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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to move from city to rural Scotland (Perthshire/Fife)?

99 replies

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 11:27

I live in a very busy little european city and want to move to rural scotland for the nature and for the forest/outdoor nursery in Perthshire/Fife. DC's are half european and half english and are bilingual. I look at their indoorsy little selves and see that they are only half of themselves somehow.... and yearn for a bracing outdoorsy life for them, at least for a couple of years. Not to mention abit of UK'ness and English language immersion. We already have arctic winters where we live so no change there. But AIBU to steer the whole family (DH willing and open but it's essentially my move) abroad?

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StopRainingPlease · 14/09/2011 12:37

I agree with MrsHuxtable - I'm really not so sure about the "bracing outdoorsy life". I'm in Scotland love to live somewhere with better weather so we could enjoy being outdoors more. OK you are used to cold winters, but it's the dismal summers here that are the killer - this year April was nice, but this summer it's rained just about EVERY DAY! Picnics, family trips out, beach walks, even just sitting in the garden have been ruined this summer.

StopRainingPlease · 14/09/2011 12:38

Of course that's meant to say ", would love to live somewhere with better weather"

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 13:48

hhmmm all good food for thought.

Am concerned about dreary awfulness in terms of weather. Can handles short days and lack of summers (shall simply bugger orf somewhere else!) but lack of winter light or absolutely no sunny winter days would bother me. That's how things are where I live now including absolutely no summer.

Perhaps I should be looking at Dartmoor....

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2rebecca · 14/09/2011 13:58

For nice weather and being a bit rural and good pubs near Exeter, Exminster, Exmouth etc is very pleasant. Depends on whether you could get a good job there though. Why not just move to rural Holland?

dementedma · 14/09/2011 13:59

I live in Fife and my feelings are - Perth is a beautiful wee place and the surrounding countryside is stunning. If you go very rural though you will experience poor public transport, some road surfaces are appalling (and that includes motorways!), and heavy snow in winter causes disruption for fairly long periods.
In winter yes, DCs will go to and return from school in the dark, as will you and DN if you travel to work. Agree that Fife varies hugely - the East Neuk and up to St Andrews is lovely, as are some of the more southerly coastal places like Kinghorn, Culross etc. Central Fife is not a particulary great place to live, very insular and yes, if you are English, you may experience strong anti-English sentiment at times. If part of your aim is to improve DCs' English, then I suggest you avoid the south and centre of Fife. Even other Scots find the Fife accent and dialogue hard to understand.

pignatelli · 14/09/2011 14:00

If you don't mind the anglophobia.

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 14:15

Does the comrie/crieff area classify as reasonable in terms of semi rural location?

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justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 14:15

p.s thanks for all extremely useful posts so far!!

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sausagesandmarmelade · 14/09/2011 14:19

Wow....if your jobs are no obstacle why not!

Scotland is stunning...

Though I would maybe choose somewhere like Oban or even the outer Hebrides!

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 14:24

if it were just me and dh we would go ultra rural, such as hebrides (always been fascinated) but for the Dc's reckon a little more connected might be better!

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cumbria81 · 14/09/2011 14:31

Shock at the flag in the garden.

in any country that's a bit over the top.

sausagesandmarmelade · 14/09/2011 14:34

I think Iona is my favourite place in Scotland....BUT....could be a bit small town....as could Lewis and Harris where I've also been.

It's good for kids to be able to mix, associate with and learn from all types...and the downside of course would be not having shops/doctors/hospitals etc nearby.

LadyBeagleEyes · 14/09/2011 14:38

I live in the far North West of Scotland but also lived in Perthshire for a bit.
My ex is English, it was never an issue, you'll probably find that half the population in the Highlands is English.
I've got used to it here, Many years ago I lived in Amsterdam and comparably the weather was better, with better summers.
But the UK as a whole is not famous for it's weather, is it? it may be better down south but it's not the Costa del Sol.
I mean cold and wet and colder and wetter are pretty much the same thing.
And there can still be glorious crisp and sunny winter days.

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 14:40

LOL re flag in garden... u should visit the Netherlands but perhaps thats more of a football thing..

MMM lovely re Iona etc. But yeah.... not going to go to rural. Maybe a visit, but also need to be able to access the major airports for reasonably priced travel to NL.

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sarahtigh · 14/09/2011 14:46

crieff is rural it is almost 2 hours drive to glasgow it has supermarket but not marks and spencer B&Q you can probably get all you need locally but at a price; there will only be one secondary schoool for miles around
rural scotland is big and from crieff perth is a good drive away.... you soon stop forgetting to buy milk, there are no 24 hour shops or petrol stations, long commutes cost money unlikely to meet any traffic jams except if yyou need to be in glasgow perth edinburgh about 9am, but if main road gets blocked it can be 50 miles + on a diversion. this happens when A82 gets blocked by loch lomond

personally I like being rural but would not like to be back of beyond, you have to remmeber in tiny village there may be no other children your DC age in rural primaries one class is often 5-8 then 9-11 then a bus to the big town
so playdates can be complicated if they live 6 miles in opposite direction that said it is safe for kids to play out apart from roads crime rate is low children go alone to school much younger either walking cycling or school bus

in the winter it snows do not buy up a farm track off the main road unless you have 4x4 or like walking lots

scotland is fine live in argyll myself about 1 hour from glasgow

it really really rains in west coast of scotland today the sun is shining first time for a week

personally I would not go more than an hours drive from 1 of scotlands cities edinburgh glasgow perth aberdeen inverness or dundee put them in personal preference though our nearest city is glasgow

living in oban thurso outer hebrides, mull etc requires a different mind set, in my opinion these are great for youung children but lots of teenagers hate being stuck there with nothing to do and where everyone knows everyone
you have to be friendly no city stuff about not knowing neighbours ,please don't drop in call first

sarahtigh · 14/09/2011 14:47

if you need planes to NL need to be in central belt somewhere

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 14:52

thanks very helpful info sarah ...

I was looking at comrie being an hour and a bit from edinburgh airport but maybe I'm wrong......

Should add that we are looking at a two year move, so not looking at primary schools.

thanks again!

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2rebecca · 14/09/2011 15:07

I'd have thought more 1 1/2-2h unless you are travelling late at night

PedigreeChump · 14/09/2011 15:33

I grew up in a village in semi-rural Fife and it was idyllic. Angling at getting back as soon as little Pedigrees arrive...

Weather in Scotland is nowhere near as bad as people make out, provided you can see the joy in a snuggly day in front of the fire while its stormy, wrapping up and kicking the dried leaves on a cold crisp sunny Autumn morning, and jumping into the car and speeding to the beach on The Sunny Day in June. Smile

Do it! I love Fife - Perth, Dundee, Edinburgh were 20, 25 and 35 minutes from where I grew up, yet we were in picturesque countryside with cows for neighbours.

justlookatthatbooty · 14/09/2011 15:39

Thanks LadyBeagle and Pedigree...

I am one of those strange people that dons the waterproofs and goes out for a long walk as soon as it gets rainy and windy. Driving icy rain is my favourite. Many Christmass' on the Cornish coast affected me deeply as you can see.

10 years ago we used to have summers in NL. The last 3 years have not seen a sunny stretch since May each year. :( but actually I don't really care about that so much. I don't really care what the weather throws at me as long as I can get outside and take a few lungfulls.

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TooImmature2BDumbledore · 14/09/2011 15:55

Crieff isn't that small - it manages to support a private primary/secondary (Morrisons) as well as normal state ones. My mum lived in Crieff for a year and I got the impression that it's very two-tier - the clay-pigeon shooting, horse-riding, Hydro members forming one tier and the working-class the other. I hate to drag class into it but I don't know how else to describe it! That said, it's beautiful and it will be cheap to rent a house there compared with what you're paying now. I'm outside Edinburgh (in the middle of nowhere) and I pay £600 a month for a 3 bed detached house with large garden.

lurkerspeaks · 14/09/2011 16:02

I think you are somewhat missing the point.

Networks have to be worked at, even in the countryside. If you want your friends to go on playdates you have to get out there and work for them ie. go ot Mother and toddlers, speak to people, invite them to your house. Moving into a rural environment where lots of people know each other already (some of these communities can be pretty static) isn't going to help I don't think.

As your kids gets older it is easier if you have an established network as friends from that will help pick up the slack from childcare disasters, provide a sounding board about school etc. If you husband is working from home you will also miss out on him interacting with people at work to build your network.

If you are planning a two year move you will have to do a lot of spade work for v. little long term gain.

I do wonder if you are over romanticising - I'm Scottish, I have lots of friends who grew up in 'rural' locations often on farms - not many of them claim their childhoods were massively superior to my suburban one. There are fewer facilities in the countryside which can be a jawdropping pain in the bottom and the overreliance on the dreaded Tesco in some areas in unbelivable.

My brother lived, very happily, in rural Perthshire for 3 years he hunts/shoots/fish, toodled along to the pub/ supported the village shop but didn't manage more than a nodding acquintance with anyone. Children might help a bit but I still think you might find yourself being viewed as "those wierdies from abroad".

The anti-English thing wouldn't I think be a huge problem unless you planned on driving around in a big expensive car, braying about all your material possessions. Your husbands european nationality would be a plus. The Scots are generally pretty open it is just the English that are treated with deep suspicion. I have masses of English friends and generally it never crosses my mind but I do sometimes run across groups of braying v. middle class, boden touting, 4x4 driving, super entitled financial sector wives in Edinburgh (often in the modern art gallery cafe) which illuminates to me why so many people take issue.

The Scots just aren't very flashy, confident or entitled about certain things. I think the car park analogy explains what I mean very well. I do the same job in Scotland as I do in London (in real terms I get paid a lot more in Edinburgh). In Edinburgh my colleagues/ bosses drive premium marque cars but they tend to be a older, a bit bashed round the edges and are often kept until they are 7-8 years old eg. 04 plate 5 series estates, X5s and almost everyone at my level has an A3 or Golf (it gets a bit dull....) In London almost everyone has a new, shiny, replaced on 3 year hire cycle Mercedes or sports car. My family hatch is pedestrian in the extreme yet I struggle to afford it here so I truly cannot understand how all the others manage it.

ThighsTheLimit · 14/09/2011 16:08

Comrie is gorgeous. Can I move with you lol?
Stunning scenery, community spirit - espescially during the Comrie fortnight, no more than 2 hours to Glasgow or Edinburgh, and less to Perth or Stirling.
Go for it!

AvengingGerbil · 14/09/2011 16:08

Up thread you mention Dartmoor as an alternative to the grim Scottish summer weather. I grew up on Dartmoor. If you could see to the road from the house you knew it would be foggy later. If you couldn't see the road, it was foggy already. There's nothing like a beautiful day on the moors, but they are few and far between, especially from October to April. August is also almost uniformly vile.

Highlander · 14/09/2011 16:10

Hmmm, moving anywhere for the picture postcard life is just deluded.

I'm from Perthshire, and although thinks have changed a lot, rural Scotalnd can be dire.

You're probably thinking that all of the kids/families share your utopian views and happilynspend their time outdoors, kicking leaves in their cute little Boden winter clothes....

Reality check. Rural Scotland is heavily divided by the haves and have-nots. The income divide is HUGE. The Scottish working class like nothing better than blaming the English for all of their problems. It's a national sport.

I'd move elsewhere in rural Holland