. They were fine for first couple of years, they tried to get me to go, then later one admitted to me that it was like living on an open prison island. 😂😂😂
 
If you are a multi-millionaire there are serious tax breaks on the isle of man and it is much easier to move to than the Channel Islands.

We are not in that bracket. We don't have kids so don't prioritise inheritance tax (a major driver for some folk). We want old fashioned rural life and that freedom/ absence of state intrusion.

My drive to Nottingham takes me longer now than it did in the 1980s. Back then I had a mark 1 golf with a low compression engine that ran on 2 star. Even in a 350 bhp car with abs, air bags, traction control, seat belt pretensioners, 4wd .... my sh1tty golf got me there faster ...... its insane. Cameras, numerous speed limits, bus lanes, warnings, threats. There was a middle overtaking lane and the morons have got rid of it and put up a 50mph limit with average speed cameras. I've had enough of it.

The IoM is like the best of rural Northumberland but under a seemingly sensible and definitely well-funded government. Even the broadband in my holiday home was double the speed of my home system
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom