Advise on Lincolnshire as a possible relocation for a family of 4.

[dasza79]

Hello all.
We are a family of 4 with a 14yo and a 7yo.
I'm a non-English citizen, the rest of the family are an English/Scottish mix. In the past we have lived in Scottish Highlands, in Edinburgh and it's outskirts.
The last 3 years and a bit we have spent living in rural Portugal, on a project farm (or a constant building site to put it simply), with some livestock, pets, in a small village where kids go to local school.
Living in Portugal has proven to be more challenging than we have expected. It is not dreadful and we don't hate it, just as we never hated our life in the UK. However, we have been humming and harring about possible move back to the UK... Mostly for the sake of the kids - Portuguese youth do not have good prospects in their country and many leave to work abroad. Job market here is truly not great, taxes crippling for an average worker, work ethics are very different from what the UK has to offer. Both kids are relatively happy here but still prefer their homecountry, communication being one of the reasons, grandparents the other...
DH works remotely for a British company, he has a decent salary, nothing flashy, just comfortable enough not to worry about the bills.
I used to work in the UK, my career has always been patchy with many jobs in hospitality and the last few years in pharmaceutical research (closer to my degree). I'm not career oriented at all - I like working for the sense of achievement and to add to domestic budget, but I am also perfectly happy now, just looking after the farm, animals, and general domestic admin.
If we were to move back to the UK it would have to be in a rural/outskirts setting. A house with a garden big enough for our 2 dogs, maybe even some chickens. Clearly in most of the UK such requirement would mean one needs to be on at least 6 figures salary, but Lincolnshire popped up as a relatively affordable place.
My question is: do any of you live in Lincolnshire and could comment on the quality of life there, recommend more specific locations? If we were to move it'd have to be to a place that offers decent choice of activities for kids. They currently do swimming, music lessons and jiujitsu, all of those either in our village or within half an hour drive.
I know that Lincolnshire is known to be more on the conservative side, that suits us fine. What I do want to avoid at all cost is really run down places - visible drug addiction issues, homelesness, petty crime.
I would really greatly appreciate first hand experiences :-)
I'm happy to offer advice on Portuguese living in exchange!

I've only a visitors experience, as my in laws lived in Ruskington. Sleaford was closest town, if you could call it a town. Pretty village, but not great for public transport. I'm not sure if it's in Lincolnshire or not, but Stamford (as a day visitor) is lovely. Not sure what it's like to live there, but you can smell the money...

I grew up in rural Lincolnshire and escaped at 17, never to return.

I now live in rural Portugal 🤗

What's your budget OP- even here in Somerset and Wilts you can get some good deals on rural houses- although I wouldn't personally live 'too' rural with kids ?

I don't like Lincs much at all and certainly not asa foreigner -with the exception of maybe Lincoln itself or the Notts borders - depending on your budget I think there are other areas you can consider

To give you an idea- this is rather lovely in a beautiful village close to Amesbury and pewsey

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140851637#/?channel=RES_BUY

You must have left a long time ago.....elst you are being fed absolute b shit .

I live in South Lincolnshire & have done for a good chunk of my life, moving away & returning numerous times.
Positives- it’s quiet, beautiful sunrises, sunsets and from February- October it’s mostly beautiful. Schools mostly ok, & people are mostly friendly and if you look there is lots to do.
Negatives- it’s bleak now until Feb, mud, mud and dank sky. You have to drive everywhere, bus services have worsened until near non existent, roads are appalling. It’s reasonably cheap property wise, but it’s hardwork if you want to go places it takes time we live so close to the coast but it takes an age to get there. Although friendly it can be ‘cliquey’ and can at times be narrow minded and a few years behind. There are issues socially, services poor and cut which is starting to show. No dentists, the hospitals are poor & GP is non existent but that’s just a local issue. Market towns have declined far worse than other areas. Schools at secondary are mixed dependent on grammar etc and further education is limited. Currently my young Dc are reasonably happy in the local primary and we enjoy the outdoor stuff of walks, bike rides, canoeing etc however we are considering moving once secondary school approaches as having spent a period of time here as a teen I’m not sure I can do it to my kids. Friends live in Louth
& Alford and share similar views with one currently on the market. I don’t think it’s much different to many other areas of the UK though.

This. Definitely this.

Go and visit for the scenery but don't live there.

Awesome! Where abouts in Portugal are you?

It's hard being a teenager full stop :-) But I get what you're saying... The problem is trying to find a place that would satisfy both our need of peace, countryside, safety and small community, teen's need to socialise in a relatively independent way, and our wallet's need not be stretched beyond it's means. Could be an impossible task. The idyllic life in the further outskirts with nice neighbours, sensible distance from more active locations probably exists now only on screens or for those who are really well off.
Where we are now there is very little for teens to do as well, and they tend to socialise mostly within family circle (which makes more sense when you realise literally everyone is related in the villages), but I believe it changes once they start secondary school - for us it would be next year. Looks like there is an unspoken social contract according to which kids in high school gain more freedom to hang out without parent's constant supervision.
And there is a strong culture of fiestas here, where pretty much every month there is a party in the village. Our teen didn't partake much, mostly from lack of peers to go with, maybe this will change too at some point, when her friends are more free.

@dasza79 have you considered/would it be an option to consider parts of Scotland?

There are plenty of places where you can have stunning scenery, access to remote-feeling areas as well as to busier social/recreational areas and activities. Plus house prices can sometimes be cheaper than in England. We're a multi-cultural family and where we live that's something that's celebrated and accepted, while when we've been in rural areas of England it's seemed a major problem for some people.

The education system up here is a bit different but the transition point between primary and secondary would probably be fine for making a change.

We moved to coastal Lincolnshire in 2018, bought a lovely house with land for my ponies at a very reasonable price. We thought we'd settle there permanently. We lasted 18 months! It was so isolated, no culture whatsoever and a lot of very ignorant, racist old people. The farmer I bought my hay from refused to load it in my trailer unless my male partner came with me! The sexism, racism and complete lack of awareness truly shocked me. It was like going back in time ,in the worst possible way. Depressing, bleak ,flat 'countryside' with very few public footpaths. So we couldn't even enjoy our hobby of long hikes, in all that space. Youngsters escape as soon as possible and I can't blame them at all, there is absolutely nothing for them or anyone from a less barren place. Nottinghamshire, semi rural Yorkshire , Derbyshire and Cheshire are all much better locations. We sold at a loss just to get back to civilization after 18 months.

Is there a reason why you're not considering returning to Scotland, either in or nearby one of the places you've lived in before - you mentioned the Highlands/Edinburgh/outskirts of Edinburgh? It wouldn't be very difficult to find somewhere semi-rural with plenty of space, but with city life on your doorstep and public transport links for teens.

Near Tomar. And you?

I was born in Lincolnshire. Left as soon as I could and would never go back, racist, sexist mysogonisic awful awful place

I’m Cambridgeshire but work in lincs and put it this way - you can tell when you cross into Lincolnshire as the roads get bumpier! They are tight-fisted Tories that won’t spend a penny so schools, amenities etc are shocking!

@dasza79 as I said give us your budget (please don't feel embarrassed if it's not high) and lots of us will be happy to look for things you might like. Honestly I think you can do better if you are open minded.

I would consider Pripyat to be preferable.

I've lots of family in Lincolnshire. I would NOT recommended it for your family:

I cannot believe how openly, casually racist people are.

If your children want to stay nearby as adults but have a career in eg professional services, the opportunities are limited.

It underserved in almost every respect. Access to airports, trains to London etc is poor in many places. You could drive 90mins to get to a big teaching hospital (and they generally aren't that good either).

It is FLAT. I live somewhere quite hilly/rural and it freaks me out how flat the landscape is and how few landmarks there are as a result.

I am from London but my ex partner was from Lincolnshire

Its a beautiful county (if you like flat and huge skies) and Boston, Lincoln and Stamford are all really nice
I just found it difficult to get too really be that by car or train.

This was true in the 90s. I grew up there. But less so now. The internet has opened up the world in an area that was once quite cut off from the wider world.

Without wanting to be awful, there is a lot of racism and homophobia though as it isn't exactly diverse. Like anywhere, the more expensive it is, the better it is. And there is a big difference between the north and south of the county. It is a big sparsely populated place.

I've lots of family in Lincolnshire. I would NOT recommended it for your family: I cannot believe how openly, casually racist people are.
Maybe your family in Lincolnshire are racist but it's not something I have noticed at all, though it's true it's not very diverse.

It’s truly shit to be a teenager living in rural Lincolnshire
Maybe in some areas but there are plenty of lovely market towns and villages. As pp said the internet makes a difference. Also your family make a difference, I often see on MN people complaining about driving their teenage DC about. We accepted that in order to live where we do (tiny, tiny village and smaller than the OP is looking for) the price you pay is a lot of driving. If the OP looks at some of the places mentioned there is all you need within walking distance.
Brigg, Louth, Caistor all under an hour from Hull or Lincoln.
East Midlands airport or Leeds = 1 hour
Humberside airport which serves as a hub to Schipol is under 30 minutes from those places.

I live on the outskirts of Lincoln in one of the larger new build villages and overall it feels like the best option for us in terms of community, schools, amenities, value etc.
I have lived in south Lincolnshire and wouldn’t recommend, few amenities or good schools and very insular. We did live in one of the older villages near Lincoln for a while, very pretty but everyone knows each other going back generations and no one really wants to make friends (although everyone very superficially civil) which is very typical of Lincolnshire. Honestly move to Lincolnshire and you’ll never laugh so much watching the film hot fuzz 🤣
The new build village we live in now isn’t as picturesque but mainly young professionals etc so many more people from other parts of the country which makes a huge difference and a great community spirit.
Lincoln is a very small city and has more of a town feel to it but has everything you would need and would agree with what most others have said about Lincolnshire . Wouldn’t recommend the rest of Lincolnshire or inside the town.

You could have the lifestyle you are seeking in parts of Leicestershire or Nottinghamshire or Rutland, and be nearer to urban areas and activities.

Lincolnshire isn't all flat 😉 the Wolds are lovely.

OP my suggestion to you would be if not Lincoln, or surrounding villages then Horncastle, Louth or Woodhall Spa.

Boston, nice?! In 2016 it was apparently the murder capital of England and Wales. Although I suppose that would be a pleasant place to be if you’re fond of stabbing people.

Lincolnshire contains some of the most deprived areas in the UK, and yes, there’s a lot of racism. IIRC Boston is also the first and only place that ever elected the BNP.