The great move west !

[adam2]

It is very probable that in the next month or two that I will move to Mothers home in North Somerset, though not yet confirmed.
I been considering this for a while and a number of factors have coincided making the near future the time for the move.

I have recently been made redundant (dont be too sorry for me, I have been expecting it for a while) Whilst I could probably find other work, this is the time to move.

My cats have both died in the last year, except in an emergency I had decided against relocating with cats that were used to familiar suroundings.

Mother is reaching the age when I feel uneasy at Her being alone, the wood stove and pet cat are becoming a bit much, and I worry about how well Mother would cope with any emergency.

Property prices in London are increasing rapidly, and I rent in London with little security of tenure if the landlord decides to take advantage by selling up and retiring. Best to move beforehand.

I visit Mother frequently, and telephone twice daily. This consumes money that would be saved if I lived there.

And finally, I am becoming steadily more doomerish.
Knowing not exactly what form such doom might take, I still consider Somerset to be preferable to London in case of most sorts of doom.
In the last few years I have read
"LAST LIGHT"
"RETRIEVED FROM THE FUTURE"
"ONE SECOND AFTER"
"LIGHTS OUT"
And re read several classics including "THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS"
And "THE KRAKEN WAKES"
Whilst these are of course works of fiction, they are IMHO at least somewhat believable and suggest that a major city is not the best location in case of doom.

The main drawbacks of the move are "putting all ones eggs in the same basket" and loosing the redundancy of multiple locations.
Also going back on grid, very little opportunity for renewables at Mothers due to planning restrictions.
I will store PV modules for use in case of emergency.

I will be better equiped than before since many tools and supplies were triplicated !

[emordnilap]

I understand you kept 'stores' at your place of work. I hope you can retrieve everything.

Good luck with the move. Why do I think north Somerset is preferable to London?

[UndercoverElephant]

And finally, I am becoming steadily more doomerish.
Knowing not exactly what form such doom might take, I still consider Somerset to be preferable to London in case of most sorts of doom.
In the last few years I have read
"LAST LIGHT"
"RETRIEVED FROM THE FUTURE"
"ONE SECOND AFTER"
"LIGHTS OUT"
And re read several classics including "THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS"
And "THE KRAKEN WAKES"
Whilst these are of course works of fiction, they are IMHO at least somewhat believable and suggest that a major city is not the best location in case of doom.

Well, I'm not sure that "Day of the Triffids" is an accurate portrayal of what is likely to happen, but I have to agree with you that major cities are not going to the best location in case of doom, simply because there are too many people there who won't have any flexibility or ability to adapt to a changing situation. If you live in a city, where there are lots of people and not much in the way of land or local resources, you are likely to end up at the mercy of people and circumstances over which you have no control. Yes, Somerset is a better option.

[adam2]

I understand you kept 'stores' at your place of work. I hope you can retrieve everything.

Good luck with the move. Why do I think north Somerset is preferable to London?

All the high value stores have already been retrieved, Geiger counters, Katadyn water filter, batteries, etc.
I intend to retrieve the medium value stuff shortly.
Some of the low value items are to be given to the deserving poor, or abandoned.

[Tarrel]

You missed a big drawback Adam; you won't have an excuse to use that Great Western dining car!

Good luck with the move. I'm not sure that losing the redundancy of multiple locations is so bad. If things went generally t*ts up, it's unlikely you'd want to relocate from Somerset back to London I guess.

Can you go "under the radar" with renewables? (e.g. stand-alone ground-mounted array in the garden).

[adam2]

You missed a big drawback Adam; you won't have an excuse to use that Great Western dining car!

Good luck with the move. I'm not sure that losing the redundancy of multiple locations is so bad. If things went generally t*ts up, it's unlikely you'd want to relocate from Somerset back to London I guess.

Can you go "under the radar" with renewables? (e.g. stand-alone ground-mounted array in the garden).

I will indeed miss the FGW dining car but on the other hand, about 16 return trips a year between London and the West were costing me over £6,000 a year !
I might well consider a small stealth RE system, but it would be more a prep for TEOTWAWKI than a utility saving measure.

[clv101]

Good part of the world. I regularly travel between Bristol and Exeter - hope we can meet up in the future.

[Ralph]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but are we talking about "a great trip west" encompassing….maybe 200km or so?

I mean, isn't this about the normal distance for a leisurely afternoon motorcycle ride? A great trip on a small island might be, like Penzance to Thurso or something like that?

Twas said in jest
Though in view of the volume of supplies to be shifted it certainly feels a lot furthur.

I see. I shifted 4 family members, couple of motorbikes, two cars, 2500 km, and figured that was a pretty decent move west. I thought maybe the "great" part meant like from England to Australia or something.

[adam2]

You missed a big drawback Adam; you won't have an excuse to use that Great Western dining car!

Good luck with the move. I'm not sure that losing the redundancy of multiple locations is so bad. If things went generally t*ts up, it's unlikely you'd want to relocate from Somerset back to London I guess.

Can you go "under the radar" with renewables? (e.g. stand-alone ground-mounted array in the garden).

Thanks.

In the event of any general or widespread disaster I agree that relocation from Somerset back to London would not be likely to help.

My concern was more some localised problem such as a fire or industrial accident that affected Somerset but not London.

I will be well stocked for doom though, 6 geiger counters for example !

[Tarrel]

My concern was more some localised problem such as a fire or industrial accident that affected Somerset but not London.

Interesting point. I wonder whether it's worth setting up "tit for tat" arrangements with likeminded friends or family who are geographically dispersed so that, in the event of a localised problem, there is always a place for the affected person or family to go.

I've always thought of having family far away as a weakness in the event of some kind of collapse or disaster situation, but maybe it actually creates resilience.

[RenewableCandy]

Happiness, said some cynic in the film industry iirc, is having a close-knit and loving family...in another city

In days of old, when I was but a little Renewable, my parents and the family of RenewableMaman's bestfriend at school, who lived in different parts of the country, had just such an arrangement. They were thinking about something more immediate like an RTA, but it might also have applied in the case of Leeds or London becoming uninhabitable.

[adam2]

I am reviewing arrangements for any local type of doom that renders the Somerset location unviable.

Having stocked up on doomer supplies for both London and Somerset, and also kept some supplies at work, I am now very well stocked indeed.

I do not expect to have to buy much in the way of clothing, bedding, or hand tools for the rest of my life !
For example I have about 20 blankets, in addition to those in daily use, at one replacement every 5 years that is very roughly 100 years worth !

[PaulS]

Flooding maybe?

Come and see us sometimes in East Cornwall

[adam2]

Flooding is of no direct concern as I live fairly high up.
Flooding could of course cause severe disruption to local transport and food or fuel supplies, as has already happened, I am reasonably well prepared for such.

[RenewableCandy]

Looks as if your main problem will be Hinkley bloody C