[Buffy the eggs layer]

There are lots of places to buy a smallholding and I would defiantly suggest that you plan some mini breaks and arrange to visit some of us for a chat and kick the tyres of our "escapes to the country"


As you dont need it to be a viable business then you have lots of scope. You may find that you are content with some chickens and a couple of pigs with the option of a few store lambs over the summer in which case a couple of acres will do. Buildings are useful / essential and how many and how big depends on what you plan to do. But you can always construct something subject to planning.


Being part of an argri community give easy and affordable access to livestock, Hay, Straw, feed Merchants, auction centers and abattoirs as well as the opportunity to rent land or sometimes graze for free.


Visit Scotland, Cumbria, Wales and see what you make of the land, the scenery and the weather. We live in a beautiful country and wherever you pick will be perfect if it gives you the life that you dream of. If you would like to visit Yorkshire I can sort out some accommodation and some smallholders to visit...perhaps even a retired police inspector turned smallholder.....Visit when the weather is bad because Summer makes every smallholding look like the Darling buds of May.


But will it make you happy...........



 

[Jukes Mum]

  from North Yorkshire

"Are you happy?"
I escaped 3 years ago. Heart won over head and I now have a huge mortgage I really can't afford. I have to commute 2 hours to the real world for work.
I have cooked on a camping stove for most of the 3 years.
My life is covered in mud.
My shoes are covered in s**t and I sometime find myself peering at them and wondering whose s**t it is today.
I have to get up when it's dark and sometimes don't get to see this place in daylight for days on end.
I ache in places I didn't know I had and I've learnt many new swear words while batting chickens out of trees and trying to tip sheep.
Am I happy - hell yes 

You go for it 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

If you do arrange a trip to Yokshire we can go and visit Jukes Mum. You can help her to discover whose  sh@t she is wearing that day and I can give her a smallhoder hug


Perhaps we could arrange a Yorkshire smallholder get together....

[Backinwellies]

Visit when the weather is bad because Summer makes every smallholding look like the Darling buds of May.

.... great time to visit here then ........... sideways rain!

We have a cottage and welcome potential new smallholders to visit .... help x terms   or  pay for cottage and have a weekend break.

And there are a lots of smallholders in the area to visit and chat with.

Oh and the last ex policeman who came here help X ing found a smallholding in Carmarthenshire and stayed!!!

[Jukes Mum]

If you do arrange a trip to Yokshire we can go and visit Jukes Mum. You can help her to discover whose  sh@t she is wearing that day and I can give her a smallhoder hug


Perhaps we could arrange a Yorkshire smallholder get together....

oooo yay, I'd love that :-)

[Bionic]

I have been here for 3.5 years, moving from a stressful job in banking. I live not too far from Backinwellies. The lack of shops was a bit of a shock to the system at the beginning but a couple of the big supermarkets deliver so it's not a problem. During the time we have been here we have raised 3 sets of weaners, some lambs, have chickens for eggs and ducks, well just because I like them.


Enjoy your journey.

[Ghdp]

Have just moved to North Wales.(4 months) Sun mainly shining still.  The welcome from  our neighbours has been awesome. Are we happy? Yes certainly - and  much slimmer and fitter (but we do miss the people we left behind having lived in our last place for 30 years and that is a factor you need to think about)  i still commute to the midlands for a couple of day work most weeks. I love your aim to grow your own ham eggs and chips. I think I will adopt that as a goal. Egg and chips so far : )

[Border Lady]

I am encouraged by all the previous comments. We moved to Okehampton, Devon 18 months ago  :raining:to fullfill our long term dream, but we sorely miss our friends in Hampshire. The direct neighbours have not been so nice but the nearest farmer has been lovely and soo helpful.
We are however very happy with our small flock of White Face Dartmoor sheep and our even smaller herd of Shetland cattle.
At last we are living the dream......... all be it up to our ankles in mud 'n'sh*t

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Hi and welcome to the forum. When my parents started to farm in the late 90s it was all so exciting. Farming can be stressful, like any other job am sure, the rewards are really good though. I have loved every minute which I have with my animals and my farm, I wouldn't change it for the world.  i am just starting a new venture myself, milking sheep, so that should be a novel experience I encourage anyone who would like to keep farm. All the best and it sounds like you have ot well figured out. if you have any questions, then dont hesitate to ask and we'll try to answer as best we can.

[devonlady]

You asked why "foreign lands" RW. Cheaper farms!! When I left Ireland,  a fair few years ago now, what I sold a house and 40 acres for would have bought a decent garden shed in Devon!

[SallyintNorth]

Regarding #2 son being able to find engineering work, then Wales may not be the best location anyway.  Nor as far North as I am, sadly.  Lincolnshire seems to be a good place to buy a smallholding - good land and not too expensive, I'm not sure about work prospects.  Otherwise south-west Yorkshire maybe?  Or Lancs?

If you can afford Shropshire, Dorset, Somerset or Devon, and can find somewhere that fits and is commutable to the right sort of work for him, then whyever not.  There are lots of smallholder types in those locations, they're holiday destinations for your putative campsite, they have summer and everything, you can grow your own veg (Yorkshire's good for that, I hear; upland Cumbria and western Northumberland much less so.) 

The only real downsides of South West England, for someone with aspirations such as yours, apart from property prices, are:

• can get summers that are too dry, hot and long, drying up the grass and making growing vegetables difficult
• TB is endemic, so something to consider if you are planning camelids, deer or cattle, particularly
• you get a lot of tourists - which can be an upside if you have a tourist-related business, but can be a downside in terms of the roads being clogged with tourist traffic in summer

(I moved here from Exmoor, so I have a little knowledge upon which to base my analysis. )

(I'd list other pros and cons for someone with different aspirations, so if anyone else is piggybacking this thread, please start your own thread so we can give you input for your particular situation!)

[Penninehillbilly]

If you do arrange a trip to Yokshire we can go and visit Jukes Mum. You can help her to discover whose  sh@t she is wearing that day and I can give her a smallhoder hug

Perhaps we could arrange a Yorkshire smallholder get together....

oooo yay, I'd love that :-)

hope that includes West Yorkshire as well (nearly put Westies but that sounds more like a little dog, mind you , we are 'tykes' :-).  )

[Rowdy Whaleback]

Thanks for the sound advice Sally.
Concerns over the prospect of #2 will have to be factored in.  I appreciate that self sufficiency is a mis-nomer (due to Council tax charges, bills, transport and so on). Any land would either have to be capable of creating sufficient income or be situated near enough to work.
I'm sure there's lots of advice on here.

[clydesdaleclopper]

At the moment it's not quite as good as before because of the downturn in the oil but usually Aberdeenshire is a good bet. We don't get the midges that you get out west, usually lots of engineering jobs with the oil industry and land is not too expensive.

[Scotsdumpy]

For your son perhaps he might want to make his own way at college or uni - you have to let them go at sometime! If notthen Aberdeenshire might be a good prospect as, despite what you hear on the news, the oil industry still needs engineers and there are lots of colleges that have tailored courses for marine engineering,  oil engineering etc. Take a look at Banff and Buchan college (its changed its name now but you get redirected) and other learning institutions in Scotland. We live an hours drive away from aberdeen where you can get excellent rail and air links to london and elsewhere. Weve been here 10 years now, I wont say its been easy all the time but on the whole I dont think well move anytime soon. There are still some amazing properties up here for sale but I notice some are getting snapped up again. Keep your options (and your mind open) you'll have to make compromises along the way.
Should you consider our part of scotland though, dont expect the bright lights of Edinburgh,  we like it here because of this!!
Getting to work in York used to take me over an hour to get to work 10 miles away - my journey to work now takes 15 minutes and the traffic at its worst is a few cars and the odd farm vehicle - half of my journey is downhill with the sea in front of me.
Anyway, good luck with your search if you need a guided tour pm me and we could sort something out Im sure.