Hail from Shropshire/Staffordshire!

[RedTjern]

Hi thought I’d introduce myself, before I get involved with what looks like a great forum. 35 year old father of (soon to be) three kids, living in a village location. Ex military and small time veg gardener and firewood hoarder! I’d like to think of myself as a self sufficiency dreamer / wannabe off gridsder rather than a “prepper” but happy with any description! It’s all good stuff.

Read “survive the economic collapse” by Piero san Giorgio a while ago and took it very seriously although life/ career took me away from what I should have been doing.

Anyway I have the ability to collect water and sanitise for drinking, grow a limited amount of food and heat/cook via stove. It’s not much but it’s something! I’ll hopefully apply for firearms/ shotgun when covid 19 allows applications again. For now I’ve got a beefy air rifle to hunt small game if required.

I’ve got the mental ability to “survive” as such as military experience had me living in a wet trench for weeks or hostile deserts but I worry about my family.

I hope to be able to live in a smallholding at some point and raise a small amount of animals and larger veg garden. Hopefully with it’s own water supply and renewable/ solar power. Obviously this is end goal stuff for me at the min!

Looking to have mutual friendship/contact with anyone local to me. I’m also interested in speaking anyone who has managed/ acquired a small holding with a limited budget.

Take care all,
Rob

[Arzosah]

Hi Rob, welcome to the forum - I think a lot of people on here are self sufficiency dreamers/ off gridders, absolutely. Sounds like you've got a really good start too, and congratulations on the coming baby Not sure if there's anything extra you need for the pregnancy/ birth/ early days, is all good round you NHS wise?

[Arwen Thebard]

Hi Rob and welcome to the forum.

Sounds to me like you are starting from a good position and have already taken some of the most important steps, for the right reasons.

You also live in one of the best regions IMO, we may well be neighbours some time soon.

Congrats ahead of time for the arrival of Daddies new "little prepper" hope all goes well.

Are the rest of the family on board with your enlightened way of thinking?

Enjoy the forum.

[RedTjern]

Hi Rob, welcome to the forum - I think a lot of people on here are self sufficiency dreamers/ off gridders, absolutely. Sounds like you've got a really good start too, and congratulations on the coming baby Not sure if there's anything extra you need for the pregnancy/ birth/ early days, is all good round you NHS wise?

Hi, thanks for the warm welcome. Thankfully the NHS hospital has had very limited covid 19 cases in comparison to other local hospitals and appears to be operating on a very strict basis so it’s slightly reassuring. The most worrying part is the near worst national performance in the childbirth and care area!

[RedTjern]

Hi Rob and welcome to the forum.

Sounds to me like you are starting from a good position and have already taken some of the most important steps, for the right reasons.

You also live in one of the best regions IMO, we may well be neighbours some time soon.

Congrats ahead of time for the arrival of Daddies new "little prepper" hope all goes well.

Are the rest of the family on board with your enlightened way of thinking?

Enjoy the forum.

Hi buddy, I think the recent events have made it easier to open the eyes of the other half - things she would normally consider daft are no more! But she’s also always wanted a smallholding or house with plenty of grounds for chickens and veg garden so we are on a similar wavelength.

Are you moving to this are soon? Also, why do you believe it’s the best place? Interested to hear.

Cheers!

[bobble]

Hi Rob, looks like you have a lot of things covered and good experience from your forces days!
On the smallholding bit, I came across a book a few years ago called "Field to Farm" by David Acreman. Its about how you can "get around" some of the planning laws in order to build a house and run a small holding.
Another idea that we had was to buy an ex pub. The breweries started offloading them about 2011 ish, and you could basically buy an ex pub (at auction) which was really a 3 bed house, usually detached, with hardstanding
/parking, outbuildings, bowling greens, and the ability to do retail trade from one room (the old off licence part)without trying to get planning. The village ex pubs often had more land too!
We settled for an ex council house with a really big garden, due to our age and financial limitations, but we still grow loads of stuff and keep hens! Good luck!

[pseudonym]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

[Arwen Thebard]

"Are you moving to this are soon? Also, why do you believe it’s the best place? Interested to hear."

The lock down has delayed our searching for a while, but the likely downturn in property prices will probably work to our advantage in an unfortunate sort of way.

We've been looking all around the UK for a few years now and your part of the country (Shropshire) suits us really well. Nice rolling countryside with good fertile farmland for crops and stock and plenty of water, great scenery, sensible land and house prices, not too easily accessible, without being remote. Coast is also within a reasonable drive, its not too far North (although we love the North) so has a decent year round climate and there are plenty of places with history and character. Did I miss anything?

Enjoy the forum.