Five miles north of Bury sits a tiny picture-postcard village with a population of just 150 people. Affetside is a peaceful village with quaint cottages dotted along one long country lane.
While the village offers stunning walks and views of rolling green hills, it’s relatively isolated – with the only local amenity being The Pack Horse pub.
“The best part is the people who live here,” Dianne Murphy says. “It's a small village so we all know each other. We do events throughout the year and we all do our bit. We all work together and we have some really nice events where we raise money.”
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However, the 57-year-old says there is one downside to life in the secluded village – the infrastructure. Dianne claims residents regularly experience power outages as well as loss of water.
“We regularly have water go off and if the electricity goes off, the water pump stops so we regularly have no water,” she added. “I've lived here for eight years and it's gone off many times - last week was the latest.
“Last year it was serious. We had no electricity in the village, the generator blew up. We had no electricity for days and it took a long time to rectify. It has its challenges in terms of infrastructure. We also have poor internet and phone signal.”
Tony and Rosanne Davies have lived in Affetside for 21 years and say they would never live anywhere else. The couple love the area so much, they call their cottage their “holiday home”.
“The people are really nice,” Rosanne, 81, says. “We have a nice green and we have events that we hold. We've lived here for 21 years and I wouldn't live anywhere else. A lot of people come up and appreciate it because we always look after it. We're all proud of it; we love it.
“The traffic can be bad at certain times of the day. Now it's not too bad, but at school time when people are going to work, they won't stick to 20mph.
“It's unique and one of the big benefits is being away from the mayhem, yet when you want to do some shopping it's available for you. We call it our holiday home."
David Bailey has lived in Affetside for 20 years. “Apart from it being a pretty village, it's the community," he says. We all work together and we all get on. We've got the green and we hold events, like BBQs.
“We all muck in and get the marquee up and try to raise funds for the village because the greens need a lot of maintenance so it's in our interest. It's a unique place to live with fantastic views but you move here now not because of the picturesque thing but because of the community – but it’s challenging in winter because it’s a few degrees colder.
“I've lived here for 20 years. Everyone helps each other within the village if anyone needs help, like during Covid. In this day and age, it's rare to find such a spirit of community, that's what makes it special.”
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