We live in Surrey at the moment and have decided to give up work, sell up and move somewhere cheaper in the countryside.  We want to be close to open countryside so we can walk the dogs but |'m still keen to be within a half hour drive of a reasonable sized town.  Somebody has suggested Herefordshire to us.  Does anybody know it?  We're going over to have a look this weekend but I'd love to hear from anyone who knows the area.  What are the best places to live?  I've read a few comments that dog walking is difficult and you have to keep them on the lead everywhere - is that true?  The Malvern Hills look lovely - can you walk your dogs off lead there?  Unfortunately ours are not good with sheep etc so we'd prefer somewhere free of livestock.

Thanks for any comments

My mum lives in the Hereford/Powys border so know the area reasonably well.

There are plenty of villages surrounding Hereford as the county is very rural. There are many farms with livestock including cattle and sheep but also quite a few apple growers etc being famous for it's cider :)

The Malvern Hills can be walked up but beware of you are looking at houses near there you will need to dig deep as prices around there are quite high :rolleyes:

My father's originally from Herefordshire - we visited again on our holiday this year. It has fantastic countryside. We were near the Forest of Dean - we didn't have the dogs with us, but it looked like a good dog walking area. Hereford itself, where I worked for 6 months in 1965 :rolleyes: is still as then a very busy & congested city, but a very interesting place - the cathedral is fantastic. There are lots of smaller, attractive towns - e.g Ross on Wye and Leominster - and  many tiny, virtually untouched hamlets. However, it's by no means a cheap area for property...:-( I'd love to live there myself, though!

I must admit I wouldn't Not sure why

It's because you have separate toes, Lucy! ;) :D :D

:p :p :p JG :D :D :D

*looks innocent* What? :)

OH is from Herefordshire (moved down here to Cornwall in 1999) he recommends the Golden Valley area (Madley, Clehonger, Allensmore, Peterchurch, Vowchurch) as excellent dog walking.

Herefordshire is one of the nicest counties in this country, plenty of country sports, plenty of rivers and a very pretty city. But also, like everywhere nowadays nowhere is cheap, but worth it if you can stretch to it!

There are lots of places to walk off lead, woods, open countryside and rivers and lakes (OH walked his for over 10 miles off lead each day. He lived in Allensmore, only 6 miles out of the city.)

PM if you would like anymore info.

Helen

P.S He does have seperate toes ;-) :D

Hi I live in the GoldenValley, 4 miles from Madley, we have lived all over the UK due to husbands job including channel islands [ where i was born] but this is my favourite place....our next, and last moveis to be Cyprus in a couple of years time.
dog walking is fantastic...............as for malvern there is vast amounts of common land where you can free run with no sheep to worry about, also he showgroungdthere hosts many ch. and open shows.Malvern is more expensive though than this area.
we are a bit spoilt as we have huge grounds but teensy little black/white chocolate box cottage [ built in 1340]
if you want to know more then PM me not to clog up the thread
regards
Pauline