To want to move south?

@Oohlalaaaaaa - Hello! Myself and DH are considering a move from Edinburgh back to the South, and came across your thread. I wondered if you made the move and, if so, how you found it?

@littlekipling -ah- we are staying in Christchurch for 3 days and popped to both Wimborne and swanage today- love that ferry from sandbanks to purbeck! Lovely on a day like today

I moved to Dorset from Yorkshire it's lovely and I hear all kinds of accents. Move to west of Dorset if you want a slow true Dorset pace of life of further east if you want something a bit busier. We're in the Purbecks and I love it.

You don't need to highlight your advice about Hampshire was ill informed. No one said all of Hampshire was near the coast they just pointed out that to say "it's nowhere near the coast" was horseshit

@Oohlalaaaaaa the places you suggested are pretty nice. Don't bother with Bournemouth as it's quite rough and run down now (I grew up there). The weather is fantastic on the south coast to be honest but I can imagine better than Scotland!

Definitely move OP. Don't underestimate how weather can affect your energy levels, mood and mental well-being. Scotland has beautiful mountains etc, but it's so grey - the sky, the buildings, the sea - a lot of people really don't look well tbh. The difference is noticeable and it's depressing. It's no wonder. The south of England is bad enough without going further north.

That's kinda splitting hairs. No one said the whole of Hampshire has close access to the coast, but it's patently wrong to say Hampshire (or Kent) is "not near the coast". They're counties that are on the coastline. A county would have to be landlocked to not be near the coast. It was catty/argumentative to start making an issue of it by saying it's not near the coast, when y'know, it is.

doesn't mean the whole of Hampshire you have close access to the coast, that’s like saying all of kent is near the coast, which is not true, it’s a big area go figure instead of being catty, but it’s mumsnet and people love to start arguments ✌🏼☺️😘

"Hampshire isn't near the coast"

I mean maps might help

We are about 40 mins from Bournemouth. We lucked out with our local senior school, it's v good. I love this area. We are between 2 cities and have great amenities. Happy to give more info if you were interested.

Hampshire is lovely but not near the coast... err I'm in my Hampshire garden right now, and DS is walking to the beach with his mates 🤔

Apart from the fact your partner is from Dorset is there any reason you couldn't look somewhere like Northumberland coast or maybe somewhere like York- ?? even though York is expensive for Yorkshire- it's still slightly better value than Dorset and you then have places like Leeds and also the coast at Whitby/Scarborough etc pretty accessible - just a suggestion. I was in York a few days ago (we live in Bath) and I could definitely live in York! My own personal view is that it has a great deal going for it. It's also good for work and has Leeds easily doable for further opportunities too.

Er...Hampshire IS on the coast. Well it's a huge county and lots of it isn't but it does have a significant chunk of coastline including the New Forest, Southampton Water and Hayling Island.

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable,
as cruel to uproot depends where you’re moving and if it will be permanent

i grew up in Kent and trying to move out it’s so expensive, so overcrowded, traffic, high rise flats commuter town to London so basically turning into a dive. I would not recommend the south east.

Hampshire is lovely but not near the coast,

we are ironically potentially moving to Edinburgh because of an amazing job opportunity that eventually means I could work anywhere in the world and I’m very excited as I want to escape the south. Partner is also sick of his job and our little one is only 2, so a different scenario,

OP you might be better off starting a new thread asking specifically about local schools. Massive derailment by folk who don't know what they're talking about.

We've moved to the area twice now (had to move away for work) and plan to stay here forever! DC are at uni though so I can't help with schools.

I'd say keep an eye on planning as there is quite a lot of redevelopment and new housing being built i the area. You don't want move to suddenly find 200 new flats on your doorstep!

Oohlalaa they’re both at state schools.

Dorset is lovely - I'd love to live there. And Bournemouth has a bit of a rough element - like most UK seaside towns - but is also really nice. You could look at looking slightly further in land, like Southampton.

I wouldn't worry about accents.

Kids will tease about anything, but it’s unlikely to be much more than teasing, not bullying.

These days, and you might find this a bit more of a shock, that England has become much much more diverse over recent decades, with the playground and other areas, spoken languages being very varied. Walking down my local high street English is the first language in the shops, but not outside. I found it very strange when moving from Cumbernauld to Kent and spend a lot of time in the South West…. You’ll either love it or find it uncomfortable. And you’ll also likely come to your own conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of the different peoples you’ll meet. Be aware that in the south west, I’ve always found that it takes a very long time for people to be considered locals, indeed some of the real old sticks will never view you that way. It never bothered me, proud of my Scottish heritage, have never lost all the accent, but I have English friends who moved to the SW who do resent, after 20 years in the area, are still considered outsiders. But all areas are different, and I’m sure individual actions have a lot to do with this, so onus will be on you to integrate with the community and play a part in it.

I think a better question will be how will your children adapt…. Do you and they make friends easily, when on holiday etc. if so, no worries. If they struggle, I have found the old adage about colder temperatures warmer hearts to be quite true, and it could take a little longer for them to adjust.

i couldn’t go back to Scotland, and my journeys now take me to further flung places, maybe one day this rolling stone will find a resting place.

For those talking about uni fees, bear in mind that it’s become harder for high achieving Scottish kids to get those free Uni places. Scottish universities don’t make money on Scottish students, but RUK and international students. I know three kids this year with 6 As who were rejected by Edinburgh and St Andrew’s. All going to English universities now where they will pay fees. So it’s not that straightforward.u work in the education sector and this has been happening ever since tuition fees were abolished in Scotland.

PS all of us only ever had positive comments about Scottish accents - no teasing.

We did this a few years ago - moved from big Scottish city to the SE with dcs 10 and 12 - and have not regretted it. Like you I was sick of the crap weather, the politics, add to that the misogyny of the government.

It is more expensive but not unmanageably so. The weather is so much better. There is so much to do and see - London less than a hour away, France in three hours drive, lots more job opportunities, huge diversity, and the better school education system - dc are thriving, feels like they are encouraged to achieve a lot more than in Scotland where it was just ‘do your best if you can but don’t worry if you can’t’

Going to be honest and say it did take older dc about nine months to really settle and there were tears and entreaties to please go back to Scotland but they love it here now and have said many times they’re so glad we moved. It helped not to go back to Scotland in that settling in period as we did two or three times in the first few months for visits and each time dc felt upset and wanted to move back, so we stopped doing it for a while and it helped them settle.

Good luck!

I’m more baffled by the lie claim that the schools where OP lives teach about tartan and haggis.

But I agree, lots of lovely places in Scotland and thanks to the tories England is becoming a bit like a third world country, I unfortunately have to go to different places there for work and I wouldn’t move there if I was paid to.