Further from the madding crowd

This year has shown that a five-day-a-week commute isn’t as vital to our working lives as we once thought. Now, the prospect of a part-time approach to commuting is creating a chance to head further afield. Julie Harding offers 20 destinations beyond a short train journey

- Julie Harding

Golden sunlight bathes the slumbering cottages of Broadway, Worcestershire

VILLAGE life can bring big views and star-filled skies, tranquillity, a pub within walking distance, community spirit, an occasional knees-up in the village hall and a beamed cottage in which to live—Midsomer, perhaps, but without the murders.

A rural idyll may not be for everyone, but many who work full time in London offices and yearn for a life in the country have discovered during lockdown that working from home opens up new possibilities. Zoom and Teams have facilitated new long-distance meetings and broadband, despite pockets of problems, can be as good as in any city.

James Walker, a director in the Savills country department, says: ‘Lockdown is ultimately a game-changer. Places such as the Cotswolds are opening up even more, including to a younger generation.’ Nick Leeming,chairman of Jackson-Stops, adds: ‘Since the housing-market lockdown eased in May, our branches, from Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds to Bridport in the South-West, have experienced significant demand from buyers looking to permanently relocate from cities to the countryside.’ In June, Jackson-Stops asked more than 3,000 UK consumers if they would consider extending their commute (not necessarily only to London), if it meant living in their dream location. Overall, 81% said they would do so by at least 30 minutes; 40% would increase it by 45 minutes or more; and nearly one-fifth were prepared to spend more than an hour longer.