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[CLKD]

We have a wood burner, fitted 19 months ago.  Love it.  We had new fireplace built 15 years ago and never lit the fire. 

When we lived in a Georgian Mansion there were quarry tiles. Throughout the ground-floor.  With very old thread-bare carpets across. The romantic in my thought that I would love to 'do up' a cottage, after living there for several years I changed my mind.  It was cold. The tiles needed cleaning and polishing - I did it once.  They were so old that there were pitted up the middle after Centuries of being walked on, guess where the dust collected  .  I would never buy a thatched property due to fire risk.

We loved it there despite the cold  .  Now we have oil-fired central heating and the woodturner.  Large rooms which we have filled with stuff!   Wall-2-wall carpets or wooden floors downstairs, carpets up.  Still makes dust 

[Ju Ju]

I would never live in a thatched cottage either. My DH as a police officer and my son as a retained fire fighter attended too many thatched houses destroyed by fire. They do look lovely though. I'd rather appreciate them from the outside than live in them. We came to our village in 1986 just for 5 years and we are still here! Our bungalow isn't anything special and I would love to throw a load of money at it, but we are very happy here. Beautiful countryside, some lovely neighbours, though we have had some problems years back. People seem to care here on the whole. My parents were critical of our decision to live away from facilities. They aren't now. They aren't able to walk to the shops now and have to go by car, which takes ages because of the traffic. Much easier for me driving 5 miles along country roads to the nearest supermarket! There is a big difference between our village where the population is changeable to the nearest village where families have lived there for generations. New people are still new 20 years on!

[CLKD]

Yep, same here - unless your children and grandchildren have been to the village school, don't even consider yourselves accepted 

[Daisydot]

Here's a good one. We lived in a small country cottage when I had my second son.it was all farmers we lived alongside and of course the farm workers.one of the wives worked in the local chemist it was like a hotpot of gossip in there.I had to go in one day after my son was born and get condoms which I hated doing so anyway I said to her morning Mrs Robinson could I have a packet of condoms please,she replied smirking and what size would you like so I thought for a minute then said well I'd say he's about average size but I dont really know,I thought she was going to choke she spluttered no 3 pack or 6 pack lol.i don't know who's face was the reddest but I'll bet that was the hottest story for weeks after,my poor husband said what do you bloody mean “average” 

[Tiddles]

Ha ha ha Daisydot, thats brilliant 😂😂😂 Ive just snorted the pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie Im drinking at Fleet services out of my nose !!

[Daisydot]

Lol Tiddles glad I wasn't within firing range sounds lovely though lol

[Annie0710]

LOL @ tiddles story !!! X

[CLKD]

 

[Pennyfarthing]

Loving that story! 

[Two hoots]

Daisydot, I'd love to have been a fly on the shop wall,  what a pity you didn't ask for extra large  imaging how fast that gossip would have spread 

[Robin]

 

[Daisydot]

I was brought up not to lie like that Two hoots he did well getting average 

[Two hoots]

Ohhh too much information     

 

[Minicat]

A few years ago, I moved from a busy suburb to a small rural town thinking the slower pace would be a dream. While the quiet was nice at first, the lack of privacy was a shock—people knew things about my life I hadn’t even shared! I once had a neighbor comment on a package I received before I even opened it myself. It felt like everyone was watching, and not in a caring way, just curious for gossip.

After two years, I ended up moving back closer to friends and family for the same reasons you’re describing. It was tough to realize the countryside wasn’t for me, but the sense of connection and spontaneity with loved ones outweighed the rural perks. If you’re planning a move back, planning well ahead helped me a lot—especially budgeting for movers and other costs. I found this guide handy for estimating moving expenses: https://threemovers.com/tennessee-movers-cost/.

[getting_old]

I grew up in an environment like that, where everyone knew everyone and gossiped and criticised constantly. I hear people talk about the good old days when they lived in each others houses, but to me those days were horrible. I prefer the anonymity of not knowing my neighbours and knowing they aren't picking my life apart.