To ask if anyone lives on a small Scottish Island?

[NewStartFamily]

Specifically Eday or Tiree but thoughts and opinions of any others very welcome!

DP and I are considering a relocation from the south coast to Scotland, somewhere with land we can use.

We have found a couple of properties that we like but we’d like to hear thoughts from people who live there about how life works in the smaller communities and places where not everything is on your doorstep.

We have one home educated son aged 9 so nearby schools not an essential consideration.

They lived on Mull for a number of years before he won Interior Design Masters.

They'd certainly built a life there.

The move across to Ulva is for the TV series.

Have you been? Are you English? I’m scottish, living in London and married to a Londoner but I’m honestly not sure how well English people would be welcomed, maybe I’m being cynical and generalising but also worth considering.

Indeed

But as clearly this thread should demonstrate…. This has bad idea stamped all over it. I suspect both you and DP out of work and floundering for a solution.

and the idea of not needing to consider your other child in this move is… well, not something many of us can relate to.

Nor your stance on your boy and getting professional guidance

Stay put. And focus on trying to improve your circumstances where you have more of a chance

So what should parents of sen kids who already live rurally do? All move to big cities? Where resources are horribly over-stretched anyway

As someone with autistic children in mainland Scotland I certainly wouldn't consider moving to an island. Here in the central belt there are ASN schools, clubs, support groups etc. It's absolutley not perfect but far far more support than my relatives have in a slightly more remote part of Scotland. The further out you go the less likely you'll have access to those sorts of resources and support.

ND children very often find it easier to socialise with other ND children. So by restricting this you'll likely have issues.

We both work, him full time self employed and I’m part time. House is owned with no mortgage.

I did say my reasons were something not many would agree with.

Easy to say.

Bad idea. For your child. There is no way around that.

What would you do for work?

You’re entitled to that opinion. Thank you for your input which I will be immediately disregarding as entirely irrelevant.

Well that’s a surprise

This is not going to happen. Not in a month of Sundays.

If it does…. Please come back and update 😂

I grew up on a Scottish island. Lovely for childhood but I would be prepared for your child to leave I did as soon as was through school - there are limited employment, further education and social activities. I enjoy going back to visit family in summer the beaches are stunning but winters are harsh and isolating we have friends in Tiree and the supermarket can be empty when there are no sailings for a few days.
Healthcare is an important consideration, if you have long term conditions you may have to travel as far as Glasgow for management and treatment.

I really don’t know what has your knickers in such a twist?

That I had the audacity to ask this question? Or that I won’t give entirely unrelated information that has no bearing on whether or not we make this decision?

Gulf stream

Please do come back and update!!

I don’t live on an island, but I have friends who live in the Western Isles so I know a bit about life out there.

Firstly, the climate. Don’t underestimate this. The Western Isles simply don’t have summers in the way people from the south of England would understand the term. Winters anre mild, but it’s overcast wet & windy all year round & temperatures rarely get above 15C even in July.

Secondly, the choice of food shops is very limited & prices are high. Supermarkets, like everything else on the islands, are totally dependent on the Calmac ferries, which are very old, very knackered & very unreliable.

But people are friendly, much friendlier than in England

Let's just say there is a great deal of regional variation in friendliness in England.

in what context and how are they different ?

Why would I bother?

I'm not sure how long you've been living in London but from my experience, there are so many English living in Scotland and Northern Ireland now, to the point that when I'm there I hear more English than I do Scots or Norn Irish.

I think most English have integrated well, things have moved on and less hostility these days (generally speaking).

OP I have relatives on an island off the west coast of Scotland, so don't have experience of living there myself, but we do go stay with them. We really love it there, but the midges are a fucking killer. Our relatives, one is Scottish but has an English accent, the other is English, both have spent more of their lives living in Scotland. They utterly adore Scotland and love their island life, they are well immersed in their local community.

That said, the winters are harsh, the ferries situation, the cost of the ferries, the length of time to reach the mainland - huge ferry queues in tourist season. Campervans and tourists everywhere. They are getting old now, and have long trips to the hospital. They may potentially move off the island when they get elderly, but I know it would break their hearts to leave their wonderful home there.

Lots for you to think about, I think it would be worth you renting a place there for a year to see if you can handle the winters and the isolation.

As it happens, we home educate too. There will most likely be other children on whatever isle you choose, and there will be ways for your child to make friends. People still seem to think that home educated children don't socialise with schooled children which is silly as all of my children's friends are schooled!

usually when people help comment on a thread, they hope to know if you do actually do it and settle people like to know the who, what, where, when, how, why etc

Indeed. No need to update

I would be more concerned about your son being extremely socially isolated . I think it would be very unfair on him especially as he's not even meeting other children at school .

The problem with the winters isn't so much the weather - you can always dress for bad weather, but the amount of daylight. Typically in December you might only get 6 to 6.5 hours daylight.

We have family and a holiday home in Donegal in NW Ireland where things aren't quite so extreme and December days get over 7 hours of daylight but even so the short days, long nights and relative isolation can get incredibly depressing. Our widespread but sparse community (7000 people spread over about 120 square miles) generally experiences at least one suicide every winter including 2 of my husband's first cousins.

I think you should definitely try visiting out of season and staying for a few weeks at least twice before considering a more permanent move.

In my experience so long as you don't spend all your time trying to tell locals how to do things just like wherever it is you have come from, or spend your time complaining there isn't a McDonalds, or an M&S Food etc, you'll probably be fine. But you will almost certainly never be anything other than an incomer. It doesn't bother me, it is what it is - and I absolutely love living here and am very involved in lots of community groups - but it might be an issue for you and yours.

Yes but that’s if you have posters who would actually interested and aren’t just trying to prove an unfathomable point.

Which the majority are but they aren’t the ones who asked for an update.

Y’know, to be honest, I think a homebody would fare better than an outdoorsy person in the Western Isles. The winters and to some extent the other seasons are not for being outdoors in if you don’t have to given the wind (and ever summer has three days of winter as they say). Daughter of a teuchter here. Why go so extreme, why not go somewhere on the mainland?