Author Topic: If you were to live in a National Park, which one would you choose?  (Read 2251 times)

lilyp

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Hello lovely walkers, a quick easy question for you all - I would really love to know which national park you would choose if you were going to live in/near one and why (if you can pick just one!)

My husband and I are keen to move, and we luckily both work from home and are not tied to any particular location so are pretty much free to choose where we go. We both crave beautiful natural places and freedom to walk, and we grew up in the flatlands of the fen so a few hills would be very nice. I know some areas of the country quite well (Brecons, North Yorkshire, the Lakes), others not at all so your expert knowledge of our most beautiful and wild places would be greatly appreciated! We can then narrow down our list of places to visit before we finally make our move.


So please tell me your favourite spots, and what you love about them! Thank you!

ninthace

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Hello lovely walkers, a quick easy question for you all - I would really love to know which national park you would choose if you were going to live in/near one and why (if you can pick just one!)

My husband and I are keen to move, and we luckily both work from home and are not tied to any particular location so are pretty much free to choose where we go. We both crave beautiful natural places and freedom to walk, and we grew up in the flatlands of the fen so a few hills would be very nice. I know some areas of the country quite well (Brecons, North Yorkshire, the Lakes), others not at all so your expert knowledge of our most beautiful and wild places would be greatly appreciated! We can then narrow down our list of places to visit before we finally make our move.


So please tell me your favourite spots, and what you love about them! Thank you!


Head for the Upper Eden valley then you will have the Yorkshire Dales, North Pennines and Lake District on you doorstep.  Not only that but property prices are lower than the national parks.  Upper Eden has a choice of pretty villages and small towns such as Kirkby Stephen and Appleby.  If you need to travel it is but a short hop to the M6 or A1.
Solvitur Ambulando

lilyp

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Brilliant thanks so much for taking the time to reply Ninthace, Upper Eden Valley will go at the top of the list of places to visit. It sounds like an ideal spot. I have a feeling I may have even been there as a kid, my dad was studying geology and we had a lot of holidays in the Lakes and North Yorkshire but sadly some of the early ones I barely remember and he sadly isn't around to remind me now. Lower property prices is always a big bonus too!

vizzavona

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The Cairngorms National Park is where I stay and is a fairly new one.....haven't lived in any of the others. :)
Good if you like the vast landscapes of the main mountain area but the peripheral areas with slightly lower mountains are also very interesting places to walk.

Ridge

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How 'away from it all' do you want to be?
I love holidaying in the middle of nowhere but know I couldn't live permanently in complete isolation. I've always thought Keswick was probably as small as I could cope with.

harland

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How 'away from it all' do you want to be?
I love holidaying in the middle of nowhere but know I couldn't live permanently in complete isolation. I've always thought Keswick was probably as small as I could cope with.
Keswick is good but it is full of all those walkers! :D

phil1960

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The Beacons (not the Brecons). I have lived close to or within the boundary of the Brecon Beacons my whole life, so I wouldn’t change that.
Touching from a distance, further all the time.

Dovegirl

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I live about three miles from the South Downs National Park and am also within easy day trips of the Chichester Harbour and High Weald Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. So there are walks ranging from hills and heathlands to the creeks and cliffs of the coast. None of it is truly wild or remote but it's very beautiful and some parts can feel surprisingly secluded and there are picturesque villages and small towns.  There's the advantage of proximity to facilities and public transport, considerations that may become relevant if the move is for the long term. 

Rather be walking

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I live about three miles from the South Downs National Park and am also within easy day trips of the Chichester Harbour and High Weald Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. So there are walks ranging from hills and heathlands to the creeks and cliffs of the coast. None of it is truly wild or remote but it's very beautiful and some parts can feel surprisingly secluded and there are picturesque villages and small towns.  There's the advantage of proximity to facilities and public transport, considerations that may become relevant if the move is for the long term.

I too, about 4 miles from the edge of the SDNP near Butser Hill, but now thinking Rowlands Castle closer. 

Jon.
““The hardest part was coming to terms with the constant dispiriting discovery that there is always more hill.”
― Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods

Dyffryn Ardudwy

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I am lucky to be living inside the southern regions of the Snowdonia National Park, but like all other areas of outstanding natural beauty, it comes with certain restrictions on what you can and cannot do.
Any house alterations, have to conform to strict criteria, and if Gwynedd council dislike any of your proposed plans for building a conservatory or similar alteration, then you have to start again from scratch.
A neighbour of mine recently had to source his slate tiles from a particular quarry in Blaenau, simply because the council insisted they matched the same colouring as other properties, and when the job was finished an official called to make sure the tiles were the right colour and size.

At nearly £1 each, the roof was hardly a bargain, but it certainly looked the part when it was done.

Living in a National Park does have benefits of cleaner air, nice views from your front door, but you do face restrictions that others do not have to face in areas outside the parks boundary.

lilyp

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Vizzavona  - I have heard wonderful things about the Cairngorms, but haven't had a chance to visit. In fact I don't feel I have really explored Scotland yet, I have been to Edinburgh and a little of the surrounding countryside, Drumnadrochit twice (a friend had a holiday house there) and had a fantastic holiday on Mull as a child. Definitely would like to see more of it, and the slightly lower house prices are definitely very tempting...  

Ridge  - Well this is an ongoing debate between me and my other half. He is very sociable, so I think we'd want to be no more than around 20-30 minutes from a decent size town, Keswick size would be absolutely. I on the other hand can loose myself in my work for a couple of weeks at a time when I have something on and not notice I haven't seen anoyone expect husband for days on end, so would be very happy with my own company somewhere remote. I did suggest a house in the highlands a while back and got a raised eyebrow in reply, so I think it's something I will have to compromise on  ;D

harland  - Darn walkers...   ;D

phil1960 - I absolutely love the Brecon Beacons. Along with Snowdonia its definitely the place I have visited most. My grandfathers family hail from wales and shropshire (have no idea how they ended up in the fen    :( ) so we have been going there since I was really small. It's definitely very high on my list, how lovely to have lived there all your life. I often wondered if there is some kind of ancestral memory with landscape, because honestly I feel so elated when I see hills and mountains, that I can't believe I was born and bred in the fens!   

Dovegirl/Ratherbewalking  - Thank you, the South Downs is one of the places I don't know at all. I spent some time in Brighton during my uni years, but never had time to explore the countryside. I don't necessarily need wild, although I do love a dose of it now and again, but one of the places I love and keep returning to is Wiltshire and the North Wessex Downs. I think they are somewhat similar countryside?  

lilyp

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Dyffryn Ardudwy - You are lucky, I love Snowdonia. Devils Kitchen and the Glyders is one of the very first walks I have really clear memories of, I think I was maybe seven or eight. Having lived in a listed house at one point, I am ok with accepting restrictions on what we can do, especially when it comes with a view of somewhere that beautiful. The listed house was not in a particularly pretty place and I still had to put up with the conservation officer moaning at us  ;D
« Last Edit: 20:42:06, 13/08/18 by lilyp »

wombat

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Hi, i would choose the Yorkshire Dales NP. as i do most of my walking in the yorkshire dales, north yorkshire moors, lake district, so this location is pretty central to all the areas i love  :) :)

April

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Northumberland National Park is nice too, close to the coast and you have the Cheviots to play in too.
Hate will never win

madame cholet

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The

Head for the Upper Eden valley then you will have the Yorkshire Dales, North Pennines and Lake District on you doorstep.  Not only that but property prices are lower than the national parks.  Upper Eden has a choice of pretty villages and small towns such as Kirkby Stephen and Appleby.  If you need to travel it is but a short hop to the M6 or A1.


I loved Kirkby Stephen when I walked the coast to coast.
Great things are done when women and mountains meet.

 

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