a local's perspective
hello countryside
'You wont want to leave, and your friends wont either'
Sarah R. Aynho. OX17
We made the leap to move to the countryside after many years in London initially to the picturesque village of Souldern.
Apprehensive about being the first of our friends to move to ‘the middle of nowhere’, but excited by the prospect of owning our own house and finally getting that dog I’d been promised.
That was almost 13 years ago and a lot has changed since then, our friends have left London, we have a 6 year old girl and we’ve moved house (albeit it only up the hill to Aynho).
Blessed by the sought after combination of both feeling ‘out in the sticks’ whilst still being surrounded by lovely places to eat, great days out and a good local coffee shop means...
...... it’s not only the perfect place to call home, it’s also somewhere all our friends regularly want to visit.
We have nearby Soho Farmhouse, Bicester Village and the village’s very own country estate (Aynhoe Park - Restoration Hardware, complete with two beautiful restaurants and a stunning view,
.....so great food, good shopping and a little slice of luxury is on our doorstep.
Being on the edge of the Cotswolds means there is a wealth of ways to spend your weekends too,
Blenheim Palace is beautiful and only a short car journey, whilst the historic town of Oxford can be a fun, informative day out via bus and train (the covered market is great for local produce too).
Cotswold Wildlife is fun for everyone involved and if trampolining, indoor climbing and play parks are more your vibe we got them too!
We still very much love a stroll / run and cycle across the fields from our front door.
.... heading out towards the village of Kings Sutton to stop for a glass of something at The White Horse before making the picturesque journey home,
or taking the slightly shorter option of a trip down the hill, over the forde to Souldern and taking a trip down memory lane at The Fox Inn.
Being fairly busy parents and well and truly ‘locals’ now too, most of our weekends move around kids parties and swimming lessons and village cricket matches.
Fortunately they tend to be near places like Wykham Farm To Table or The Milkshed at Weston on the Green where we seem to be able to time our activities perfectly for breakfast, brunch or lunch.
When you’re fully immersed in country life you definitely need to make the trip to The Pig Place, Adderbury or Brew Box, Aynho both with a canal side views
and find Buzzy Beans in the layby out of Deddington – no one serves coffee with quite the same flair…..
Sarah lives in Aynho with her husband Marc, daughter Connie and dog, Dottie. Sarah works in PR and runs Happi Pilates (www.happipilates.com) in Oxfordshire.
