Moving house was one of the best decisions we have ever made! – Mummascribbles

As you may or may not know, we moved house back in February, and with it, we moved to a completely new area 50 miles away from where we were living before. The place we originally moved to was never our desired choice. It was the only place we could afford to buy at the time and while we had 7 happy years there, living next door to awesome neighbours and with a fantastic school, I never wanted to stay there long term. And so when Covid hit, Rishi declared a pause on stamp duty, and we were stuck in lockdown in a tiny two bedroom house where we felt like we were drowning on top of each other, we re-evaluated our lives and decided that it was time to make the jump.

I’d wanted to move for years, I’d always wanted to move further out into the Countryside, and now was the time to do it. It was a big risk though. We picked Cambridgeshire because it is still commutable, but we didn’t know the area, we could only do our main research online, and we could only spend 15 minutes in each house that we went to view. I mean when you think about it, it is all pretty crazy. Such a snap decision with such a huge life choice. But it was one of the best decisions we have ever made!

We are honestly so happy here. For every reason that I can think of! I mean of course the house is up there at the top. The reason we had to move so far away was so that we could get a bigger house – we simply couldn’t afford even a 3 bed where we used to live, let alone a 4 bed. The money that we got from our old house almost paid for a house twice the size.

I’ve always dreamed of having a kitchen window that overlooks the garden. I’ve always dreamed of having a separate dining area from the front room. Dreamed of having a room to hide the kids toys in. Dreamed of having patio doors that lead from the front room to the garden. Dreamed of having a downstairs loo so that when both children decide they need a poo at the same time, they can! Dreamed of having a driveway. And we got all of that – plus a garage! For almost the same price as our 2 bed house in Hertfordshire!

But then there is the area. Like I say, we didn’t know the area at all. We did a lot of online research and in fact had another area we were set on until the house fell through and we had to explore again. I am SO glad we didn’t move to the original area because where we are is utterly perfect! Godmanchester is a small town (it is more like a village but we aren’t supposed to call it a village!) connected by a very ancient bridge to Huntingdon. We have a butchers, we have a couple of co-ops, a couple of cafe’s and a bunch of other independent shops like a florist, barbers, beauticians etc. Everything is within walking distance, and for bigger shops like Sainsbury’s, Next, Clarks etc, it is a short drive or slightly longer walk into Huntingdon. Dean has walked up there a few times now and it doesn’t take him long at all!

We also have oodles of countryside which is just what we ordered! Within walking distance we have Portholme Meadow and the Ouse Valley nature reserve. Miles of walks, fields, rivers, lakes. Right now we have cows grazing in the nature reserve, we have sheep and lambs in some of the fields, and we have several swans who have laid their nests – one of which is in full view of the pathway along town by the meadow and who is the talk of the town. 2 weeks ago she only had 4 eggs and now she has 8. We are just waiting for them to hatch!

We have already seen our first family of ducklings, there is a resident heron who swooped right past me the other day, and on our walks we see wrens, woodpeckers, swallows – so many birds! Oh and rabbits too – I have seen so many rabbits. We wanted more country living, to be able to enjoy more of nature, and we have it in buckets here!

Then there are the people. Everyone is so nice! One of the really sucky things about moving was leaving behind our neighbours. They were awesome. We talked over the fence all the time, Sam (the middle son) was absolutely amazing with the boys – he played with them over the fence, he looked after them when I needed him too. He was like their big grown up brother and it was a real tug to have to leave that behind. But we did and we moved to a little cul-de-sac in an area where we knew no-one. But already we know people. We met a family in the park who happen to live just round the corner to us. We have a family next door which has twin girls. There is a house a couple of doors down who has a 6 and 3 year old. And there is a new family moving in over the road soon.

Then there are people who have lived here for years who don’t ever wish to move. Our neighbours on the right are both ex service and we have a good old chat sometimes. And just today I popped out to grab the bin in and ended up spending forty minutes chatting to a gentleman who lives on his own who I hadn’t yet spoken to. Oh and Sheila in the house opposite popped over the other day to let me know my full beams had been on all night! It is the kind of neighbourhood where if I need a cup of sugar, I just need to ask. Where if anyone needs any help, we just have to ask. And when you walk around the streets, everyone says hello or smiles. I have had so many chats out on the dog walk with people I’ve never met before. It is so refreshingly lovely to live in such a friendly place.

And of course it not just about mine and Dean’s happiness – this move was for the kids just as much as it was for us. But of course I was nervous about Zach having to leave his wonderful school for a new one. But I needn’t have worried – he absolutely loves his new school and has settled straight in there. He has made friends already and I regularly see him out at lunchtime (I walk past when I pick Oscar up from nursery) having the absolute time of his life. And most days when I pick him up and ask him how his day was, the response is that it was epic!

Oscar also started nursery a few weeks ago and whilst he has been a bit upset to leave me, he absolutely loves it when he is there and always comes out skipping happily along after having oodles of fun. He has started attending the Saturday morning footie session at the local football club and I have the pair of them booked on for separate 8 week cricket sessions with All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket which both happen up at the local cricket club. I have Zach’s name down for Cubs although there is a small waiting list, I am thinking of sending them to tennis and I need to get them back into swimming again. We have so much stuff going on locally, it is just wonderful! And they too absolutely love the Countryside and the nature and they have settled super quickly into the house as well.

Because of lockdown, we have stayed very local to where we are, but we also know that there is so much more to discover beyond our little town. And as we become more at ease with being out and about (I’m still waiting for my vaccinations but Dean has had both of his), we can’t wait to explore it all. Dean has already started going into London to play footie with his mates and go for a beer afterwards, and in time, we are expecting that he will be heading back to office – hopefully only for a day or two each week. The trains are lovely he says, and the commute isn’t too bad. We are on the Peterborough line so it’s only about an hour into Kings Cross.

I am so bloody glad that we made the leap. That we put our house on the market, that the first house fell through, that we moved our location, that we chose THIS house out of all 6 that we saw in the Godmanchester/Huntingdon area. We are so happy. I often find myself winding through the little alleyways on the way to the meadow, smiling happily at all this area has already brought me. Has brought us. Dean is massively happy too! And considering this was all my idea, I will forever take all of the praise of orchestrating this whole move! I love hearing him tell me how much he loves it here.

The next step is to make the house our own. We moved in the middle of the strictest lockdown when everything was shut. We need to decorate, we need to furnish, and this week I have a couple of companies booked to come round and quote us for turning the downstairs loo into a loo/shower room. We think it is possible, so we just need to see how much it will cost us! All exciting things but all of which have been a lot harder to sort out at this weird time. But with everything easing and a bit of normality returning, I need to give myself a kick up the bottom and orchestrate the next part of it. The making our house our home. Although it already feels like home to me 🙂