Town Mouse on moving house
Clive Aslet has accepted defeat in his effort to move the family to Cambridge


I've accepted defeat in my effort to move house. I'd thought that Cambridge offered a very decent standard of life-excellent schools, you can cycle everywhere but the four other people in our family of five took a different view.
The money that was nearly spent on the Home Information Pack, prior to marketing our London house, has been refunded by the estate agent. But I've not had the heart to tell Bidwells, who continue to send through details of properties in Cambridge with which I torment myself.
Visiting family there the other day, I looked at one of them. From the outside, it was charming, approached along an avenue of flowering cherry trees; mentally, I had already taken possession by the time I nosed the car back onto the Trumpington Road. Oh, the pain of disappointed dreams.
Actually, this kind of house moving, purely a figment of the imagination, beats any other. None of the Sturm und Drang of having to sell, pack up or have someone outbid us. And a tiny bit of myself knows that my martyrdom in staying snugly put in our present quarters is a trump that can be played in any of those differences that arise in even the best-regulated households. I wonder what Bidwells will send next.
* For more Town Mouse like this every week, subscribe and save
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
You're all invited to Cecil Beaton's Garden Party
'The space given over to 'Cecil Beaton’s Garden Party' at the Garden Museum is smaller than Beaton’s own drawing room, but its intimacy is its trump card.'
-
Chelsea Flower Show 2025: Ten things not to miss in what promises to be a superb year at the world's greatest horticultural show
It promises to be a stellar year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Kathryn Bradley-Hole previews some of the highlights you can expect, while we take a look ahead to what Country Life will be up to during the week.