Is the London exodus inevitable?

[Strawbs]

I moved to the bright shining lights of London 3 years ago and haven?t looked back since, from the moment I arrived in this country and I knew I would never live in my homeland of Australia again (well at least not long term i.e. I had to go back for a short while last year due to Father's ill health)..

Obviously over time I have established good and solid friendships with peeps who I love dearly.. Almost all of those people are either moving out of London or planning to in the future i.e. in the next 5 or 10 years. I have noticed many Londoners do this - is this migration out of London inevitable? Do you have a plan to do that?

I have said to Mrs Strawbs that if we moved out of London that the country may lose its appeal to me.. Thankfully she is Bermondsey born and bred so quite happy to be a city girl for the foreseeable future but I can see the glint of wide open spaces in her eye..

[lozzyloz]

It's a British cultural thing. After a certain age you buy a Bungalow near the coast and die.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Well, I moved to England 21 years ago "just for 1 or two years - see how it goes" - and I'm still here.

If you move out of London, move well out - don't go for one of the home counties within easy commuting distance. Those places are purgatory and I can't help you if you go there

But there is so much of this country that is so vastly different to the South East - so many areas with different flavours. Don't rule out ever going there. I spent long spells in Yorkshire and Derbyshire near the Peak District, and 6 years in Devon. I could do it again easily if I wanted to move out of London. Which I don't

[mockney piers]

Most young professional types aren't really from London, so when they hit their 30s and start sprogging they tend to return to their roots in search of a support network and good schools.

I grew up in the purgatory Sean describes (it's actually heavenly until you hit about 16 and become VERY VERY BORED), and I for one would rather die in a coastal bungalow, alone and half eaten by cats by the time I'm found, than ever return to Letchworth.

[Brendan]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> "just for 1 or two years - see how it goes" - and I'm still

> here.

Ditto

[*Bob*]

Think of it this way:

You're on the train out of London. By the time it's at Watford, all the good looking girls have got off, it's started raining and the carriage smells faintly of sick.

I rest my case.

[Strawbs]

I must also add that I guess I am a little worried that we would be the only gays in the village aswell.. I have images of sleepy little villages where everyone knows everyone and it would take us possibly years to be accepted.. We once went to Westbury (near Stonehenge somewhere) as friends own a farm down there and we went to a house party there and ended up leaving as the 'locals' didnt want to speak with us even upon introduction so our friends and I left.. Anyhoo its just another reason I keep pumping in to Mrs Strawbs to keep us very firmly here!

We did have the discussion though as to whether when we were 60 - 70 if we would feel too intimidated to live in London from a safety perspective.. Her Nan is currently still scooting around Bermondsey at the ripe old age of 73 so I figure we can do it too!

[Strawbs]

*Bob* Wrote:

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> Think of it this way:

>

> You're on the train out of London. By the time

> it's at Watford, all the good looking girls have

> got off, it's started raining and the carriage

> smells faintly of sick.

>

> I rest my case.

I always thought that was after you got to East Dulwich! >:D<

[????]

"maybe it because I'm a Londoners that I love London so,

maybe its because I'm a Londoner that I think of her wherever I go" etc

The country's for incest and Cirhossis - unless you want them, avoid

[*Bob*]

There's always Hebden Bridge, Strawbs.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Totnes is Devon is lesbian couple central

(and not in a "so I've heard" kind of way - just have a mooch around and you'll see)

New Age trinket central as well but you can't have everything

[david_carnell]

Brendan Wrote:

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> SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > "just for 1 or two years - see how it goes" -

> and I'm still

> > here.

>

> Ditto

Bloody immigrants, you give 'em an inch and they take a mile!

I'd like to echo MPs comments. The home-counties suburbs are truely awful places and I'd never go back despite (or maybe because of) having lots of family there. Wilderness does have appeal though. I know my better half loathes the idea but part of me is excited by truely wild bits of Britain with very few people. I don't think I could offer you advice on the whole "only gay in the village" thing - not without baseless stereotyping vast swathes of rural England.

Although, of course, I'd probably last about five minutes before realising the nearest shop is 20 miles away and it doesn't stick my clinique moisturiser before scuttling back to the great metropolis.

[Strawbs]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Totnes is Devon is lesbian couple central

>

SM do you think so much so that they have officially as a town banned the book - the gathering - and others like it? ;-)

[Keef]

Being from London, I couldn't wait to spread my wings at 18. I went up to Liverpool for uni, and ended up staying on there for a couple of years after. I came down to Surrey in 2001 to train for my job, and genuinely planned to go back up to the pool when I finished. I ended up doing my final placement in London, and just fell back in love with the place.

Thing is, because I stayed in Liverpool, and rarely even came home in the holidays, I fell out of touch with most of my old school crowd (most of whom all still hang out together), so it really was like starting again in Dulwich, but thanks to the CPT, I have made a whole new circle of friends over the years! :)-D

[SeanMacGabhann]

Ms Enright doesn't seem to have too much room for them does she? ;-)

[mockney piers]

What a coincidence keef, I made a whole group of friends there, you'd have thought we'd have bumped into each other at some point?!

[Strawbs]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Ms Enright doesn't seem to have too much room for

> them does she? ;-)

Indeed she does not! I dont think somehow it will make the lezza top 10 list for 2008..

[Keef]

mockney piers Wrote:

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> What a coincidence keef, I made a whole group of

> friends there, you'd have thought we'd have bumped

> into each other at some point?!

Strange indeed, maybe we glanced at each other across a busy bar once upon a time.

[mockney piers]

Indeed, I'll keep an eye out for you sometime, be good to meet you, by the sounds of things you'd get on like a house on fire with my mates Keith & Matt.

[Keef]

Are they the 2 p!ss heads who often end up punching each other?

[mockney piers]

Ha ha, yes, that's them; we've DEFINATELY been in the same pub at the same time!!!!

[Cassius]

I think a lot of it depends on why you moved to London in the first place, what your loves are and whether London can supply them. I've been in London for over 20 years and came up for clubs, gigs, partying and having a better time than I had in Devon. Then I stayed because I wanted a good job, fantastic choice of theatres, galleries, restaurants and bars. Now I am thinking of moving because I want peace and quiet, to be within spitting distance of the sea and the countryside and to be able to see the stars at night (in other words I am getting older). It is not inevitable for everyone, but I think it is inevitable for me.

[Marmora Man]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Totnes is Devon is lesbian couple central

> (and not in a "so I've heard" kind of way - just

> have a mooch around and you'll see)

>

>

> New Age trinket central as well but you can't have

> everything

It's also on a Ley Line and has its own currency!

Used to be fun to potter up to Totnes in a launch from Dartmouth - at one time a shop there sold illegal, under the counter, BLue Vinney - Devon's answer to Stilton and very good it was too.

[VeryBerryCherry]

It's taken me nearly ten friggin years to get down here.

And now i'm here you are not getting rid of me.

However, I could be tempted away by a lovely apartment in Krakow.

[Brendan]

There is a part of me that craves space and long, dry endless openness. I think one day it will win over the part of me that craves entertainment, socialising and diversity. When that day comes it will probably mean going back to Africa. If indeed there is still a place for me there.

But for now I?m happy where my home is which is East Dulwich. This office in Westminster is a different story though.