Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Any mums live or lived in Stranraer ?

14 replies

colette · 06/12/2006 12:51

We are tentatively considering moving to stranraer. We have stayed there a few times and liked it , especially the beautiful countryside and being on the coast.
At present we live in a flat in Glasgow and would quite like to upgrade to a house but cannot do that here without moving to a grim area iykwim.
Dh has done some work in Stranraer and has found the people very friendly. I would really like some "insider" knowledge. What are the schools like? Does it feel a bit "cut off" or do you get used to that. My friends dh comes from there ( I had not mentioned we had considered moving there) and he said he thought it was a pretty town but he was glad to escape the small town mentalityNot quite sure what he means but do you agree?
I am not from Glasgow originally anyway but have more reservations than dh re. variety of employment and schools , feeling cut off etc. OTH we could afford to buy a reasonable property there and get settled instead of waiting years here and I feel there is more drug related crime etc. here and a lot of the flats here are being sold to property developers to be rented out and we have had one lot horrific neighbours
Would love your comments

OP posts:
colette · 06/12/2006 12:54

Whoops - should have put this in "chat" not "travel "

OP posts:
colette · 06/12/2006 13:28

.

OP posts:
colette · 06/12/2006 16:48

bump

OP posts:
colette · 06/12/2006 19:21

evening people ?

OP posts:
colette · 06/12/2006 20:56

.

OP posts:
singsalot · 07/12/2006 13:16

hello colette

I used to live in dumfries and galloway and tbh, I would not recommend Stranraer, it has a drug problem like lots of smallish coastal towns,poverty too, bit run down

Glasgow (I lived there in my twenties) has more to offer I reckon, culturally, etc, you will feel cut off, getting to Glasgow is such a hassle, Stranraer isn't pretty imho, but to move somewhere like that because you can get a reasonable sized house, do you wonder why houses are so cheap there? I wouldn't move anywhere that distance away from Glasgow and your friends for that reason alone, I could understand if you were moving for a job, but surely there is somewhere nearer you that might be less remote? if you did move there it would be almost impossible to afford to buy in somewhere like Glasgow if you had made a mistake, it won't be a great place for job prospects/promotion....

I also know someone who works in Stranraer, she despairs of getting anything in the shops there, often struggles to get nappies for her lo's and is generally never very complimentary about it.....

maybe you'll get more responses, good luck with your decision....

santasaltire · 07/12/2006 13:20

I'm not from Stranraer, but am from Dumfriesshire. I agree with singsalot. If you really want to move into Dumfriesshire, i would move further east - over towards Dumfries , Moffat way. Your Dh's mate is right about the small town mentality, but i think you get that in a lot of places

colette · 07/12/2006 17:58

singsalot and santasaltire - thanks for your replies . I was beginning to think Stranraer was completely out of the mumsnet wavelengths.
tbh Glasgow has a lot to offer but also has a lot of drug and violent crime problems as well .
Stranraer's mums look exceedingly young , I think I would be the oldest in the playground. We are at the point where we are reconsidering some things we had dismissed - so I am not that suprised at what you have said.

OP posts:
colette · 07/12/2006 18:19

.

OP posts:
Skribble · 07/12/2006 22:06

What about somewhere not as far down the coast, like Kilmarnock, Irvine or Ayr. Kilmarnock and Ayr are on the A77 so 30 and 50 mins from south of Glasgow so more choice for jobs and entertainments. Irvine is about 50mins also.

Ayrshire gives you a lot more for you money than Glasgow with out you feeling to isolated, plenty of smaller towns and villages if you want something more rural.

We are down that way and DH commutes to Glasgow to work, people can't understand why we don't move to Glasgow, I have tried to explain that I would have to move to a small flat in a rubbish area for the same money as I payed for my 3 bed semi by the river, it is ex-council butin a nice area. There are some great areas full of ex-councils, but of course there are bad areas too.

Skribble · 07/12/2006 22:15

Some ayrshire estate agents

Right Move
S1 Homes
Sequence
Goodfellows
Donald Ross , Higher end.
CKD pricy and more rural

colette · 08/12/2006 12:38

Thanks for your links skribble , wherabouts are you?

OP posts:
singsalot · 08/12/2006 12:44

hello again

it is hard to really know what a place is like until you've spent time there, I reckon it might even be worth having a holiday somewhere before you decide to move, or rent out your current house (if you own it) and only rent where you are thinking of settling, that way you can get an idea of what the place is like, though the problem with that idea is you might not really commit yourself to getting really involved in a place until you buy a house there....

well good luck, I agree with skribble about thinking of somewhere nearer Glasgow

colette · 08/12/2006 13:38

Singalot
We have thought about renting in an area to "try it out" I think if I was pretty sure I would be happy to sell and do that.
We keep coming up against the same problems , so I think we need to cast the net further. I may start a new thread as the replies have been really helpful

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page