**Moving to North wales**

[Mummyloz81]

Hi me and my family have decided we want to move to north wales.
We have 3 children 11, 8 and 6, we are just wondering which places would be best for nice areas and English speaking schools.
We love walks and the countryside but dont want to be too rural and out of the way due to the kids.
I hope you can give some advice, say safe laura x

If none of you speak Welsh you'd be best staying close to the border with England. All schools in Wales teach Welsh, but as you go further west there are a lot of Welsh medium schools.

Hi Laura, this thread has come at a perfect time for me. My parents told us last night they are moving to Wales (not sure where but North, in the next year) and have asked us (me, dp, ds1 and ds2 who are 4&6) to go with them. Its a bit of a shock, we are currently South East.
Barely slept last night and stumbled across this post this morning, i really hope some knowledgable posters come along soon with some valuable advice....feeling like i definately need it.
Where do you live now, is it a big move? Have you got work planned?

They will find welsh lessons tough going as pp said. Not impossible, but something to consider. What about living near the border. Colwyn bay is nice, but i didnt really find it has a centre. Conwy is lovely, but small. Next to llandudno though. We used to travel to chester a lot whem we lived up there.

@Mummyloz81

Try looking in Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy.

What is your budget?

Hi aww thanks for the replies, work isn't an issue and I dont mind them being taught welsh I think that's a good thing I just dont want them to feel totally singled out.
We are from near manchester, we were thinking maybe colwyn bay or bear llandudno.
I've got couple of books already...Welsh for beginners lol.
Are people friendlier in certain places?
I'm going to ring north wales council to ask about schools and have a drive over when we can.

Can I ask why you are moving?

We lived on a farm road a 5 min drive from wrexham. Took 15 mins to drive to Chester. We loved it there.

Have you also seen this thread Moving to Wales. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3928957-Moving-to-Wales

Llandudno and surrounding areas will meet your needs. Dont be quick to discount welsh speaking schools though. They are really really good at integrating children and providing an immersive language environment which is so beneficial. Your children are unlikely to be the only English speakers in the class but if you're planning to live in North Wales you should give them the opportunity to learn the language as it makes lots of things much easier

Why are you moving to Wales?

We moved here when Dd was 8, school was bilingual, she picked it up so fast, she is now in a Welsh medium high school. Don't let the language lessons put you off.
Once you go through the conwy tunnel towards Bangor, there are some nice spots, and can be affordable
Conwy Valley can be expensive, unless you go a long way up and the prices lower again but it's a busy road to commute on. Internet can be dodgy that way too.
Llandudno is rammed from Easter to September and so busy
Colwyn Bay is OK, seems to be coming back form when it was really run down, but is still pretty dire in some spots. I'd lve there again, in some areas.
Abergele is nice, old, small shops as well as a big Tesco. Lots of newer homes on the edges that are more affordable. We were looking on rightmove at detached homes in our price range there.
Rhyl, well I wouldn't look there.
Prestatyn/Meliden, pretty nice.

Meant to say we moved back here (born here and moved away)

Hi do they teach it in all schools , yes I do want them to learn the language
My bf mum is from wales and my best friend who is moving with us is half welsh, her mother is buried in llandudno.
We are avid walkers and love the countryside and want to do more outdoor activities with the family.
It's a beautiful place and want a more relaxed way of life and hopefully more a sense of community

Welsh is compulsory up to 16 in all schools OP but not all are Welsh medium. We are hoping we can move to the Llandudno area in a couple of years, it is just the most beautiful area. Our DS is starting a Welsh medium school in September though so we will be looking for another Welsh medium one.

We too are after beautiful surroundings, amazing walks and a more outdoor lifestyle :)

Do you want coastal? I'd be looking towards Betws-y-Coed.

Yes it is beautiful and possibly more relaxed, I suppose that's relative. Conwy is a small county with lots of good options. The further you get into the Conwy valley the more beautiful the landscape gets. The coastal towns are all nice enough but can be very busy. I prefer to live in the mountains I think, or if I wanted coastal I would look at Anglesey.

People in my village in Gwynedd are very friendly!

I've just moved from Manchester to North Wales to a place called Whitford. About 6 miles to Prestatyn/Meliden,its lovely I've a farm next to me you feel like you're in the countryside but it's only a few minutes walk to the main road into Prestatyn.

The mountain areas are much nicer than the coast, more money about and more going on due to tourism. The Llyn peninsula coastline is a lovely exception though, but remote.

Why do you want to move here?

We made the move 10 years ago and wouldn't look back. We are around 20 minutes from Wrexham on a farm lane. Very quiet, very beautiful. Plenty of walking straight out of our door.

We also looked;
Near Betws y Coed, very expensive, heaving with tourists during the warmer months.
Rhosesmor, nearer the coast but not too busy, easy to access major roads for commuting if necessary.
Denbigh, Ruthin, also lovely but we fell for the house we are in now so discounted them.

Our children go to an English speaking school though lots of Welsh is taught. They took to it easily. I'm a bit limited to nursery rhymes, colours and days of the week but being in a border town I haven't needed to use the language much.

We spent a great deal of time in Wales before we made the move so knew most areas quite well. I would suggest waiting until lockdown relaxes and visit to get a feel. We set ourselves a budget then spent hours trawling Rightmove etc moving the search radius to places we liked.
Why do you want to move?

I grew up in Llangollen, with only 1 Welsh medium school in the area. My school was English medium with just a handful of Welsh speakers so wouldn't worry about that too much. Also, I remember a lad joining from Birmingham in year 9 and he was the fascination of all the girls because he was so 'exotic' lol
If you dont want to go too rural then stay close to the border or coast.
Only places I'd hesitate about never in a million years are Rhyl, Fflint/Shotton and certain parts of Wrecsam (hight town mainly).
Welcome to Gods own country ;)

We’d move to Llandudno like a shot if we could we love it for holidays, next year we’re going on holiday.

Hi @Mummyloz81

Just come across this thread, how did you get on moving / finding schools?

Thanks!

Hi....sorry we ended up in cumbria 6 months ago and we love it