To move from the big smog to the Highlands?

[Rattusn]

I have lived in London all my life, and it has been a bit of a love/hate relationship. I do love all the local facilities, and rarely for London, we do have some community. We do however live in a very deprived area, and I can already see my primary school age child becoming very streetwise, and being exposed to things I would rather she wasn't. The local secondary options are appalling ( very rough - think heavy gang involvement and frequent physical fights). If we stayed I would be dreading what will happen at age 11.

Our area is very high crime, and has a lot of social problems. Very ethnically diverse without much integration, with the resultant issues.

We have holidayed in the Highlands and it has been divine: Stunning scenery, with lovely friendly people, and altogether much more child friendly. Afaik all Scottish children go to their local school, so no more trekking across London because I couldn't get a place at a nearer school. House prices here are also incredibly good value for money after being used to London prices.

Altogether it seems like a an easy decision, but I'm not sure that it is pie in the sky. Aibu to uproot my dc across the country?

[dotdotdotmustdash]

Perth is lovely town, in fact it's apparently it has one of the happiest populations in the UK. It's medium-sized, fairly middle-class in general and within an hours drive of Edinburgh, Dundee and Stirling. I live in Fife, but I would definitely consider a move to Perth if the opportunity came up.

[YouMakeMyDreams]

jmh I live in Alness. Best of both worlds. Great wee place countryside on my doorstep and inverness not far away.

[toomanypetals]

The central belt of Scotland is the best of both worlds. Never far from stunning scenery, quieter than the crowded parts of England etc but also commutable to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
I am English but I've now lived in Scotland for 19 years. I would never move away.

[LoisWilkersonsLastNerve]

if the right nob came up

[Rattusn]

Lois I did to that too!

[2coldinscotland]

From what I hear on news and have a friend who moved to Kent with children ; I think we have a better standard of living than England. The school system and kids being able to play outside are two things that make me say this. Weather is not so good though.. Can't offer advice on where though. Gook luck

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Yes. No diversity in edinburgh at all. LOL.

Anyway post was deleted so nothing more to say. Feel free to keep justifying it.

[minifingerz]

We are a m/c family living in an area exactly like the OP's.

I don't understand why the OP's children aren't integrating with other local children. Mine are. It's only the adults not the children, who don't integrate mostly.

Today my ds is going to a sleepover with the son of a very young fairly newly arrived Jamaican mum, the son of a big white working class family, one from a Nigerian family. My dd's best friend is from a massive Lebanese family, her other best friend is from a white working class family. My children have friendships with children from across the social class and ethnic spectrum and are perfectly happy with that. I don't mix with their parents much, but that's not an issue.

I do think my children have underachieved in their big London comprehensives, but that's as much my fault as anyone else's - other children at their schools have done brilliantly.

Children can be stressed and anxious wherever they are - look at the levels of anxiety and eating disorders in some cohorts of upper middle class privately educated girls!

If I was in your shoes I'd be moving for a beautiful environment - something which can be truly life changing, not to get my children out of a multicultural environment.

[PurpleAquilegia]

This thread is making me fantasise about moving to Scotland!

[cheoil]

I appreciate that this is a call to move to the Highlands but would just like to add my experience and give a shout out for the central belt..I moved from a similar London area to Glasgow - mainly due to a work move when my child was two. I'd recommend Glasgow highly. All the joys of a big city but Loch Lomond 30 minutes away and you are close to the highlands for weekend breaks. You can live rurally within commuting distance of Glasgow - or as I do live in a really central and huge by London standards apartment. My child is at (great) school in the same street and we have made lots of friends quite a few of whom are 'ex pats' like us - not Scottish. If things stay as they are University is free for the boy and the Universities here are fantastic.

That said, it is colder, I am from up north and it is colder again. And in Glasgow (but not everywhere in Scotland) it rains a lot. We are all a bit hardier now as a family. I have experienced a bit of anti English feeling but it's much like anti scots behaviour in England - you don't witness it that much.

I would also recommend renting out your London home at least initially as I know many people who have left and been unable to return if they needed/wanted to.

[MoneybagsIamnot]

Why not consider somewhere in East Anglia in England OP? Cambridge, Suffolk & Norfolk have beautiful countryside, little villages and some lovely cities. You have the coast and broads etc. You're then only 2-3 hours away from London too if you ever fancied day trips?

Or somewhere like Shropshire? Beautiful countryside and little villages, not too far from Birmingham or Telford if you want town/ city life?

I've never been to the Highlands, and I'm ire it's absolutely beautiful, but is an extreme contrast to London! There are rural, idyllic places in England you could move to!

[LoisWilkersonsLastNerve]

The central belt of Scotland is the best of both worlds
I'm in a village in the central belt, 10mins from motorway, 30 mins from Edinburgh and Glasgow, 40mins from the beach. I don't generally think of it as ideal but I suppose it is! I didn't like it as a teen though.

[Rattusn]

minifingers you seem to have assumed that my dc are not integrated with the local children, and that we are middle class white British. We are not, and my dc do integrate.

My school aged dd lists roughly half her class as her 'best friends', and only 1 child out out of the 30 is white British. She has friends from a wide variety of cultures/races/religions.

The lack of integration I am talking about is far more nuanced that what you have assumed: that is is simply about my dc's lack of friends (it isn't).

I am referring to the lack of integration, and the effect this has on the fabric of society. I'm not sure where you live, but in certain areas the divisions and tension in the community are very obvious, with terrible consequences.

I'm probably outing my location here, but I will say it anyway. The cultural, racial, and ethnic divides in my area have had well reported tragic consequences, both recently and historically. Unless you live in an area like mine, I understand how this might be hard to comprehend the reality of this.

Feel free to pm me if I haven't what I am referring obvious enough and you want links.

[Rattusn]

Thank you for the recommendations of the central belt, it's not something I have heard of before. I think we would want to live in a town so I don't have to drive the dc everywhere, and we have some local amenities and transport links. Are there any central belt towns with easy transport links to London for visiting family?

[MaynJune]

Bear in mind it rains (even) more in the west.
Someone suggested Perth. It's a bit north of the central belt, a pleasant town on the edge of the Highlands, with beautiful countryside all around and very well placed for driving in any direction, including south to your family.
Definitely drier than places further west!

[HazelBite]

Ds4's girlfriend lives with us now in the SE. She moved with her family aged 10 to 20 miles north of Inverness. Once she and her two sisters left school they moved back to the SE,

She says it was awful because they were not "local" and I think this is something you should consider, it was different for her adult parents.

I adore Scotland and have bee trying to persuade DH to move there when we retire.

Have you considered Hertfordshire, Bucks or Beds?

[CaptainCrunch]

I think you need to do some proper research op, "the highlands" isn't one place, just as "the central belt" isn't. Some parts of Scotland are radically different from others. I live in Edinburgh and it's not all castle and princes street, believe me. The west of Scotland still has big issues with sectarianism, there are pockets of rabid anti English sentiment. You can't make a decision like this without a much deeper understanding of the landscape, both literally and figuratively.

[hooliodancer]

Pebbles is half way between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Surrounded by amazing countryside, but has a nice little town centre.

I was wondering about the Dales or North Yorkshire Moors.

I am also considering a move to a remote area, the total opposite end of the country to you though. . It really is a tough decision, but I think the fact that you can work anywhere makes it much much easier.
I mean, the whole country is open to you. I think that's an amazing opportunity you have and I think you should do it!

My main reason for moving is that we can buy a much bigger house with a massive garden. I live in an affluent town in the south east where house prices are high. We are already surrounded by glorious countryside, so it really is the house for me.

I worry about making friends, about feeling isolated, about work. All the things people have said. But I think I want to do it.

[hooliodancer]

Peebles not pebbles!

[WankersHacksandThieves]

I'd just be careful of where in the central belt, some of it can be a bit of a bland expanse of one town flowing into another - sorry west Lothian and some of Falkirk area :(

If you want decent transport links for London then I'm presuming you mean train? Stirling now has a direct train to London, previously you changed in Edinburgh or Glasgow- neither is too much of an issue but you do need to change stations in Glasgow but it's really only a 10 minute walk. Other places on that train route are Larbert and (if Edinburgh/East coast route) Linlithgow. Both okay options. Larbert is where the big hospital serving the area is, Stirling no has a reduced service hospital that also provides a small injury centre, A&E is in Larbert. Also a big hospital in Livingstone - that's West Lothian and a bit bland for me but that's a personal view.

I'd add in support again for Stirling area including Bridge of Allan and Dunblane - all on the train line, all with access to decent schools and with loads of amenities and close to hills and outdoor activities. We moved from Edinburgh to Denny (didn't settle) and then to Stirling - I think it's been a great place to raise a family (ours are 16 and nearly 15 so we haven't done the older teen thing yet).

[WankersHacksandThieves]

Oh and don't be put off about places being a city, bear in mind that Scotland's whole population is smaller than that of London. Stirling and Perth and Inverness in particular are no bigger than what you would consider a town in England. I can drive from one end of Stirling through the city to the other in about 10 minutes flat :)

[ayeokthen]

I don't think OP was being racist at all, "lack of integration" being the key phrase. I lived in Reading where there was a definite lack of integration and the incidents of racism/community tensions shocked me completely, yet I grew up in Edinburgh which is definitely ethnically diverse, but in my experience lacks the tensions caused when there is little or no integration. I was actually stunned at some of the things I saw/heard living in Reading. OP, Perth is lovely, I'd avoid Dundee, Arbroath is nice, Edinburgh obviously as its my home city, Glasgow is nice in parts, some of the commuter towns in the central belt are well connected but still feeling the after effects of steelworks/pit closures. Ime we don't tend to experience as many of the issues inner city London schools seem to have, that's not to say everything is rosy, but gang violence and shootings/stabbings amongst teenagers don't make the news up here very often at all.

[ElsaAintAsColdAsMe]

I would move back to Forres in a heartbeat, if the right nob came up

this is the best typo ever

[WankersHacksandThieves]

I'd agree in general re schools, the other thing is that with the catchment system (you can make a request to attend a different school though but this is a minority rather than the standard) is that schools tend to be more reflective of the area they are situated in and are therefore more mixed in terms of children attending. There are some schools that serve mainly deprived areas that do struggle more but I would guess that is unlikely to affect you. Other schools are more mixed or you also get some schools that mainly served affluent areas. I don't think you get the same polarisation that seems to occur in England (from what I read on here).

Obviously everyone has their own views on where they like and what is important to them. If you can drill those things down, it may be easier for people to give you a steer or for you to be clearer in what it is you are looking for when thinking long term.

[ratspeaker]

Sounds like you'd need to be near a town or city for your job rather than living on a remote penninsula.
Check out transport links. Some towns and villages look great until you have teens wanting parent taxi service to friends houses as there are no buses in the evening or weekends.
But on the plus side we currently have free prescriptions, free eye tests and free uni tuition.

Some cities have popular state schools that are oversubscribed ( ie Edinburgh ) but in general you will find every area has two " local " schools, one being Roman Catholic ( these tend to have larger catchment areas)