Town versus country: what our readers think Rural life is friendlier, more peaceful and I know more people in the area in the five years living here than in the last 20 years where I previously lived. Ed Cumming clearly thinks everyone cuts themselves off from civilisation, but within a 10-minute walk from our house we have a pub, butcher, doctor's surgery, chemist, post office with cash dispenser, newsagent, petrol station, mini supermarket and much more. Within five minutes in the car, we have a DIY shop, chip shop, and a hospital with an A&E department. Matlock and Haddon Hall are three miles away and Chatsworth House and Bakewell are about six miles away. Finally, my seven-year-old grandson's school is up the lane adjacent to our bungalow, across two fields, and is where I go to collect him most afternoons. Could life be more convenient and better than this? Jo Watson, Somerset Whenever I read articles like this, I wonder who these people are who think there are no facilities in the country. Not everyone has to live five miles from shops which when found close at 2pm. In fact, probably the only people who do are farmers. I find it quite odd anyway that Ed Cumming, when going to the country for a visit, is desperate to visit shops - is that really what he wants to do on a weekend away? Similar thoughts sprang to mind when reading your main article. Does Clare Myers-Shaw really think that there is no decent coffee outside London? I and many others in this beautiful part of West Somerset have the ideal location. I am in a small town/large village with a small supermarket, post office, library, doctor's surgery, optician and several pubs (there is a butcher in a village a mile away). As for cinemas, we have greater choice here than when I lived in the Thames Valley, with three cinemas within a 10-minute drive (yes, these are in village halls, but they show up-to-date films with Argo and Quartet coming very shortly and Anna Karenina showing last week). We also have theatres in Taunton, Bristol and Exeter. We have a regular and punctual half-hourly bus service into Minehead and Taunton and yet we are a five-minute drive from the Quantock Hills for brilliant walking and 15 minutes from Exmoor. I can get from Taunton to London by train very easily; however, apart from getting to the airports I rarely go. Why would I? I had years of being squashed on tubes, pushed and shoved on pavements, constantly keeping my hand on my bag to prevent pickpockets and fighting for a seat in a restaurant. If I have to go to a city, give me a Bristol or Exeter any day. Ruth Hulme, Cheshire In May last year we moved from Wilmslow, just south of Manchester, 30 miles away to the beautiful village of Bunbury, near Tarporley, Cheshire. The advantages are many, ranging from the beautiful countryside complete with canal, real working farms, locally-sourced meat from the brilliant butcher Burrows and mud-covered veg purchased from Brosters farm shop via an honesty box - which in itself is a great place to meet locals. The drivers are courteous and, if driving a 4x 4, it is likely to be mud-covered, old and not driven in the middle of the road by a WAG. When we can drag ourselves away from the blazing log fires fed by locally-sourced, free supplies, we are spoilt by a wealth of local pubs serving an extensive selection of real beers and food. Any trip to the city for cultural treats is just that; a treat, rather than taken for granted. Broadband speeds/phone signal issues have been overcome with boosters, making it possible to stay in contact with friends and shop online. The only issue is the bruises obtained by pinching myself to see if this has really happened, and the odd bump from low beams! Annette Mills I read your article and couldn't resist writing my thoughts as I prepare to leave the countryside after seventeen years. Originally a Londoner, I had looked forward to moving away from the city. Unfortunately, nothing here is as it seems. Are the people friendlier? The locals are at best suspicious and greedy, at worst downright vindictive. If you own land, be prepared for repeated requests to walk dogs, ride horses and shoot pigeons on it. The sleepy agricultural tenant and his benign looking wife, in the cottage next door may well turn out to be malicious gossips who do not pay their rent and ask for large handouts of cash. There are pop guns (bird scarers) on most of the adjacent fields that go off every 20 minutes. On Saturdays, during the shooting season, it is like living in a warzone. Most days there is background noise of machinery as even distant neighbours can be heard cutting logs or carrying out building work. If you are really unlucky you may have to listen to barking dogs night and day because a neighbour likes to leave his in an outdoor pen. The local paper endlessly recommends restaurants that have received all sorts of awards and use only locally-grown produce. If you saw how much pesticide is sprayed onto the local fields you would not want to eat anything grown within a fifty mile radius from here. My husband says the only memorable thing about eating in local restaurants are the following days recovering from food poisoning. I am looking forward to the future. Decent food, a transport infrastructure, taxis, and most important of all, meeting people who might view me without suspicion. Sarah Knightly Brown, Cheltenham In 1977 my family decided to move back to Cheltenham from a cottage in an "idyllic" Cotswold country village. We had lasted just 15 months, the same age as our first baby daughter. It was mainly the lonlieness, being stuck out in a cottage with no company except a small baby, and needing a second car to go anywhere, as my husband was at work all day. I would push the baby out in her pram, and see no one, except maybe a car dashing past me on the road. There were no other babies the same age in the village, and the other people were all old and retired or real locals who didn't mix with incomers. It was heaven moving back to a terraced house in the town, where I easily made friends, could walk to the park and take the dog off the lead, and meet other mums with small children. There was a babysitting circle we could join, playgroups, a gym with a crèche, and I didn`t need a car to go everywhere. Friends dropped by in a way they never did in the country. Over the years our family has expanded to four daughters, and they have grown up to be independent and with wide-ranging interests. They could get to school on their own, meet friends in town on their own, and socialise in the evening without us being constant taxi drivers. A large provincial town the size of Cheltenham is ideal as a lifestyle, as we could still enjoy the country on our doorstep for walks at weekends, keep horses nearby and go to country pubs, whilst having the theatre, shopping, festivals, jobs and social life of town. Our eldest daughter is now married and in her mid-thirties, with two children, and she and many of her friends have now moved back to Cheltenham to live - proof that another generation feel the same way as we did then! Judy Young, London My husband and I moved to London after nearly 30 years in the country. I do not miss the country for one single second. We lived in a beautiful rural setting, but it was miles from any shops, public transport, pubs, restaurants and most importantly - friends. You had to drive everywhere! Our quality of life has improved immeasurably. The car has gone. Public transport is great. We are healthier, slimmer and happier than we have been for a long time. We live in a very friendly street, where people keep an eye out for each other. And the other bonus is that we get a chance to meet so many different people from different backgrounds. Jack Konynenburg, Chippenham, Wiltshire Why is it always always London versus rural seclusion? I too am a confirmed townie and moved with my family from London in the 80s; not to countryside but to the centre of the market town of Chippenham in Wiltshire. We have a host of local facilities, a railway station, and a vibrant community. We lived first in a medieval townhouse, now in our self-built modern house on an ex-industrial site. It is a convivial, exciting place to live, and should we want to walk or cycle in the countryside, it's only a few minutes away. Gwenda Atkinson, Nottinghamshire I have the best of both worlds. I live in a large village, 8,000 people, with three primary schools, an academy, two gyms with pools, four small supermarkets,a library and health centre. We have a choice of places to eat out or take away. A 15-minute bus ride takes us to the heart of Nottingham and the service runs every 15 minutes. I can access all the village amenities by foot and as I walk around most people greet me or smile and frequently I stop for a chat. I have a five-minute walk to open fields. I love my quiet and very social lifestyle. Theresa Lane, Wiltshire The answer to the town vs country debate is to do what my family did 20 years ago, which was to move from South London to a house with a large garden in the centre of a market town in rural Wiltshire. We have all the benefits of both; we can walk from our front door to coffee shops on every corner, bars, restaurants, a cinema, theatre, leisure centre, shops, weekly market, churches, schools, GPs and dentists. Equally, we can walk from home out into the countryside along a picturesque canal with views of nearby down land. If we are in need of a "London fix," a ten-minute walk takes us to a daily bus service to central London. In short, market towns have it all.