scottish mumsnetters please

[hercules]

we currently live in outer london and will needto buy a 3 bed place in the next 2-3 years and there is no way we can do this.
I'm a secondary re teacher and dh is a supermarket manager.
Someone recommended Glasgow. What is it like and is it multicultural as we are a mixed family and dont want ds and dd to be the odd ones out.

How easy is it to teach in scotland?

tia

Where abouts in Glasgow? One of my college friends has just started teaching at a secondary school.

There are good and bad places, good and bad schools. To give you some idea of what the schools are like there is this site...

www.scottishschoolsonline.gov.uk/

I am an ex-Weegie and so I don't offend any current Weegies you could contact me if you liked. I am honest to the point of being tactless! Believe me there are some areas in Glasgow where multiculturalism is a way of life - and richer for it!

Hi hercules, I'm just out of Glasgow, and a teacher, tho primary.

Glasgow is like most places has great places and then some others. Do you have anyplace partic. in mind? As Paula said lots of multicultural here- a part of life.

Happy for you to contact me too.

ps Glasgow is very friendly, sort of place where complete strangers talk to you at bus stops

West end of Glasgow is nice but pricey. Glasgow has 3 universities so it's pretty diverse, but I would avoid the east end like the plague (personally). Don't know anything about the south side.

In our dreams, we would live in Jordanhill (best academic school in Scotland excluding the independents). We're currently looking at houses in Lenzie, Bearsden and Milngavie which are communter villages/towns now swallowed up into Greater Glasgow. If that doesn't work out then possibly Houston or Bridge of Weir which are further out from the city in East Renfrewshire.

To give you an idea of house prices, have a look at Clyde Property
hth

Edinburgh is lovely too

mos- that's where I am!!where you're looking I mean

I've lived in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow - all have huge Asian populations.
Everything you read about Edinburgh and Glasgow is true - they're both lovely cities to live in, but absolute bastards to commute around. 3-bed houses in both now cost a bomb.

Dundee, not the obvious choice, is a bit parochial but lovely. On the East Coast line to London - Regular services to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Small airport, but easy to get to others. Expanding Uni town with a massive teaching hospital (good maternity and paed services). Property v cheap and only 15 mins to commute to Perth. Surrounded by yummy countryside, lovely beaches close by (partic North). Huge Tescos, arts centre, cinemas, swimming pool (with flumes for kids, as does Perth). Easy to live out of the city and commute in. There is a very large Asian population which expands during term time. Lots of Malaysians come and study engineering. Very low Afro-Caribbean - didn't see any when I was a student.
The only downer might be the weather if your coming from down south - it gets very cold in winter and the roads are treacherous. Also, not very many restaurants!

I'm Scottish so I can get away with this - the way we treat English people is apalling. Sadly, your kids WILL get some unwanted 'attention' at school on account of their accent, but bizarrely enough not on account of their skin colour!

A lot of the rural primary schools are very anti-English. People do seem to want their kids taught by someone with a Scottish accent, but this isn't true in towns and cities.

I've also very recently moved from Newcastle and that was one hell of a friendly place! The best thing was the EasyJet flights everywhere.

Good Luck!

I come from Stirling and now live in Falkirk. Both fantastic places and extremely beautiful! They are both within 30mins from Glasgow and Edinburgh, but have MUCH more affordable housing. Stirling is a University town (I studied there) so the whole town (now has city status!) is very multicultural as lecturers from all over the world live and work there.

My DH is about to start his training as a Supermarket Manager with Tesco. Which firm does your DH work for? Stirling and Falkirk have numerous Tescos as well as Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Somerfield... all of them really!

So don't limit yourself to the 'big cities'. You can have the beautiful mountain setting and historical castles without the small-minded country attitude that is all to often present.

As for the Scottish-English thing? I am Scottish and my DH is a Scouser. He has had no problems at all with living in Scotland (been here 5yrs now) and now won't leave here, even though I offered to move nearer his family!

In the Stirling and Falkirk area try:

Bridge of Allan
Causewayhead
Stirling Town Centre
Dunblane

Larbert
Stenhousemuir
Polmont
Brightons
Falkirk Town Centre

These are a few of the best areas.

Incidentally, one of my friends graduated from Stirling University with a degree in Religious Studies and now teaches RE.

Oh, I love Glasgow, the best city ever!

If I had my choice I would live in a big victorian house in Kelvinside, but I can't afford it.

We live in Dunfermline, originally chosen for it's close proximity to Edinburgh and cheaper housing. Property prices in the area have climbed dramatically since we moved to Dunfermline but are still more affordable than Glasgow or Edinburgh. Stirling is lovely too, my place of choice there would be Bridge of Allan. I used to work in Dundee and there are loads of really nice properties for reasonable prices and would agree that Dundee is a very friendly city and seems to be very up and coming now.

this would do nicely...

Wow!
Thanks for all your responses. Will show them to dh. I hadnt thought about the scottish/english thing, more focused on not going to all white areas!
Toothache- tis Tescos!

Thanks again all.

Hi hercules,

Scotland is great
I haven't lived in Glasgow for years (was brought up and went to Uni there) but as has been said before there are good bits and bad bits. Lived in Edinburgh for 11 years and would recommend it too. Both cities are pretty multi-cultural although, I would say much less so than most English cities, especially in the suburbs although in saying that I live in a small estate in a village and have both Chinese and Asian neighbours whose children have absolutely no problems fitting in.
As Toothache says, don't limit yourself to the cities. There are lots of other nice places where you commute easily to Edinburgh or Glasgow but where property is cheaper although to be honest, if you're coming from the south-east, you'll probably not have a problem buying the house you want here. For property in Edinburgh (and surrounding areas) try here
Possibly the best thing to do would be to come up and get a feel for the place and look at areas you might want to live in. If you're thinking of Edinburgh though, bear in mind that the Summer (and Festival time in particular) is not really representative of Edinburgh during the rest of the year. Or if you've any specific questions, just ask away.
Finally, as for the anti-English bias, I'm sure it does happen but I've done a quick straw poll of English friends living up here and none of them have had problems, so it's certainly not inevitable.

Mudda- Would do very nicely!!!!!

Wahey Hercules! There's a 24hr Tesco in Falkirk, and a normal one too.
I'm hoping DH gets a transfer through here when he starts on Options. He works in Dunblane Tesco Metro at the mo and it's not so handy for us.

I do think that unfortunately there is more of an issue with Scottish/English thing than there is with mixed race.....

However, like I said before my DH has never had any problems in Stirling or Falkirk.

Thankds toothache!

Have to say with all of tescos faults it is forwards thinking with regards working families etc.

Hercules - I think you can just move and teach in scotland but might be worth contacting the GTC SCotland in case - there are probation requirements in Scotland which would be waived for you if you are experienced but it could be worth checking just to make sure.
I did my teacher training in Glasgow and loved it but some of the schools can be pretty hard going. Most of them are multicultural to a greater or lesser degree. Glasgow also (in particular, but other places have them too) has a lot of Catholic secondaries and you can only teach RE in them if you are catholic, assume thats the same as down south, but in Glasgow they are prettty strict about this.
I've lived in Edinburgh and Glasgow and grew up in Perth, and they are all good, though Edinburgh in particular but also Glasgow are getting exceptionally expensive (my dh is a doctor and we still couldn't afford to move back to Edinburgh now, houses are just too expensive).

Another place in Scotland which is worth considering is Inverness. Less multicultural but still inclusive, cheaper and near amazing outdoorsy type stuff if you like that sort of thing. A bit further away though! Inverness is our'big smoke' from the Outer Hebrides where I live - not a lot of jobs for supermarket managers here as we only have 2!, and they're not that super.

Didn't relaise how many of you lived in Scotland! MOS we seem to keep meeting on threads, I'd no idea you were in Scotland too!

Hi Hercules

Currently living in the southside of Glasgow and know most other areas pretty well. I'm an adopted weegie. Have lived here 14 years now, originally from about 20 miles out of town. Like most cities 99% of people are nice good people but there will always be that element who make you ashamed and embarrassed of your city and it's people. If you want to live in the city then biased though I am I prefer Glasgow to Edinburgh - it's a bit rougher round the edges but people are good, kind and friendly. The west end is the best. Very bohemian, studenty, expensive. I lived there for 4 years and loved every minute of it. Had to move to southside when hubby and DD1 came along to get an affordable decent sized property, but if you are moving from London chances are that west end is affordable for you. I still have a wee flat there which I rent out. Have also lived in east end for 7 years. There are a few oasis of nice bits but it seems to have gone downhill recently and probably best avoided. Southside is nice but it just ain't the west end. Full of people who will say that it is the best place to be but they are probably in denial. North side has its posh bits and its bad bits.

There are loads of other places to live. Personally as much as Glasgow is great, I long for a more peaceful life somewhere like Perth where my hubby is from or Oban or Inverness. Biggish towns but without the traffic nightmare. Some rural places are fine but yes they can be a bit parochial. I have found this to be the case in communities closer to the metropolis than ones in the middle of nowhere. I am from Lanarkshire. Some research somewhere found that it was the most indigenous place in Scotland, especially the Monklands area. That is, about 85% of the population had always lived there and their families before them for generations. Sort of place where although only 20 miles from Glasgow, visiting the city would be like going to another planet. Personally I would never move back there. The southside has a large asian population but recently there have been some 'incidents' in the news which shows a negative image. I think mostly we all live here in harmony. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions re anywhere. I'm pretty far travelled throughout Scotland and will call a spade a spade.

Good point SusanMT re the Catholic thing. Unfortunately religious bigotry between catholics/protestants is most prevalent in the west of Scotland but that shouldn't be an issue for yourself other than in a professional capacity. In other parts of the country children from both religions are taught in the same school, with no ill effects. Some forward thinking pioneers are trying to do the same here but the small minded among us are doing there utmost to stop this.

All this talk of the 24 tescos in Falkirk I cant help but add that i used to live 2 mins away from there in Thornhill Road...Hello Scottish Mumsnetters!

With all these Scottish Mumsnetters how come we can't manage a big meet-up like you lot Daaaan Saaarrf???

Justine/Carrie/Rachel/tech - Do you think there are enough of us now to warrant holding one of your fancy publicity evenings with Champagne..... and Ferrero Rocher North of the border?

Hercules,
if you want an insight in the more 'socially excluded' side of Glasgow have a look at this which might give you a laugh .
I particularly recommend the 'nedagocchi' which is under Toys.

Tabitha

Woy woy toothache what fancy publicity evenings might these be?? if numbers make a difference then hello I'm here too! I'm in Fife (hello Demented!) which I would recommend if you wanted to live within commuting distance from Edinburgh but you only mention Glasgow, hercules, so I won't harp on about it at the mo. Lived in Glasgow for 5 years in west end and got heartily sick of it, nice tho' it is, because it's so very studenty... you couldn't move without tripping over a coffee shop or an overfilled binbag left out on the wrong day. sorry soozi! I would go for the south side myself if moving back, because the population there is a bit more stable and a bit more mixed.

but I'm not going to move back because i am in lovely fife.

Spots - You're a FIFER????

Yeah I'm sure I remember a couple of big official Mumsnet meet-ups that happened in the London area.... apparently Tech is rather dishy.

It might have been the launch of the books???

If you want to teach in Scotland you need to register with the General Teaching COuncil (GTC). This can take AGES. I can provide contact details if you like.

Toothache, my DH thinks I visit Tesco (in Dunblane) too much (most days when I am not working....) and why can't I do a 'big shop' once a week.

He doesn't understand that it is the social hub of the town (as far as mum with buggy and toddler is concerned).