As you walk around Salisbury it soon becomes evident why many people describe this place as the city in the countryside. It almost has a village atmosphere. It's quintessentially British with medieval cottages, a market square, and the tallest cathedral spire in the UK. The centre of town has plenty of shops and bars and restaurants, just like any other modern city. If you walk for five minutes, however...
Queen Elizabeth Gardens
My favourite park in Salisbury is Queen Elizabeth Gardens. Shallow water flows through it, and there are weeping willows abound. I used to come here as a child to paddle in the water with my grandma and her dog.
On a sunny spring bank holiday morning it was surprisingly quiet, its population consisting mainly of ducklings.
East Harnham Water Meadows
The southern suburb of Salisbury is called Harnham and is linked to Queen Elizabeth Gardens by a public footpath, aptly named 'Town Path'. The Town Path runs through East Harnham Meadows - a site of special scientific interest. And there are lambs.
The rivers are allowed to flood into the meadows as an effective form of irrigation since the 17th century. The famous 1826 painting Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds by John Constable was painted from these meadows.
The Old Mill
In the suburb of Harnham itself there is The Old Mill - a 17th century paper mill turned hotel, a listed Tudor building.
You can see where water from the river Nadder rushes underneath The Old Mill. Children and dogs alike enjoy jumping into the water and splashing about by the weir on hot days.
Harnham Slope and Chalkpit
To the west of Harnham there is a hill that has another public footpath running along it. Halfway along there is a lookout point with a picnic table where you have an undisturbed view over Salisbury, with the cathedral jutting up from the middle of the city. This is probably the best view you're going to get.
A little further along the path you come to the chalk pit - a disused chalk quarry. Much of the geology of Salisbury and Wiltshire is chalk - evident by the county's large number of white horses. These days, people come to the chalk pit to ride bikes.
And that is why I love my city.
So I finally got the internet and all the furniture and stuff sorted at the new property. It's great - lovely and cosy, and I have my very own office space so I can work in peace. Almost everything is perfect, but there is just one major problem...
This is a mews property. Basically it's a set of houses that stems off an already existing road. Like a block of flats, each house in the mews development has its own number, separate to that of the numbers on the road. This mews development has the exact same name as the road it stems off of, and also shares a postcode. So between this house and the house directly opposite me the address only has ONE WORD DIFFERENT. I am living on 'X Mews' and they are living on 'X Lane', and in order to get to 'X Mews' you have to go down an alleyway right next to 'X Lane'.
So far they have received 5 letters and 1 courier delivery of mine, and we have received 1 letter of theirs. Naturally, delivery drivers are directed by their satnav to this area and see 'X Lane' and assume that it is therefore the same as the 'X Mews' property, and deliver there without noticing the alleyway leading to the mews development. Partly I am going to blame the council for this because there is absolutely no signage to indicate that to reach the mews development you must go down the alleyway.
Furthermore, because we share a postcode (because technically we are both on 'X Lane') whenever you type my house number and postcode into an address finder it gives the 'X Lane' address and not the 'X Mews' address. This means that even if I correctly give my address as 'X Mews' to a company employee/salesperson (in particular, over the phone where I can't check what they've typed) if they choose to type in the house number and postcode their system tells them that it is instead 'X Lane'. This has even resulted in us temporarily having our names attached to 'X Lane''s gas supply!
Does anyone have any advice to give on how to overcome this confusion? I have thought of adding 'NOT LANE - GO DOWN ALLEYWAY' to my address when I order online, but it is not exactly ideal - particularly for something more official. I also can't attach any signs to the buildings at the entrance to the alleyway without the building owner's permission, though I have contacted the council about this. Hopefully they can come up with something sensible, but since this house was built two years ago and evidently nothing has been done so far... I'm not holding my breath.
I have been living mostly in London for the past four years. I love the city - for its diversity, the fact that there is always something going on, its cultural heritage, and the lifestyle. I always recommend that if someone from abroad visits this country, that they should go to London for London, but go elsewhere to experience England. London isn't comparable to anywhere else in the UK. That's not necessarily a bad thing!
London has always been highly ranked as one of the most expensive places to live in the world. According to Mercer's list of expensive cities in 2010, London ranked 17th - tied with Paris. The list is written from the perspective of American expatriates. Due to the falling value of the pound, London has slipped down considerably. Compare that to 2004, when it ranked second - only beaten by Tokyo.
For this reason, I always knew that London wasn't going to be a long-term thing, so we're relocating to the country. We are renting a two-year-old, two bedroom house with a garden for £116 a month less than our one bedroom apartment in London.
We are moving to Salisbury. It's a medieval city with the tallest cathedral spire in the UK, and the famous 4,500-year-old stone circle, Stonehenge. It's extremely quaint and full of historical and cultural significance, but has all of the shops and amenities you'd expect from a modern city, and we'll be living only ten minutes walk from the centre of it all. Oh, and about an hour bus ride to my parents' in neighbouring Dorset.
We're officially making our move on Tuesday, and we're almost packed. I can't wait to get to know my new home, and hopefully learn to love it at least as much as I love London. It's certainly going to be... different.
Yesterday we signed the contract and picked up the keys to our new home ~100 miles away. New house Flickr set.