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Where are your family living?

(81 Posts)
grannyactivist Fri 20-Apr-18 11:22:36

I noticed on the driving thread that many of us drive long distances to visit family and it got me wondering what sort of 'spread' our families have. I have children in Devon, Dorset, Cheshire and New Zealand. My close family live in Devon, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, America and Australia.

BBbevan Fri 20-Apr-18 18:14:11

DD lives 20 mins away ( sadly no GCs) DS, DiL and our 2 GDs live in Essex. A 5 hour drive. But willingly taken

Grandma70s Fri 20-Apr-18 19:06:56

I live in NW England, son, brother and nephew live in London, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Cousins all over the place, Dorset, Oxford, far north of Scotland, London, Liverpool, North Wales. I have a brother-in-law, niece and nephew .in Canberra.

I am always amazed by families who all live in the same town. They do exist.

cavewoman Fri 20-Apr-18 19:14:24

Adjoining villages for myself, parents,children and sister.

Marydoll Fri 20-Apr-18 20:08:54

My three children all live within ten minutes drive from us.

M0nica Fri 20-Apr-18 21:05:41

We live in South Oxfordshire, DS (& DGC): North Yorkshire, DD: North Herts, my DSis in Somerset. My wider circle, first cousins, who keep in touch are spread from Australia to Switzerland and from the Welsh borders to East Sussex and, again North Yorkshire to the Isle of Wight

grannyactivist Fri 20-Apr-18 21:40:02

Interesting responses. As a child all my immediate and extended family lived in Manchester, with the exception of a paternal uncle who lived in Dunstable. In 1963 my only maternal uncle went, with his wife and young family, to Australia as a 'ten pound pom' when the thought of such travel was unimaginable for most of us in those days. I was the first of my generation to leave Manchester, but eventually three of my four sisters left. All three of my brothers left and lived abroad, but all returned to their roots - only my youngest sister remained living close to our childhood home, and all of her children have also bought houses within an easy drive of hers.

Deedaa Fri 20-Apr-18 22:21:22

DD and DS live next door to each other and 10 minutes walk away from us. DD is moving away next month and will be living 10 minutes away in the opposite direction! We do seem to stick together grin

lilypollen Fri 20-Apr-18 23:01:38

30 mins away from DS2 + 2GC. 1 hour away from DS1. Works as we're accessible but not on top of each other and makes it worthwhile them coming to stay the night.

LynneB59 Fri 20-Apr-18 23:09:39

I live in a suburb of Nottingham. I'm very lucky, as one son lives 1 mile away, in one direction. The other son lives 1/2 mile in the opposite direction, so we're all able to meet up on a very regular basis (once a week at least)

My brother lives 8 miles away, and we meet up every few weeks.

Maggiemaybe Fri 20-Apr-18 23:43:27

All my DC and families are within a 40 minute drive or around an hour by public transport, for which I'm very grateful. My DSis and some of her family are up on the Cleveland coast, which is a lovely place for us all to visit. Other family in Canada, Cumbria, York, Durham, Sussex and the Cotswolds.

harrigran Sat 21-Apr-18 00:23:25

I have a DD in Belgium, a sister in Germany, another sister 8 miles from me and DS lives a 45 minute drive away.

Persistentdonor Sat 21-Apr-18 09:16:25

Oh Anniebach - 3 sisters in the same town but no contact! sad I feel very sad for you, and trust this is how you like it?

Is that why this thread was opened..... ?

I have family half a world away, but we do speak often on facetime, even though visiting is rare.

Skweek1 Sat 21-Apr-18 09:23:47

We and MIL live within a couple of miles within Rochdale and meet 2 or 3 times weekly - we all moved here to spend time with DH's grandparents, both now dead, as is MIL's sister. DS lives with us. Before she died my Mum was in a home near Malvern and because of my DDs' poisonous lies, the care staff barred us from seeing her - we'd driven about 250 miles each way! Needless to say, we never tried again - our driver, already seriously ill, took several days to get over the pain and stress of the journey.

inishowen Sat 21-Apr-18 09:44:35

I'm lucky my son and daughter live half an hour away. In their twenties my son lived in New Zealand and Australia, and my daughter lived in London. It's wonderful that they came home and had their families.

Silverlining47 Sat 21-Apr-18 10:09:20

Our 5 children are scattered from the North of Scotland to Sydney in Australia. It's one reason we chose to live in SW France where they all like to come and stay in the summer!

Coconut Sat 21-Apr-18 10:16:03

Am very lucky to live next door to DD, SIL and GS, they live in the main house and I have a fabulous granny annexe. Have 2 sons with their own families who live about an hour drive away, and an elderly Mum and sister who live half hour away ... so all quite close, and very handy for visits, plus weekends away at both sons, who live about half an hour from each other.

Silverlining47 Sat 21-Apr-18 10:17:10

Our 5 children are scattered from the North of Scotland to Sydney in Australia. It's one reason we chose to live in SW France where they all like to come and stay in the summer!

kazziecookie Sat 21-Apr-18 10:27:29

These answers just show how families are spread out these days compared to my childhood.
I moved to Plymouth Devon 11 years ago to buy a guest house leaving family behind in Stoke-on-Trent. I also have family in Birmingham (where I was born) and Wales.
DD1 lives in Bristol and DD2 is living in Cairns Australia at the moment.

Marieeliz Sat 21-Apr-18 10:32:50

Like some others on here, I have no close family now. I live in the North West brother lived in Scotland Aberdeen, Forfar, then Edinburgh.

Second cousin in Monmouth and his family in Tetbury and Gloucester. They left the North West when they joined the Royal Navy as my brother did. None of them knew the other had joined the RN but both my father and uncle also served as did I.

Hm999 Sat 21-Apr-18 10:37:37

One offspring back home with me, one 60 miles away.

Kiwibird Sat 21-Apr-18 10:42:57

I live in New Zealand with DS1 and his family in Australia and DS2 in Singapore. We have one GD studying in London with her younger sister due to follow her in around 2 years. Australia is not that far away in flying time but at times it seems a world away. I would love to hear sometimes 'hi mum, I've just dropped in for a coffee' or for a grandchild to ask us to come to a school concert. But they're all happy doing what they're doing.

Grandma70s Sat 21-Apr-18 10:49:10

I’m pleased that my family had enough sense of adventure to go to different places rather than just staying put, but now I am getting older I can see it would be quite handy to have someone nearby.

bonnie57 Sat 21-Apr-18 10:49:45

I live in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.One son lives here too and the other one lives in Surrey.
No grandchildren but cousins in Suffolk.We are a very small family but all keep in touch.

Lindylou57 Sat 21-Apr-18 10:55:50

We live in Milton Keynes but our family is in North Wales, Manchester, Bristol, The Wirral, Australia, Cyprus. London , Southend and United States'

granjan66 Sat 21-Apr-18 10:57:55

My DD lives in Bristol and son and family are in Toronto.