IT’S been a year since I moved back to Salisbury from London, and there are so many differences I hadn't anticipated.

I'm still deciding whether to stay in the area or move somewhere different, so maybe a list of pros and cons to big city versus small city living would help… On the plus side to staying put, the view from my window as I worked at my desk used to include the vent from the restaurant below and a patchwork of around ten neighbours' tiny gardens.

Now the view is of my own garden.

However, London is thrumming with variety and I'm excited to see gothic cabaret Tiger Lilies perform their new show The Rime of The Ancient Mariner soon, whereas in Salisbury, I must admit, I have struggled to find a performance I'd really like to see.

In London it took an hour to visit a friend in another part of town and I felt I should take a packed lunch for the journey and an overnight bag, whereas here I just have to walk round the corner.

In London I would put my bins out once a week and they were emptied, but here I feel I need an excel spreadsheet to remember which bins go out from one fortnight to the next.

In London I once had to wait a month for a dental appointment.

Here I have rung up and got an appointment on the day.

In the big smoke, the city feels like a living breathing organism, however come 5.30pm in a small city the streets are so quiet it feels like a zombie apocalypse. Countryside foxes are slinky gorgeous ghosts, whereas frankly in London I think they are getting so much bigger, stronger and more evolved that they might be taking over the world. When I walked in my front door once there was one just sat on the pavement, in the day time, calmly appraising me and probably thinking 'That coat would look good on me’.

Hmmm – deciding is difficult…