Moving North

[Magness]

Well my job situation is stable and I’m 100% work remote so we’ve decided to move north to the Lake District. We’re pretty excited as we’ve been up there several times and love it and have wanted to move there for a few years - and now we’re doing it.
 

We’re going to be in a small coastal village called St Bees on the western side of the LD - we both love this particular spot so have been watching for places to come up there and 1 finally did. For those that don’t know, the UK isn’t that big so this move is like going from one end of Colorado to the other but it’s big for within the UK. The dumb part is going this move in December 😕 It’s the time frame that works best for us and the timing on the place we wanted up there coincides but a winter move isn’t ideal. Still, we’re in the middle of arranging movers, etc and at least they’re not all booked up. It’s all more expensive than I’d like of course but ironically internet is pretty straightforward and the same £. We have the same BT service available we have now up there but somewhat slower (still good though) and/or Starlink. 
 

Will post more as we get closer to the move but, I can’t wait 😊

[Angry the Clown]

Oh wow. I’m envious. That’s a beautiful part of the country. That’s interesting about the internet options (good to know it is getting slightly better for rural areas).

[Robot Monkey]

Oh, wow, next door to Isle of Man! Might have to pop over if I ever get to go to the TT.

[Magness]

A progress update: 

 

The move prep is coming along nicely. Movers, utilities, etc are pretty easy these days and was all arranged in a few days without much fuss. BT tried to charge me an early termination fee but they actually can’t if they don’t offer the same class of service. They don’t - so, I contested the fee and provided the link to the page confirming there shouldn’t be a fee when moving house. The agent then “spoke with their manager” and waived the fee. I think sometimes my accent means that these things pop up when they may not for brits (who knows). 
 

Other than that, we are packing and will be doing a few trips up and back before the actual move (end of November) to get some initial stuff setup but, nothing too complicated. 
 

Id say so far things have been smoother than I expected as far as moving services, prep, utilities and everything so that’s cool - we’ve been pretty lucky with the timing of the move too. Looking forward to the move - not too much longer now 😊

[iainl]

I can confirm that it’s not you, it’s just that BT are awful and will try that rubbish on with everyone. 
 

Congratulations on the move - glad you’ve not been stung by the interest rate shenanigans that have already wrecked my parents’ sale once this month. They’re headed even further north, to the Outer Hebrides. 

[Magness]

So we have the keys now (yay) the new house is awesome and we’re both really happy with it and we actually have a sea view that’s pretty incredible. The new place is bigger as well so this is all making me feel great so far. We’re doing a few trips up to take some initial stuff up, setup internet, etc but won’t be moving till the end of the month. 

[Magness]

Today is the final move day when we get the furniture, etc moved up - very excited to be done with the move in and to be done with the old house (woot) and we have perfect weather today too 😊

[Angry the Clown]

Fantastic! Wishing you all the best for life up there.

[AlbertA]

A bit late but very nice! Congrats! 

[Magness]

Just posting a follow-up on this thread with a few comments on things we've found since moving. Take this with a grain of salt though as we've only been here a little over 2 months...

• Everything costs less up north but, it's not always dramatically less. A few examples, petrol is a good £.10 cheaper per litre, groceries have so far have been about £10 cheaper per shop and a pint at the pub is generally £3-4 not £5-7. Other things like council tax, electric, water and such have been cheaper by as much as £20 per month (I was not expecting that)
• The house has been sorted quicker than we thought it would. We've gotten everything unpacked, put where it goes, pictures up, etc so it's already feeling more "lived in" which is good. Surprisingly, we haven't had a lot of those moments where you forget where the dishes are or things like that. And no issues so far with my WFH - network has been solid, equipment has been working fine (RAP's/VPN/Etc) so no complaints
• Amazon Prime deliveries are now 2 days. Another weird one that I didn't expect as we are not that far from an Amazon depot but, nothing on Prime shows as next day at this address; it's all 2 day delivery. Not a big deal obviously but, I found it surprising as we aren't SO remote or anything and this is still just Northern England - this is still a smaller distance than trips we used to do from Texas to other parts of Texas (Dallas to El Paso)
• The weather has been better up north?!? Since we've moved, the SE region has gotten colder temps and more rain/snow than we have up here. The mountains nearby are snowcapped and it's still England so of course it's cold and wet but, it's not as cold or as rainy/snowy up north. I'm not sure how this is supposed to work but this seems weird to me.

And a few pics...

This is the beach at St Bees last week

 

And this is Derwent Water at Keswick

[kelley]

Looks really beautiful Dave. 

[iainl]

Looking great there. Part of me still fancies our own great move North, but I think that’s looking five years away now, after we get Child through university.