UK Brew Clubs

[Falco]

Well this thread has developed somewhat from the OP wanting to retire to the UK to Brits also suggesting alternative places in which they’d like to relocate to

My advice having had the privilege of visiting NZ for a couple of months back in 2010 to @BlackIsland would be to consider that place as an alternative to the UK. Take a holiday there and look for yourself, you won’t be disappointed, otherwise consider the Scandinavian countries

I think @An Ankoù has done the right thing in getting out of the UK before the final act of Brexit is played out. Once the transition period has ended it’s not clear how or where those of us left on this benighted isle can escape to. Never mind what the GBP exchange rate will look like once we’ve crashed out of the EU. I’m 65 years of age this December and although I live in a nice part of Cheshire I’m not looking forward to enjoying the rest of my dotage living here with the country currently set on a kamikaze mission to oblivion.

Right, my glass is now half empty, time for a refill

 

[Galena]

My advice having had the privilege of visiting NZ for a couple of months back in 2010 to @BlackIsland would be to consider that place as an alternative to the UK.

Are there not strict rules on age and employment to be able to emigrate to NZ though?

 

[Clint]

I suppose if you go there fully self sufficient it might be different..

 

[An Ankoù]

Posted in error.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Im 67 so my main worry would be health care, having already had an open abdominal aortic repair in 2018 i think a lotto win is the way forward for us, my kids are 30 and 22 if i was them i would be looking for a better life and i would not try to stop them for one moment being young here at the moment trying to get on in life is just bollocks even the bank of mum and dad is not enough anymore, right i must stop now before i get into a full blown rant

 

[BlackIsland]

Each to their own, but I beg to differ with @Clint and @Chippy_Tea My personal advice would be to choose an area based on the main factors like climate, terrain and human geography - and access to transport hubs - the rest of it you can adjust by where precisely you choose within those parameters :-)

After reading all the various responses, I feel like I'm in the Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris", the ultimate in "The grass is always greener" mentality.

Obviously our decisions will have far more to do with lifestyle than brew clubs and brewing water, but I enjoy asking the questions anyway, because covid is such a pisser, I have to look forward to something.. Some of it is our retirement goals - wanting to travel the UK and Europe. Travel from the west coast of the US to the continent is (logically) very high, whereas travel within the UK and to the continent from the UK is a comparative bargain. Some of our decision is economics - the combination of US income taxes and Medicare costs vs UK taxes (at the brackets we'd be in) and NHS costs are advantageous to us. We also live in a state with very high property taxes (like council tax), and with very expensive housing costs. If we moved today, selling our house, we could buy a house of the same size or bigger in many places in the midlands and points north and still have enough left to buy a car and furnish the house, and pay half as much council tax as we do property tax. As for climate, the Puget Sound, where we live, is surprisingly similar in weather to the UK: mild, somewhat unreliable summers, reliably wet, cloudy and windy in the winter, with enough unanticipated nice days to really appreciate them. Now, in the winter, our sun sets a half-hour later than yours, but in the summer, it sets a half hour earlier, so not a big difference. And finally, as we have no children, very little in the way of family, we'd not be missing much at home, whereas if we spent our final 20+ years there, we'd be closer to friends who plan to retire there, as well as some new found family.

For all of you suggesting we not make the trek, I understand. When you're not walking in someone else's shoes, it's hard to know where their coming from, and thus make no sense. It's all good, we haven't moved yet!

 

[Leon103]

After reading all the various responses, I feel like I'm in the Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris", the ultimate in "The grass is always greener" mentality.

Obviously our decisions will have far more to do with lifestyle than brew clubs and brewing water, but I enjoy asking the questions anyway, because covid is such a pisser, I have to look forward to something.. Some of it is our retirement goals - wanting to travel the UK and Europe. Travel from the west coast of the US to the continent is (logically) very high, whereas travel within the UK and to the continent from the UK is a comparative bargain. Some of our decision is economics - the combination of US income taxes and Medicare costs vs UK taxes (at the brackets we'd be in) and NHS costs are advantageous to us. We also live in a state with very high property taxes (like council tax), and with very expensive housing costs. If we moved today, selling our house, we could buy a house of the same size or bigger in many places in the midlands and points north and still have enough left to buy a car and furnish the house, and pay half as much council tax as we do property tax. As for climate, the Puget Sound, where we live, is surprisingly similar in weather to the UK: mild, somewhat unreliable summers, reliably wet, cloudy and windy in the winter, with enough unanticipated nice days to really appreciate them. Now, in the winter, our sun sets a half-hour later than yours, but in the summer, it sets a half hour earlier, so not a big difference. And finally, as we have no children, very little in the way of family, we'd not be missing much at home, whereas if we spent our final 20+ years there, we'd be closer to friends who plan to retire there, as well as some new found family.

For all of you suggesting we not make the trek, I understand. When you're not walking in someone else's shoes, it's hard to know where their coming from, and thus make no sense. It's all good, we haven't moved yet!

I would hate to see what property tax you are paying if it is double the UK. Not sure what the uk average is but I pay in excess of £250 a month for no return. Daylight robbery

 

[Galena]

For all of you suggesting we not make the trek, I understand. When you're not walking in someone else's shoes, it's hard to know where their coming from, and thus make no sense. It's all good, we haven't moved yet!

Oh I don't think anybody is suggesting you should not come, but perhaps suggesting that the grass is not greener over here either and that you should try an extended stay before committing to a permanent move. My point was I wish I had made that move years ago when I could still get a job and make a life for ourselves. Economically this country could go either way at the moment.

 

[jceg316]

Back on topic, I know of 2 in London, there's Beer Boars and London Amateur Brewers. The latter holds BJCP national competitions.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

I would hate to see what property tax you are paying if it is double the UK. Not sure what the uk average is but I pay in excess of £250 a month for no return. Daylight robbery

You get nothing for your council tax? Where in the UK are you?

 

[Galena]

You get nothing for your council tax? Where in the UK are you?

From my point of view I get little for mine, I live in the Peak District, council tax is high, policing is very sporadic, bus services non existent dustbins only emptied once a fortnight, garden waste which currently is free will be charged extra for from next year, we used to have recycling bins in the village that have now been removed.

 

[MickDundee]

I would hate to see what property tax you are paying if it is double the UK. Not sure what the uk average is but I pay in excess of £250 a month for no return. Daylight robbery

Council tax is certainly flawed, but there’s no way anyone can claim they get nothing in return.

Waste collections, schools, road maintenance, Community centres, Community help, Social Care, Libraries, providing local parks, flood defences, snow ploughing, salting the roads etc etc to name just a few things your council tax contributed towards.

And actually, I say “contributed towards” because Council Tax only covers something like 14% of the cost of council services so the majority of the above is actually paid for through Central Government.

Apologies for the rant, but I work in local government finance and I know how hard everyone is working with both the current financial restraints (which are getting worse by the year) and COVID.

 

[MickDundee]

From my point of view I get little for mine, I live in the Peak District, council tax is high, policing is very sporadic, bus services non existent dustbins only emptied once a fortnight, garden waste which currently is free will be charged extra for from next year, we used to have recycling bins in the village that have now been removed.

Council tax doesn’t pay for buses or police. It’ll subsidise some routes (which I assume it will probably do quite a lot of in the Peak District which has a lot of rural areas) and maintain the bus stops etc but doesn’t actually run the buses.

The reasons for charging for garden waste and reducing recycling bins is because they don’t have the resources to do everything they want to do.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

Exactly Mick. Also, rural vs urban is very expensive.

Regarding bin collection, unless you have a huge family, isn't bin collection once a fortnight sufficient when you recycle properly? Though I have to say my local authority doesn't recycle glass which is ridiculous.

 

[Galena]

Council tax doesn’t pay for buses or police. It’ll subsidise some routes (which I assume it will probably do quite a lot of in the Peak District which has a lot of rural areas) and maintain the bus stops etc but doesn’t actually run the buses.

Well despite living in a village we don't have any buses even though there is a bus stop outside my house. You are of course right that it doesn't pay for police either, bins once a fortnight, yes probably sufficient. I know they don't have the resources but reducing services means many more people have to drive to the recycling centre, I have to for any amount of cardboard because the size of the bin is so small so the carbon footprint of that is ridiculous.
I would like to know what I do get for my council tax though apart from Bins emptied once a fortnight.

 

[Falco]

Are there not strict rules on age and employment to be able to emigrate to NZ though?

Yes there are, they have quotas based on skills for working age applicants and wealth but it's probably not much easier getting UK residency.

 

[Leon103]

Council tax is certainly flawed, but there’s no way anyone can claim they get nothing in return.

Waste collections, schools, road maintenance, Community centres, Community help, Social Care, Libraries, providing local parks, flood defences, snow ploughing, salting the roads etc etc to name just a few things your council tax contributed towards.

And actually, I say “contributed towards” because Council Tax only covers something like 14% of the cost of council services so the majority of the above is actually paid for through Central Government.

Apologies for the rant, but I work in local government finance and I know how hard everyone is working with both the current financial restraints (which are getting worse by the year) and COVID.

Ok perhaps I should have said you get next to nothing compared to a couple of years ago. Since my local council lost a lot of money to an Icelandic bank (believed most as been repaid) services have been cut whilst prices go up.

Waste is now every 2 or 3 weeks but if the van is full before it gets here it doesn't come. Road maintenance is the worst I have seen anywhere in the UK. No community centre, social care on its knees, no library, even the mobile van disappeared. Local park is town council and financially supported b residents. Today the welsh government said something about flood defences, basically it can't prevent flooding, luckily this doesn't effect me. Snow ploughing and salting is very minimal and kept to the trunk road, it is usually down locally by the good will of farmers.

 

[MickDundee]

Ok perhaps I should have said you get next to nothing compared to a couple of years ago. Since my local council lost a lot of money to an Icelandic bank (believed most as been repaid) services have been cut whilst prices go up.

EDIT - I’ve potentially said too much here. Nothing offensive just info about funding and budgets I maybe shouldn’t be disclosing on a public forum.

 

[Leon103]

EDIT - I’ve potentially said too much here. Nothing offensive just info about funding and budgets I maybe shouldn’t be disclosing on a public forum.

Don't worry we all know where the money goes

 

[terrym]

Council tax doesn’t pay for buses or police. It’ll subsidise some routes (which I assume it will probably do quite a lot of in the Peak District which has a lot of rural areas) and maintain the bus stops etc but doesn’t actually run the buses.

The reasons for charging for garden waste and reducing recycling bins is because they don’t have the resources to do everything they want to do.

Part of my council tax is used to fund the police, and I get a leaflet prior to April each year from my authority explaining where the money is is going (although I rarely read it ). Anyway it is known as the Police Precept, although central government provides the majority of funding for the police.
More on that here
https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/22/factsheet-police-funding-settlement-2020-21/