Further from the madding crowd
VILLAGE life can bring big views and star-filled skies, tranquillity, a pub within walking distance, community spirit, an occasional knees-up in the village hall and a beamed cottage in which to live—Midsomer, perhaps, but without the murders.
A rural idyll may not be for everyone, but many who work full time in London offices and yearn for a life in the country have discovered during lockdown that working from home opens up new possibilities. Zoom and Teams have facilitated new long-distance meetings and broadband, despite pockets of problems, can be as good as in any city.
James Walker, a director in the Savills country department, says: ‘Lockdown is ultimately a game-changer. Places such as the Cotswolds are opening up even more, including to a younger generation.’ Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, adds: ‘Since the housing-market lockdown eased in May, our branches, from Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds to Bridport in the South-West, have experienced significant demand from buyers looking to permanently relocate from cities to the countryside.’ In June, Jackson-Stops asked more than 3,000 UK consumers if they would consider extending their commute (not necessarily only to London), if it meant living in their dream location. Overall, 81% said they would do so by at least 30 minutes; 40% would increase it by 45 minutes or more; and nearly one-fifth were prepared to spend more than an hour longer.
Lorentz Gullachsen can vouch for the benefits of long-distance commuting. When the advertising photographer moved to Welfordon-Avon in Warwickshire, he ‘cried with joy when I found the river and the idyllic vale that runs a few hundred yards from my house’. For the past two decades, Mr Gullachsen has been a part-time commuter to the capital. He believes his journey is pain free because Chiltern Railways ‘is one of the best operators around and I can get from home to the centre of London in just under two hours’.
Tom Hitchings, chairman of Broad Chalke Parish Council, believes it isn’t only commuters who benefit from village life, but the settlements themselves. Due to lockdown, several people who used to ‘thrash past my house on the
