Loanhead - opinions needed please.

[LeilaSP]

My DH and I trying to move to Edinburgh with our 18 month old son, but are struggling to find the size of house we want in the areas we like. We like Juniper Green / Morningside / Fairmilehead / Buckstone, but the houses on the market in these areas at the moment are either too small or too expensive (or have some other issue - too close to a busy road / electricity substation etc.).
Today we viewed a beautiful house on the outskirts of Loanhead, it wasn't an area we'd considered before, basically because we don't know anything about it. As I said, the house was close to perfect and it was in a very attractive new build development, however the centre of Loanhead seemed a little rundown and a bit sad looking. I also don't know anything about schooling in the area.
My DH would like to send DS to George Watson's from nursery onwards, however I'd rather he went to a local school if it was decent.

Does anyone know anything about Loanhead as an area, or more specifically about schooling.

Thanks

Loanhead is in Midlothian. It's a small town and as you say, the town centre is a bit tired looking. More bang for your buck re. housing as soon as you cross the Edinburgh bypass 'boundary' line !

Bit of a trek to Watson's though.

Try Liberton / Buckstone / areas for property.

Late to the party here, but we live on the edge of Loanhead. I have to say that even after 14 years here we think of ourselves as not really part of the village. The centre is unattractive but the coop is handy.

As far as I know the local primary is fine and Beeslack secondary in Penicuik is very good. Ours are at school in Edinburgh. The Watsons school bus goes through Wadingburn at about 7.30. The Stuarts Melvile/Mary Erskine bus goes through the village about 7.35, as does the Loretto bus. The Academy bus also goes through Wadingburn rather than coming up into Loanhead as well.

The shops around Loanhead at Straiton are great and a new Debenhams is apparently being built. The Indian restaurant is exceptionally nice as is the Papermill restaurant at Lasswade, so it's not the food desert it used to be. We have never been brave enough to go in any of the pubs in the centre but the Laird and Dog in Lasswade is OK.

Was it Mavisbank Grange you were looking at? Those houses are fantastic, beautifully finished to a high standard.

Thank you both for your comments, very helpful. We've actually just put in an offer on a house in Juniper Green today, which will hopefully end our long, frustrating house hunt!

However, at least we now have a bit of a back up plan, I'm really encouraged to hear that children are travelling into Edinburgh for school from Loanhead area. The house we were looking at was in Polton Vale and is very helpfully still on the market!

Juniper Green is a fantastic local primary if you can get in to it! The new building and facilities are outstanding and the strong leadership of the Head means great outcomes and opportunities for all children. It is also catchment for Currie High School, one of the best state schools in the city. There is an active Community Council in the area and lots of local Mums groups/ Pilates/ dance classes etc in the Village hall and Church halls.

We got the house in Juniper Green, so we're moving there in a couple of months! The school was one of the main attractions to the area, but I'm really pleased to hear that there are lots of other groups for us to go to prior to school. I'm going to get my wee boy on the waiting list for the playgroup too, so hopefully he'll get a place there in the not too distant future.

Thanks for all your help, can't wait to move now!

Hi LeilaSP, I've never posted anything on here before, so I hope it work okay....We've just moved from the centre of town to Juniper Green and I just wondered if you had any recommendations for local any groups/ clubs etc - I know there is a Toddler group on a Tues- have you been?...I have a 3 year old and 1 year old and I'm struggling a little to find things going on (but realise I was very spoilt in our previous location as there were things happening on every street corner!). Anyhow, it would be great to hear of anything.
Many thanks

Hi snathan, we actually just moved to Juniper Green at the end of November - the sale took a longer time than we anticipated!

I have to admit to not really looking into many of the activities in JG at the moment. I've signed my almost 2 year old up to Gym Nippers at Craiglockart Tennis & Leisure Centre and Swimming Lessons at the Commonwealth Pool, both starting in January. I'm hoping that he'll be able to go to the local playgroup here on a couple of mornings, but I haven't done anything about that yet - he can't go until he's 2 at the end of January.

Not a huge amount of help - sorry.