Saturday 24 April 2021

The Saturday List #305 - My ten requirements for a location to live in

 I live in Mill Hill, in North West London. I have no plans to move. A few friends have talked about relocation recently. I was surprised to learn that they'd not really sat down and worked out what they wanted from a location. There was a general desire to downsize and 'live somewhere nice'. I well recall my mother doing the same thing in 1987 when my Dad died. She sold me the house, as she wanted to live 'somewhere nice'. She bought a semi in Christchurch, near Bournemouth. Withing a year she was back, she'd loved it for three months, then got bored. She realised that for all its faults, Mill Hill had everything she wanted in walking distance. She lived here until she died in 2008. 

But what do I need?

1. Good access to central London. Music is my first love, I also love good food, theatre and pubs. London is full of all of these. There is nowhere better in the world. On Thameslink I can be in central London in 25 minutes and the trains have a loo, so if I need one on the way home, I can have one. I would never dream of driving to anything I want to enjoy.

2. A local music studio. As a musicians, this is so important to me that I built one on my doorstep. My life would be empty without my band.

3. Great places to walk my dogs. Around Mill Hill, Edgware and the Totteridge Valley there are some amazing walks, the equal of anywhere and all walking distance. 

4. Somewhere to play five a side football with my mates. We have Powerleague. I am currently nursing a damaged knee, which is driving me mad, as I want to be back out on the Astroturf.

5. A great local Indian Restaurant. Mill Hill has the Mill Hill Tandoori, which is my second home when we can do such things. The venue of choice for our football nights out. We also have The Day of The Raj if you want a great takeaway. 

6. Somewhere to have a proper, grown up pint. Mill Hill is not blessed with great pubs, but it has the Mill Hill Services Club, where you can have a proper, reasonably prized pint, with your mates. 

7. A great, friendly, local non league football team within walking distance. We have Hadley FC, who I will be watching in the FA Vase Later this afternoon. Again I can't wait to get back on the Terraces.


8. A local music festival to give me something to look forward to. There will be no Mill Hill Music Festival this year, but we will be back next year. I really cannot wait. 

9. A house with a garden and a pond. I am lucky, I have a house a garden and a pond. It gives me a sense of tranquility, even though it backs onto the M1. If it wasn't for this, I'd probably buy a flat in Soho.


10. A local network of friends, to catch me when I fall. I am lucky, I have that in Mill Hill in abundance. Believe me, sometimes I need catching. 


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