To Move to Wales

[TheHateIsNotGood]

Nothing wrong with Wales except I would feel rather ashamed/guilty for moving there because the main reason is that me and ds are no longer able to 'buy into' the agricultural life that we both are suited and qualified for is because the countryside round here in NW Devon is now so gentrified that 'way' of living is now way out of reach.

My understanding is that Wales does encourage livestock farming and we would rather learn from the local wisdom than try and change anything.

IABU - you're just shifting the problem and Wales don't want you
YANBU - worth considering as Wales could do with some more Young Farmers

@Kangaroobrain I'm from Carmarthenshire and houses with land increased hugely in value in that mad Covid period. People were chasing the rural dream. Pembrokeshire has always be consistent with England - there are so many retirees moving there house prices have risen to match that demand.

I've got relatives in Pembrokeshire. Little England Beyond Wales. I've no idea if that impacts the value of farm land though.

Yes it is.

It would be almost impossible to rent land to farm as there is so much demand from people already farming in the area.
You could maybe buy 10 acres or so with your money but you can't put many sheep on that. You can't make a living off just sheep farming anyway and definitely not on a small scale.
You could rent or buy a house without land and then your son could join the young farmers, work on a farm and get involved in the farming community but presumably you could do that anywhere, it doesn't need to be in Wales.
So I'm confused what you're thinking a good plan might be...

Summer holidays is tourist season in Wales!

In our area farmers rent fields 15 miles away. It's a right pain when they escape onto the roads, tracking down the farmer takes time.

So is mid and West Wales stacked with incomers?

There do seem to be a disproportionate number of Brummies. But it could just be that their accent is so distinctive that they stand out more.

I remember going to Borth many years ago. Shopkeepers, business owners many had Brummie accents. Caravan sites as well. They were so friendly. It was disconcerting at first but historically it's always been popular with midland folks. I guess some must settle there.

That stretch of coastline is the nearest bit of 'seaside' to Birmingham.

Thats pretty impressive @MrsCarson ! Welsh does seem to be very well taught.

I have English friends whose DD won a prize reciting poetry in Welsh.

Not just Birmingham, the west part of the Midlands. Some towns are particularly popular with incomers, especially Llangollen and Machynlleth.

I was wondering what the 100k was for?

Are you looking to rent the house and use the 100k to buy a field and livestock?

My DP is fluent in Welsh but never needs to use it.

He's South Wales though, all the Welsh horse people and farmers i know are very much English first language. So like people have said - it depends where you want to go!

I will definitely be moving there in the next couple of years

@RedPony1 , the South is less Welsh-language speaking than the North. The areas that border on to England are also more English-speaking.
The sheep-farming areas aren't in those areas.

@MrsCarson, my post was that a 7-yr old dog would find it hard to learn.

Not sure what exactly you're asking?

Dont bother. Traffic is mental. Im thinking of moving to England! Hate the slow fuckers

The average price to buy an acre of farm land in Wales is around £8500. This does not take into account an actual farm with house and buildings. In Pembrokeshire farms are expensive and most stay in families for many years. Loads of farms need farm workers and often have accommodation included so that might be worth a look. Farming in wales is not cheap, it is hard work. Small holdings the same, often not enough land to make a decent income. Regarding language you learn or not up to you. Both ds went to Welsh language school and I am not fluent at all. It is a beautiful place to live.

Thank you very much to everyone that has posted, I really appreciate the advice.

There are very many similarities between Wales and NW Devon in terms of influx into a rural environment, exacerbated by the 'mad Covid' period.

And there are many pros including that property prices are marginally cheaper, there is more cheaper 'upland' farm land available, DS's (and my) livestock, rural skills and willingness to adapt to the local environment/culture would be welcomed (mostly) and crucially that Welsh Planning Regs, allow for the establishment of new 'homesteads' as long as it's for the genuine purposes of sustainable agriculture.

The Cons are the other facts - although I'm currently 61, fit (but ungroomed) and not able to retire until I'm 67, and wishing to move property in 2 years (currently priced into town-living but with too much house and not enough outdoor space), a fit 63 year old could (and eventually will) turn into a less-fit, possibly burdensome, person sooner rather than later. Rather like the retirees that having been doing similar in recent decades.

DS does currently require some additional support with organizing and sustaining his existence and doesn't much like change but inevitably he will be without me and I know that 'rural' communities do look after those they regard as their 'own'. So I would be UR to move to the Welsh uplands to start our own farming enterprise, then pop my clogs and leave DS on his own before we get properly started, to specifically answer @Kangaroobrain

So, my current 'strategy' is: Plan A stay put in the area (and hope), Plan B keep considering Wales and Plan X - what actually happens after life does it's stuff.

Diolch i bawb.

Croeso OP

Good Luck and hope things work out for you.

Diolch i chi. Pob lwc!

The issue with Wales that you seem to be missing, is that is isn’t just people with more financial clout, moving into another more rural part of their own country, it is people with more financial clout, moving into another country with a different language and culture and usurping the people of that country. The language is the least of it really. Would you think this was ok anywhere else ?
It seems you want to set up home under the OPD scheme ? Honestly OP, I am wincing reading that as people doing this are really disliked here. It has been utterly exploited as could have been predicted by anyone with half a brain, and it is causing much resentment and anger, locally to me anyway. It was presented as a way for local children of farmers etc, to be able to stay living locally where house prices had soared, and set up small agricultural businesses more easily, but the reality is hoards of middle class hippies from Bristol and the Home Counties, pretending to make a living from honey and God knows what. People openly boast about how they have abused the system. Here most of the OPD people do not mix at all with Welsh people, they are not “ gaining local wisdom “ from Welsh farmers, they all hang out together and live in entirely English enclaves while fetishising Welshness and claiming that they are now Welsh. They are known as the OPD Wankers in our house, that is how a lot of people feel about them.

@SirVixofVixHall - totally get that, and given I have my own OPD Wankers owning, but not living in, the very non-descript terraced home next door - I really, really get your POV - including having an email folder marked 'Wanker' for their/his unread 'advisory' emails titled "The Final Word".

Ha, ha - talk to yourself mate, your words, final or not, mean nothing - live next to me and knock on my door and speak to me.

Sokay Vix, me and ds will be staying put, for now - got to stay and defend our patch from the invaders - at least until a better plan is thought of.

Cwsg yn iach fy ffrindiau - dim goresgyniad Dyfnaint am y tro.

If you are confused by perfectly clear speed limit signs you shouldn’t be driving anything.

On some Welsh roads and generally not rural ones which stay at national speed limit.

Not bad. "Cysgwch yn hawdd fy ffrindiau - dim goresgyniad o Ddyfnaint am y tro." (I think)

Hardly an invasion, you'd be welcomed in the hillside. You seem a good person.