Anyone who is unemployed through his own election in an economy such as this is not viewed in a very positive light by future employers - you are not in a bargaining position at all. You should not limit your geographical territory in any way. Finding something that you would be happy with within a half hour of Amesbury will be difficult for you. It will be very difficult to explain this to an employer. There is no good way to explain that you did not agree with the way your previous company was led or managed.
Many people feel like that, but they go job hunting while they still have a paycheck coming in.
No matter how good your recommendation is from your boss, you still left without a good reason. Any future employer will look askance at this and assume you're ready to do the same thing to him as well. You have a lot of competition. You say you are a valuable commodity. You may have been good at what you did, but it shows poor judgment to leave the company with no real career plans.