Who are you? Ed Hutchings, 39, a wildlife journalist, his wife, Sarah, 41, an office manager, and their son, Jude, 7 months.
Where did you move from/to? We left our rented three-bedroom semi in Usk, Monmouthshire, for a two-bedroom semi in the village of Stoke-by-Nayland, in Dedham Vale, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on the Suffolk/Essex border. We rent the house for £750 a month.
Why did you do it? South Wales is quite cut off. We planned to start a family, so we wanted to be nearer to grandparents for babysitting duties, as well as friends in London — now an hour away.
What do you love? The countryside here is just lovely. Immortalised by Constable and Gainsborough, it hasn’t changed much in 200 years. I enjoy unearthing local history, such as the 19th-century Red Barn murder, down the road in Polstead — the body of a young woman who’d been killed and buried by her fraudster boyfriend was found after her stepmother dreamt about it. I also love churches, and those in Suffolk are probably among the finest in the country.
What do you get up to? Things revolve around Jude, so our social life is hampered. We do a lot of walking and go for lunch at our village’s two excellent pubs. I’m a big birdwatcher, too — the winter waders and wildfowl in the estuaries can be quite a spectacle.
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What’s not to love? The A12 runs through the AONB. It’s a bit of an eyesore.
Top tip? Invest in a good pair of binoculars to fully appreciate the waders at Dedham Vale and the nearby Suffolk coast and heaths.