to be freaking out about moving from London to Wales?

[AutoFillUsername]

Long story short: lived in London for twenty years, married a Londoner, have Londerner kids, love London, have great London friends. Now DH has been offered a job in Cardiff and its a great job. So we have to move. But Gosh I’m scared.

I know nothing of Wales. I went to Cardiff once with work and I didn’t love it. I’m thinking if we have to move maybe we should go the whole hog and live in the countryside but I can’t even work out what is commutable to Cardiff.

Are we going to hate it? Is it ever right to leave a place you love just for career reasons?

And if you are Welsh where would you live that is commutable to Cardiff and lovely and friendly and beautiful? We will also need good schools, maybe private but I’m open minded to state as well.

I grew up in London and will always be a Londoner at heart, but we moved to Cardiff 15 years ago (omg!) and I love it here.

We live in west-central Cardiff and it's great. It's friendly, relaxed, lots of excellent restaurants, nice parks, decent schools.

It's worth remembering that London is still there. My parents moved up here a couple of years ago, but they go back to London every few weeks for one thing or another. My mum still goes to her old book club etc. You don't have to turn your back on London entirely.

Good luck with your visit and the decision!

You get a lot of house for your money here. This looks nice: overlooking roath park lake

You'll definitely get more for your money so I expect the rentals you're booked in to see will be very impressive compared to London. However, I would be looking at more practical issues as well, such as public transport, schools, and most importantly employment opportunities for yourself.

You say you work 50 hours plus a week but haven't mentioned if this move would be wise for your job. I understand your husband wants you to take things easy but would there be any opportunities for you to do the job you do in Cardiff?

Oh, and the road signs are in Welsh first - as a non-speaking Welsh person, I find this ridiculous and confusing. I don't think anyone here doesn't speak English so it would be common sense to put the signs (especially the ones painted on the roads). Very confusing

This is a wind-up, yes?

Have a safe journey today. Hope your visit helps you decide what's best for you and your family.
While you're in Penarth if you have the time, go to the lovely little pier for an icecream.

Yes, good luck OP. I think today is going to be rain-free!

Any relocation is really hard imo, even if you're moving somewhere you really want to be. It takes a LONG time to properly settle in and establish new friendships etc, but it is possible. I moved fron london to humberside area in 2006, was a massive change and I missed London for a long time, but eventually we did settle very well. I can't relocate atm as my children need to be able to live with me and their other parent (same for my stepchild). This means job options for my partner and I are limited, but in a way its easier - our families have to come first so we have to stay here...

OP - keep an open mind, you might find it easier than you think

I would ring the local authority re schools before you commit to an area (or the schools themselves if they have their own admission system.) The most popular schools are over subscribed and if your child is year 8 and joining mid year they might be full.

The schools vary a lot as I am sure they do in all cities but quite extreme in Cardiff in terms of results.

GP targets are for everyone to get a same day appointment. Isn't this a UK-wide thing or is it just Wales?

DD is at uni in Cardiff (loves it and is a girl who spends most of her weekends in London when she is at home). When she is moved in they had gps surgeries at the uni to sign up to and all of them were saying 4 weeks for an appointment.

Oooh, I'm quite jealous that you might be moving to Cardiff. I went to uni there and loved it! Obviously that is different to working and raising kids there but I know people who do both of those things and love it.

I have lived in Cardiff, London and Manchester and never noticed the difference in rainfall but checked it out because of the comments on here and sure enough, Cardiff is the wettest city in the uk and London the driest!

PinkFootedGoose, the youth music service is struggling to survive, sadly. It's recently lost its home in the Friary and has been hit by massive budget cuts.

Oh, and the road signs are in Welsh first - as a non-speaking Welsh person, I find this ridiculous and confusing

What the actual fuck?

Yeah, the road signs are annoying, because you automatically start reading from the top, so by the time you've realised that bit's in Welsh and move your eyes down to find the English, you've gone past it.

Oh, and the road signs are in Welsh first - as a non-speaking Welsh person, I find this ridiculous and confusing. I don't think anyone here doesn't speak English so it would be common sense to put the signs (especially the ones painted on the roads). Very confusing!
If you're really finding it confusing to drive and read bilingual road signs at the same time, then you're not fit to drive.

Yeah, the road signs are annoying, because you automatically start reading from the top, so by the time you've realised that bit's in Welsh and move your eyes down to find the English, you've gone past it.
Funny, I never have any trouble in any country with bilingual road signs. You could... I don't know... Read the bottom bit first?!

Gosh, you'd better not ever drive in any other country that has a different language to English then - just imagine your difficulty if you can't read a second word on a road sign!

In South East Wales, the English is usually first and as the OP is discussing Cardiff, I doubt this will be a problem. For the love of God don't drive any further West though, as they swap to Welsh first! It would be impossible for you to travel!

Also, many Welsh place names are more or less the same. Barry/Barri for instance. So very confusing 😂

strongandalong nice house! I especially like where Rightmove sites it on the map. Might be a bit damp! :)

Yeah, the road signs are annoying, because you automatically start reading from the top, so by the time you've realised that bit's in Welsh and move your eyes down to find the English, you've gone past it.
Considering most road signs are fairly standard it can't take too long to realised that Araf on the road means slow. It's not like one road says slow, another says take it easy, another says drive a little more carefully here. I find it impossible to believe you can live in Wales and not learn to recognise any Welsh at all (pronouncing it correctly maybe not, but recognising it...)

We moved from the SE to the Vale of Glamorgan last December and we love it here. DD (9) has adapted well and loves living by the sea, has made loads of lovely new friends (and still talks to her old ones on WhatsApp), school is great and we’re in catchment for a great secondary.

Racism: haven’t experienced any, and I am pretty much the only non-EU foreigner in the village.

NHS: I also have a chronic health condition and can’t complain about GP service (yet). Order my repeat prescription online. Can book appointments online if I want to. I saw my GP 3 weeks ago - booked on Friday, saw him on Tuesday -, he referred me to a consultant, saw the consultant yesterday. In my particular surgery in England I’d have to wait that long to see the GP, unless it was an emergency.

Road sign: can’t say I’ve noticed. Are they really written in Welsh first?

I can’t even complain about the weather , I thought it was mostly fabulous this year apart from August when I had visitors

All that being said, I think a move this big is only worth it if your heart is in it. There’s no place like London and I love it. But Cardiff is lovely in its own ways. Good luck with your decision, OP.

I have lived in Cardiff, London and Manchester and never noticed the difference in rainfall but checked it out because of the comments on here and sure enough, Cardiff is the wettest city in the uk and London the driest!

I didn't think this could be true as no way does it rain more here than Glasgow and sure enough Cardiff is eighth wettest. Glasgow is wettest. Cambridge is driest.

www.bp-tools.co.uk/blogs/news/uk-rainy-city-league-table

www.bp-tools.co.uk/blogs/news/uk-rainy-city-league-table

You could... I don't know... Read the bottom bit first?!

I find it impossible to believe you can live in Wales and not learn to recognise any Welsh at all

Gosh, you'd better not ever drive in any other country that has a different language to English then - just imagine your difficulty if you can't read a second word on a road sign!

I'm not talking about the basic signs, of course I understand those words, but I'm talking about the temporary ones on a little yellow sandwich board, that they stick on the road saying about road closures.
As a pp mentioned above, a lot of signs do have English first, so it's not until you've started reading it, that you realise it's in Welsh. When you're on the motorway, going past at 70 miles an hour, you only have a couple of seconds (if that) to read it, and those boards are quite small, so you have to be almost on top of it before you can read it.

But don't worry, I won't be going abroad to get confused by road signs, and it's only the little temporary ones I find annoying. I can read the normal, large ones, perfectly well.

Ididn't think this could be true as no way does it rain more here than Glasgow and sure enough Cardiff is eighth wettest. Glasgow is wettest. Cambridge is driest.
According to your link Glasgow gets the most days of rain, but Cardiff gets the most actual rain in mm

According to your link Glasgow gets the most days of rain, but Cardiff gets the most actual rain in mm

Yeah I saw that we get about 2.5 cm more rain per year so v little difference, but I think the days of rainfall would matter most to people as that is how they would perceive a city's wetness which is probably why the chart is ranked that way?