Best place for old folk

Swindon? Excellent connectivity by rail to Bristol/Bath and Reading/London, house prices way less than both Reading and Bath and £300K could buy a nice 3-bed semi. Town centre is depressing though, but there's the Outlet Village and the Magic Roundabout... I'm a born and bred Swindonian though so may be biased.

+1 to what @EcuriePeril said. Having lived many places in the UK and elsewhere, I think somewhere like Belper in Derbyshire would be about perfect to retire to, personally. In fact I'd be planning for that if I didn't already live so close!

I don't know it as well yet, but have always felt similarly about Bakewell.

If you really want to prioritize train links to London, Grantham had a fast line in. I do not know how nice it is to live in, though.

Places like Bedford are becoming increasingly popular with London commuters. Leighton Buzzard or Milton Keynes are also definitely within budget, although I personally dislike both having grown up nearby.

Given what you've said about your parents, one other thing to consider is how multicultural the place is. Sounds like they'd like somewhere where there is a good diversity of people. I have a friend who lives on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, for example, which fits the bill in many ways. However, his one complaint is that most of the people he comes across were born and raised around there and don't have particularly diverse experiences or worldviews.

somewhere where there is a good diversity of people

That rules Belper out then.

They even ousted poor old Mr Potato Head.

Have you had a stroll down Terminus road recently?

Hmm it's no London, Birmingham, or Manchester, for sure.

Edit - done some googling and it's worse than the Derbyshire average for ethnic diversity and far worse than the UK average. Ho hum, this definitely makes me feel worse about it as a settlement.

My mum moved to Woodbridge from Surrey, then to Rendlesham (nice but no public transport) and now onto Felixstowe.

Felixstowe is nice, everything within walking distance, loads of coast and end of the train line from Ipswich. About 75 miles to cycle if you're coming from east London. Easy to make it longer, or do an all the ferries ride too

why did she leave Woodbridge? I've considered moving there a few times myself, it's still vaguely an option.

(yeah i am old)

Edit - one drawback is it isn't especially cheap. I imagine Felixstowe is better value.

They had a 2 bed flat. Actually I forgot they moved to Melton straight after that.

They wanted more room. Ended up going from 4 bed detached in Surrey, 2 bed flat in Woodbridge, 3 bed house in Melton, 4/5 bed in Rendlesham to 3 bed bungalow in Felixstowe.

Oh my aching dwindling inheritance......

Woodbridge and felsto are my pick of the locations. Although Melton and Rendlesham were great for running

The only thing I can add about Rendlesham

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I used to have the Strava segment for the UFO trail route. Don't think I do anymore!

Did you go to the MTB park but when it was still open?

Norwich seems pretty nice to me. Mate moved there a decade back and enjoys it. You could get plenty of house for under £300k there. Not sure about the breadth of ethnic diversity.

No only been the once last year, it didn’t look bike friendly tbh

This used to be open, but it shut a few years ago

https://youtu.be/sq5CLyEc7K8?si=hSGE_ErOKSwm_ZSU

I used to run the trails with my eldest on her bike (maybe 7 or 8 at the time). Great fun.

We made the move almost 20 years ago and now live just outside the city. It’s a great place to live though 1hr47mins from Liverpool st. It has a great mix of cultures now. There is good coffee, good food, good theatre and music for all. If we hadn’t needed the room we’d still be city based. Once you get out of town public transport is shite! £300,000 is a bit on the low side, but doable.

Yes not ideal but the bus ride to Derby is 20 mins and that is pretty diverse. Housing pound goes a pretty long way here. We paid £290k just under 2 years ago and that got us a fair amount of house. However, if the elderly parents are riding fixed I would discount it, it's a bit hilly.

If you really want to prioritize train links to London, Grantham had a fast line in. I do not know how nice it is to live in, though.

My brother lives just outside Grantham. Some lovely villages around there but Grantham itself is a fucking dump. Not helped by the massive statue of Thatcher outside the Wetherspoons.

massive statue of Thatcher outside the Wetherspoons.

Couldn’t think of a nicer statue to be constantly covered in drunkard piss and vomit.

My partner lives in Stroud and it's so lovely and not too pricey. You can get a direct train to Ldn and the M4 drive isn't too bad.

@TTM you're over that way, right?

I am and I’m obviously biased, but it’s lovely. A really creative, vibrant town nestled in beautiful countryside. And yes, London is very accessible.