Moving to the area soon

[KellsLewis1]

Hi everyone ??
My Hubby has been working in Aberdeen for over 2 years now and we have decided to bite the bullet and move up there. We currently live in a small village in Ayrshire (where i have lived all my life) so this is going to be a huge move for us all. Especially out 9yr old Daughter and 6yr old Son, who currently go to a small school with just 45 pupils. We are currently looking at the Bridge of Don and Ellon areas but nowhere set in stone as yet . Any advice on which schools would be best would be fab. ?? Also any info about any clubs e.g Brownies etc would be great! Thank you xx

Hello KellsLewis,

I'm originally from the west coast too, but I've been living in Aberdeen for 10 years now!

I have lived in Ellon previously, and it is a nice little town. A few handy local shops and a big Tesco. There are markets on now and then as well and quite a few mums around. There are guides and brownies too as well as other clubs such as marshal arts, football, swimming etc etc.

The schools there will be a bit bigger than what you're used I would imagine. Ellon academy is quite large. My daughter is only 2 so I don't have any experience with what it is like for older children.

What I would say though, have a careful think about commuting around the city. It is unfortunately placed between two rivers, that allows for some spectacular bottle-necks in traffic during peak times.

It can be particularly interesting in very snowy weather. We have since moved from Ellon into the city centre mainly because the commute was becoming unbearable at times.

Hope the move goes well!

Hi Kells I agree with op, you need to choose carefully where you stay because of bad traffic. Bridge of Don has good schools, lots of kids clubs on the go too. As it is north of the city you could get to the state of the art sports centre which is off King Street. There is lovely walks along the Don river, great for seeing wildlife. There is a big Tesco extra store (24 hour) also an Asda and a Lidl just over the bridge at the mouth of the Don on King Street. I used to stay in Bridge of Don but left when pregnant with ds and now live in the countryside an hour away. Where in the city would dh be communting to? Traffic is horrible getting unto Aberdeen in all directions and getting worse as there has been a big boost in home building round the burbs and commuting rural towns. Prices for buying and rental are crazy in Aberdeen best of luck, feel free to message me if you want. I have been out of Aberdeen for 5 years but still visit every week for shopping and sanity

There are lots of small schools further out of similar size to what your used to - just depends whether your dh is happy to commute. Why Beidge of Don? Have you looked further west?

Hi everyone, thanks very much for all the replies. Dh works in East Tullos industrial estate and is happy to commute each day. We have found a lovely 3 bed cottage which is out in the country 4 miles from Ellon. Just waiting on agent getting back to us so fingers crossed. There seems to be a lovely little school nearby which has only 29 pupils ( exactly the size of school my kids are used to). It's called Tipperty Primary. Anyone have any reviews or ideas how good this school is? We have chose the Ellon or Bridge of Don areas as coming from a small village I want to break us in easy and feel moving to a larger area would make it harder for the kids (and myself) to settle in. This may sound very silly but I'm worried about making friends myself lol as I can be quite shy ( although people who know me would say otherwise lol). Are the locals in these areas quite friendly? xx

Don't know that side of aberdeen but I found that as there are lots of outsiders in aberdeenshire it is easy to find other newcomers desperate to make friends or at least people who have been in a similar position so are sympathetic to being in a strange place.

Sorry that is going to be an awful commute unless dh can work flexi, start before 8am and leave before 3:30pm. It can often take 1 hour just to get from Bridge of Don to the city centre in rush hour and it is only about 7 miles. If dh is working south of the river have you considered living south?

Tipperty to East Tullos will not be an easy commute! I suggest you look at rural areas better placed for East Tullos.

Google maps says that it's a 31 min commute without traffic and 48 mins with traffic, I think some days it'll be a lot more than 48 mins.

Hi we just moved to Cruden Bay and I commute 3 days a week, my husband 5 days a week and it isn't bad, I leave early as I start at 8 so I can fit a run in before or after work whilst girls are in nursery. It takes us on good days about 35 minutes on slower days about 45 -50 minutes most of the drive is on clear roads and its not till you hit the city centre that you get any traffic and even that has been moving traffic - not sitting for ages not moving. Coming home the roads are clear we try and leave for about 6 so not too late and there has been no traffic to mention. The hard part of the commute will be the bridge up to Tullos. Hope your move goes well and you get your house. good luck x

ljs, if you start at 8 what time do you leave Cruden Bay? 7.10? And then you get back home between 6.35 and 6.50 at night? That's quite a long day.

Hi I walked/ran the 3 miles each way from city centre to my work with the double buggy so its not really any longer than normal for me or the girls although I am missing the exercise have to fit it in at work :)

Bridge of Don or Ellon if he's working East Tullos is crazy I'm afraid. You'd want to look on Deeside or South. Banchory (I would say that) is the best place to live north of Edinburgh!! But Stonehaven, would also be a good bet, with plenty to do for little people and adults alike, and a fairly simple commute.
Well done on move to this part of the world - very civilised up here...:)