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

[justlookatthatbooty]

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?

Hi. Wasn't ignoring your thread, inconveniently had to go to work. Agree with most of what is being said here - choose your area carefully, and agree Crieff is nice. There is loads going on for the children to do and I have found it really easy to get involved, perhaps too easy as I threw myself in at first and I'm now trying to cut down. Have not heard one anti English comment since I have been here. I grew up in Wales and it was far more anti English there. One thing I think makes it so nice here is the amount of funding and government help eg good services etc. This is already changing so it may not continue to be so nice.

thanks everyone for all your very helpful comments. Keep them coming if there are more... I'm off to talk to DP about it all. Really helpful all of you!

We could do a list of nice small towns/large villages with nice scenery and reasonable facilities close by or on hand; these are places i know or have thought, hmmm I'd live here:
Aberfeldy
Comrie
Crieff
St Fillans
Doune
Dunblane
Muthill
Cupar
Auchtermuchty
Crail
Elie
Fruechie
Falkland
Kirriemiur
Alyth
Dollar
Muckhart
Gargunnock
Kippen

Crieff is bigger than Comrie. Crieff is nice, don't know Comrie

I think the out door nursery idea is over-rated - if it was that great an idea, it would be more popular!

You mention that your DH hopes to remain with his current employer but work remotely. If you moved and he then lost his job, or his employer decided that the remote working wasn't working out and required him to come back, what would happen then?

I know two people who moved far from work and worked remotely who later got made redundant, perhaps partly because they weren't "visible" enough.

Sorry to be negative.

Killin and Aberfeldieie.
I lived in Killin but it was pre dcs. My grandad was from Crieff, have childhood memories that were completely different from when I visited it again.
It's still a lovely place though.

I live on the outskirts of Perth and would have to say that we see as much discontent and anti-social behaviour as anywhere else.

Crieff looks nice, but I wouldn't want to live there, although the new community campus is pretty good. Comrie, much smaller and very pretty, but even further away from civilisation.

As someone mentioned earlier, the bad winters can cause untold problems and it is not unknow for the A85 to be blocked. That road is also a nightmare to drive on in the dark.

Aberfeldy is very, very beautiful, although again it is not as nice once you start digging under the surface. In Aberfeldy, as in lots of areas in Perthshire there has been a massive influx of Eastern Europeans and that has led to some degre of animonisty with locals. The road to Aberfeldy from the A9 is also pretty hairy at times. I have worked in the town and I hated that part of the journey, very scary.

There are other places in Perthshire, such as Blairgowrie, Stanley, Errol, where I would not live, even if you gave me a house for nothing!!!! As someone said earlier, the divide between rich and poor is quite marked, and these towns and villages have their share of social problems and problem clans.

This all sounds very negative, but the reality is that there is not a huge difference in lifestyles no matter where you go.

With regard to the anti-English feeling, I have never noticed it, I have many friends who are English, but to be honest, no-one ever actually notices.

Based on the same-ness of so many places, I think you could look at Kinross-shire. Loch Leven is great, I lived in Milnathort for a few years and did love it. Enough going on in Kinross to keep me busy, plus 20 mins to Perth, 20 mins to Dunfermline if I wanted a bit more. Plus a shop that sells the best ice-cream in the east of Scotland :)

Oh, and I've never heard the term playdate used by people here. Children "come for their tea" instead.

Good luck whatever you decide

don't underestimate the weather and those long dark winters. I live in the south of england now and the thought of scottish weather (summers and winters) is really depressing.

Agree Nov-Jan can be depressing and expensive re heating and winter tyres for the car and you don't want to have a long commute to work in Scotland in the winter. On the other hand I can usually get a week or 2s cross country skiing locally and the long dark icy nights are a good reason not to go for a run but to curl up in front of the fire with a book, play board games with the kids (if I can tear them away from electronic gizmos) or make a cake instead. I was born and brought up in England and rarely encounter anti-English prejudice. When I do it's usually by people whose opinion doesn't matter to me and if they weren't calling me an "English bitch" would just be calling me something else instead and English is just a handy adjective.

I moved from London to Fife, to the village my dh grew up in. Now, I like living here, it's nice to be close to family, my dcs know just about everyone here but....we tend to have a small but decent spell (one/two weeks) in spring, no real summer (the rain is a tad warmer), autumn is cold, wet and windy, and last winter was the worst one we've ever had. Plus midges, ginormous spiders, neds drinking buckfast, the racism, 6 hrs daylight in winter, schools can be a bit hit or miss.

I think Perth/Kinross-shire would be more 'nature' but cosmopolitan for you.

I've lived in lots of places (including different countries), and never had a problem making friends or getting along with people. Yes, it takes time to feel settled, but if you're moving around and staying in places for only a couple of years, you're not really looking for a 'settled' existence are you? The culture of the area is important, but at the end of the day, it's down to you as a person to be friendly and open, and adaptable, and you'll do fine in most places.

My DH is English and has lived here in Scotland for 7 years without a single problem. I think some of the English posters are acting pretty defensive re anti-Englishness, but some of the Scottish posters are acting pretty defensively too. OP - ignore them. The main problem here is Sectarianism, not racism.

Re where to live, I always think the good thing about Scotland is you can be within an hours' drive of Edinburgh or Glasgow airport or main-line train stations, but still be in pretty rural locations, so really the world's your oyster. I wouldn't pick anything too rural, personally, because I quite like access to a bit of culture/shops. But even the larger towns in Scotland (I live in Linlithgow - 20 mins by train to Edinburgh, 35 mins to Glasgow) aren't anything like many English ones in size/hassle/costs/congestion. It's definitely an easier pace of life up here. Not idyllic, but simpler somehow. And access to countryside and the outdoors is a piece of cake, even if you live in Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Good luck with your move - sounds like you're really not enjoying the Netherlands.

Also, the weather's not half as bad as everyone makes out. A good pair of wellies and a decent waterproof and you'll do fine. Plus, the East side of the country IS a lot drier than the West. I lived in Lancaster for a few years - now that WAS wet!

Hi

I live in E Yorks which is not in Scotland! However this area can also do weather, wind, wellies, coast, forest, pies. AND due to the glasshouses there are quite a few Dutch names around. Humberside aiport also does daily flights to Schipol.

ps I am not anti-Scotland. My grandfather came from Perthshire & we have holidayed in Scotland the last two summers. Mull of Galloway is very similar to Yorkshire Wolds. England does not have midges

Love Yorkshire too, with its pies and no midgies.

I think the weather is that bad , compared to the South of England. One of the main reasons I wouldn't consider a move back in a hurry.

Thanks mumsnetters for all your valuable tips and advice. Hmmm the weather issue/road condition etc is something to think about...

Might start a new thread about Devon......

Thanks once again, much food for thought and I am so much the wiser for all your advice and stories....

agree with poster who mentions Kinross shire. in my earlier post about Kinross I forgot to mention that it is on the shores of loch leven and the fabulous RSPB nature reserve at Vane Farm.Great wee place.
bearskinwoolies where abouts are you?

i got married in comrie - here: www.comriecroft.com/

it was lovely... i'd live there

I'd definitely explore all rural areas, well, as many as I could, in the UK.

Plenty of other gorgeous places that don't have as brutal weather, IME.

Devon - Devon is gorgeous... and it gets the weather!

Dementedma not that far from Vane Farm

It's currently 7c here, I've had to put the heating on for a little while

Devon is nice - definitely no midges there!

While I know this is massively after the last post (new so not sure what that protocol is for this), I thought that since moving is such a big thing, you might not mind too much.
We moved to rural Scotland (Banchory near Aberdeen) from London when I was about the same age as your DC's are now and without question as a child I really loved it, thinking of Scotland as home for many years after we moved away.
However as many have said if you or your partner are English you may run into some initial hostility. I am of course not saying every community will be like this but am only sharing my families experience on the matter. It took my parents over a year before they began to be accepted and welcomed despite the fact that we have Scottish ancestry (I have a Scottish name my dad bought a kilt in the family tartan etc.). In fact after my father got a job (a year after we moved up) someone within the industry even admitted that they'd wanted to hire him 6months earlier but was told they couldn't because he was English. I hope very much that this is no longer the case but that this might be something to consider before making the switch.
P.S sorry for horrific length!