How Long

maltrab

Administrator
Staff member
Have you lived in your home, have you moved several times over the years or have you remained in one home for all your years.
When I was young due to illness I spent many years in hospital, every time I did go home we had moved, the reason being my dad was a painter and decorator, he moved where the work was, so if a builder of a few hundred new homes wanted painters in Bristol, we moved to Bristol, this might be for a year or so then we would be off to somewhere else, so for 14 years I think we lived in 8 different areas of the UK, we eventually settled in Hertfordshire when I was 15 and spent many years in the south even after I married and had a family, since getting married we have had five homes, three in Hertfordshire, one in Yorkshire and now for 14 years live in the flatlands of Lincolnshire, I think that is the longest period in one place.
 
So far 9 houses 4 as a child 5 as an adult most interesting was I was born in Leazes Terrace, which is literally now 20 yards from Newcastle United's East Stand. I found out when I helped my late Mum write her book that the house was in those days three self contained flats . My grandparents lived on the ground floor, my mum and dad lived , after marrying , on the middle floor and a "lady of the night" lived on the top floor[apparently quite common at that time]

When Mum and Dad got married they didn't have a lot of money couldn't afford a honeymoon so the lady upstairs gave them her boudoir for their honeymoon night , not only that but she had a client who gave her loads of pairs of silk nylons and she donated a pair to my mum for her to get married in .
 
I live in Scotland but I was born down south in Wokingham where I lived for 4 years. We then moved to the midlands and had two houses in Rugby. When I started work my parents decided to move back down south so I bought my first house in Coventry. I married a Scottish lady and we moved up to Scotland. We got divorced 4 years ago. I now live in a bungalow in the seaside village of Coldingham in the Scottish Borders. I've lived here for 8 years and have no plans to move again, or to get married again.
 
I don't remember the first move from Grimsby to Banbury, I was about four years old. We moved for Dad's new job. I moved with mum when I was about 12, when my parents separated. Still quite local. After mum passed away, aged 66, I stayed in her bungalow until her second estranged husband evicted me. I only moved about a mile away to a one-bed "starter" home. That was my first proper move, I had a bed, wardrobe, clothes and domestic essentials. About 15 years later I moved to a three-bed semi-detached in Birmingham, having accumulated quite a bit of "stuff". The accumulation continued, having: three bedrooms, an extended lounge-diner, 20ft kitchen, and 60 square yard garage / workshop. After about 16 years it was time for an unplanned move, after putting everything - no, not everything, nearly the entire contents of the garage were scrapped - in storage. Three months later I'm in a two-bed "over-55s" flat in Milton Keynes. I still rent a smaller storage unit for "domestic overflow" and what remained of the garage contents. Every move was a :02: nightmare. Been here about four months and still falling over plastic packing crates.
 
I grew up on the farm that my paternal grandfather bought in 1911, when my father was three years old. Moved from there to reduce the commute to work in 1965, when I was 21. The efficiency flat I rented was miserable, so I moved to another a few months later.

Married in 1967, separated in 1969, divorced in early 1970 (correction - 1972), returned to university to finish my bachelors and masters degrees. That involved too many moves to recall, some of them into and out of college residence halls. Up to that point, I limited my possessions to the amount that would fit in a VW bug. After my parents died, I inherited furniture, some of which had been in my mother's family for generations, so the moves became less frequent because of the cost of hiring movers.

I was in a 1-bedroom apartment for seven years before buying my first house. It was a fixer in an iffy neighborhood, but when I removed the upholstered furniture and other junk from the lawn and front porch, the neighbors cleaned up their properties. Then I had the house painted and the roof replaced. Some of the neighbors did the same. I stayed there for 13 years, until I read about drug arrests involving firearms at the properties directly behind mine.

At the same time, my current house came on the market with the price reduced to fit my budget. I'd been looking longingly at this neighborhood for years, but never expected to be able to afford it. The house was built in 1927 and I'm the third owner. Some of the neighbors have been here 40 years or longer. They're all friendly and we help one another as needed. I've been here about 28 years, and hope to stay for the rest of my life.
 
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I've moved 8 times in total, just moving up the housing ladder basically, lived in current house for 8 years which is the longest I've lived anywhere after moving out from my parents home. And no plans to move for a while, too stressful.

Current house was built in 1908 and was originally the laundry to a big Grace & Favour mansion nearby, so interesting bit of history. Love the views and having panoramic views of the fields surrounding. Sometimes we're lucky enough to see stags and deers in the joining fields and very occasionally on the drive. Just don't like the fact that the attic is infested with mice and nothing can stop them, but that's part a parcel living in an old house in the countryside!!! Also bit of a pain having to drive everywhere as no shops are within walking distance.
 
Born in the Irish Republic then over to UK when I was about 18Months.
Mum and Dad were Clever (Worldly) and Dad improved his situation regularly, climbing the property ladder all the time. I seem to remember four moves as a child, but literally all within a few hundred yards of each other but up market each time.
My first marriage was to a beautiful American lady whose Father not only found us a home in Raleigh, North Carolina, (Olde Raleigh) he gave me a job driving one of his trucks (United Van Lines), he was an area manager. On moving back to the UK I have lived in five homes.
 
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