Town Centre Apartment Living

After living over a dozen years at the rear of   trailer parks, next to babbling brooks and fields, I didn't look forward to moving into town, as I had literally dropped out, turned on & tuned in with a large satellite dish next to my van; coming into a town conservation area meant going dishless and ending my decade long Staycation. My fears have been unfounded, and after six years on an 'A'-road, Town Life has proved to have had many advantages... Warmth  Click For Penthouse View From Roof Terrace! As I cycle the mile to work at the out of town industrial estate at 7am, I'm only too aware that the real ground frost starts where the terraced town ends! And in winter, any  white stuff is laying up to a month longer at the outskirts and in the country. Solid Georgian bricks & mortar can't be underestimated, whilst a terrace nature keeps the howling wind at bay, with warmth afforded by being above a business. Amenity I only have to step out my door to be in the High Street; with 3 supermarkets, cafés, library, 2 or 3 award winning schools and the bus interchanges, I'm not going to be using time (otherwise spent hitting the 'snooze' button), or fuel, in travelling to work or shopping. That's pretty Green, when you think about it, and was one of the main tenets of the Ecology Party in the early 80's - Towns are for People, not cars. Being the highest building in a row effortlessly brings in the new digital, or satellite signals; whilst there is an intangible feeling of the 'SUV versus car' effect of being that little bit more out of harms way. Speaking of cars, parking wise I just had to find a space for my works van, and did so immediately, with the hotel across the road offering parking to the rear, as has a centre nextdoor, and a nearby Public House. The Apartment shown here has a place at a nearby private secure car park. Price A search for  comparitively sized houses reveals an apartment to be One Third the price. That could quite easily mean no mortgage or borrowing, and perhaps a net positive equity for the buyer. Even a renter automatically passes on thousands of pounds worth of costs that a landlord will pick up over the years. Also little gardening or extensive storage space can often  be seen as a relief rather than a hinderance, especially if you're working full time. Sociability   It's amusing that one of the first things posh Park Home™ owners will do on acquiring their isolated, detached, over-priced, ground-rented, polystyrene igloo (believe me, I've been there) - is to join or form a Club House in order to interact with neighbours... =o} Here in the town I'm friendly with many neighbours, shopkeepers and cafe regulars, with drinking oppurtunities (should I ever break my 25 year taboo on pubs). The main neighbours are essentially the shopkeepers (many who've traded for years), who have more than interest in keeping an eye on entry passages and rear yards, and are often in walkie-talkie or mobile contact with the Chamber of Commerce shop-watch schemes covering one another. Quieter In the country the silence is deafening - so a motorbike over a mile away is an intrusion. I've been driven to try and scare off a fruitcake of a bird who thought it fine to sit in the nearest bush repeating the same phrase over and over. The wind inevitably sang and howled at all times of the day and night, whilst jets at 40,000 mixed their drone with local hedge hoppers. Tractors, bird scarers, trains many miles away, shotguns in the woods, all were intrusive. Here, 30ft above the street behind double glazing, is the quietest I've known it. Security I'm sure everyone has seen  The Omega Man, where Charlton Heston fights off Cults of Mutants from his 1st floor flat... Many years ago after a Police Cadet course, back in the Midlands I observed a Cat Burglar Gang (none of whom were ever caught for burglary), and their nightime trips out into the country. Town centres today are an anathema to trouble, with multiple security cameras, neighbours, near constant foot traffic, and so many obstacles to overcome once away from the pavements. My key ring has two long gate keys, a Chubb and the usual Union house key. All the windows are potential neck breakers. Style It isn't overly clear from the large windowed Georgian frontages, but many Town Centre buildings employ subtle curves, buttresses, nooks and spaciousness that today's modern house builders don't even dream about. And instead of damp flimsy board - warmth, solidity and strength, is built-in. The 5+ earth tremor epicentre in 2008 was just a few miles up the valley, yet the only damage was a few loosened chimney pots elsewhere around the district. Inside, luxury finishing combined with mixed fuel oppurtunities, American apartment styling and accessories, can soon make these interesting spaces enjoyable aswell as functional.   Click thru for more Horncastle views from on high Location   Town centres, by definition, are usually nodal - a focus. In Horncastle's case two A-roads give easy access to Lincoln & Skegness, with a quieter North - South route to traverse the County, and importantly, not the main one in the area, as Caistor Road and the A16 take many of the HGV's. To be able to still hear the call of gulls, and get the sea-air on occasional Easterlies, whilst avoiding the worst of the coastal hedonism, is a useful bonus to any town. Horncastle is the size where people are familiar, but most aren't as intrusive as the 'small-villes' or Nutbush Cities of American lore.

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