Hi, apologies for not stopping in here first (I dove in the deep end posting on other topics first).
My name is Robert and I currently live in southeast London. All going well however I shall be moving down to Crawley in West Sussex at some point later this year.
I have followed the Cottage Smallholder blog for quite some time now but only recently realised there was a forum attached to the blog. It is nice to have the opportunity to chat with like-minded people and to learn from the experiences of others.
I am a keen (if very much hit and miss) gardener. My other passions include writing and cooking. Pickling and preserving are recently rediscovered joys that I have been having a lot of fun with over the past two years which has in turn also led me to discover the joys of foraging.
The situation on the garden front at present is that we live in a rental and share a very large garden with four other apartments. That said, only two of us actually use the garden however, due to internal politics here, we minimise our usage to two terraced areas where I grow all my fruit and veg in raised beds and pots. It is a bit limiting and frustrating to not be able to use the other 1 acre of land that is just being smothered by brambles however it is a fight not worth having right now so has to be that way. Once we move down to Crawley I shall have a courtyard garden (okay for fruit, herbs and salads) and hope to get an allotment for the rest.
As a family we try to live relatively frugally. This is also not 100% successful as things that would seem to support this way of life (i.e. the garden) are not really as cost effective as they appear at first glance. Initial outlay in particular can be expensive, though this second year of growing has definitely worked out cheaper so maybe we will at least break even this year.
So that is a little bit about me - if you want to know anything more specific, please ask and I shall answer.
Hi Rob
Which bit of Crawley are you moving to? It is where I used to live and still have my house there which we rent out. My eldest and her husband also live there.
Hope you enjoy the forum, if you visit and post often you will find a family here. Lots of information too. You will also notice not all of us are in the UK which adds another dimension.
Welcome
Trying to enjoy life as it is
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
Hi again and thanks for the warm welcome.
I am moving down to the Broadfields area of Crawley, just off Coachmans Drive before Tollgate Hill. Being a first time buyer London was completely beyond my budget and I really liked the feel of Crawley. To be honest I have wanted to move from London for some time now but it was a hard sell on the family until the riots which came a little bit too close to home for comfort.
I understand there are allotments not far from the house on Vulcan Close but I cannot apply to go on the waiting list until I have signed for the house.
As to when the move will be well, how long is a piece of string? I submitted the mortgage application on the 6/7th April (the Easter Saturday at any rate) and to date this has not moved forward at all...am still waiting for an offer and trying to buy time with the vendors. I eventually reached the end of my tether with the current bank last week and have now submitted a second mortgage application to another lender who so far has been altogether more responsive (they are doing an emergency survey this week with an eye to extending an offer by Friday - beats the two months I have been waiting for the first lender to make up their mind).
The community here looks to be very friendly which I like - I have always enjoyed the blog so am happy to see that the community that has built up around it is just as warm and friendly.
I hope the mortgage is sorted out soon for you, I suspect that you are having a very stressful time at the moment.
As for us on the forum, quite a few of the regulars have met up and had a whale of a time so it isn't merely an on-line community. It also happens that if you mention the fact that you need something, it somehow finds its way to you - like
I'll try that again!
My first house was in Gossops Green just over the road from Broadfield. My current house is in Maidenbower. Crawley has changed a lot since I first moved there but is close to both the countryside and the sea. Make sure you visit Buchan Park which is just along the road towards Horsham. Hope the mortgage gets sorted and the move happens soon.
Trying to enjoy life as it is
Hello, Rob, and great that you found us and dived right in. We need good blokes!
On my one and only visit to Crawley for a job interview 15 years ago, the car I had borrowed from a mate for the trip was clamped. My other mate at the time (in Epsom) was a London cabbie and he came to pick me up. I didn't have the £60 on that day to release it.
Still, no doubt you will enjoy living there if you like the place already.
Never knowingly underfed
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