I’ll have a rain-hating, knuckle-dragging Homo Sovieticus in tow so it’s going to be fun. Hopefully another decade in France though, before the move. Funny, it rains in Strasbourg too but that never depresses me. Probably because you know that at some point it’ll stop.
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Having recently visited my old hometown in North Herts, I really don’t think I could move back there even if I could afford it.
Just way too busy/noisy/dirty after refusal SW France. London is an absolute no-go, though I do appreciate how nice our place in E18 was compared to the rest of the place,
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We’ll need to sell the cottage sometime in the next 10 years before it becomes too difficult as we age. We’ve a grandson towards Witney direction, so that makes it hard to leave the area, though we could go further west. We’ve also family around Melton Mowbray and Gratham, although neither place fill us with longing, and I’d much rather move south.
Is West Wycombe near High Wycombe (in the Chilterns) rather than the West Wickham I used to know near Shirley and Beckenham (south London).
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Hell fire, are you sure?
You’re probably aware that French sign and British sign are very different. Indeed, French sign is closer to American (due to historic roots) than BSL. I did some lessons in BSL years back, before coming to France, and found it fascinating. My interest was more academic, I guess you’d say, rather than practical though.
Someone mentioned about leaving money to charity. If you’re a French resident make sure you leave it to French registered charities. And I think I’m right in saying that it’s more tax efficient to spread it over several charities.
Everybody makes their own choices, but I favour charities that help people in poor countries, they need it much more than us.
And about returning to live in the UK, highly unlikely for me, but I don’t know if I might see it differently when I’m over 70 years old (59 now).
Very wise words Robert. But hard to face the reality of.
It’s a bit like the story my grandmother used to tell me at age 5 of “the house with the golden windows”. You saw it from afar on top of a hill. When you got there you saw it didn’t have golden windows it had been the sun shining on them. You looked back at the house you’d come from and it had golden windows.
I have 2 places I could think of going “back” to. Hard to face that neither of them is there any more. It would be a new beginning. As @JohnBoy said.
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West Wycombe is just West of High Wycombe off the M40. I’m not sure you’d find it an improvement on where you are now.
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I’ll pick your brains on West Coast Scotland sometime if I may, @MikeyPotts
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I’d give Leeds a miss Mikey, it used to be a great city to visit and shop in not that long ago but sadly it’s getting very seedy looking now.
To be honest I’d like a complete change of area.
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I’ve visited Leeds once and, in the first half hour, I saw two fights and got propositioned by a lady of the night. Oh, and the course I was there for got cancelled.
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If I were to go back it would have to be to a part of UK of which my memories (if any) are sparse. Somewhere new for me to discover.
So not Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Devon, Cornwall…
I’d definitely want easy-access housing/shopping and it would have to be somewhere within glorious countryside as I suffocate in towns.
The icing on the cake would be to have the glorious countryside plus the sea not too far away. Doesn’t have to have a beach… just a view across the waves to the endless horizon. 
EDIT I was born in London and many family members still love living there, but not for me… too noisy/busy/crowded with buildings towering over me… aaaaaargh
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Ah, you were in the posh part then 
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You may not be very keen on the owner but Wetherspoons has been terrific for ale drinkers for both variety and affordability.
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Is the Rebellion Brewery still open?
Haven’t been in that part of the world for a couple of decades.
Not at all keen on the owner, but the lack of loud music makes it somewhere I would have a drink. And the cheap breakfasts are a lifesaver for many.
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Adnams Brewery in Suffolk delivers some good beer (for those who like such stuff) 
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Nor are we. Plan already set in motion, but not back to the UK.
Hmmm…understand your dilemma. I remember Witney and the surrounding area being nice but that too was yonks ago….
Yes, West Wycombe is in Bucks and close to High Wycombe.
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