I
Is this industrial traffic (might be quieter at weekends)? Sports or
tourist-attraction traffic, could be worse at weekends? You're seeing it
in winter; is it likely to be quieter now than in summer? Visit the area
during rush hours. Do people chug past in a slow tail of traffic at 30
mph, or race past at 70? Can you get in and out of the gate safely at
busy times? Is the traffic mostly cars, or huge reverberating trucks?
Shut yourself in the bedrooms, listen to the noise, and ask yourself if
you'll be able to sleep with a window open.

But where, exactly, can I find a village house with no traffic noise in
the southeast? Frankly, it's unrealistic, or it is with my budget. The
other houses I looked at recently were a. on the Brize Norton flightpath
as well as an A-road b. within earshot of the M40. Maybe I've been
unlucky, but the only house I saw in a 'quiet' location had a garden
smaller than a pocket handkerchief.

Of course I'd like rural tranquillity, but I don't think complete peace
is obtainable in my part of England. What I do strongly dislike is not
traffic noise but people noise. Radios, nice little barbecues. Little
dears on skateboards. Little dears bouncing their lovely balls against
a wall. This house is at the end of the village, so at least there
should be less of that than in my current terrace.

Having said that, the traffic seems modest rather than constant.

--
Jane Lumley