Bedfordshire for a non-white family

[Eastie77]

Any Black Mumsnetters live/lived in this part of the world and can let me know what the area is like in terms of diversity? I'm looking to avoid Milton Keynes but was considering Leighton Buzzard + surrounding areas which do not look particularly diverse at first glance but I've never really visited so interested in any opinions.

Currently in London with young children so schools are also a factor.

Many thanks!

I lived in Milton Keynes for 30 years, it's very diverse!

Agreed. Lots of diversity to be found. I honestly think the only places that are still a bit odd to anyone who isn’t local are the super rural places.

Thank you! Do you know if Linslade is considered rural? I was advised that it's a really nice area but it's a bit "further afield" and borders Leighton Buzzard so wondered how diverse and also lively that area might be.

Bedfordshire is extremely dull, in terms of landscape, architecture and general culture. Having spent part of my childhood there I was astonished, once we moved away, that my parents had subjected us to so many years of utter boredom in our environment. (We were a perfectly happy family!) This is what I remember, far above any rare instances of overt racism. And covert racism was / is pretty standard everywhere in England.

Truly, if you have any choice in the matter, pick a more entertaining county.

Thanks for the candid response I live in an areas Vogue recently described as one the 12 "coolest neighbourhoods in the world" to live and I cannot wait to get out. Even during lockdown people flocked here. In all honestly a quiet, slightly dull environment sounds ok to me. Hopefully the kids will forgive me!

I do take your point, having lived in several tourist hotspots myself!

Do you specifically need Bedfordshire for work? Or some other pressing reason? If not, I'm sure you could find somewhere quiet and not too exciting in Wiltshire - but also an incomparable landscape, staggeringly beautiful architecture, a magical amount of history. I do honestly think these things are important for quality of life - particularly as a child, when you're reliant on other people to show you the world. Or have you considered Oxfordshire? Plenty of boring towns/villages (once you're out of the city centre billionaire's property market) but the university forcefield means it really is a county throbbing with culture and entertainment.

Where else? I'm guessing you don't want to move to Edinburgh? Loveliest city in the U.K. - by far. Manchester is fabulous - but you probably won't find anywhere suitably boring. Liverpool - another magical city, heart stoppingly magnificent and ridiculously friendly.

I would not, in any of these places (even Wiltshire) feel the need to stop and think "Will my family fit in here?" They're just places - attractive enough to draw people from all over the world, to get on with their own lives and enjoy / contribute to the thriving culture all around.

(I should add, while I'm using this name, that in the many, many decades of my existence, neither my parents nor I as an adult have ever, ever given a moment's thought to the 'diversity' of a place we moved to. I didn't in fact know this was a thing until I came to MN. In my world people live where they like.)

I live within 10 mins of Linslade, in Harlington. It's a different train line into London but still a great opportunity. Harlington is a village but very welcoming, i can't imagine anyone experiencing racism here, although majority white it's certainly not only white. It's racial make up changes throughout the day as it has an Upper School and children come from Luton as it's a good school. It's a very lovely community and I really recommend if your looking at Leighton Buzzard and Linslade.

Also, all the schools are outstanding Harlington lower, Parkfields middle in neighbouring Toddington and Harlington Upper in Harlington. It was a big plus for me as I moved from Europe and was struggling to get places for my children. I was told Bedfordshire had a rural school policy so the children had a place before I proved rental or mortgage which gave me the confidence to move.

@Any1Else - just out of curiosity, are you Black?

Why else would I respond?

It may be a generational difference. My parents were not 'minorities' in the countries they came to England from. They arrived for professional / academic advancement with full confidence in their own selves and never had any reason to think they would not be treated with respect, wherever their travels took them. I've lived all over the UK. What sends me to a place is education or love or work or fed-upness or responsibility. What I look for is all the things I've mentioned above. Landscape, yellow stone, magical hills, being able to walk home from the theatre, more than one world class gallery within spitting distance, great walks (country or city). And a critical mass of at least reasonably intelligent people to ensure that the things I enjoy thrive in the area I live. All these environmental qualities become twenty times as important when there are children to share the world with.

Or it may be that having grown up in Yorkshire and the Home Counties, rather than London, I've had no expectations of 'diversity' in the populations I've lived amongst in the U.K. It never occurred to me that it should be necessary. There are entire continents of people who look like me - I don't require England, Scotland or Wales to be the same. And I would think I'd done a very poor job if the children in the family didn't believe that all of the U.K. is open to them.

I should stop rambling.

I should stop rambling

Not a bad idea, actually.

Meanwhile, on planet earth, OP is wanting assurance that she is moving to a place that is diverse. It seems like a reasonable question...especially if there are children involved.

I wouldn’t go to Bedford or Luton, maybe surrounding villages. Run down and high deprivation, rough. Just No!

Tonty you can't have been to many surrounding villages! There are many beautiful, affluent villages between Bedfordshire, Luton and Leighton Buzzard.

@Kobo, that’s my point isn’t it? I said OP to try surrounding villages.

I'm white but DH is black. We live in a village very close to Leighton Buzzard and our DCs attend the village school. There are a few BAME (mixed race or other minorities, not black) DCs in each of my DCs' classes, but they are clearly in the minority. It's a very Tory/UKIP/BREXIT area politically, but we haven't experienced any racism or discrimination directed towards black people (this is reserved for travellers and muslims IME). The Caribbean community isn't particularly large in the area, but there is enough to warrant a Caribbean grocer in Dunstable and I believe there is some community centred around some of Dunstable's churches (we're atheist, so don't venture in there!). We tend to make a trip into Luton for supplies as there are some good Caribbean stalls in the market.
Through various DC activities, I've met a number of black and mixed families who live in LB and the surrounding area, but in a lower ratio than we've experienced at DCs' school.

@BlackIsBlackIsBlack black people who have grown up or were educated in their formative years in countries where they weren't a visible minority don't feel the need for their own children to grow up around other black people outside their family.

They have no understanding how it is to battle being othered by teachers and other adults who are responsible for your education and healthcare while you are growing up.

Goodness ... I haven't had to type the words Iwas born and brought up in England since I was applying (post-Oxbridge) for professional training in London in a previous century. Apologies if I hadn't made that clear.

What you describe might have been true of my parents, RedMarauder - if only their own professional lives hadn't made them and their children painfully and relentlessly aware of how our compatriots were being treated in the English educational system. It's an odd thing to find yourself thinking about at five years old ...

black people who have grown up or were educated in their formative years in countries where they weren't a visible minority don't feel the need for their own children to grow up around other black people outside their family.

Which proves my point. They have no idea.

Thanks all for the input.

Interesting points Blackisblack and Redmarauder. Two of my Black friends who live in virtually all white rural areas were both born and raised outside the U.K. in majority Black countries. I certainly think that makes a difference.

Any1else It seems your main concerns when looking for somewhere to live are finding magical hills and meeting people who meet your post-Oxbridge intellectual standards which is fine but completely irrelevant in the context of my question. Oh and rest assured my children do not think any area of this country is closed to them.

Ah. No. You miss my point - or more probably I didn't make it well.

I was trying to say that even with the apparent advantages of an Oxbridge degree and having interviews in London I still faced such inescapable racism that I was advised by the head of my professional body to state on my CV that I was British.

As for the rest, I genuinely thought you wanted the opinions of people who knew Bedfordshire. I didn't realise I was the wrong type of black.

I didn't realise I was the wrong type of black.

What a ridiculously passive aggressive thing to insinuate, when the OP has suggested nothing of the sort. This OP has asked for specific diversity advice about moving to the area she is interested in, and you have come on with a completely irrelevant perspective (from the point of view of her request), then to write that because she and others haven't agreed with your stance is quite frankly bonkers.

@Any1Else

I'm also black and Oxbridge, in my case around the turn of the century, and truly no one cared about black people in my uni town then. Literally, no one CARED. We were invisible. Not enough of us to cause a problem. I have found that is often the case. As soon as black people are seen in numbers we become a problem. So I think as we start joining you to enjoy those magical hills your experience of how idyllic that life is might change.

Sucks, don't it?!

I might look into some of the areas you mention when my children are all grown. Only 20 years to go!!!

Firstly, there is some lovely countryside in bedfordshire, (and architecture if that's your thing)

I moved up from Harrow 12 years ago...In fact I know quite a few people who have moved up from Harrow/Watford area, moving to areas like Harlington or flitwick. mostly because of the cheaper housing and good train links. There are some very good schools up here..,(although just in the process of changing from 3 tier to 2 tier. )

obviously Bedford or Luton are more diverse, the villages less so. that said I live in a small village outside bedford and there were children attending the local village school from bedford and so DD was not one of a kind there.

I have never felt unwelcome here. I feel your thread had got somewhat derailed so I hope this helps.

Thank you @ragtimeloves, that is really useful. Currently still deciding between staying in London or moving but definitely leaning towards the latter. The only sticking point would be leaving the DC's school which we all absolutely love.