This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I adore being back in London after 17 years in the country raising my three children. I was lucky enough to find a small house in Chelsea that we could afford albeit the dodgy end “World’s End” but the fact that it is four or five blocks away from where I first flat shared I feel as though I am coming back to familiar home territory although much of course has changed.
I am returning because like many parents of my generation our children are starting to leave university and find work in the capital and cannot afford to leave home. At the same time my husband had the opportunity to trade a horrible commute of four hours on a bad day for a short ride on a moped in Bermuda shorts to his office to the sound of parakeets and swishing palm trees. In short, he left the UK to do a 5 year stint in Bermuda for his company and I faced rattling around alone in a house on top of a hill surrounded by fields with children soon to live in London. We sold up and I now divide my time between London, Henley where my 91 year old mother lives, Bermuda to keep him happy, and Italy where we have a small apartment. Life is hectic but essentially I have not missed the damp, dark winter of the country and love the stimulus, excitement and life of London, meeting up with old friends who never left and meeting new ones. London with a small dog is so different… I meet the most extraordinary people in our little award winning park tucked a few streets away.
I have a roof terrace where I can garden that I have happily traded for the four acres and view of the Chilterns that we once had – think it is an age thing or something to do with the endless maintenance, mowing trimming and battle of the hedges …
Yes, London is horrifically expensive. I do try to avoid the temptation of the King’s Road but If I need to buy clothes I tend to by them online or in Italy where they are better quality and more stylish. I still go to my country hairdressers and very occasional manicurist in Watlington and Wallingford! Half the price and such lovely people in non scary non uber trendy salons.
I love the coming and going – London is stimulating, exciting and great fun – just the other night I walked to the Italian Cultural Institute, to watch a new film in Italian and walked home again I was home by 8.30 and felt uplifted, I would never do that in the country. There are drawbacks however – too many cars/people, the main one for me being the dirt – the pollution is not good and I do worry about my children living there, Son number 1 has started working in the city and Charles has his last year at Bristol with finals in May then work experience here. It always was a dirty city like any other but I do get away regularly – I think I might feel very different if I had no choice.
For now, I have to say although being terrified of making the leap, I love it – I expect when my husband comes back in three to five years we shall have to buy a shed in the country to suit everyone!
I am eternally grateful to CountryWives for keeping me up to date with many aspects of the outside world – since I paint and sculpt in each of my houses or spend my life on an aeroplane racing to children/mother/husband I don’t always make time for friends so I do love getting your wise, informative and funny emails – it is like having a cup of coffee and a chat with an old friend and I feel connected again – thanks girls, from the bottom of my heart and keep on creating your magic It really is appreciated.
If you haven’t read Annabel’s post on this subject, why not click here.
[poll id=”4″]