West Sussex is the best place to retire to. Discuss

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GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
Whilst, for family reasons, we will probably go east, to East Sussex, so tlh can be nearer her sister, with a free hand Worcestershire currently tops Team Grumpy's fave destination to retire to, closely followed by Wales where we lived when the children were born.

But the man from the Pru appears to think we should stay put in dear old West Sussex by the sea.

https://www.pru.co.uk/pdf/press-centre/Quality-of-Retirement-Index-2017-Final.pdf
 

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
Isn't it a bit toffee nosed down there? I remember Lancashire playing Sussex at cricket once. The Lancashire fans were singing "Sussex rah rah rah"!.,mocking their supposed posh ways.:smile:
 

Fonze

Totally obsessive , cool by nature
Location
Bradwell
My choice for anywhere in the UK to retire to would be St Ives area in Cornwall ..
I love the area , to me it's bliss .l
 
Why do people often decide to move away from their life and all their friends when they retire? Alan Bennett wrote a play about it, and how it is often a terrible mistake. I think it was called Sunset on the Bay.
Possibly because fir their whole life they yearn to live where they can't due to work.

Now whether the transition is as easy as they thought or whether it lives up to the idealised dream cultivated over 40 years is another matter entirely.

I like to be within 45 mins of central London due to work. When I retire that will be less important. We can live wherever we want. It will be a nice choice to have. Hopefully we'll think it through.
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
Why do people often decide to move away from their life and all their friends when they retire? Alan Bennett wrote a play about it, and how it is often a terrible mistake. I think it was called Sunset on the Bay.
Back to planet sensible, but @User13710 makes a solid point. Ma and Pa Bollo have decided to stay up in Lincoln where they've lived for 20 odd years, despite some good reasons to move closer to me. Although I worry about them for reasons I won't go into here, the benefits of living somewhere where they've established roots probably outway the issues of distance between me and them.
 

Dirk

If 6 Was 9
Location
Watchet
Why do people often decide to move away from their life and all their friends when they retire?
It can be a major problem for some folk. We see them here. Fish out of water. Everything's fine for a short while, then they start missing things - family, convenience of larger towns, ease of travel, local services etc. I've known several over the years who have moved back nearer family.
It didn't bother me as I had a job transfer 10 years before I was due to retire, so I had plenty of time to get to know the area and make new friends.I have now lived here longer than I've ever lived anywhere else. A lot of places are totally different outside of holiday times.
 
The nub of Bennett's play was that the husband died very suddenly soon after the move, and the wife was left stranded in a place with no support network. I often think people who retire abroad don't stop to think what they will do when one of them dies, as usually couples don't just drift off to death together nice and tidily.
This is true. Parents have place in Spain. Lots of people retire there. Fine when you're young enough. Older you get the harder it is, car everywhere. Lack of pavements. Little walking. Few can now come back due to this divergence of property prices.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
My parents moved from London to rural Oxfordshire for around 17 years (where they were about 5 miles from nearest shop, Dr surgery etc). Now in their seventies and poorish health, they've now moved to 'suburban' Surrey and live within 15 minutes of my brother and I, but more importantly from the Dr, the supermarket, the chemist, the hospital etc, plus cinema, London, much easier, especially as sooner rather than later it's likely that one or other won't be able to drive
 

Dave 123

Legendary Member
Why do people often decide to move away from their life and all their friends when they retire? Alan Bennett wrote a play about it, and how it is often a terrible mistake. I think it was called Sunset on the Bay.


My mum says she knows loads of old people who moved away from their lives and have become unhappy because of it. Mind you, this could just be sour grapes on her part for staying in Ellesmere Port!
 
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