The first four months

I moved to Crediton with my wife and two of our children on Nov 10th 2006. Our oldest three children had to be cut loose to continue their 'education' at various SW universities.

Moving was a shock for all of us. At the beginning of May 2006 I would have predicted that I would still be living in the Bristol house we had inhabited for 25 years until the moment they carried me out feet first in my burn box. Then I whimsically applied for a new job in Devon and - to our collective shock - got it. Crediton was the best we could find in the short time-scale available.

One reason why moving was a shock was that we had lived all our lives in big cities - latterly in Bristol where IKEA was our corner shop, but we were both brought up in South London. Life in a small town was going to be a complete unknown for all four of us. The first thing that struck us was how windy and wet Devon was, and having a house that was as leaky as a harmonica meant that a sort of weird Stockhausen-style symphony was coming through the doors and windows every day. When the wind died down, it was just quiet - very quiet. It wasn't that our old neighbourhood in Bristol was wildly noisy all the time, but any of a variety of background noises were pretty much omnipresent: the chattering of the hovering police helicopters; the shrieking of domestic arguments; the thump-whoomp of the bass from passing tinted window cars; and behind everything was the constant swish of traffic on its way in and out of the city centre along the M32. Crediton was quiet - except for the wind, and the birds, which we didn't have in Bristol.

So how have the first four months gone? In a blur really. We've tried to adjust to our new neighbourhood: we've used the local shops. Isn't Adams fab? We've religiously visited the monthly farmers market and paid their double prices with a cheerful grin. We've developed a preference for the Trawlers Catch over the chip shop opposite. We've gone on the walks around Shobrooke Park and down to Sandford. I've got a bit involved with the Arts Centre. We're becoming part of the place, slowly and unsurely, but we are getting there.

If I ever continue this blog I'll tell you how we get on in this interesting project of transplanting from big city to small town.