New-Wallasean’s Weblog

Living in London is all very well when you are single and spend your life in the pub, but once you’ve got kids and get out once a month (if you’re lucky) you’re paying the premium to live in London without getting the benefits. 

Yes I was earning £50K per year, but when you are paying £2K per month for a fairly modest family home out on the suburbs, making ends meet was impossible.  It’s crazy to be working all hours to take home £2,900 a month and still be skint! 

We started looking at other areas of the country where house prices weren’t quite so silly.  We could have gone back to Edinburgh, but I’ve already spent around 20 years of my life there, plus prices there are as silly as anywhere else. 

So Britain was our Oyster!  Hoorah! 

After extensive research into different areas, we started to focus on Merseyside.  A surprising choice to some – particularly the narrow-minded who think that Russell and Bleasdale dramas were documentaries and that’s all there is to Merseyside.  Very sad! 

As we narrowed our search, we started to focus on Wirral.  Quieter and more family focussed than some parts of Liverpool, yet Liverpool, Chester and (say it quietly) Manchester are all relatively accessible for nights out. 

The schools are up there with the best that North London has to offer, crime is relatively low (even car crime!) and Wirral has some really beautiful scenery. 

Finally we narrowed our search down to CH45 – Wallasey!  We moved in September 2007 and haven’t regretted it for a moment. 

You start to realise just what a great place to live the North West is, with day trips possible to North Wales, Chester, Lake District, Peak District, Manchester, Leeds and so on. 

Only downside as far as I can see is that jobs are far from abundant – and as I’m about to start sending out my CV having finished a project, it could be fun and games …

One of the first things I did when came to the area was join the Bards of New Brighton, a friendly poetry group run by local celebrity (he wrote the Sam Brady column on Oracle) and top bloke Steve Regan.  http://steveregan.merseyblogs.co.uk/

I originally went to get to know local people, and listen to their work.  I hadn’t written any kind of poetry since I was forced to at school.  But after a few meetings I realised that it isn’t a stuffy group at all, people do all sorts of stuff including stories, songs and so on, so I started writing my own. 

It’s all pretty basic stuff, I don’t claim to be a poet, just enjoy putting some thoughts and words together, and sharing my views. 

As well as being a software developer by day, I also enjoy live music, particularly at the Unsigned end.  I used to run a monthly night in London, and am keen to do something in Merseyside, but my initial attempts to launch a night in Liverpool weren’t exactly a success, still I’ve got some ideas for when I’ve got the time to implement them! 

Welcome to my Blog!